The largest country represented in the Eurovision Broadcasting Union (both in terms of population and geographical size), Russia's debut to the Contest came in 1994's contest in Dublin with Youddiph's Vyechniy Strannik. This debut earned Russia a total of 70 points and a 9th place finish:
Seven years after Youddiph's performance, Russia placed second in Stockholm in 2000 (missing first place, which went to Denmark, by 40 points) and then placing a very tight third with t.A.T.u.'s Ne ver Ne Boysia at the 2003 Contest in Riga (Turkey won with 167 points, with Belgium in 2nd place with 165 and t.A.T.u. receiving 164 points for Russia). In 2006, Russia was represented by Dima Bilan, by then a rising star in his home country, and Never Let You Go, with its theatrical performance (a ballerina popped out of the white piano covered in red rose petals that Dima was "playing" and dancing until the end of the song) got Russia another 2nd place finish (this time behind Lordi's Hard Rock Hallelujah from Finland). Two years later, Dima Bilan would return to the Contest in Belgrade with Believe and finally take the winner's trophy to Moscow, with another dramatic performance (this time singing barefoot in front of a wind-machine, with an Olympic figure skater dancing on fake ice behind him). I mean, for realz:
Given Russia's success at Eurovision with songs presented in English (and considering many ex-Soviet republics' vote distribution history), it is never wise to count the "Bear" out of the top of the leader board. This year, the country is represented by 22 year-old Dina Gapipova with What If, a power-ballad with a message of unity, competing for the win in Malmo with an official Contest theme of "We Are One." Could we be going back to Russia (this time presumably in St. Petersburg) for the Contest next year?
[A little programming note. This post was originally supposed to auto-publish on Sunday, but apparently doesn't happen when the blogger accidentally picks a date two weeks from what was intended...Major ooopsy!]
Like most other Western European countries, Denmark has a mixed-bag history at the Eurovision Song Contest. The country started participating in 1957 and the debut song placed a respectable third in that year's Contest. Denmark's next six entries all placed in the Top Ten, and in 1963, Denmark was able to take the trophy home in London with husband and wife team Grethe and Jorgen Ingmann's Dansevise.
Then came Denmark's less-than-diserable fourteenth place finish (out of 17 participants) in Luxembourg in 1966 (it was their worst finish until that point). After the London performance, Denmark left the Contest for more than a decade, returning 1978 to the contest being hosted in Paris. Since then and until their next win in 2000 (coincidentally hosted by Stockholm), Denmark has floated up and down the final score charts (eleven Top Ten finishes are not something to be scoffed at, especially when they include two consecutive 3rd place finishes in 1988 and 1989). After unexpectedly the Contest in 2000 with the Olsen Brothers' Fly on the Wings of Love, Denmark almost pulled off the elusive win on home turf with Rollo & King's performance of Never Ever Let You Go in 2001 (which eventually came in second).
In the 2000s (and after the introduction of a massive number of new countries), Denmark continued its Eurovision roller-coaster ride(s), with an eclectic brew of Danish rap, drag queen disco, traditional Eurovision pop, and hippie folk/pop songs (the latter was delivered in Baku last year by Soluna Samay with Should've Known Better, which earned Denmark its second-worst result).
This year, Denmark will be represented in Malmo by Emmelie de Forest and her song Only Teardrops, a mixture of folksy elements and feisty vocals. The song is heavily favored to win this year's contest, since virtually all betting sites have Emmelie winning her Semi-Final and neck and neck with Norway and the Netherlands for the win during the Final on May 18 (remember, these are the same folks who predicted Loreen's sweep during last year's competition). If these numbers are right, the Danes may have good reason to be excited (and maybe foaming at the mouth) about the possibility of hosting next year in Copenhagen. [For the record, Copenhagen is just a drive across across the Oresund Bridge from Malmo, so this would be the shortest trip the trophy would make to get to its new home.] That said, do I like this song on its own, or because it and its performance remind me of Shakira?
Following their neighbor Slovenia will be another Balkan (and ex-Yugoslav) republic in the First Semi Final: Croatia. [A small admission before I go into the stats and information. I secretly want Croatia to win, so I can have more incentive to visit the Dalmatian coast, particularly Dubrovnik (which incidentally stands in for King's Landing in Game of Thrones. OK, I think two of my geek worlds just collided and I can't get up). Now back to the reason you're reading this blog: the Eurovision Song Contest.]
