[LMBTO] Franka & Ryan can go "Crazy""Together" at Eurovision...

Now THAT is a kickass headline picture!  The stunningly beautiful Franka in a flowing Grecian dress, the statuesque focus of attention here, almost like The Statue Of Liberty - is Miss Batelić's pose the only thing that is enlightening about Croatia's Eurovision entry this year?

I was genuinely excited about hearing this nation's song, especially after delving into some of Franka's back catalogue sung in her native tongue and English and also once I had watched the teaser video.  Brief though it was, I wasn't focussing on the AD&D Thieves Guild AGM, the sand or the pearls on the floor but on that music:



The slow sensual pace of the music, with those muted trumpets and the drums played in a methodical jazz/military way really got me wanting to hear the whole piece, mainly because we had no idea of how Franka's voice would interlace with that beat.  I didn't have to wait long for the whole masterpiece - "Crazy":

Wow, you don't get to hear an entry like that everyday at Eurovision!  As far as jazz melodies go, this year has quite the crop, what with "Funny Girl" for Latvia and " A Matter Of Time" for Belgium.  "Crazy" is smooth, so laid back and yet so sultry, even sexual, in an infinitely good way.  Franka's voice is so wonderfully soulful and it meshes perfectly with the R&B/jazz accompaniment of the muted brass section, the soft percussion and those finger clicks.  Absolutely engaging in the video, this lady controls the passage of this song (and time) beautifully - it is a very slow song and with another singer and musical genre, my interest could have been lost long before the spoken section (with a nod to Bonnie and Clyde) is reached.  Even that kept my attention until the music picked up again - spoken sections are often 'red flags' in a song as they can destroy the flow of a track but not here (possibly because it is so leisurely anyway).  Onto the lyrics now and to me, they scream 'infatuation':


In this Eurovision packed full of social conscience, isn't it nice to have an entry that is just about base instincts of love and obsession?   If Franka is on the Altice stage wearing that dress again, this will be a televisual spectacle as well, irrespective of who else is on the stage (a few of the 'sand clan'?).  As I showed you in my review of her when she was announced as Croatia's singer, I have no fear that her live version will sound exactly the same as this studio sample and I am already looking forward to seeing this live in Lisbon (hopefully before that too).  The song that came to my mind when I heard "Crazy" for the first time was this one:



I think that it was the pace of it and the music that has the same jazz influences to it - I loved this one too, unsurprisingly!

Croatia's chances this year?  The nation has had a reasonably successful couple of years, what with "Lighthouse" and "My Friend" both getting to the Final, in spite of (or maybe because of) their 'novel' USPs (big clothes and pop/opera duet with one person) - I would love to see Franka perform in SF1 and the Final, as this is sheer class.  For me, if music could be in liquid form, "Crazy" would be a slow flowing honey, oozing delightfully and looking absolutely perfect (it wouldn't be any good for Franka to swim in though):
Franka looks stunning in the video and she will be a televisual dream, giving 'good face' as Madonna might have once sung.  If the staging is anywhere as mysterious and arresting as in the video, this entry will be one of the highlights of Tuesday night in Lisbon - it is my current number six as far as this year is concerned, simply because I would play this tune again and again and again, never tiring of it and hearing new nuances each time.  Fingers crossed as it is tough out there in SF1 - hopefully in the Final, I would see this getting to mid-table, much in the same way as Jacques did in Kyiv...


So we've had the "Crazy" part of the article title, now onto the "Together".  As I flagged up at the beginning of February, Ireland are to be represented by Ryan O'Shaughnessy - we knew his song was called "Together" and ten days ago, amid a whimper rather than a crescendo (mid afternoon on an Irish radio show), we found out what it sounded like:



There is one word that sticks in my brain after listening to the song and watching the video - that word?


And yet in totally different ways, visually and audibly - read the lyrics and you will see what I am getting at:


Now those are lyrics describing a relationship that is, to put it bluntly, finished and it is obvious to one party that the other is having an affair.  Watch the video again - that is two guys at the start of a relationship, the wonderful 'oblivious to the rest of the world' stage where you joke and laugh and have knowing looks at each other, the place where you are just about to take it further than just holding hands.  The music itself actually matches the video quite nicely - I could imagine the refrain of the piano, strings and guitar all playing 'together' (sorry) in the background at home, maybe when a couple were spending an intimate moment together, beautiful musical 'wallpaper' that would be remembered always when you and your significant other look back on 'that night'.


It just doesn't fit for me and now that I have analysed those words, I cannot get on board with this entry.  To play this out properly, Ireland really have to be brave and go down the route that Koit and Laura should have done with "Verona" in Kyiv - a song about the end of relationship should be acted out with sadness, with regret, with poignancy, no smiles, no laughter, no fun.  And definitely nothing like this for the staging:
We have very little to go on as to how this might be staged - transporting the 'bar area' of a city won't be an option in the Altice Arena.  I would suspect that we will see Ryan with his guitar alone (perhaps with the solo female backing singer nearby), which for me would work really well if something like this live unplugged session could be recreated:



We all know that the instrument playing would be mimed (or has Netta from Israel opened a veritable Pandora's box?) but this guy shows that he could carry off a very simple 'Tom Dice' staging, although judging by this offering, most of his best work sounds as depressing as anything! 


I think he could and bizarrely enough, I think that this would aid the memorability of this entry no end - as it is, it is such a slow melodic and reflective song that without something to visually hook into, Ireland's entry will be lost amongst almost every single other song in its SF.  Unless this has "When We're Old" on one side of it and "Our Choice" on the other, this will be lost to the memory of every voter watching SF1 - even in the recap, any uptempo song next to "Together" will be recalled in preference to Ryan's song.  I have to say that Ryan O'Shaughnessy has a beautiful song here and it will make a superb addition to his set when he plays live but I cannot in all honesty see it making it out of the SF -  looks as though Ireland will make it FIVE years in a row without being in the Final...


As you could tell, I am more "Crazy" than "Together" - Franka has got a real gem of a song and I could sit back and replay it over and over again, with that wonderful sensual groove that is the music flowing slowly under her amazing vocal talents and obvious visual delights, whereas Ryan has a lovely song, sings it beautifully but it sends the wrong messages to me lyrically and will fade into obscurity in Lisbon, unfortunately.  Croatia would get my five points in the Final at the moment and that is where I hope to see this lady at the Altice - if Ireland make it into the Final this year, it will be (a) a miracle and (b) a pundit nightmare and a bookies dream, as so many acts expected to make the Final will have failed to do so.  Sorry Ireland, "Together" is unlikely to get much past Tuesday - as for "Crazy"...