Cornelia Jakobs – Hold Me Closer
Final Thoughts:
Ok. I will be honest and say that I do not get it, and this might be interpreted as a rant. Once Sweden named Cornelia as its ESC22 representative, the ESC fandom went nuts . . . in a good way. Within 24hrs of the song’s release, it took the number one spot on the Eurovision scoring app.
Not to be a huge hater, but I do not understand. I’m not saying that the song is bad at all, but I do not get all the hype surrounding the song or even the live performance. Y’all know that I need a vocal. To be perfectly honest, this song is not even in my top 10. Keep in mind, for now, I’m ranking this year’s ESC singers on the song AND their live performances. Is my cold, black, empty heart missing something?
Here’s my opinion, which I have called the Bono effect: Certain countries (in this case Sweden) can release anything, and the fandom will praise it just because it’s Sweden. Oh, I call this the Bono effect because years ago, I said something like Bono could fart in a microphone, and U2 would still sweep the Grammys. This was in reference to U2’s How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb album because I was so sick of hearing Vertigo in the ads for iPods. Hey, that was marketing genius. ok getting back to the topic.
Another example that is on the opposite side of the spectrum, I think countries like the UK, Spain, and San Marino get unfairly judged in a negative way because those countries typically perform poorly in ESC even with good or decent songs. Last year, the UK came in dead last in the final because it received 0 points from both the national juries and the televote. However, if Sweden sent the UK’s song, Sweden probably would have ended in the top half of finalists. Actually, maybe that’s a bad example because I think part of the UK’s bad placement was due to Brexit. Some folks were still annoyed that the UK (one of the major financiers of ESC and the EBU) left the EU. Perhaps, I need to rewatch the This is Pop episode, Stockholm Syndrome.
Basically, this episode provides (or tries to provide) reasons why Sweden is such a superpower in producing pop songs, but the episode did not really give us any real reasons. The main reason was some Swedish word that meant don’t brag about your accomplishments.
All this ranting and I did not even talk about the song. Overall, I kind of like the theme of the song, which can pull people in emotionally. I think everyone has experienced the feeling of having “the one” that got away. While this is a song about losing someone, I do enjoy that it’s a bit uptempo rather than a slow, sad, and depressing ballad. Vocally, Cornelia is fine; she gives me a mix of Bonnie Tyler (I hope that I’m mentioning the correct Bonnie) and the lead singer from Sixpence None The Richer. Perhaps, this is how Cornelia sings but for most of the song, her voice sounds very strained – kinda like a vocal fry.
Sweden in last year’s Eurovision
TUSSE – VOICES
Semi-final results: 7th place out of 16 performances (142 total points – 91 national juries and 51 public votes)
Final results: 14th place out of 26 performances (102 total points – 46 national juries and 63 public votes)
I really thought between being from Sweden and the catchy (yet repetitive chorus) that Tusse would have performed a bit better – especially since they were the 2nd to last performance of the night. They were followed by San Marino, which did not do as well as people thought it should have done. I do have a couple of theories why they did not place higher on the scoreboard that I will not get into here. Outside of the middle placement, this song stays on my day-to-day playlists. While the song is very repetitive, it’s quite uplifting. Honestly, Tusse seems like such a cool, down-to-earth person.