Andrea – Circles
Vocal:
I absolutely love Andrea’s voice. I do not know, but it has a very distinctive sound that forced me to listen to the lyrical content of the song instead of just bopping along to it. While she does not do many vocal gymnastics, I think that it’s pretty powerful.
Musical Arrangement:
I will admit that I’m a fan of faster, more upbeat songs, but the musical arrangement is pretty decent. Also, I have a feeling that the song will grow on me over the next few months leading up to Eurovision. I hope that she removes some of the backing vocals because I think it takes away from her voice. Also, the theme of the song could be applied to so many situations - dealing with someone who owes you money; an airline when your flight has been canceled at the last minute; a fast-food cashier who put the wrong order in for your food.
Staging:
Since N. Macedonia does not use live performances for its national selections, I’m not sure what to expect for Andrea’s performance in ESC. That said, I think a simple stage setting could be enough to elevate her performance, but I guess that we’ll see.
Final Thoughts:
I think this will have no problem advancing from the semi to the final due to the fact that pretty much all demographics of the ESC viewing public (especially with the national juries) can relate to this song. Since Cyprus, Montenegro, Romania, and Malta are going to be in the same semifinal heat, I think those national juries will send quite a few votes to N. Macedonia. With the exception of the Big Five (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK), we do not know who will be in the final, but I think that she will be in the mid-teens
North Macedonia in last year’s Eurovision:
Vasil – Here I Stand
Semi-final results: 15th place out of 16 performances (23 total points – 12 national juries and 11 public votes)
Final results: Since he did not place within the top ten in his semifinal heat, he did not qualify for the final.
I will be a bit honest and say that I was surprised that this song did not qualify. Since ESC2020 was canceled due to the pandemic, I think folks just were not feeling slow ballads for ESC2021. That said, I’m not sure that his ESC2020 song, which was more uptempo, would have qualified either. It seemed as if folks wanted to dance and rock out. It’s clear that Vasil is very talented vocally; however, this vocal talent did not translate on Eurovision’s stage. Then again, he was a bit off-key for a lot of his vocal runs during his semifinal performance. Also, his staging was not that great or innovative, compared to other performers in the contest. That said, I thought he was probably one of the stronger singers in the competition, and this song stays on many of my long-run playlists.