Eurovision 2013 – A Walk Down Memory Lane

-THE EUROVISION WITH BONNIE TYLER

Preface:

Since we are more or less in the quiet season, I can soothe my Eurovision itch by watching some of the previous contests. Since I’m at my computer all day and my workstation has three monitors, I figure that I could devote one monitor to ESCs while working on the other two. Yes, I know there is a Junior Eurovision, but I’m not a huge fan of children-based competitions.

Eurovision 2013 – We Are One

Eurovision 2013 was selected for this entry because the other week after drinking a ton of $1 mimosas at our local (and only) Tiki bar, the hubby played 2013 Danish entry – Emmelie de Forest – “Only Teardrops” in the car . . . a few times. So we pretty much spent that Sunday afternoon watching ESC 2013. To be perfectly honest, I did fall asleep during a portion of the songs (about six or seven). Note: I probably fell asleep because of the $1 mimosas and not because of the songs.

For this walk down Eurovision memory lane, we are going to take it back to 2013 (Malmö, Sweden). The contest was held in Sweden because of Loreen’s win in 2012 with her song, Euphoria. I’ll say that hands down, this is probably one of the favorite songs for most of the Eurovision fandom. In fact, every year there is a vote for the top 250 songs for ESC Radio, and Eurphora has won the title for the last 10 years in a row.

For this edition, the contest had 39 countries, with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Portugal, Slovakia, and Turkey sitting this one out. Of the ESCs that I have seen, this probably was the best (IMO) contest song- and production-wise. While I was a bit worried that Petra was the only host, she did an AMAZING job with her poise and elegance. Also, I learned so much about Sweden from her Swedish Smörgåsbord’s performance.

Ok, I’ve gone off-topic . . . much like the blonde woman’s notes.

Let’s see if Europe and Kwame were in sync.

What Europe Thought

What Kwame Thought

I have to say that there was not a song from this ESC final that I absolutely hated. But let’s see how in sync Europe and I were.

In terms of countries that were on the left side of our scoreboards, it looks like Europe and I agreed on only five songs/countries (Azerbaijan, Denmark, Lithuania, Moldova, and Romania). Although Moldova was my personal winner, Denmark (the actual winner) was my second place.

My personal winner, Moldova 🇲🇩: Aliona Moon “O Mie (One Thousand)”

Normally, Moldova is known for sending wacky entries, but I absolutely loved the “normalcy” of this song. I don’t know if it’s something about the melody of the chorus that keeps me hitting replay. Also, I did get some goosebumps @ T=2:12 when she started to elevate while her dress illuminates. Ok, the vocals became a little “screamy” near the end of the song, but that’s minor for me . . . at least for this song.

Denmark 🇩🇰: Emmelie de Forest – “Only Teardrops”

I loved everything that the Danish brought to the table with this one – the song, the flutes, the drummers, the singer . . . everything.

Random Thoughts:

Greece 🇬🇷: Koza Mostra feat. Agathon Iakovidis – “Alcohol Is Free”

No, this song was not in my top ten because the title has alcohol in it. While the song is describing one of Greece’s economic downfalls, it was quite energetic. Honestly, I did not know it was a “deep” song until I read the lyrics. Speaking of the performers, I’m not sure that I would have been able to stay on key while running all around the stage. They must have done a lot of cardio in preparation for the contest.

Ireland 🇮🇪: Ryan Dolan – “Only Love Survives”

While this song came in last place with 5 points (2 from Cyprus, 2 from Sweden, and 1 from the UK), I kind of like it. Let me fix that. I kind of like the song with the exception of the singer. For my taste, Ryan was just way too pitchy and nasally. I will say that the drummer-dancers were dancing and drumming their asses off.

Actually, I’m not sure how this one even made it past the semi-final found. For these reviews, I’ve been watching only the finals because it’s a bit difficult to find the semifinal rounds online. Also, I’m too lazy to look for the semifinal rounds in every nook and cranny of YouTube. Looking at the results, Ryan came in 6th place in his semi. Since the top ten from each semi advances to the final, maybe he had better vocals during his semi.

Finland 🇫🇮: Krista Siegfrids – “Marry Me”

From my understanding, this is the 1st on-stage lesbian kiss at Eurovision. Krista mentioned that she did this in an attempt to encourage Finland to legalize same-sex marriages. I wonder if this performance changed anyone’s mind.

