Selection Season Day 5: Germany and Austria make (hopefully) sweet music + extra bits!
Hello everyone, and Happy Valentine’s Day, blah blah blah. I’ve decided to take a break from sifting through the sack of cards and gifts I got from secret admirers in the post to talk Eurovision (what a sacrifice) and since there is quite a lot of talking to do, I’m going to get straight into it.
Random news of the week…
…from Bulgaria: there I was thinking that the announcement of the Bulgarian artist would be of no interest to me whatsoever because I wouldn’t have a clue who they were and would still have to wait to hear the song to form an opinion, when BAM! BNT revealed that they’d rounded up their most successful representatives ever to try and turn Bulgaria’s luck around. Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov (who must be looking pretty rough these days. She’s probably okay) drummed their way into 5th place back in 2007, which is far and away Bulgaria’s best result in ESC history since that was the only time they’ve appeared in the final. This exciting turn of events (for those of us who liked their entry Water, that is) is the result of that super-massive survey BNT put out last year to get “the people’s” opinion on what they should send to Eurovision to get the best result possible. All I can say is, thank you people! And may we see more epic drumming and chain-mail outfits when the guys step on stage in Malmö.
…from Finland and Norway: two blonde bombshells, two very different songs, and at least one satisfied customer came out of Saturday’s double decision. As expected, Margaret Berger blitzed Bombo to take out the 2013 Melodi Grand Prix in Oslo, whilst over in Finland, Krista Siegfrids won over the public and jury by asking them to marry her. Let’s just hope they don’t accidentally marry Margaret instead, who was also wearing a white dress. How embarrassing. I really like both of these entries, but Margs would get my vote, if I could give one. Oh wait, I can! And you can too. Find out how at the end of the post, if you make it that far.
…from San Marino: this is technically news of last week, I think, but up until now I haven’t had a chance to mention it. Yes, she of The Social Network Song will be singing for San Marino again, which no doubt sent some of you into a state of shock, unable to log in to Facebook for hours. I reckon Valentina deserves another chance though, singing a more age-appropriate and generally less bonkers song, because she actually can sing. Fingers crossed we get that from Crisalide, which sounds über promising to me. If it’s good, the only problem Miss Monetta will have to face is getting people to take her seriously only a year after she uttered both ‘cybersex’ and ‘so you wanna make love with me?’ on the ESC stage.
…from Sweden: speaking of ESC stages, SVT have released an artist’s rendition of sorts of the Malmö stage from above. It didn’t take long for the criticism to start rolling in, which I find ridiculous because you can’t exactly judge what the thing will look like IRL from a 2D illustration. Be patient, guys. When the real stage gets built and it sucks, then you can go to town trashing it.
Valentine’s Day? No, it’s Unser Song Für Malmö Day!
And thank heavens for that. There’s always at least one country picking their entry on V-Day, which I really appreciate because I get to talk about that instead of the fact that yet again, I coincidentally have no Valentine *weeping noises*. This year, it’s Germany, straying from the Unser Star format for the first time in a while. It’s Unser Song in 2013, and I am pleased to say it looks like that song will be a good one. Here’s the line up.
- Meerstern, Sei Gegrüßt by Die Priester feat. Mojca Erdmann
- Change by Finn Martin
- Little Sister by Mobilée
- Heart On The Line by Blitzkids mvt.
- Lalala by Betty Dittrich
- The Righteous Ones by Ben Ivory
- Craving by Saint Lu
- Nackert by LaBrassBanda
- Elevated by Nica & Joe
- Lieblingslied by Mia Diekow
- One Love by Söhne Mannheims
- Glorious by Cascada
There are only one or two rubbish numbers in there, so the odds for another gold-star worthy pick from Germany are high. Personally, I’m hoping for one of these:
The Righteous Ones – I LOVE this. In fact, this song can be my Valentine, because it is brilliant (and would never cheat on me). It’s an 80s-inspired synth-pop-electro-rock masterpiece with knobs on, and it’s my favourite of the lot.
