SLOVENIA 2011 - No One

I've been a little confused about this song ... whether she was going to be performing in Slovenian or English. I didn't look into it too closely, but was hoping against hope that it'd be the former. But alas, it seems to be the latter. She performed in Slovenian in their national final, but of course they're changing it for Düsseldorf. Sigh.

Slovenia is another country that tends to do badly even though they send good entries. Like Switzerland ... or as I like to call it, Switzerland the Damned. I don't get why this happens ... I mean, mediocre results would be understandable, but consistently shitty results I don't really get. Slovenia has only been able to get to the final once since 2004, and even then they didn't end up higher than 15th place. I don't know how they manage it. I'm afraid it may in part be to do with the presentation - or in fact I'm sure that's part of it - just look up their entries in 2007 and 2008 and see how they did with those, respectively. Alas.

In Switzerland's case it's probably different, but Slovenia certainly can't be accused of not taking chances and not being original. Opera, classical, pop, ballads, uptempo numbers, complete and utter trash ... they've really tried a lot of different things over the past few years. It never seems to work. This year they're trying something else again - a completely standard ESC ditty with a pretty young thing in a tight dress. Maybe this time they're on to something. ;-)

They may be, actually. This song is kind of low-key, but also rather dramatic ... obviously not very catchy, but ballads rarely are ... although the chorus does have a bit of a hook to it ... but the song is really gripping when you're hearing it. The singer has a good voice with some character ... she's pretty and the performance is pretty good. I like this song a lot and I'm happy to see Slovenia back on track after last year's atrocious misfire. With their luck I wouldn't take anything for granted but IMO they could well get to the final with this one. Fingers crossed. :-)

This is Maja Keuc performing No One (or rather Vanilija) by Matjaž Vlašič and Urša Vlašič. They will be competing for Slovenia on Thursday, May 12th. Good luck. :-)

Widescreen here.

Lyrics with translation here.

SLOVENIA 2010 - Narodnozabavni Rock

Ah, Slovenia ... fifteen participations, middling results, up until the past few years when they for some reason started bombing almost every year. Weirdly, IMO, because I've really liked most of their entries the past few years. The worse they do, the more I like them ... ;-)

Seriously, though, they are clearly doing something wrong as far as the rest of Europe is concerned, and I'm afraid they're only continuing the trend this year. They're trying to mix rock and folk music elements, and while that can be fun sometimes, it totally fails here. In pretty much every conceivable way. The tune maybe could have been fun, but nah, it's just annoying. The flips back and forth between one style and the other doesn't work at all, the two styles don't mesh well at all and the costumes, well, the least said the better. Ethnic elements are one thing, and I know that they like that a lot down east, but seriously ... if that's what people are looking for then Serbia blows this thing totally out of the water.

This song in itself isn't hopelessly bad, but there are so many elements that combine here and not a single one of them works out, so it's just ... It's just a lost cause this year for the Slovenians. This is the kind of entry that really makes you think that if this was the best they could come up with for their national contest, then what the hell were the other entries like. And then you think that you really don't want to know ... ;-)

Anyway, see for yourselves. I challenge you to find one good thing about this entry. :-) This is Ansambel Roka Žlindre & Kalamari performing Narodnozabavni Rock by Marino Legovič and Leon Oblak ... they will be competing for Slovenia on Thursday, May 27th. Never to be seen again. >:-)



Lyrics with translation here.

Ooh, I solved my own challenge! They're singing in Slovene, I applaud that. :-) But one more thing? Anyone?

SLOVENIA 2005: Omar Naber - Stop

Time for an ESC entry! Hey, there hasn't been one for almost a month. It's about time. ;-)

Not much to say about this song ... it's just an entry I really really like from Kyiv 2005. Omar the dental technician performed for Slovenia. :-) I think the song has a fantastic melody, and of course I dig the fact that the lyrics are in Slovene. I must confess that I like it more when I just listen to it and don't actually have to see the guy in his silly outfit. But you can't have it all. :-) It's a song that I like a lot, and I could have wished much better results for it.

Because it didn't do very well - it didn't get through from the semifinal, I think it came 12th. Alas. In some very small measure my fault - as I recall, I did not vote for this entry. In 2005 I voted for Iceland in the semi (they also did not get through) and Hungary ... and maybe Romania, I'm not entirely sure. In the final I voted for Hungary and - I think - Romania. Too bad for the Slovenians, but that's how it goes.

This is Omar Nader performing his own composition Stop which he cowrote with Urša Vlašič. He competed for Slovenia in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Thursday, May 19th, 2005.



Lyrics with translation here.

Slovenia, Hungary, Azerbaijan

Slovenia:
Sheesh, the Norwegian commentator is so stupid. She just said that this entry is instrumental. No, it obviously isn't, because that's against the rules. Gah.
Same presentation as in the national final. I thought as much. It's striking and memorable. I like what they're doing with the stage ... I like the color scheme. Good presentation.
A song that's easy to remember, great melody.
It may be too odd to get very far, but I quite like it myself.

Hungary:
Oh, the outfits ... !! o_O
It's not a bad song, but I don't have high hopes for it. There have been other entries before that have been very much like this one, and they have done badly.
Tacky presentation.
Also, probably not very smart to play it quite so gay in Russia. I'm not a racist, but. Just sayin'.