I’m a bit shocked this landed in 24th place. Since this was a televote year, unlike the 50:50 televote and jury voting that we now see in Eurovision, I would have assumed that the LGBT message from this song would have resonated with the viewers, but I guess not. Also, it’s kind of interesting that this song received points from only one Nordic country. Weird because many of the Nordic countries tend to give each other points . . . Or, maybe that’s the case for the Scandinavian countries

Romania 🇷🇴: Cezar – “It’s My Life”

The first time seeing this performance, let’s say that I was shocked . . . at first in a bad way, but then in a good way. The dubstep operatic vampire aspect of the performance kind of grew on me. This is everything that is bad AND good about Eurovision wrapped up in one three-minute song. While Cezar came in 13th place in the actual contest, he was my number 8.

QUICK THOUGHTS ABOUT THE REST OF THE PERFORMANCES

France 🇫🇷: Too Tina Turner-esque and a general mess.

Lithuania 🇱🇹: Eh, pretty generic.

Finland 🇫🇮: Already discussed

Spain 🇪🇸: I kinda liked the song, but I think the singer was scream-singing a bit much. Also, there wasn’t a whole lot to the performance.

Belgium 🇧🇪: Eh, nothing really moved me about this performance.

Estonia 🇪🇪: Decent ballad.

Belarus 🇧🇾: Actually, I kind of liked this one.

Malta 🇲🇹: A bit too cheezy for my likes . . . and I like cheezy.

Russia 🇷🇺: A song about peace . . . go figure.

Germany 🇩🇪: A very general performance.

Armenia 🇦🇲: See Germany

The Netherlands 🇳🇱: ZZZ zzzz

Romania 🇷🇴: already discussed

The UK 🇬🇧: Seems a bit dated for 2013

Sweden 🇸🇪: Great pop song, not so great vocals.

Hungary 🇭🇺: He was singing like he didn’t want to be there. Maybe that was supposed to be the vibe of the song.

Denmark 🇩🇰: Already discussed.

Iceland 🇮🇸: I really like the guy’s voice.

Azerbaijan 🇦🇿: I really liked the song (and he’s nice on the eyes), but I think that I liked the concept of the performance more than the song. That said, he definitely deserved 2nd place.

Greece 🇬🇷: Already discussed.

Ukraine 🇺🇦: Didn’t really do much for me.

Italy 🇮🇹: Eh, pass.

Norway 🇳🇴: I’m kind of surprised that she did well in the contest, but I kind of get it.

Georgia 🇬🇪: A nice romantic ballad with decent vocals. Actually, this is interesting because Georgia usually sends very “unique” (to say the least) performances. Some think it’s because they want to participate in the song contest, but do not (or cannot afford) to host should they win, so they do a little self sabotage.

Ireland 🇮🇪: Already discussed.

Next up: Eurovision 2009

Eurovision 2008 – A Walk Down Memory Lane

Preface:

Since we are more or less in the quiet season, I can soothe my Eurovision itch by watching some of the previous contests. Since I’m at my computer all day and my workstation has three monitors, I figure that I could devote one monitor to ESCs while working on the other two. Yes, I know there is a Junior Eurovision, but I’m not a huge fan of children-based competitions.

Eurovision 2008 – Confluence of Sound

There was a confluence of . . . something.

For this walk down Eurovision memory lane, we are going to take it back to 2008 (Belgrade, Serbia). The contest was held in Serbia because of Marija Šerifović’s win in 2007 with her song, Molitva. While it was not my top song in 2007, I thought it was a fantastic and soulful song, which deserved the win.

For this edition, the contest had 43 countries, which was the highest number to date. Also, ESC 2008 had the debuts of Azerbaijan and San Marino. Interesting that these two countries debuted in 2008, and they both were accused of cheating in ESC 2022. Overall, I thought the Serbians did a great job with the contest. Well . . . actually, I did not watch the whole thing. I pretty much only watched the performances and the voting but skipped all of the interval acts . . . I had other things to do ;).

According to the hubby who grew up watching Eurovision in Spain, the late 90s and early 00s were kind of the bad years of Eurovision, which I can kind of see.

Case in point.

Oh, Yea! Since this Eurovision took place before 2014 (or 2015), the videos are not geotagged so no need to have a VPN to view these clips.

