[LMBTO] Eurovision Catch-Up! The National Finals (Part 1)...

María Ólafsdóttir (Iceland's 2015 representative) and Friðrik Dór (runner up to said lady) are in the starting picture here, gearing themselves up for a very entertaining rendition of 'Unbroken', the song that Maria didn't really get to grips with in Vienna and went tumbling out of the SF.  Maybe if she had sung a duet with Mr Dór or if he had represented Iceland with his song 'Once Again' (Iceland NF 2015) then maybe that nation might have made the Final...what might have been, eh?

But why I am I showing you a snapshot of the Icelandic NF for this year, I hear you cry?  It's because I changed tack after watching and reviewing THREE NFs (Austria, Denmark, Swiss) in almost as many days and then going to the UK NF - I realised that I was going to burn out out long before Eurovision itself!  I am on this year's SECHUK Jury (SECHUK Jury Scores) and we are currently finishing the short and snappy reviews needed for each entry - I therefore thought that instead of trying to do very late individual reviews of the few other NFs I watched in their entirety (Iceland, Latvia, Estonia, Sweden), together with the other NFs plus internal selections, I would write more detailed reviews of all the successful entries I have yet to talk about.  There will be quite a few of these, seeing that there are eighteen National Finalists still to cover (if you include the revamped Albanian, Maltese and Italian entries amongst them) and fifteen internal selections.  Quite a task I am setting myself, although I do have 44 days until the first rehearsal in Stockholm on Monday May 2nd (at least I assume that's when it is).  I better get going then!


ICELAND

As I mentioned above, this was the first NF I watched all the way through but never got around to reviewing in depth.  The Final itself was quite a tight one but it gave the result that I was delighted with.  The reason?  It started in the SF with this absolutely amazing performance by Greta Salóme:



Moody darkness starts off the song with the juxtaposition of Greta's blonde hair shining through the darkness, as the sole light shines behind her.  What follows is an artistic masterpiece with the singer's emotional delivery and movements syncing (almost) seamlessly with the dark shapes behind her - the interaction between Greta and the hands, the running shapes, the bodies are breathtaking and give a totally immersive show.  Immediately calls went up from Eurovision fans that this was a Loreen or 'Heroes' copy - what tosh!  The only similarity with Loreen's dance extravaganza is the dark clothing and spending a few seconds on the floor - the use of an animated film gives a big nod to Måns Zelmerlöw actually 'trialling' the technology in Vienna last year but this is ALL about the interaction between singer and backdrop, it all directed by Greta, the 'gushing black stream' out of her midriff, the pushing away of the black hands, the writhing movements as she sways to the music, magnified by the tassles on her clothing.  Even this being sung in her native tongue makes it seem ethereal (but Icelandic always sounds that way to an English speaker) - I thought that this would be a shoo-in for Eurovision in the form it was in the SF.  The Final almost unhinged my prediction, with a battle between what appeared to be 'light and darkness':
Luckily for me (and for Eurovision) 'darkness' prevailed!

Watching the Final showed that Greta has to be spot on with her positioning and timings (as Måns had to with the balloon boy and other visuals) - all bar the 'gushing stream' were spot on.  Of course, there was a major difference in this performance - 'Raddirnar' was now 'Hear Them Calling':


Whereas I would normally be bemoaning the swap from Icelandic to English, this change has given the song a different emphasis, not ruined it.  The Icelandic version sounded to my non-understanding ear foreign and mythical but the English makes this more inclusive for me and I am pleased to have the lyrics actually highlighting what is happening behind Greta.  Her timing on most of the visuals was spot on in the Final take, all apart from that highlight 'gush' - 'Heroes' was apparently rehearsed constantly for months, I would suspect that 'Hear Them Calling' will be 'millimetre perfect' in May.  I am sure that SVT and RUV will endeavour to make this look superb - Iceland, as I believe this has a real chance of winning Eurovision, SVT as they won't want to be accused of not staging such an entry as superbly as they did for Måns in Melodifestivalen last year.  This 'official video' version loses some of the crowd audio on the night - there were cheers at the 'false ending' which have been removed and that will always be an issue, as some of the fans inside the Globen will not have seen this already (I know, are they real fans?  Sorry, my little joke!).  The acting for that, her waving her arms to quiet the crowds and disperse the dark figures, works well too - this is the perfect entry for me and out of 42 entries revealed so far (as of March 20th, we still have to hear Bulgaria), this is my favourite and the one I would love to see winning.  Or will this be 'my perfect storm' as Maaraya were at EMA 2015?  We have seven weeks to find out.  9.5


