Robin Stjernberg is pretty well known in Sweden, not only was he one fourth of What's Up! along side Eric Saade (who also represented Sweden in Eurovision, his year was 2011), he also came second on Sweden's Idol in 2011. His album 'My Versions' went to number one in Sweden, yet this is his only single to chart to date. He won Sweden's Eurovision national selection which is called Melodifestivalen which is one of the countries biggest TV reality competitions. Sweden takes this competition extremely seriously! It's usually a big party! I don't know what to think of this guy. During the final of Eurovision I was rooting for him, along with all my favourites, but now that I've seen this music video I'm questioning who he is.
At the final we saw a dance singer, yet this music video song is stripped back and it's a piano version. I would go as far as saying that this isn't really a music video, more a recording of a piano version of his song, yet there is no other music video to find... Is this him? Someone singing while playing a piano? Or is he this dance musician we saw at the final? The song was written by Robin Stjernberg, Linnea Deb, Joy Deb and Joakim Harestad Haukaas. And it was written in tribute to his father who brought him up without the help of anyone else.
Sweden came 14th out of 26 countries, falling short of half way, yet compared to most of my favourites this year, that is a great placing. Robin Stjernberg got 62 points overall, 5 points from Moldova, 4 points from Finland, 1 point from Belgium, 1 point from Estonia, 3 points from Germany, 3 points from Netherlands, 8 points from Denmark, 4 points from Iceland, 12 points from Norway, 5 points from Ireland, 6 points from Slovenia, 1 point from Croatia, 1 point from Serbia, 4 points from Latvia and another 4 points from Bulgaria.
The music video has a different song to which Robin Stjernberg performed, and although the lyrics are the same, the music video is a piano version. This is one thing I am not happy about, I'm supposed to be reviewing the music video for the song performed on Eurovision, yet this is a different version and not what I was expecting.
As I previously stated, this doesn't seem like a proper music video, more of a piano version. And I'm sorry to say but I don't think he manages to draw us in, he is lacking stage presence. Performing with a piano is rarely entertaining to watch and will only interest a minority, however there are videos that still manage to draw you in, this isn't one of them.
Overall I preferred the Eurovision version of the song in which Robin Stjernberg performed, compared to this one. There is very little for me to comment on this video, as there isn't a lot going on. There are a few good choices on camera shots and editing, however occasionally the camera does do a weird shot, that makes it seem amateurish. The song lyrics contains the word piano, and so it kind of relates, through a very small link. This wasn't what I was expecting from Robin Stjernberg...
A collaboration entry, the only one of my Eurovision Special 2013... Nodi Tatishvili and Sophie Gelovani are well known on music talent TV contests. Nodi Tatishvili has performed in various countries, and therefore his prominence in those countries could possibly be the reason why they gained so many points. However the song is so good, and they performed it well, so it may just be the song. I did download the song from iTunes, but as much as I want to see these two singers record more songs together, and possibly become a duo, I just don't think that is going to happen. Their harmonies are just perfect, and would be great if they release another collaboration, but it doesn't seem to be on the cards.
"Waterfall" was written by Thomas G:son (quite the Eurovision writer isn't he? He wrote Loreen's winning song "Euphoria" as well as Pastora Soler's "Quédate Conmigo" from the same year) and Erik Bernholm. The song is catchy, however I think the song is better when it's performed, like it was on the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2013, compared to the studio version. The song reminds me of a Disney song, something a princess will sing while thinking of her true love. Disney should so get this song in one of their films!
Georgia came 15th out of 26 countries, which is almost halfway. Nodi Tatishvili and Sophie Gelovani got 50 points. Lithuania gave 8 points, Moldova gave 3 points, Russia gave 5 points, Armenia gave 10 points, Azerbaijan also gave 10 points, Greece gave 5 points, Ukraine gave 7 points and Montenegro gave 2 points. They did better in the final than what they did in the Semi-Final.
The music video is lacking a WATERFALL! I know I complain about literal meaning, but if you're going to title a song you should at least incorporate that thing in the music video. But this is not the only thing missing...
They sing about 'Sailing on a sea of dreams' and 'flying', yet there is no sea, no flying.
On the other hand this is a pure performance piece, so leaving out any possible setting ideas for a narrative (or for Disney, come on Disney the song just sends out a potential film!) I am focusing on their powerful stage presence, or should I say mountainous presence?
