So I have a little admission, a fascination that I can’t quite explain, a guilty pleasure if you will. I really enjoy “cough” the Eurovision Song Contest, so much so I find myself glued to the telly watching the entire competitions coverage, the semi’s and finals.
This years Eurovision Song contest was hosted in the city of Baku, in Azerbaijan after last year’s victory by Ell And Nikki, the setting looked incredible a combination of the old historical city and the ultra modern venue, The Crystal Hall, whilst every performance featured mesmeric visual backing and intoxicating choreography, whilst the music itself ranged from the sub-standard Euro cheese to the downright bizarre, with the occasional half decent tune thrown in for good measure.
In truth half the fun of the competition is seeing who each country deem worthy to represent, you can tell that a number of countries just see the event as a bit of fun, whereas a few are over the top to the point of being deadly serious, which of course is plain bonkers as we generally know that the results are somewhat political.
This album features every single track entered into this years competition whether they made it past the semi’s or not and I suppose is worth the punt if there was a particular song you really liked, for me personally there are a few numbers I genuinely love, beginning with the dazzling opening number Suus by Albania’s Rona Nishliu, imagine Bjork with a better vocal range performing over a stunning piano and orchestral backing, the notes she hits are simply staggering and like her weekend performance I was left completely spell bound.
The host’s Azerbaijan offer up a nice ballad in the shape of When The Music Dies by Sabina Babayeva, a powerful and emotive vocal that should hit anyone with a passion for a mature, passionate performance. Sinplus (Switzerland) and Compact Disco (Hungary) both offer up pretty infectious slabs of electro-indie pop in the shape of Unbreakable and Sound Of Our Hearts respectively, whilst Denmark’s Soluna Samay and Holland’s Joan Franka both deliver passable upbeat pop numbers with Should Have Known Better and You And Me. Then there’s the obligatory rock numbers from the brilliant Crno E Belo by Kaliopi (F.Y.R Macedonia) and the absurdly o.t.t yet contagious Don’t Close Your Eyes by Max Jason Mai (Slovakia). There’s a couple of novelities worth some attention, the Russian grannies dance fuelled Party For Everyone is so ridiculous you can’t help but like it (though it is a great deal more fun with the visuals), whilst Euro Neuro by Rambo Amadeus (Montenegro) is the closest to punk (in attitude) you’ll ever hear (or see) on Eurovision.
And for me perhaps the best song of this year’s competition was the Italian entry, L’Amore E Femmina (Out Of Love) by Nina Zilli, a fantastic swinging pop number that in a just world should be a hit the world over, Nina has a wonderful, catchy delivery whilst the musicality is equally as addictive.
After those highlights I should mention some of the lesser entries, our very own effort Love Will Set You Free, is in truth, tired, surely we can muster something a little more modern, when it comes to music the UK are innovators so why not pick a modern day indie band or perhaps some dubstep, anything but this dated croon crap. La La Love by the Cyrpriot entry is horrible Euro-dance fare, as is Aphrodisiac from Greece, god knows what Anri Jokhadze with Joker is on about, whilst the less said about bloody Jedward or indeed the David Guetta influenced and eventual winner Eurphoria by Loreen (though you won ‘t be able to avoid this one) the better.
So there you have it an album full of highs, lows and out-there oddities, if you caught the competition and like a track or two or like me, have a weird affinity for Eurovision pick-up a copy of this, if however you baulk at the very mention of Eurovision avoid like the plague, tight I’m off to rehab to try to cure this addiction.
Rhythm & Booze Rating 6