Though Croatia's capital Zagreb played host to Eurovision in 1990 (after Yugoslavia's win with Croatian band Riva's Rock Me Baby in 1989), the country's first appearance at the contest as an independent nation didn't happen until 1993. That year Croatia was represented by Put, who performed Don't Ever Cry to a very enthusiastic crowd in Millstreet, Ireland. The song came in 15th, but Croatia's Eurovision lot improved in its first decade participating in the Contest (two 4th place finishes in 1996 and 1999, 5th place in 1998 and a total of 6 Top Ten finishes with its first ten entries in the Contest). But then the ESC rapidly expanded eastward (including almost all former Yugoslav and non-Baltic former Soviet republics; the Balkan countries of Bulgaria and Romania; and eventually the countries of the Caucasus region: Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia), leaving Croatia in the dust (in terms of points the country received). But let's have a throwback moment to one of the last "old-school" songs to win the Contest...Riva with Rock Me Baby at the 1989 Contest hosted by Lausanne (after Celine Dion's win for Switzerland in 1988 - and yes we're talking about THE Celine Dion, but we'll get to that later):
This year, Croatia comes to Malmo with the music ensemble (their description, not mine) Klapa s Mora, performing Mižerja. Certainly an interesting selection, this song will, if performed well at the live shows, stick out from the rest of the electro-pop entries it is surrounded by. And I specifically applaud Croatia, along with any country, who sends an entry to the Contest, sung entirely in their official language, instead of in English (which somehow has become the unofficial "official" language of Eurovision). All the best of luck to you Hrvatska:
Next we travel down to the Adriatic coast and find ourselves at the third country in the First Semi Final: Slovenia. Represented from 1961 through 1991 as part of Yugoslavia, independent Slovenia's debut was in 1993 in Millstreet, Ireland, with 1X Band. Though the song made it through the pre qualification round (this was the procedure before the introduction of the Semi Final(s)), it received only 9 points and placed 22nd. That year Slovenia bestowed its first Douze Points to Ireland, helping the hosting nation score another win. In 1994's contest in Dublin, Slovenia fared better by placing 7th Darja Svajger's ballad sung in Slovenian. Since then Slovenia's participation in the Contest has been a mixed bag, though the ballads sung in Slovenian by female singers have been more successful than other entries.
Case in point: Maja Keuc, who was the country's representative to the 2011 Contest in Dusseldorf, placed third in her Semi Final, but placed 13th on the night of the Final. [Keith and I actually got this little diva in action live on stage that year and lovingly nicknamed her Slovetina, because her vocals reminded us so much of Christina Aguillera's range]. It is still my contention that had Maja sung Vanilija in Slovenian (the version that won her the right to represent her country), she would have fared better than the "Engrish" version that lost itself in the shuffle of the Final. See for yourselves (I'm posting both the Slovenian and English versions of the song for comparison):
In Slovenian:
In English:
This year Slovenia is trying a different tact. Perhaps influenced by Euphoria, the upbeat/electronica song that won the contest last year, the Slovenes have decided to send Hannah to Malmo with a song in English (Straight into Love). The song is built on elements of dub-step beats (and has a light Skrillex feel), and will be presented with a highly produced background dance and lazer show. Slovenia is favored by Eurovision fan blogs to place in the Top Ten, but Oddschecker, the odds-crunching online betting site, gives the song a 1/80 odds of winning (though other sites have the song with odds ranging from 1/33 to 1/200). Here's the official Eurovision intro clip of the performance. What do we think: Winner or dud?
Estonia has become the Eurovision powerhouse since it first joined the Contest in 1994. Though the country's first entry finished second to last, its second entry placed in the Top 5 in 1995. Of its next four entries, three finished in the Top Ten, but it was Estonia's 2001 entry that brought home the gold. The country was heavily favored in the 2002 Contest on home turf in Talinn (and was hoping to become the third country to pull-off the win-at-home), but ultimately placed third, solidifying the small Baltic nation as the most successful former Soviet republic in the Contest early on. The next seven years were deemed Estonia's fall from grace, with a 21st place finish in 2003 followed by five consecutive years of not getting passed the semifinal stages. That all changed in Moscow in 2009, with the all-girl band Urban Symphony, who presented an experimental classical, folk, pop mixture of a song of Randajad. This song has remained on my Top Ten Eurovision songs (& in constant rotation on my Spotify and iTunes lists). Here's a taste:
Estonia tends to swing between songs in their native tongue and English, and for the most part the entries in Estonian have done better at the Contest than those sung in English (with the exception of the 2001 entry that ended up winning). Last year, the Estonian entry was a young Ott Lepland, who had won the third season of the Estonian version of the Idol franchise (incidentally by singing Randajad in a duet with the lead singer of Urban Symphony during his semi-final presentation). Last year's song Kuula, sung again in Estonian, placed sixth in Baku. Kuula is another one of those songs that should've done better at the Contest...see for yourself:
This year, Estonia has chosen Birgit Oigemeel's Et uus saaaks alguse (which roughly translates to "So there can be a new beginning"), after a rigorous national selection process. With its geographic and cultural positioning between Scandinavia and many former-Soviet republics (and a large fan base in Western Europe, particularly in the UK), and given the quality of this year's entry, Estonia will likely end up in the Top Ten once again. Without further ado, here is the country's ballad (and fantastic singer) for Malmo:
The first country that will present its entry live during the First Semi Final this year (on May 14) in Malmo will be Austria. The country first participated in the ESC in 1957 and won its one and only victory in 1966 with "Mon Cheri" by Udo Jurgens (who took the win home on his third consecutive try), leading to Vienna hosting the contest the following year. The last few decades have been unkind to Austria at Eurovision, partially as a result of the quality of performers the country has sent as its representatives to the Contest. The country has been plagued with a lack of points received, ever since the introduction of the televoting system (ah, those pesky block voting countries), which led to the national broadcaster's (ORF) abandoning the contest in 2006. They were vocal in their protest of the new televoting system that led to the block voting of ex-Soviet and ex-Yugoslav (and other Balkan) republics and Scandinavian countries, and left most Western European countries in the dust for almost a decade (until Germany's win in 2010). Their protests were heard by the EBU, leading to the implementation of the new double Semi Final system, and the introduction of the televote/jury split voting.
