Takasa, are a six piece band. They were originally called Heilsarmee, but due to the Eurovision rules that forbid political and religious content, Heilsarmee had to change it's name to Takasa since Heilsarmee is German for 'Salvation Army'. The name Takasa is a Swahili verb meaning 'to purify', but it has also come to attention that Takasa is an acronym for The Artists Known As Salvation Army, which is amazingly clever. They consist of Sarah Breiter, Jonas Gygax, Katharina Hauri, Christoph Jakob, Emil Ramsauer and Michel Sterckx. Their age difference is surprising, Sarah Breiter is just 22 years old whereas Emil Ramsauer is 95 years old, making him the oldest musician to perform in the Eurovision Song Contest.
"You And Me" was written by Georg Schlunegger, Roman Camenzind and Fred Herrmann. The song is about love and endearment, and I really thought this was going to make it through to the final. It makes me feel happy and I just want to play it again as soon as I hear it. Takasa (known as Heilsarmee back then) competed in the Swiss national selection show called Die Grosse Entscheidungs Show, where they won with this song. I just cannot believe they didn't get through to the final.
Switzerland took part in the second Semi Final. They came a respectable 13th out of 17 countries, beating one of my favourites PeR whose song was "Here We Go" for Latvia. Takasa gained 41 points. They got 6 points from Finland, 2 points from Malta, 1 point from Bulgaria, 5 points from Iceland, 3 points from Greece, 2 points from Armenia, 6 points from Hungary, 3 points from Norway, 2 points from Albania, 10 points from France and 1 point from Germany.
This music video has little to it, but I can't help but laugh at some of the things that is going on. Emil Ramsauer is picked up on the way, he's posing as a hitch-hiker, hoping to get to Malmö, Sweden, where the Eurovision Song Contest was held this year. They manage to fit him in the car, and even put his double bass on the back of the car.
I like how it shows they go on a journey to get to Malmö, Sweden. And surely they've already done that competing in the national selection. But this is a journey in a compact car that seems to have only five seats... How does six people safely drive in a five seater car? Maybe someone's in the boot?
The various scenes out of the car include picking Emil Ramsauer up, going the wrong way, having to push the car, singing and playing their instruments on the ferry, passing people on the street, as well as the men standing on the side, surely they're not doing what we all think they are... It's against the law in England and Wales, deemed under the Public Order Act 1986. But it still makes me laugh, especially when they leave one of them behind, reminding me of Tim Berg's (Avicii's) "Seek Bromance".
Overall it's a perfect song, one that makes me want to sing every time I hear it, one I want to give to people to make them happy as well, this band is in such a good mood, and I don't think they'll ever stop being happy. The music video includes their happiness a lot. I like the use of the journey, who knows how long it took them, but even I would have found it difficult to keep happy after that, yet this band manages just fine. They use green screen during the scenes inside the car, but it's so good to watch you don't even realise. The song is about togetherness, and although it is portrayed between a relationship, it can be seen in a friendship kind of way.
Natália Kelly is an 18 year old singer, who was born in America, but moved to Austria when she was just six years old. Her father is American with Austrian and Irish roots, her mother is Brazilian. She won The Voice in Austria 2012, that has been going since 2002, and has nothing to do with the international franchise 'The Voice'. After winning she entered Österreich rockt den Song Contest, which is the Austrian selection process for the Eurovision Song Contest, and Natália Kelly won that too. However she failed to get through to the final. There was so much buzz about her before the competition started, I really thought she was a contender for winning, but she kicked off the first semi final, leaving the other 15 acts following after her. Her song got forgotten by the time the voting opened, and unfortunately didn't get through. But I loved it, hence why she's in my Eurovision Special.
"Shine" was written by Andreas Grass, Nikola Paryla, Alexander Kahr and Natália Kelly. The song is catchy and powerful. She portrays emotions through her words and she means every single one of them. I just cannot believe this didn't make the final, it was definitely worthy of a higher position.