UKRAINE


Now a lot was said about the cultural and political links that this song has with the Crimean Tatar expulsion by Stalin during World War 2 at the time of the Ukrainian selection process - the actual song itself only hints at that history and as the background has been covered in so much detail elsewhere, I will not touch on that.  Needless to say, I didn't think the song itself had any direct or indirect political message and I was relieved that it was not thrown out by the EBU.  My review will always be purely on the entry itself - having said that, it being based on such a serious event means that it was never going to be the happiest song in the world.  No 'happy, happy, joy, joy' here from Ukraine but Eurovision always reflects a nation's desire to be heard, to highlight what its population are feeling at the time and this song does that big time.  Given the darkness of the subject matter, it is dealt with magnificently by Jamala.  She has a superb voice and vocal range, taking the song from a low place (tone and lyrically) to an almost celebratory high - she also looked stunning in the Tatar outfit she wore at the NF, something I hope she brings to Stockholm.  The music gives a combination of ethnicity and jazz which fits perfectly with her combining the languages of English and Crimean Tatar - the only thing that makes this entry sound a little disjointed to me is the almost separate lament part of the song which conversely shows off Jamala's incredible perfect high notes.  I originally compared that part to the high pitched piercing notes 'Suus' in my SECHUK review but I was being unfair to Jamala - she has this all under control with the emotional facial delivery to match, putting all of her heart and soul into this very personal tale.
I am hoping that '1944' will be judged purely on the outstanding singing and impassioned delivery of Jamala, rather than by another spate of 'Russia vs Ukraine' historical stirrings or commentators trying to make out that this is just like 'Suus' and that any animals will need to leave the room (as I can imagine some of the more 'comedic' presenters around Europe will try to do).  Not a favourite for me but like Armenia's entry in Vienna, the exposure of this entry will (rightly or wrongly) revive some important long-lost historical and cultural points of Jamala's ancestors.  8.0


GERMANY


After last year's debacle of the landslide winner turning down the right to go to Vienna and the initial internal selection for Stockholm dredging up huge amounts of controversy within hours of announcement, leading to their offer being retracted, I feared for Germany this year.  Yet from the depths of ridiculousness has come a rebirth of Germany as a potential Eurovision force - Barbara Schöneberger looked delighted to be congratulating someone who actually wanted to go to the Contest and appears not to cause any problems for her nation:
The joy was real and this is my favourite German entry since 2010, where some comparisons can be drawn with this country's last winner.  Dark haired young female singer with a distinctive vocal style who owns the stage and gives quite a beguiling performance - admittedly the actual song genres are totally different, as are the costumes worn, no danger of a  'little black dress' here!  Jamie-Lee might have a Manga obsession which appears odd to those who have no idea of that lifestyle but it does make her stand out, as does her wonderful singing voice, which has maturity beyond her eighteen years.  The hypnotic beats and the dark subject matter of the lyrics make this one to listen to - not just her, as the backing at the German NF was superb.  This is one of my top tracks of 2016 at the moment (fourth with only Bulgaria to hear) - I am sure that after finishing 27th and zero points in Vienna, Eurovision fans in Germany would delighted if she could match where I have 'Ghost' on my list.  I have a feeling that how far up the leaderboard this entry finishes will depend totally on the producer's line-up on Final night - given a prominent draw in either half, this could do very well...put after someone like Sergey from Russia (assuming that he qualifies) and this might struggle to be remembered.  For having one of the best voices at Stockholm this year, I really hope that this bewitching ballad does the business for Jamie-Lee.  8.5


So that's the first three covered - all three within my top ten at the moment, so they were a good place to start my reviews.   A real mix of musical styles as well - it bodes well for Eurovision this year, as long as Iceland and Ukraine qualify of course!   Next up on the NF list were the next three Finals, all to the East - Moldova, Hungary and Slovenia...