If there was one amazing vocalist and song that deserved to have been in the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, it was totally Albania's entrant Lindita, with her song "World". However, many Eurovision fans weren't impressed with the revamp of the song for the contest, I have to agree, I much preferred "Botë", on the other hand, "World" is just as powerful, if not more so because of the English lyrics. Unfortunately, Lindita placed 14th in the first semi-final with 76 points, 38 from the jury vote and an additional 38 from the televote. This deserved the Grand Final, but many people thought she oversung it on the night. Watch Lindita perform her Eurovision 2017 song "World" in a futuristic world destroyed by war, where there is a serene forest, many clocks and machinery space ships.
Lindita, full name Lindita Halimi, is mostly known for competing on the fifteenth series of American Idol. It wasn't the first Idol she took part in, she came tenth in Ethet (Albanian Idol) during the third series. She also took part in Top Fest, twice, and in 2009, she won it. Then, she decided to give Eurovision a go, by entering the 53rd edition of Festivali i Këngës where she came third; she later tried again in the 55th edition of Festivali i Këngës, winning it this time around and going on to represent Albania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. Unfortunately, she didn't get through to the Grand Final, but she gained many more fans, including myself, who will certainly help her on her way to success, because a voice this great should never be lost to the world. The song was written by Lindita, Big Basta, and Klodian Qafoku.
Directed by Kleidi Eski, this music video is a pure performance piece, only with a subtle narrative placed throughout. Lindita is in a futuristic world, that has been destroyed by war. Her acting throughout is superb all the while completely bringing it for the performance.
Within the visual, Lindita totally proves that she's a future star. It's such a shame she didn't have more of staging on the Eurovision 2017 stage, they could've easily put her in one of the spaceships. Regardless, they replicated some of the imagery onto the backing LED screen, which was a nice added touch.
Overall the video is cool and interesting. I love how different Lindita looks in each of the scenes, whilst easily getting the meaning of her song across and fitting in nicely within this war-destroyed future setting. It's big and engaging just like this song is.
Well, how this didn't make the Eurovision Song Contest 2017's grand final, I do not know; she may have been overshadowed, to be fair, but she gave a brilliant performance on the night; and just look at how high of a quality this music video is, just wow! Representing Macedonia, also known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (F.Y.R. Macedonia), was Jana Burčeska with her song "Dance Alone" gaining 65 points in the second semi-final, 29 from the juries and 40 from the televote. The music video is out-of-this-world, literally, good, like you need to watch it! Taking virtual reality headsets to the next level, watch Jana Burčeska as an old woman, fantasising about dancing with her man through a VR set in this Eurovision 2017 song "Dance Alone".
Jana Burčeska first came to prominence in the first series of Macedonian Idol, where she came fifth, back in 2011. Zoom forward five years and she was announced, through internal selection, as the Macedonian entrant to the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, with this song. She may have only come 15th in the second semi-final, but she'll always treasure this day, because, broadcast live for the world to see, her then-boyfriend pulled out a ring and proposed to her. This news made headlines all over the world, and I guess it's a small consolation prize for not winning the contest or even making the grand final. This song was written by Joacim Persson, Alex Omar, Florence A. and Borislav Milanov.
Now, this is what you call a music video, a narrative and performance piece combined together through a virtual reality headset. The narrative slightly reminds me of Chad Kroeger in the Avril Lavigne music video "Let Me Go" which features him as an old man before looking in a mirror and seeing his former self. In this one, an old woman puts on a headset and turns into her younger self, the person we now see as Jana Burčeska.
During the virtual reality scene, Jana Burčeska is dancing with a guy, flirting and teasing with a guy, who, unfortunately, isn't her new fiancé - although they do look similar.
Outside of the VR headset, the old woman can be seen doing household chores, such as washing up. She's clearly alone, and it's quite saddening to see. There's a clear connection between the song and the music video, and these scenes are edited well. It really does tell a brilliant story.
The best part of the video is the ending scene as it switches from young Jana Burčeska to the old woman; it's the exact same room, the exact same picture of the man, but there's a coloured distortion and just proves that they are the same person. This music video is amazing, and so much better than the stage production of the song; although, the song itself is brilliant as well.
