EBJ’s top 10…random favourites from Eurovision artists
For the first time in a looooooooong time, here’s a post that doesn’t require an intro. The title pretty much says it all, don’t you think?
#1 / Dyshi by Serebro (Russia 2007)
This has got to be one of my favourite songs of all time, possibly because the lyrics make no mention of anyone tasting anyone else’s “cherry pie” but probably because it’s got a haunting quality that gives me goosebumps every time. One of the singles from Serebro’s debut album Opiumroz (one of the few albums I own on which no song needs to be skipped over) what makes it particularly memorable is the video, which is beautifully shot…but seriously random.
#2 / Mechtateli by Dima Bilan (Russia 2006/2008)
Here’s another Russian pop ballad that, I have to admit, could sound less like Dyshi. What can I say? I have a type. It’s the almost-title track from Dima’s most recent album, coincidentally (or not) another one that requires no skip button. For those of us who would argue that the guy is at his best when singing in Russian, it could also be Exhibit A in the case for.
#3 / Skorpion by Urban Symphony (Estonia 2009)
* The version below is shortened. Give the full one a listen if you haven’t before – you won’t regret it!
Italian may be regarded as the world’s most musical language, but I’ve got a soft spot for Estonian. When it’s sung by the amazingly/annoyingly talented Sandra Nurmsalu and backed by pretty much every string instrument ever created, the magic reaches a whole new level. Skorpion is the second single US released post-Moscow, and it’s the same blend of classic and contemporary that got them to 6th place back then.
#4 / Broken Angel by Arash (Azerbaijan 2009)
Arash swapped Aysel for Swedish singer Helena Josefsson on this track, which was more of a homage to his Iranian ethnicity than his more distant Azeri. For me this song is better than Always, though it would no doubt have done worse at Eurovision (mainly because it doesn’t scream ‘I need to be danced to by very flexible women in revealing Lycra!’). Side note: Arash calls Malmö home, so here’s hoping he crops up somewhere in the contest next year.
#5 / Hasta Que Me Ames by D’Nash (Spain 2007)
If you wanted to like Spain’s entry in Helsinki, but found it too shouty and/or too Spanish, I have two things to say to you. Firstly, what is wrong with you? That entry kicked butt. Secondly, this song may be more to your liking being by the same quartet of hot men, just with a more mainstream boyband sound. I imagine a music video would feature them wearing white and dancing energetically yet mournfully on majestic cliff tops.
#6 / Vysoko by Julia Savicheva (Russia 2004)
More proof of Russia’s talent for producing haunting ballads, coming right up! I never thought that much of Julia’s Eurovision entry, but once she’d stopped dancing with clumsy men who’d obviously fallen into a massive paint puddle, her musical stylings suited me better. This song would make a great backing track for a Russian tourism campaign.
#7 / Solo by Milan Stanković (Serbia 2010)
I was torn between including this, from Milan’s debut album of the same name, or the more recent Perje – a Balkan ballad in the Željko Joksimović mould – but ended up going for the upbeat one since there’s been so many ballads already (I have a weakness). Solo makes Milan out to be a bit of a ladies’ man, which is hard to believe given that haircut, but it also makes me want to shake my thing. Sometimes that’s all you need.
#8 / Moon of Dreams by Ruslana (Ukraine 2004)
I thought Ruslana, champion of Eurovision and human rights, could do no wrong. That was until she decided that teaming up with T-Pain was a good idea. Overly-autotuned rappers aside, it’s another cracker that doesn’t stray too far from her formula of ethno-R-and-B-pop. Nor does the video give any indication that she’s ever strayed from using Xena Warrior Princess as her style icon.
#9 / Baby It’s Over by Helena Paparizou (Greece 2001/2005)
Helena is arguably the second-most glamorous lady in ESC history (nobody out-glamours Dana International) as well as a supremely successful recording artist. This track comes from her epic Greatest Hits and More album, and if it’s the first you’ve heard of her since she won the contest, you may be surprised at the lack of Greek-ness involved. Unsurprising is the radio-friendliness.
#10 / Break of Dawn by Eric Saade (Sweden 2011)
Speaking of radio-friendly fodder, here’s something from Sweden’s favourite manboy before he was Popular. The song’s excellent, if you like this sort of thing (which I do) but the video is even better, because Eric does more ‘intense face’ in the few minutes of running time than anyone I’ve ever seen. You can’t say the guy’s not talented.
Got any favourite random songs from ESC artists? Let me know below…
eurovisionbyjaz.com 
9 Responses to “EBJ’s top 10…random favourites from Eurovision artists”
I’m quite drowsy so this might not be the most coherent list, but here goes nothing.
1) Ivi Adamou (CY 2012) – Sose Me (Lights On): If she had entered this song in Eurovision, she would’ve been in my top five easy. Wonderful. Also, she looks like my cousin.
2) Getter Jaani (EE 2011) – Valged Ööd (White Nights): Freaking brilliant electro-pop song that would also be in my top five for ESC 2011. Brilliant.
3) Lena (DE 2010-11) – You Can’t Stop Me: It’s no “Satellite” but I still love this quirky little pop song which is SO Lena.
4) Katrina and the Waves (UK 1997) – Walking on Sunshine: A great old song that hasn’t lost any charm. Also, keep on representing America, Katrina!
5) Helena Paparizou (GR 2001/2005) – Mambo: It had more energy than “My Number One” and was the second best song performed at the 2006 final (only behind the fantastic “Lejla” from Bosnia & Herzegovina).
6) Soluna Samay (DK 2012) – Come Again (The Quetzal): It’s got a lot more flavor than “Should’ve Known Better” and I love it for that. Great summer song.
7) Iris (BE 2012) – Wonderful: Even though she came with an admittedly boring song to Baku, Iris’ first single is exactly what I wanted Belgium to come with.