Austria came 14th out of 16 countries in the first Semi Final. She got 27 points and fell short of getting through to the final. She got 1 point from Estonia, 1 point from Slovenia, 4 points from Croatia, 4 points from Denmark, 3 points from Moldova, 4 points from Ireland, 2 points from Cyprus, 3 points from Belgium, 2 points from Serbia, 2 points from Italy and 1 point from the UK.
This music video is simple and totally focused on effects. The performance-based video brings her strong powerful vocals to the camera exposing how much she believes in this song.
The start is in black and white, which worried me, I really do not like black and white music videos, so I was happy when it went into colour. And then I saw how musical she is, playing the guitar, the piano, the drums... This is the Natália Kelly band. What let this side down was seeing someone help her with the drums... Maybe she isn't a musical genius as I first thought.
We have a lot of fun scenes, where the title of the song is behind her, where her name gradually appears behind her, various behind the scenes clips that show her laughing, trying to catch the drumsticks and just having the time of her life. She is the girl next door, and the video portrays her perfectly.
Then ending is full of fun fun fun, balloons, dancing, paint bombs (is there such a thing? Or did I just make that up?), and a dog or two. One of the topless guys slips over just as Natália Kelly gets splattered by a paint bomb, I just can't help but replay that scene over and over again. The very ending when she splats that guy is great to watch too because he doesn't expect it.
Overall a catchy song that should've made it through to the final, and a music video filled with fun, making Natália Kelly shine. She obviously had a wonderful time, and you just want to be there with her. She looks good, and has an infectious personality that is so bubbly. I just want to be her friend, as I'm sure many other fans want to be too.
PeR is a duo who entered the contest for Latvia. The name means Please explain the Rhythm. They are well known in Latvia, and have competed in Eirodziesma (the national selection for Latvia) in 2009, 2010 and 2012. In 2013 the national selection changed it's name to Dziesma. In the latter they finally won and went through to the Semi Finals of Eurovision. It shows how dedicated they are to this contest, and they must have really thought they could win. The duo consists of Ralfs Eilands and Edmunds Rasmanis. This seemed the act that would attract the younger population, so what happened? Well... Ralfs was ill and had a temperature, but he performed it well and even crowd surfed. (Semi Final performance can be seen below).
"Here We Go" was written by Arturas Burke and Ralfs Eilands. The song is very catchy. And manages to show that the band is a vocal group since Edmunds Rasmanis beat boxes. The song should've made the final 26, however I think the reason it failed to make it was due to it going first, and was forgotten when the other countries performed.
In the second Semi Final, Latvia came 17th out of 17 countries. They gained 13 points overall. The following countries gave points: Macedonia gave 2 points, Iceland gave 3 points, Georgia gave 7 points and Switzerland gave 1 point.
PeR was introduced to the UK as the Latvia's answer to Ireland's Jedward... I somehow don't think so, on the other hand the energy from both duo's are similar. I don't know whether this is the official video or not, but it's the only video I can find, and so I'm rolling with it.
This is a video of them performing the song live. They are full of energy and throw the vibes out to the crowd. They clearly can't stop moving, reminding me a lot of Jedward, who does the same thing. You can tell the crowd are loving them, and in the Semi Final the crowd loved them too.
This would've been a good music video, the lyrics are about having fun, and so I can totally understand the performance-based music video. But the fact that editing has totally blown this out of proportion has made this video less engaging.
There's the occasional backstage shot which drew me in, but this editing is so disastrous. The editor was listening to the music behind and not the lyrics, since it's quick and dodge-like. Reminding me of a record spinning on a vinyl turntable.
Overall a song that I've already bought, and have already listened to a few times. This song will never get old, and I will be singing along to it every time I hear it. The music video is too quick, too short and snappy, and it's hard to keep up with. In my opinion it should have been in real-time and them just performing. Their energy on stage is infectious, there's something to it that makes me want to be energetic.