Glorious – okay, so you can easily compare this with Euphoria (gloooooorrious/ euphooooooorrria – come on) and a million other songs, but damn, it is catchy. Cascada are pretty well known internationally, and that would give them an edge of sorts if they won USFM.
Change – this is decent pop with a nice sentiment, and less of the fanfare that’s sure to come with the previous two songs.
Little Sister – Lena Meyer-Landrut had no hand in this, but it sounds like she could have. Infectious indie-pop may not do as well at Eurovision when she’s nowhere to be seen, but it could be worth a try.
Craving – How many cigarettes/bowls full of sandpaper does it take to get that voice? That’s not a joke, it’s a serious question. Raspy Saint Lu has a unique entry up her sleeve that’s really growing on me.
I think it’s going to be Blitzkids, Betty, Ben or Cascada coming out on top tonight. What do you think? Who could keep Germany in the top 10?
Österreich Rockt Den Song Contest
Do they? Do they really? Because I’m seeing Austria boring the song contest rather than rocking it, with a selection like this.
Feels Like Home by Yela
Rise Above The Night by Falco Luneau
Back To Fantasy by The Bandaloop
Shine by Natália Kelly
Give Me A Sign by Elija
Tomorrow night, these five will battle it out to represent Austria in May, if they can stay awake long enough to perform after hearing each other. Feels Like Home is cruisy but very forgettable. Rise Above The Night is just plain forgettable. Back To Fantasy is the most exciting of them all, about a 6 on the Scale of Excitement. Shine isn’t bad, but is (yet again) forgettable and has a super awkward key change. Give Me A Sign is my favourite, and yet I still can’t remember how it goes.
Bring back Trackshittaz!
Or in the event that that’s not possible, give the victory to The Bandaloop or Elija. That is all.
POLL TIME: have your say!
Have you been wondering who would win Eurovision if it was held right now? Me neither, but I did do this poll last year, and I figured it was time to do it again. So…
Thanks for voting (assuming you did. If you didn’t, DO IT NOW!). I’ll bring you the highly predictable results this weekend, along with other stuff that is 99.4% likely to include Melodifestivalen. Until then…
eurovisionbyjaz.com 
2 Responses to “Selection Season Day 5: Germany and Austria make (hopefully) sweet music + extra bits!”
What a busy day! Three songs! Cyprus was sort of a let down. I can see what they’re trying to do with it (something à la “Korake ti Znam”), but it’s too simple. Probably a non-qualifier. Slovenia is much better and the song itself is pretty instant, so if she gets a good spot on the night, I can see her qualifying comfortably. And then, there’s “Deutchland.”
I’ll admit it, Cascada was not in my top three. They were barely in my top five. However, with this, somewhat expected, win, I’m calling it a top five-er in Malmö, possibly top three. The song translates great to an arena and she can perform the pants off it. If we don’t get anything else like this from the rest of the continent, I can see it winning, and I’m being dead honest here.
Right, so Austria next? Pretty boring, except maybe for the Bandaloop or Yela, both of whom I can see being on the qualification border (all comes down to running order) and at the bottom of the table in the grand final. 2012 spoiled everyone, didn’t it?
On Bulgaria: Excited. The stage: Intrigued. On San Marino: Severely interested. On this comment: Ending. 🙂
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‘Korake Ti Znam’ had more to latch on to than ‘An Me Thimase’. Unless they do something absolutely amazing on stage that blows everyone away (IDK what…maybe if she wears a costume that transforms into a portable wind machine??) I agree, it’s not going anywhere. Slovenia is better, but it’s so generic. It’s Germany, but Germany have done it way, way better.
Severely interested?? Not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. My fingers are crossed that Valentina can somehow make the transition from novelty act to seriosu contender. It would be brilliant for SM to make the final for the first time.
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