8) Eric Saade (SE 2011) and Tone Damli – Imagine: While it’s sort of generic, something draws me to this song, which is really good.
9) ABBA (SE 1974) – Dancing Queen: Talk about a classic! Even though only one of my parents was out of high school when this song came out, I still can relate to it.
10*)Loreen (SE 2012) – My Heart is Refusing Me: This is more robbed than Iceland in 2008 (Disclaimer: That metaphor is just my opinion). A total cracker of a dance-pop song performed perfectly by a winner who would’ve swept the floor in Düsseldorf. However, please see the asterisk.
*If this is ineligible because it was a prospective Eurovision song, my number 10 would be A Friend in London (DK 2011) – Calling a Friend.
I really wish that I can do more digging into the past this year and considering it’s my last year of high school (What’s the Australian equivalent of that?), I might be able to do that.
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Either you were totally coherent, or I have a talent for deciphering the ramblings of an incoherent madman!! Not. Anyway, what you wrote made sense to me.
I’m familiar with about half of the songs you mentioned. I listened to Ivi’s and Getter’s last night actually and I liked them straightaway, so congrats on your good taste! I also really like ‘Crashing Down’ by Ivi. I think I’ve mentioned that in a post before. I listened to it when she was announced as Cyprus’ representative to get a feel for her sound. I also watched a few of her X Factor performances, but the less said about those the better…XD
‘Mambo’ = great song. Was on my iPod within two seconds of the final in 06. I loved her performance of it then too, even though I’m not sure she was actually singing live.
Again, I listened to ‘Wonderful’ when Iris was announced to see what her entry could sound like. It’s a shame it didn’t sound more like that. Or ANYTHING ELSE!! Honestly, the further away we get from Baku, the more wrong ‘Would You’ seems to be.
‘Imagine’ – love it. It’s not groundbreaking in any way, but it’s fun and catchy, and I think they make a good duo. And I totally get where she’s coming from. When I’m with someone I’m always thinking of Eric Saade ;]
What’s the Australian equivalent of the final school year? Is that what you mean? Well, it’s Year 12, which in my state ends the year you turn 17, but in some other states students turn 18 while they’re still finishing. I feel like I finished yesterday when in fact it was ages ago. Enjoy it while it lasts!!
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Great! What I was worried about was the fact that I had changed the list about five times before finishing it. Now that I’m looking at it again, I can see that it did make sense, to me at least.
Thank you very much! I’ll have to check out “Crashing Down” soon. I have seen some of her X-Factor performances. I’ll leave it at that…
Mambo was on my iPod about two seconds after hearing it for the first time. No, she probably wasn’t singing live, but it’s still an amazing song.
Oh weren’t we all disappointed with Belgium this year? I was looking so forward to hearing Iris’ song and then, we got those two songs. I always wanted to like “Would You,” and I did, but it’s getting boring now.
Alright, so it’s pretty much the same as in the United States, except that here, it’s called 12th Grade or Grade 12. It varies depending on where you go.You bet I will! Just tonight, I chose my senior photos for cards, picture frames and such. It’s all so fast!
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So the general consensus on Ivi’s X Factor time is that it should just be swept under the rug and NEVER EVER vacuumed out??
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Yes. And when it’s time to throw the rug out, roll them up with the rug and toss them too.
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And then set fire to the rug. And then pour acid on the ashes.
I think this analogy has gone far enough.
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Oh it has.
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A random favorite song from esc artists? I could write a complete series of posts on that! (and that’s what I’m doing on the appreciation posts xD) so I’ll just comment on the artists you posted here:
~Serebro: I like this one and have it on my iPod, but I hadn’t listened to it in a while. I also like their song “Opium”.
~ Dima bilan -Mechtateli: Well, you know what I think about Dima and about this song. I love it. My favorite by him (as you know) is ty dolzhna ryadom bit (Ты должна рядом быть).
~Urban Symphony- Skorpion: I like this, but I prefer Päikese Poole.
~Arash -Broken Angel: Hadn’t hear it before. It’s nice, and the music video is amazing, I’m just not a big fan of Arash’s voice. I don’t know much of his other stuff. I like “boro, boro”, but I prefer Sarbel’s version of that song.
~D’nash: Not a fan of their music. Sorry.
~Yulia Savicheva: Like you, I didn’t think much of her eurovision song, but I’m absolutely in love with a song of hers called “Esli V Serdce Zhivet Lyubov” (Если в сердце живет любовь).
~ Milan Stanković: I love all of his songs except maybe for “face”. I kind of prefer Perje to Solo, but they both are amazing.
~Ruslana: I love her, but I thought both her 2008 albums were totally disappointing (the Ukrainian one a bit less disappointing, but still). My favorite songs by her are Oj Zagraj My Muzychenku (Ой заграйми, музиченьку) and ples (Плєс) from her 2003 album and Dance with the wolves from her 2004 one. And I recently developed an obsession with the Ukrainian version of Shalala.
~Helena Paparizou: ugh so many xD It’s already hard to pick a top 5 from her Antique songs xD I guess I’ll write an appreciation post.
~ Eric Saade: This one you posted here is slightly better than popular imo. Still, not a fan of his music.
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‘Opium’ I love, and ‘Skazhi Ne Molchi’. The whole album is awesome IMO, and their newer stuff isn’t so bad.
You are a fan of Dima Bilan?? I had no idea! *shocked face*
‘Shalala’ is great too. Knee-slappingly good in fact. I’m possibly too easily pleased when it comes to Ruslana. ‘The Same Star’ is another of my favourites from her.
Yes yes yes! Write an appreciation post on Helena/Antique! I mean, if you wanna. Oh God, I just typed the one word that reminds us all of Marie N. Sorry about that.
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