ROMANIA 2011 - Change

ESC-wise, I really love Romania. They're one of my favorite countries. They've sent so many great songs. Of course they don't always get it right, but when they do, wow. :-) 2005 and 2006 were some of their best years ... and of course last year, when they ended up third with the fantastic Playing With Fire. Their dream is, naturally, to one day win - and I for one would love to see the contest in Bucharest. Will this be Romania's year? I'm genuinely sorry to say that I don't think so. If they couldn't do it with Playing With Fire, I seriously doubt that they can do it with Change. But!

Don't let the fact that I don't see this song as a winner lead you to think that I don't like it. On the contrary, I love it. Another Romanian favorite. :-) The problem is that I can't tell you exactly what's so great about it. I really like the opening. I like the piano keeping the beat. I like the singer's voice. I like the chorus. But do I like these things because they're good, or do I just like them because I like them? Couldn't tell you. My bias may be clouding my judgment on this one. But I like the song a lot and I will have my fingers crossed for Romania this year. As usual. :-)

One thing I don't like is the singer's outfit. It's his shirt. There's something about it, I can't put my finger on exactly what, but it's really distracting. He needs to change his outfit. But I think he can do it. He can change! :-D

This is Hotel FM performing Change by Gabriel Băruţă and Alexandra Ivan, who will be competing for Romania on Thursday, May 12th. They're in the second semi, so I can vote for them, yay! :-D



Fullscreen here. Lyrics here.

ROMANIA 2010 - Playing With Fire

Romania is one of my favorite countries in the ESC. They've sent some really wonderful songs. Especially in 2005 and 2006, I just loved their entries both those years. Still do. :-) So I'm always looking forward to seeing what they'll come up with. And I'm of course extra happy to see their entry this year, since it has a Norwegian element. And not just any 'element' ...

Ovi Martin is Romanian but has grown up in Norway, and he really loves the ESC ... he's been in our national contest twice, with some pretty good songs. Last year he almost made it ... he got through to the last round ... but of course our little hobbit was totally unbeatable. ;-) But he really wants to be in the show ... !! And this year he's kind of made it. It isn't his own song, but at least he's performing it. And it must be so cool for him to be performing the Romanian song on stage here in Norway. Kudos to Ovi ... !! :-D

And what's even better is that the song is good too. I like this entry a lot ... it has a great beat and is really catchy, and it's a relief to see a good uptempo quick song in this sea of ballads. I really like this combination of singers too ... these two look good together, they've got chemistry and their voices work really well together. I think that how well this song will do is going to depend to a large extent on the presentation. The song itself has a lot of potential, but the performance needs to look good too. Fingers crossed that they'll do something classy with it ... !! :-)

This is Paula Seling and Ovi Martin performing Playing With Fire by Ovidiu Cernăuţeanu. He will be competing for Romania on Thursday, May 27th. Good luck!! :-)



Lyrics here.

Romania, United Kingdom, Finland, Spain

Romania:
This song is so annoying ... but even if it wasn't, it'd still be ruined for me by the fact that the sylvan nymph theme of the presentation has nothing whatsoever to do with the song.
Boo, Romania!! And it's especially disappointing since Romania has sent some really great songs in the past.

United Kingdom:
Now, this is apparently the song we make use of to bring out the cake ... :-D
Another song that is just mystifying ... I can't believe that this is a favorite. That's got to be just something the betting agencies are making up. Aren't they mostly British owned? >:-)
Argh, our commentator is so stupid ... she says she thinks this song is a serious contender, and why? Because the 'musical craftsmanship and quality' of Lloyd Webber's work will stand out. Umm, yeah ... cause we all know that craftsmanship and quality is what the ESC is all about!! Duh.
I think people may be very surprised by how badly this song ends up doing.

Finland:
Meh. I've heard this song umpteen times before and I'm sure pretty much everyone in the audience has too.
Too unvaried a melody, too repetitive.
I don't get why this song is in the final.
No chance.

Spain:
And kind of the same with this. Another favorite. I don't think it has any serious chances, though, because it's not very original. It's a typical example of its genre. But it has great energy. And the singer's great, I like her a lot.
A great slot. But I don't think it'll be anywhere near enough.
A good melody, a good beat, but ... no, I don't think so.
Good way to end the show, though. :-)

FYR Macedonia, Romania, Finland

FYR Macedonia:
Yawn.
They're trying really hard, but there's just nothing to this song that we haven't all seen a hundred times before. And heard.
Boring.
I don't have high hopes for this.

Romania:
Has anyone seen the movie Mean Girls ... ? Just asking, since the term 'army of skanks' came floating into my mind now ...
What they're doing with the stage is pretty. But the presentation is totally fucked up. It has nothing to do with the song.
OMG, folk dance Riverdance ripoff. Sad.
Overall very unimpressive. I wonder if this girl understands enough English to know what she's actually singing in her sylvan paradise ... ?
I hope we won't see this song again - but Romania has a lot of fans in the ESC, so it's hard to say.