And they have a lot of that, they manage to convey it, and if I were to see them live at a concert, festival or gig, I reckon I will get chills and goosebumps, I'm sure I got them during the final of this year's contest. They convey so much emotion in this video, that we don't need any of the imagery they sing about. I can't help but think wow after watching the video. But it would have been a bigger wow with a waterfall.
The song is great to listen to, and I can't suggest it enough to Disney. This needs to be on one of their movie soundtracks, at least! The accompanying music video is missing things we can dream of, all the stuff they mention in the song fails to show up in the video, and although the performance video is full of emotion, and a hedge maze! It fails to actually come up with a waterfall. I was expecting the mountain to cave in with them on top and they to fall into a waterfall together. The video lacks what we needed from this video, yet manages to capture us with the amazing song and the beautiful setting.
Alyona Lanskaya almost represented Belarus in 2012, but it was later found out that the producers of the national selection had rigged the votes, and so she withdrew from that year, and Belarus entered with another act. This time around, the national selection in Belarus called Eurofest was done fairly, and once again Alyona Lanskaya won, maybe it was all meant to be this way. However she won by singing a song called "Rhythm Of Love", but it was changed to this song... Would the previous song had done better? Guess we'll never know. I hope she releases more songs in the future, as this is my kind of music.
"Solayoh" was written by Marc Paelinck and Martin King. It's a dance song and it's very catchy. When I was watching it during the Eurovision Song Contest 2013, my parents thought she was singing it in a different language, and then towards the end, had flipped it into English. Let's make it clear, it's all in English! I do like the song lots, and I have downloaded the song and it's remixes from iTunes, but I've heard it quite a few times now, and it becomes less catchy the more I hear it.
Belarus came 16th out of 26 countries, which is not too shabby. Alyona Lanskaya got 48 points in the Final of Eurovision 2013. She got 1 point from Lithuania, 4 points from Moldova, 2 points from Malta, 5 points from Armenia, 7 points from Azerbaijan, 1 point from Greece, 12 points from Ukraine, 5 points from Georgia, 3 points from Montenegro, 5 points from Macedonia and 3 points from Israel.
The accompanying music video fails to draw me in. It looks promising at the start when Alyona Lanskaya comes in, but then it just loses me with the dance moves, it's too static. Not only that, but she looks a lot older in this video that she did at the final of this year's contest. She's only 27, yet my guess from this video would have been mid-30s. Not a good thing at all.
This video has it all, static dancing (also performed on stage at the final), break dancing, a bar man, a beach and water behind... And when we think we've seen it all, there is Alexander Rybak (winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2009). But where is my narrative, where is the wow factor?
Overall a song that is catchy when you first hear it, yet becomes less the more times you listen to it. The music video is too literal to the lyrics for my liking, and although looked promising from the start, fails to hold the people watching and it doesn't do much justice to the song.
So I've been away on holiday for a week, but I'm back now, and it's time for Germany's entry. I honestly picked this entry as the winner, so was surprised it didn't do that well. However I'm a big Cascada fan, so how can I not root for them?
Cascada, the internationally great dance band with chartings all over Europe and America, entered the Eurovision Song Contest 2013, astonishing people, such as myself, how was anyone going to beat this well known group? They consist of three people, Natalie Horler, Manian (real name Manuel Reuter) and Yanou (real name Yann Peifer). They have recently been dropping charting positions here in the UK, after a number one hit with "Evacuate The Dancefloor" the singles that followed didn't even make the UK Top 40, and some never even charted. I think the main thing is promotion. I remember seeing Natalie Horler singing "Evacuate The Dancefloor" on a few TV shows, and it also got a lot of radio play, they need to present their songs and promote them on TV. Many people are unaware of their new songs (apart from this one because it was on Eurovision... That goes towards promotion because we saw it on TV!)
"Glorious" was written by Yann Peifer, Manuel Reuter, Andres Ballinas and Tony Cornelissen. The song entered the UK charts at 129, after the Eurovision Song Contest, yet why did many people download the song and not vote for them? And don't you dare say it's fixed because "the UK will never vote for Germany", I have heard that reason way too much lately, and it's totally not true, we've given points to Germany a number of times in the last 10 years. Maybe it's because we all thought it was too similar to Loreen's "Euphoria". It also had to be investigated as a lot of people thought it was too alike. However it got cleared of plagiarism. The song is definitely Cascada and I even believe it is showing their new direction, hopefully it will attract more fans, they need another number one hit!