How this didn't make the Grand Final, I do not know. Svala friken nailed this on the night, just like Måns Zelmerlöw said she would, it was a magical performance, but she didn't get through. Regardless, I now get to showcase it on my Eurovision Song Contest 2017 Special, so I'm glad I get to do that at least. For Iceland, Svala singing "Paper" gained 60 points overall; 29 from the juries and 31 from the televote. She deserved way more than that. The song is catchy, without a doubt, and her voice is powerful, for sure. Why did this not make it? Watch Svala perform this progressive song in this engaging performance-based music video for her Eurovision Song Contest 2017 song "Paper".
Svala, full name Svala Björgvinsdóttir, is already a pretty big name, having managed to chart on the US Billboard Chart with her song "The Real Me". She later released an album under the same name. She has been included in many projects, including three-piece electronic group Steed Lord who has had pretty big successes in the music industry. Later she formed a duo with her husband named Blissful, who's first single, "Elevate", has received lots of plays on Spotify as well as other streaming sites. She competed in Söngvakeppnin 2017, Iceland's national selection to Eurovision, and won with her song "Paper". It's such a shame she didn't make the Grand Final because she totally nailed it on the night. The song has charted at number one in Iceland. It was written by Svala Björgvinsdóttir, Einar Egilsson, Lester Mendez, and Lily Elise.
Directed by Einar Egils, the music video is another pure performance piece, which is what we usually expect from Eurovision music videos, although we all much prefer something different, since we are going to see them perform the song on the stage. Her semi-final performance can be found below.
This isn't as good as her stage performance, it's too laid-back for the song itself, never mind the whole production. She doesn't look like she's feeling the words or meaning any of them; however, that could all be down to the editing of the video.
Regardless, she looks stunning throughout, even in that wintry red puffed-up coat. She has style and totally rocks it. She looks quite sassy and confident in all the right ways, which is a great interpretation of the song since she's telling a guy how he makes her be. I also like the blue filtering which literally translates the lyrics onto the visual. Clever and cool, very cool; but, not engaging and not as good as Svala's performance on the night.
It's Chart Mondays again, and breaking up my Eurovision Song Contest 2017 Special is French Montana and Swae Lee with "Unforgettable". Once again the UK top 10 is open to my Chart Mondays review since Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber is number one with "Despacito (Remix)", which doesn't have a music video; annoyingly, the original does but that is illegible to chart since the remix is what propelled it to number one, even though in the iTunes chart both tracks are in the top 10. Regardless, it has allowed me to watch this incredible music video, which I probably wouldn't have seen otherwise. Watch French Montana and Swae Lee perform in Uganda with a bunch of kids who have the biggest smiles and can dance better than all of us in this music video for "Unforgettable".
French Monatana, real name Karim Kharbouch, has quickly become an established hip-hop artist. He first came to my attention when he collaborated with Miley Cyrus on her most-recent album, he later topped the UK charts as a featured singer on will.i.am's "Feelin' Myself". Now he's made it all by himself, getting into the top ten with this song, which is actually really catchy. It's a collaboration with Swae Lee, real name Khalif Brown, who is mostly known for being in Rae Sremmund, who had a worldwide hit with "Black Beatles". Now, he's gone solo and he's doing an amazing job so far, especially featuring on this track and totally grabbing the spotlight in this music video. The song is currently at number eight in the UK; it was written by Karim Kharbouch, Khalif Brown, Michael L. Williams II, Christopher Washington, McCulloch Reid Sutphin, and Aujla Jagvir Singh.
Directed by Spliff TV & French Montana, the music video is a full-on performance piece, filmed in Kampala, Uganda. It's so endearing to see these children with massive smiles on their faces, dancing like they have no problems in their world.
As I previously mentioned, Swae Lee totally takes the spotlight in this music video, he exudes a confidence and a swag, totally stylish throughout out, the viewers are just drawn to him from the get-go; so much so that he makes this song look like his own. Regardless, French Montana gives as much as he can and doesn't fair too badly in the visual.
What really stands out are the kids, they know how to dance. Throughout, they're in-sync, totally nailing the choreography and dance sequences where they need to. It's so great to see them filled with so much joy in the video, especially since it's a place we don't hear from often, but we know that many African countries aren't doing so well.
Overall, kudos for French Montana truly showing Africa in a positive and energetic light. This is truly a remarkable and unforgettable music video, which definitely deserves the highest of ratings. It's one that will be embedded in my mind for years to come, and I will most definitely watch again and again.