I'll actually take that back a bit. To be honest, I kind of like the older years of Eurovision because there was a bit more musical diversity during those years. Nowadays, the contest seems to be geared more towards general pop music, which is fine. However, I have mentioned that I prefer when I can determine the region from which a song originates or when a large group of songs does not sound like they should be played on a Top 40s radio station. Personally, I would not say these are the bad years, but rather years with bad vocals. While doing this challenge, I find that many songs are decent, but some of the vocals are a bit questionable. Perhaps, many countries did not really care too much about the contest to send folks with strong vocals. Or maybe, they did not want to invest money, which could go towards other more important things, for the vocal development of their contestants (this is completely understandable in my book).

Case in point with iffy vocals. Maybe the blonde singer was a bit nervous (at T=2:25), and it materialized with those notes. Lord, Jesus.

Ok, I’ve gone off-topic . . . much like the blonde woman’s notes.

Let’s see if Europe and Kwame were in sync.

What Europe Thought

What Kwame Thought

In terms of countries that were on the left side of our scoreboards, it looks like Europe and I agreed on about 6 songs/countries (Portugal, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Armenia, and Greece). Although I did not know Russia won this year, I was not surprised or disappointed that Dima won. Actually, the song sounds like something that belongs on my 90's R&B Raised Me Spotify playlist - a playlist that I LOVE.

Dima Bilan (Russia) - Believe

I will admit that the vocals were not that strong . . . or great. But, it’s like I said earlier. I think the songs back then were decent to good, but the vocals were a little struggle.

While Russia won this Eurovision, hands down, Portugal’s Vânia Fernandes – Senhora Do Mar (Negras Águas) was my winner by a long shot. No, ifs, ands, or buts for me with this one.

Vânia Fernandes (Portugal) - Senhora Do Mar (Negras Águas)

This is not a song, but rather an anthem for me. It still gives me goosebumps. Although the song is great IMO, I love the fact that there was diversity in the singers that were on the stage. I'm a bit surprised that it did not place in the top ten, but I guess it did not connect with the televoters in the same manner that it connected with me. I'm not one to say a song or artist was robbed in this competition because the contest is all about making a connection with the folks voting, but I wonder if this song would have done better if the current voting system (50/50 televoters and national juries) were in place.

Random Thoughts:

The UK: Andy Abraham - Even If

I dunno, but I think the UK was underscored this year. Was it the best performance, no? Was it the worst, HELL NO? I know there are a lot of variables that go into a song (or performance) connecting with an audience. While the song was a bit dated, I think Andy Abraham's vocals and the performance were pretty decent. Perhaps, this song would have performed a bit better during Eurovision of the late 90s.

I dunno; it seems very strange that the UK received points from only two countries, San Marino and Ireland, for this song.

Hell, the German group with the blonde woman's struggling vocals received 12 points (the maximum) from Bulgaria. Maybe there were a bunch of Germans living in Bulgaria. ;)

While Germany, Poland, and the UK received a total of 14 points, the placement (23rd, 24th, and 25th, respectively) is based on the number of 12s, 10s and 8s received. Germany received 12 points from one country; Poland, one 10; and the UK, one 8.

I wonder if Ireland was "throwing" away its points because it gave Latvia 12 points. The spokesperson giving the points did say something like "Great contest, Belgrade. It's a shame that we could not be there [in the final]". Or maybe the Irish really like nautical-themed songs, which is what Lativa sent. Now that I think about it it little more, I have to admit that the song is a bit catchy. Eh, I can see why it did better than I expected.

Israel: Boaz - The Fire in Your Eyes

While I mentioned that I loved Portugal's song, I also loved Israel's song. Also, Boaz is not bad on the eyes. ;) I have to say that Israel is one of the few countries in Eurovision that sends something cultural adjacent to the country, and I appreciate that ;).

Greece: Kalomira - Secret Combination

Chanel (Spain 2022), who? Kalomira's Secret Combination has the best dance break in Eurovision's history. ;) After listening to the song a couple of times, I'm still not sure what is her secret combination, but it's a fun song.

Greece: Rodolfo Chikilicuatre - Baila El Chiki Chiki

Of course, everybody loves Rodolfo Chikilicuatre’s Baila El Chiki Chiki. A clear joke entry that did better than probably what a lot of people expected.

Czech Republic’s voting (T=3:16:40)

Mixing up the points between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Petra? Eeek, I’m not sure if she was allowed to travel to either country after this contest. Let’s just say that Azerbaijan and Armenia have a very tumultuous relationship with each other

Next up . . . Eurovision 2013