Germany came 21st out of 26 countries in Eurovision 2013. Cascada got a total of 18 points. Spain gave 3 points, Austria gave 6 points, Israel gave 5 points, Albania gave 3 points and Switzerland gave 1 point. I just hope it was enough to push this dance band back into the spotlight.
The music video is typical Cascada. Very much a performance piece, and although it is lacking a narrative storyline, the glorious wonders of this glorious song proves you don't need one.
As per usual Natalie Horler is the only member of the dance band that features in this video (although we have known of Manuel Reuter and Yann Peifer making appearances such as their cover version of "Last Christmas"). Her gorgeous looks is all she needs to capture you and makes you want to see her live, yet she failed to capture the Eurovision audience this year, maybe she didn't perform the song that well.
The ballet is something new, something glorious as some may say. And maybe it is that which brings a new spin of this on this song. It shows that it's not just a upbeat dancing that will go with dance music, and this is so peaceful, and glorious to watch I understand why they put it in.
Overall a song that should have done better on the UK chart as well as should have done better in this year's contest. It's music video has no narrative, but is pure performance. I want to see this dance group live, yet the video is pretty much similar to their other videos... Minus the narrative, plus the ballet. I can't wait for their future releases, I would really like their single "The Rhythm Of The Night" to get released, although that's doubtful, but I'm hoping their future unplugged album (which is on the cards) gets a UK release.
Krista Siegfrids came to prominence in The Voice Of Finland, in which she got eliminated in the first live show. She competed in the Finland's national selection which is called Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu. Where she won with this song. controversy came up with her performance as she kisses another woman on stage. Her reasons for doing this is that she wants Finland to legalise same-sex marriage. This caused a stir in Turkey, who had pulled out of the competition this year, as they didn't show the contest due to the kiss. Although Krista Siegfrids didn't do as well as she should've done in the contest, this song has charted in some countries, and it is such a catchy song, maybe she'll become an international star.
"Marry Me" was written by Krista Siegfrids, Erik Nyholm, Kristofer Karlsson and Jessika Lundstróm. The song was definitely one of my favourites, it's so catchy that after one listen you just want to sing-a-long. I really thought this song was going to get top five, at least, so I was stunned at it's placing.
Finland came 24th out of 26 countries in this years contest. Krista Siegfrids gained just 13 points, this should've got a lot more. France gave 3 points, Germany gave 1 point, Denmark gave 2 points, San Marino gave 3 points and Israel gave 4 points. So this song along with Ryan Dolan's "Only Love Survives" were the shock surprises, why were these songs not voted for? However it was such a tough competition this year.
This music video is great to watch. Krista Siegfrids reminds me of Ke$ha, and I could definitely imagine Ke$ha singing this song. The whole concept reminds me of Katy Perry's "Hot n Cold". However it's fun, exciting, different and samey all at the same time.
There's a narrative, with a wedding performance. The narrative is interesting. She's idolising her boyfriend, asking him to propose to her. He looks vulnerable, as if he doesn't know what he wants, and she's this wild, crazy girl who he can't handle. How did he take this long to propose to her?
The flirtation between her and her friends is different, showing that she's comfortable with who she is, and she will do what she wants. told you she's crazy, but in the amazing crazy way. At the start she writes in her notebook: 'I'm not obsessed I'm just a woman!'. She kidnaps her boyfriend, and then performs at her wedding, where he FINALLY proposes.
Her performance at the wedding is fun, exciting and totally different. It makes me think that I'm watching a musical, and she's singing on the way up the aisle and then her guests dance, that made me laugh lots. She has so much energy, crazy freaky energy, that will be awesome on stage at one of her concerts. I really want to see her live now.
Overall a very catchy song worthy of a top five Eurovision placing, instead it landed near the bottom for unknown reasons. The music video, is fun, energetic and full of everything I want. I have a little problem with kidnapping the guy, it's happened too many times in other music videos, and surely there could have been a more original idea, but apart from that, a narrative, a performance... What more do I want? Definitely the best music video I have reviewed from Eurovision 2013 SO FAR... Can any others top this one?