Now, this was an unexpected surprise from Latvia for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. Unfortunately, Triana Park only got 21 points, placing them 18th in the first Semi-Final, with their song "Line"; they got one point from the jury vote (thanks to Azerbaijan), and they got 20 points in the televote (the UK giving the most points). This was one of my favourites, the song is incredibly catchy for electro-rock, and extremely current. It's such a shame it didn't do well, but I hope Triana Park keeps fighting and makes it big because they deserve a global hit, if this song is anything to go by. Watch Triana Park perform their Eurovision Song Contest 2017 song "Line" in this music video for the song, that sees Agnese Rakovska in interesting costumes, giving emotion through her voice.
Triana Park are an electronic-rock four-piece band consisting of Agnese Rakovska, Artūrs Strautiņš, Edgars Viļums, and Kristaps Ērglis. They have been going for many years and have tried to represent Latvia at Eurovision five times. They made it to the national final in 2010 but had to pull out due to Agnese Rakovska falling ill. Yet, after a five-year break from trying to represent Latvia, they finally did it, winning Supernova, in 2017 and went off to Kyiv for the Eurovision Song Contest. It's such a shame they didn't do well enough in the Semi-Final to get to the Grand Final. This song deserves much more recognition. It was written by Agnese Rakovska, Kristaps Ērglis, and Kristians Rakovskis.
This music video is a pure performance piece, which is quite common for the Eurovision Song Contest music videos, although there doesn't seem to be much point to them as you can watch them perform the song on stage. In this case, it's slightly intricate and different, with clever imagery and colourful filters. As for the Semi-Final performance, the staging was full of neon colours with the whole band bringing it.
We watch various costumes from Agnese Rakovska, as she takes the main spotlight during this visual. My favourite is certainly the braids as we watch coloured filters re-engage the audience once again.
A lot of expert editing went into this, I love the series of motion imagery and layers, it's very clever and is in a line which goes with the song, I also loved the arrow shots, although during this point Agnese Rakovska's lip-syncing doesn't match the song, but only at the start of the arrow scene, it's later corrected.
Overall, it's better than no music video at all. It brings a slightly different outlook on the performance side of this song from Triana Park. I do love their Semi-Final stage performance, although I can see why they may not have got through since Agnese Rakovska is not great at expressing emotion through her body, instead it comes out of her voice beautifully. Plus the concept is completely different to that of the winning country this year. This will forever remain one of the entries that should've done better. I hope the future for Triana Park is bright!
I'm kickstarting my Eurovision Song Contest 2017 Special today! This has proved popular every single year on my blog and I'm happy to bring it back once again. As per usual, I will start with my home country, the United Kingdom, who was represented by Lucie Jones with her song "Never Give Up On You". She totally nailed it on the night, just a shame the public didn't give her more points, so I'd like to thank the juries (didn't think I'd ever be saying that), for giving us much-needed points. The UK scored 111 points, placing Lucie Jones 15th; most of which came from the jury who gave 99 points, whereas the voting public only gave 12 points. Once again, Lucie Jones stuns in this performance-based music video for the UK's entry into the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with "Never Give Up On You".
Lucie Jones first came onto the scene when she competed in the sixth series of The X Factor, where she came eighth overall, after losing the sing-off against Jedward - who went on the represent Ireland twice, in Eurovision 2011 and Eurovision 2012. Afterwards, she took on some films and TV roles, and then, later, went into stage productions and performed in the West End. She, finally, returned to music and became the UK's entrant to the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. The song will most-likely chart in the UK come Friday. The song was written by Emmelie de Forest (Eurovision 2013 winner), Daniel Salcedo, and Lawrie Martin.
The music video is completely performance-based, which isn't needed for a Eurovision music video since we get a performance visual on the stage. Regardless this isn't too dissimilar to the staging of her song this year, including the certain stage scene and making it the main focus point on stage.
There are a few scenes throughout. One sees Lucie Jones classy and beautiful with her hair in waves, styled in a red dress. Another sees her with messy hair but still looking pretty, yet it's just a headshot. Then there's the silver dress, her looking very classy again with her hair properly curled.