Bonnie Tyler, international songstress from Wales, full of power, and full of life. She's bubbly, she can hold her own in a power ballad, and has just released her new album 'Rocks and Honey'. Her real name is Gaynor Hopkins. She is well known for her number one UK single "Total Eclipse Of The Heart", and the song that was on the Footloose Soundtrack "Holding Out For A Hero", which missed out on the top spot and settled at number two. Bonnie Tyler has been touring over the last couple of years, and has been performing this song. However on the night, I don't think she performed it that well, I feel that she's performed it better in the past, and her gravelly powerful voice was missing in her performance (video can be found at the bottom).
"Believe In Me" was written by Desmond Child, Lauren Christy and Christopher Braide. The song is a ballad, but doesn't key into Bonnie Tyler's powerful side. The song doesn't help all that much, and doesn't give her a chance to power it out. It's a nice simple song, and we did pretty well considering, I was expecting the worst.
At the Eurovision Song Contest 2013, the UK got a total of 23 points, placing us 19th out of 26, up six places from last year. We got 4 points from Spain, 5 points from Malta, 3 points from Romania, 1 point from Sweden, 7 points from Ireland, 1 point from Slovenia and 2 points from Switzerland.
The music video looks low budget, although I doubt that was true with how professional Bonnie Tyler is. It's a simple video with very little going on. This is usually a focusing technique so that Bonnie Tyler is central to the video. And she is that.
The problem with her being the main feature of the video is that she fails to entice us. She doesn't do a lot, and she's either sitting down or leaning against the wall, or just normally standing. The song is about believing in her, that she's there for that guy, the one who she truly loves. She sings about not lying to him, that she'll always stand beside him. But where is this guy in this video?
The beach scene shows her independence, and her strong powerful side. She may just be standing on the beach to most people, but to me, I can feel energy vibes coming from her, something she lacked in the performance last Saturday. This is the Bonnie I would like to see live.
Overall a song that doesn't give the range Bonnie Tyler is capable of. And a music video that follows suit. Missing things that could possibly engage the audience. The beach scene should have been extended, that is the most alluring bit of the video. Bonnie Tyler gets the same rating as I gave Engelbert Humperdinck last year for "Love Will Set You Free".
Papa Roach becomes my Sunday Revisit, for many reasons. The main one is because before this week I hadn't reviewed them, another is that we need more rock music on this blog, and country music and other genres that hasn't even been touched just yet.
Papa Roach is a four-piece band consisting of, at the time, Jacoby Shaddix, Jerry Horton, Tobin Esperance and Dave Buckner. The latter left in 2007 and was replaced with Tony Palermo. This is their first ever single and was released in 2000.
"Last Resort" was written by Jacoby Shaddix and Tobin Esperance. It is their signature song, hitting the UK charts at an amazing number three. I very much doubt Papa Roach will beat that charting position, especially since their most recent singles have yet to be released here.
The music video is full of surprises. It's quite small with a performance piece in the forefront. Uniquely this band has incorporated a narrative piece into the performance piece, this is something new, and have yet to be done again, usually it's vice versa.
The performance is great, with lots of energy, a lot of people there, a few crowd surfing moments and crushing effects that makes you easily identify with the people there, as well as making you feel a part of the video.
The narrative clips are short, and shows the crowd in the respective bedrooms or other rooms of people's houses. It shows them in depression, and now that they're at this gig, they aren't quite so depressed. However I think these clips are too quick, it leaves us questioning, why do they feel that way?
With that question in mind, and looking back over the video, some are obvious. One out of the four girls is totally different, therefore not in the clique and not popular. The couple in a relationship... Well the boyfriend seems very possessive... Maybe too possessive? Some aren't so clear. And I think they should have been developed a little more.
Overall a song that brought the attention of a lot of people to this band and which pushed this band into mainstream success. However lately they have failed to keep their fan base, and hard core fans are pretty much the only ones keeping tabs on these guys. They need another big hit! The music video fits in with the song well, and I can't help but enjoy this simplistic, but very real music video. My one problem is that they should've done more to the narrative. However a great music video to go with a great song.