Austria returned in 2007 only to be severely disappointed with a 21st place finish (and only 30 points) in the Semi Final and again left the contest (this time for 5 years), returning in 2011 to the stage in Dusseldorf, after much pleading and lobbying by Germany and Switzerland. This year the country is being represented by Natalia Kelly's "Shine," with high hopes that 2013 will be the year that Austria is back on top.
The song is heavily favored to place in the Top 5 and breaking Austria's decades long curse at the bottom of the leader board. Perhaps this year Austria will end up on the receiving end some of the high marks they have sent off to the winners of the 2011 and 2012 contest. Vielen Gluck Osterreich...vieleicht sehen wir uns nochmal in Wien in 2014.
Perhaps it's best to start things off with our host country of Sweden.
Our Scandinavian hosts have won the contest five times (though their 1991 win was actually a tie with France and the outcry and controversy following the win being awarded to Sweden resulted in detailed reforms by the European Broadcasting Union), including their first win in 1974 by Abba's Waterloo. That song eventually led to Abba's global success and Sweden has almost always been a favorite at the ESC ever since. The Swedes have one of the most elaborate and celebrated national selection processes the contest has ever seen, consisting of weeks-long Melodifestivalen match-ups between the national semifinalists. The winner is then picked by a combination points from the tele-voting and SMS-voting by the viewers, the Swedish national jury and qualified international fan clubs from all over Europe. It was through this process that Loreen's Euphoria was picked to represent the country last year, eventually winning the Contest with a sweeping victory and bringing the trophy home in Baku, Azerbaijan:
Loreen's popularity (and record sales) skyrocketed after her win and she is expected to put on quite the show at this year's Final in Malmo. There are murmurings that she will be launching her new single during the festivities in May (she has already performed new songs, along with different versions of Euphoria at Melodifestivalen and other national selection and preliminary shows throughout the year). This year Sweden is hoping to bring home a win on home turf (this has only happened twice in the Contest's entire history- by Israel and Ireland) and have chosen Robin Stjernberg to accomplish the feat through its Melodifestivalen 2013 with You:
Robin will be facing stiff competition for the coveted Douze Points (the top score of 12 points) against the 38 other entries from each of the countries that have opted to participate in Malmo this year. Notable absences/withdrawals include Portugal, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Slovakia and Turkey, along with the long-absent past winners Monaco, and Luxembourg. Most of the absences are due to financial difficulties of the countries' public broadcasting systems, which must carry the economic burden of ESC participation, i.e. paying for the singer(s) promotional tours through Europe before the contest and all costs for the national representative & national support staff's stays in Malmo during the week of the Contest.
This year's host city was selected by Sveriges Television (SVT) in late 2012. Malmo was considered a surprise pick, after much speculation that the contest would be held in the Stockholm, with its larger arenas, larger hotel accommodations, etc. Unfortunately for the Swedish capital, the two arenas there were mired with logistical problems, and that led SVT to hold the Contest in Malmo, in a much smaller arena than what has become the standard over the last few years.
The Contest's format is in line with the standards established through EBU's reforms in the 1990s and early 2000s, following the significant rise in the number of participating countries. Two Semi-Finals will be held (the first on May 14, the second on May 16) to narrow the pack to twenty contestants, who will be funneled into the grand Final on May 18th, where they will be joined by the entries of the Big Five (Spain, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom), along with Robin Stjernberg representing the host country. Though this is a song contest, the voting, where each participating country (even those eliminated in the Semi Finals) will deliver their 1-8, followed by 10 points for second place and the 12 points (the Douze Points) for the favorite, will be the event to watch. Will the well established neighborly voting patterns dominate and wreak havoc on the outcome of the contest (Balkan countries, former Soviet republics and the Scandinavian alliance generally have a tendency to bestow top marks on each other)? Last year Loreen's performance quieted some of these concerns when she received a total of 372 points (the 2nd placing Russian entry received 259), including eighteen Douze Points, five 10 points and three 8 points. Her win was the first in decades to receive points from every participating country (the lowest was 3 points from Portugal). Starting tomorrow, I will begin posting the remaining entires in order of the draw, starting with the participants of First Semi Final, followed by those in the Second Semi Final, and rounding out the list with the entries of the Big Five, who are already in the Final (along with Sweden).