No one can deny she gave it her all on the night, and she does the exact same in this music video. But I can see why some people find the song 'boring', but she does perform it amazingly. This should've got more points, and it's disappointing that it didn't. Regardless, the UK is behind you Lucie Jones, and you will chart this Friday. There's not a lot to this music video, and I'd rather watch the Grand Final performance than this music video if I'm honest, which can be found at the bottom of this post.
She's back, hitting it big with this brand new track! Taking another new musical direction, Miley Cyrus proves that she is versatile and that she can be whoever she wants to be, allowing her to be herself in the moment. People don't like change, but that's their problem; Miley Cyrus makes the music that she wants to, right now, and that is all that we should care about. Plus, they're still incredible hits. I cannot wait for the album, this track has got me excited for new Miley Cyrus music! Watch Miley Cyrus strip it back, acting relaxed, joyous, and calm in this chilled out music video for her new single "Malibu".
Miley Cyrus, real name Destiny Cyrus, has had a phenomenal career to date, and she is now ready to go down a different route and find out who she is, once again. Her new music, will apparently, bring her back towards country music, back to her roots and her home since her father is Billy Rae Cyrus. The song has been a success, launching itself on the iTunes charts of many countries around the world. This is definitely going to be a hit. The song was written by Miley Cyrus and Oren Yoel.
Directed by Miley Cyrus and Diane Martel, the music video is a pure performance visual. She looks so happy within the visual, it's clear she has a lot of love for this song; which is about her love for Liam Hemsworth, who she got re-engaged to last year; although, the song does reference Malibu, California.
There are various scenes throughout, there's the waterfall scene which looks serene, only I'm not so keen on Miley Cyrus' clothing, actually I don't like the way she looks. Not so keen on her hair with the long brown roots and the blonde ends - which does look great when she has it all bunched up, but I'm not so keen on the other looks. Tulisa rocked this style on The X Factor years ago, it's not trendy anymore. But kudos for deciding to go back to her natural hair colour.
The other scenes see her acting sexily, being on a beach with a stick that has a tonne of balloons on the end - I want to run on the beach with loads of balloons, it looks like so much fun. There's the cliff scene which looks quite precarious.
Overall, it's great to see Miley Cyrus so happy. She loves the way her life is, she loved being a tease in this music video and just generally having fun. I hope her other future music videos have her smiling this broadly.
It was obvious that Cascada was going to take my Thursday Revisit today; how have I never reviewed this music video on my blog before today? This is an epic classic from Cascada with Natalie Horler looking stunning throughout - does she ever not look pretty? The video is a typical 00's video, with the visuals not looking as stunning as they could've been, but disregarding that, it definitely works. Watch Natalie Horler from Cascada surrounded by four female dancers in this middle Eastern-themed music video for their song "A Never Ending Dream".
Cascada is a dance music trio consisting of Natalie Horler, Manian, and Yanou. I have been a fan since they first stormed the charts with "Miracle". I am so happy that they are still going strong today and recently dropped new single "Playground". We do need another album from them, but while we wait for that, I'm happy to revisit their classic songs and their more recent ones, including their Eurovision 2013 song. They are known as one of the most successful acts to come from Germany, and I truly believe they can make a full-on comeback with the right promotion. They're currently touring throughout Europe in small clubs and venues; I'm forever keeping an eye on where they are so I can catch them when they're close to me, but I'm not having that much luck yet. Cascada, come to Birmingham, please! This song was a cover of X-Perience's 1996 song "A Neverending Dream". It was their first single in the UK not to make the Top 40, totally underperforming and charting at number 46. It was written by Matthias Uhle and Alex Kaiser.
Directed by Stephen Gragg, this music video is completely Middle Eastern culture themed music video, as you watch Natalie Horler surrounded by four female dancers, who are referred to as a harem.
It's mainly a pure performance visual, with Natalie Horler completely bringing her typical sexy stage vibes. She has always meant to be performing and that is definitely what she does.
There isn't a lot going on in the video, and it's disappointing slightly - not much as a surprise since the single charted disappointingly too. Regardless, this song will forever remain a treasured Cascada song, although the music video is just average, which is to be expected from most of the music videos I review for my Thursday Revisits. I just wish there was more substance to this music video.