Azerbaijan:
Eek!! What the hell is this??
I know I said I thought this entry would get through, but I think I take it back ... ! :-o
Awful outfits. And they sing so badly ... ! He was much better in the video. Huh.
Bad presentation of a good song.
They may get a bunch of votes from Sweden since Arash is Swedish-Iranian.
Swedish-Iranian, and competing for Azerbaijan. See how the ÈSC is working its magic ... !! :-D

SLOVENIA 2009: Quartissimo – Love Symphony

Ah, Slovenia ... ! Believe it or not, but this is actually one of my favorite countries in the ESC. In the years that I've been following the contest really closely, they've sent a lot of entries that I've really liked. Granted, they haven't done very well. :-) But I personally have liked the songs a lot. Still do, of course. :-) Stop (2005), Cvet z juga (2007), last year's Vrag naj vzame, and even Mr Nobody (2006). I know, it's a silly song, but I like it. :-) I also really like that they mostly sing in Slovene. But, as I said, they generally don't do very well. Slovenia has been participating in the contest for a long time - longer than most other Eastern nations. They've been in the contest on their own, competing almost every year, since 1993 ... and even before that, starting from 1961, they competed too, in a way, as part of the now defunct state of Yugoslavia. Their best results have been 7th place ... they've gotten that far twice. Other than that, meh. Middling. Up until the past five years, when they started doing actually badly :-) ... over those five years they have only qualified for the final once. Alas. Here's hoping they'll do better this year, because I really like Slovenia. :-)

Their entry this year is a bit unusual in that it's mostly instrumental. But that may be a smart move. The most recent of Norway's two victories, in 1995, was almost entirely instrumental. I say almost, because a song can't compete in the ESC without some lyrics. An entry that really was 100% instrumental would be disqualified. Sweden did in fact try to have us disqualified in -95 - yes, really! - but the EBU came to the conclusion that the few words of lyrics that the song has (25 in the original, 30 in the English version) were sufficient. So yay us. :-) Slovenia's entry for Moscow has more words than Nocturne did, but it's mostly repetitions of the same verse. They are sung by a pretty girl (Martina Majerle) while a string quartet (Quartissimo, of course) play a melody that blends pop and classical elements into something that I in fact quite like. I'm very unsure, though, of how this will go down in Moscow. It may do well and it may bomb ... I have to say I think it's hard to tell. o_O What it does have going for it is that it's unusual and will be remembered. The performance in the national final was quite striking and people may find it rather entertaining ... if they don't change it, of course. Alternatively the audience may think it's silly. I really can't say- if I have to make a guess I will say that I think it will do relatively well. It's different from the typical ESC entry, and so is memorable and entertaining just for that. And it's a catchy and, by ESC standards, innovative melody. The best of luck to Slovenia on May 14th. :-)

This is Quartissimo featuring Martina Majerle performing Love Symphony by Andrej Babić and Aleksandar Valenčić who will be competing for Slovenia.



Lyrics, such as they are, here.

This, btw, is my 100th post on the ESC. :-)

Slovenia, Norway, Poland, Ireland

Slovenia:
Hope everything goes as it should, she's been having problems with her cage in rehearsals ... :-D
I like this song. The song itself should definitely be finals material. But the presentation is weird. What is the red thread in this supposed to be? If there's a story here, I'm totally missing it ...
But as the lady says, to hell with it! :-D I'm almost sure we'll be seeing this on Saturday.

Norway:
Love can be hard sometimes
Yes, it can catch you off guard like bad crimes
This is what is known in my language as an 'emergency rhyme' ...
Ballads are always risky. But at least our performer can actually really sing. I love that she's not totally skinny like so many of these songstresses are (not just in the ESC but generally). Her performance is better here than it was in our national final where she smiled way too much. A pretty good presentation ... although it would perhaps have been better if she'd done it completely by herself like Malta's Chiara did three years ago.
It's a pretty good song. I'd say we've got a chance - let's say fifty-fifty. Supposedly Maria & Mira, the composer, are super popular down there after these two weeks ... but they always say that. ;-)
Regardless of how this goes, we can hold our heads up this year. This is not a bad song. I'm gratified to see this after how we embarrassed ourselves last year.

Poland:
Another ballad - not so good for Poland. And this singer isn't quite as good, and the song a little more boring. The Easterners may like this, they like 'big' ballads ... and some in the West may like it too, I suppose. It's basically standard pop. I think it's too standard to get very far. My guess would be that we won't be hearing this on Saturday. I may be wrong, but I really don't see where the hook is that will make people remember this.

Ireland:
Certainly not a good thing that the song is being booed before it starts. Used to be that no one got booed at all, that wasn't done in the ESC. Was it Macedonia who started that in 2005? I know he got booed (which he deserved, and his daddy too) and that was sort of unheard of then. Anyway:
Presentation: they've recreated the video, basically, so like Azerbaijan, not too many points for creativity. Visual effects as annoying as the beat of the song.
I don't like this. I think it's crap. This, Estonia, Latvia - gags. Me no like. I seriously hope, and believe, that this won't be heard of after tonight. But it may, perhaps. I don't discount it entirely ... because people are, famously, idiots.
We'll see in an hour! :-)

SLOVENIA: Rebecca Dremelj - Vrag naj vzame

Another year, another half naked Slovenian chick ...

What's with the dolphin tattoo on her breast, why won't she show us the whole thing?? (The tattoo, that is, not the breast. ;-)
OK, this is'nt half bad. Like their halfnaked contestant last year. Not as good a voice as Alenka, but still pretty good. A catchy song, and obviously a quick song with a beat is what's going to win this year. This song will do well. Although of course after last year's hand light whatever they do on stage will be a letdown ... ; -)

Oh, we do in fact get to see the whole dolphin towards the end of the video. Thanks, I guess. :-)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUi9AjIDSmE