Finland:
Hm. A catchy song, but maybe overly catchy. It kind of gets repetitive after a while. At least IMO - this isn't really my type of music.
Four singers, and not one that can really sing ... o_O
This song may do well, I wouldn't be surprised. If there are a lot of young people watching, it may go down like a house on fire. :-)

ROMANIA 2009: Elena Gheorghe – The Balkan Girls

Romania has been participating in the ESC since 1993, with a couple of missed years here and there. Most of the time they haven't done very well. It took them three years to even qualify for the final. But in 2005 and 2006 they sent great songs and did very well indeed ... 3rd and 4th place respectively. I totally dig their 2005 entry. I was almost expecting to be tuning in to Bucharest in 2006 ... and IMO that would have been much more well deserved than the actual winner. But that's another story.

Their entry this year is a song about how Balkan girls like to party in awkward English. >:-) It will be performed by Elena Gheorghe, who, although quite young and unknown to the larger world, has been a professional singer for years, and has released several albums. As for the song, well ...

The intro's kind of intriguing, but as soon as the verse starts I'm just left scratching my head wondering where I've heard this before. The chorus is pretty catchy. At first, anyway. But the lyrics are embarrassing. For crowd delight, we'll shine all night ... ? Um, OK. The chorus gets kind of annoying towards the end and the performance is sort of ... slutty, or whatever ... but what do I expect. >:-) This is overall a pretty standard pop song that IMO doesn't meet international standards. I hope the performance will be better in Moscow. I don't understand at all that anyone can think of this as having serious chances. Turkey will totally crush this entry. ;-) By the standards Romania has set in recent years, this is a letdown.

But don't listen to me, judge for yourself. This is Elena Gheorghe performing The Balkan Girls by Laurenţiu Duţă, who's had help from Ovidiu Bistriceanu and Daris Mangal with the music and from Alexandru Pelin with the lyrics. They will be competing for Romania in the first semifinal, on May 12th.

Lyrics here.

Romania, United Kingdom, Albania, Germany

Romania:
A song that gets better every time I hear it. Though it would have been better with just him, she kind of ruins the song a little bit for me.
She's changed her dress, a silver dress, what a surprise!! :-D
A good song. They'll do well.

United Kingdom:
A perfectly alright song, and the singer's really good. Good stage presence, good voice, puts a lot of effort into it, and I love the light effects. :-) But they'll do badly - because this song is 20 years old. Stock/Aitken/Waterman could have produced this in 1988. This poor guy is totally wasted on this song. A shame, actually.

Albania:
A good song! She's sweet and she has a really good voice, and the song is a beautiful ballad. It won't take much to make this Albania's best result ever, they've never placed higher than 16th. They deserve to do well with this IMO. A lovely entry.

Germany:
Blech.
These women look like drag queens at a distance.
Awful costumes. Awful presentation.
The song itself isn't that bad, the entry could have been much better. But hopefully they will do badly with this.

Finland, Romania, Russia, Greece

Finland:
I like this song, but come on! This is exactly what they did two years ago, just without the masks. I don't think we'll be seeing this on Saturday. I don't think audiences want this now. And the presentation is boring. Raise your hand anyone who has not seen this dozens of times before ... ?
It's great that they're singing in Finnish, I really appreciate that. But I don't think this will get anywhere.

Romania:
A pretty ballad, but what else is new?
They both have good voices, I'll give them that, but ...
I kept waiting for something to happen to make this song special. It's a good song, a strong ballad, but again, I don't see where the hook is that will make this stand out above the rest.
Romania's one of the ESC greats in recent years. They're favorites this year too, but I'm really not sure.
Maybe.

Russia:
Yees ... !! My favorite this year. :-) Go Russia ... !!!
They will get a shitload of votes because Dima Bilan is Dima Bilan.
And he certainly does believe. :-D Psycho intensity, much?
Oh look, he's doing a Sandie Shaw ... !! LOL!
Yes, nothing says 'I have faith' better than a tame Olympic ice skating champion ... :-D
This is another song that's really growing on me. I dig it. I believe!! :-D
No question about it, Russia's in the final.

Greece:
Hey, it's Britney Spears five years ago ... ;-)
Now that is odd - I remember her voice as being better in the video ... ;-)
It's working pretty well anyway. An insanely catchy song will get you far. And here comes the ethnic vibe ... :-D
Personally I don't dig the presentation, but that's me. Many will no doubt like it.
I'm sure that Greece will be part of the show on Saturday too.

A great ending to the show so far. :-)

ROMANIA: Nico & Vlad - Pe-o margine de lume

What is with the Romanians and Italian?? Will someone please tell them already that Italy's not competing??? :-D

(Yes, I know, they speak Italian in Romania too. But they can't vote for this.)

A ballad, so there's no way it'll win. Not a ballad after a ballad. They'll score some votes with the guy singer's dark and, ahem, expressive eyes, though. But ... no. Can't see this going far. It isn't a bad song, it just doesn't have enough of a hook. I mean, try comparing this to Malta's Angel three years ago. I like this song while I'm listening to it, but I can't hum it afterwards.

Their voices are good, but that won't get them far enough.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0DcHHZb1mY