I am ecstatic that Cascada has another new song out! "Playground" serves as the official song to the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey Championships, and it's nice to see Natalie Horler looking as beautiful as ever. We need this trio to come back with an absolute smash of a song. For now, this one is just as good, and really shows the great direction that Cascada is going in. Watch Natalie Horler from Cascada perform the new song "Playground" whilst ice hockey players skate around her, in this new music video of the official song for the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey Championships.
Cascada are a trio dance group consisting of Natalie Horler, Manian, and Yanou. The latter two are DJs who stay behind the scenes, producing the music, whilst Natalie Horler is the face of the act. They have achieved so much in the years they've been together, including storming charts worldwide, entering Eurovision, and winning awards. There's not a lot this trio hasn't done, so it's impressive that they continue to release music and tour all around the world. This is something new for the trio, releasing an official anthem of the world's Ice Hockey Championships, so it's nice to see that they are continuing to establish themselves, even if their recent singles haven't charted - that doesn't mean they aren't epic, we always add them to our party playlists.
The music video has both a sweet narrative and a performance piece. Natalie Horler shines throughout as she sings the song on the ice. Her energetic performance vibes unleash upon the viewing audience proving that she deserves to be on stage! Or in this case, on the ice.
I love that the ice hockey player can be seen skating past her in the clips. It adds an extra interesting part into the performance piece. She looks stunning, as she always does.
The narrative shows two children who are clearly into one another, and the counterparts to these two are Natalie Horler and the ice hockey player she is obviously going out with. I like how they pair up the visuals and tell a subtle, yet similar, story during the visual.
Overall, the music video is highly relatable, it also links in well with the Ice Hockey World Championships - it was no surprise to see an Ice Hockey game in the visual. I love the narrative, and Natalie Horler impresses, as always, in the performance piece. I hope more new music is on its way, we need Cascada back on the charts and the radio!
Here's another stunning video from Kontor.TV, only this time with an epic track that is a real gem, behind the visual; it's such a shame this song isn't popular, it deserves to be a worldwide hit. The song is a banger of a tune, and as soon as I heard it, I had to include it on my blog. It's also helpful that the actor and actress in the music video are both stunning. Watch Icarus lose his wings and fall from the sky, he wishes to fly again, but turns away a new set of wings when he meets a girl and falls in love in this music video for RUMORS' song "Look Out Below".
RUMORS are a new DJ duo on the scene. They wear masks and this song is their debut single. The song is about life and how there are plenty of times you may fail, that you may fall down; but it's how you deal with that, how you come back up fighting and determined. They wrote the song upon the difficulties of getting into the music industry. The song is a brilliantly crafted song that I currently have on repeat. It's completely encouraging and definitely an inspiration to me to keep going after what I want because we all get there in the end as long as we don't give up. They also co-wrote and produced the Lindsay Sterling song "Something Wild" which features Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness, which has been included in the new Disney film Pete's Dragon.
The music video centres around the greek myth of Icarus, who can fly in the sky with his wings. This classic tale has a heartbreaking ending when he flies too close to the sun and the wings fall apart as the sun's rays melt the wax that created the wings. In the video the wings burn instead, creating a much more dramatic storyline.
The video continues where the story left off. In greek mythology, Icarus is lost to the sea, and we all presume he dies; in this video, he falls into garbage bags and starts to learn what it's like to be a human in the 21st century,
He learns about money, about clothes, about love (I wish it was that easy to fall for someone, why can't a nice guy just come up to me, or fall out of the sky?), and he's loving his life. Then a new set of wings materialise, but he doesn't want them; he's prepared to ride the wave of this downfall.
This music video is completely amazing. We all fall down sometimes, at times it's our own inner demons that are attacking us, and we get to the point where we think we're going down the wrong path, or our dream isn't easily achievable. But life is not easy, that's what makes life, life. This music video, much like the song, is to keep going, to keep letting the universe take you the way you are destined to go. Our choices are what define us if Icarus hadn't have gone that close to the sun and fallen down, he may never had met that gorgeous girl and found the love he was missing. Things happen for a reason, so don't be down about what happens because there's bound to be something good that'll come out of it.
Overall, this music video is beyond perfect. It's relatable, interesting, and a total must-watch. There are some parts that could've been more realistic; there seems to be no reason as to why the wings materialised at the end - they could've come up with a much better scene for this. Otherwise, I wish this song was a global hit, just so everyone could see the music video - oh, and because the song is actually really good!
