Coming 15th in the Eurovision Song Contest, Justs did pretty well for Latvia. This catchy song doesn't kick in until the chorus starts, but hearing it more than once definitely made me like it more, hence why it's a part of my Eurovision 2016 Special. Gaining 132 points, it's clear that Europe enjoyed his performance of the song. Justs sings his heart out to a girl who has him locked away, wish his heartbeat was beating for me and not her.
Justs, full name Justs Sirmais, hasn't had much of a musical career, winning Supernova (the Latvian national selection) was his first big step into the music industry. However he has had little glimpses, he has been in bands including TaxFree and Bunch of Gentleman, as well as providing vocals for hip-hop artist GACHO on about half the tracks on his album 'Smaids Līdz Ausīm'. This is his first solo single, and I'm sure it won't be his last. The song was written by Aminata Savadogo, who Latvia sent to Eurovision in 2015.
The performance-based music video is full emotion, that Justs packs in with his usual energetic vibes.
Much like his performance during both the Semi-Final and the Grand Final, Justs has the same jacket and the same vibes, this is clearly his freestyle moves and the way he interprets the song.
There's not much else to this, he's in love with the girl, who is cuddling him as well as locking him away in a room. His love interest watches him on TV monitors.
Overall the song is strong, with great vocals on a track that is definitely catchy, but what do we expect from Aminata? Justs performs well, but this is a typical performance from him, which gets old easily. His movement is chaotically stiff, but at least he is feeling the energy and emotion from the song.
My Eurovision 2016 Special continues with Azerbaijan, who has been sending amazing acts over and over again, especially after their win in 2011. This placed 17th in the Eurovision Song Contest with a respectable 117 points. Samra sings her heart out in this catchy song, full of emotion, she clearly means every word in this video for Miracle.
Samra, full name Samra Rahimli, first ventured into the music industry by appearing on O Ses Türkiye (The Voice of Turkey) where she got to the quarter finals in 2015. She next appeared on Səs Azərbaycan (The Voice of Azerbaijan).where she became a finalist. She was chosen by internal selection to represent the country in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. Her vocals are stunning on this track, and I so hope she continues to release music because I definitely want to buy her future releases. The song was written by Amir Aly, Jakob "Jakke" Erixson, Henrik Wikström and Dom Amir.
The music video is a pure performance-based video, without much special effects apart from strobe lighting, which doesn't help to intrigue the audience all that much.
What does capture our attention is Samra's amazing acting, she has totally connected to the track. Although she didn't write it, the song has meaning to her.
The strobe lighting emphasises the chorus, it doesn't relate unless miracles come in beaming lights.
There's nothing else to this music video. Samra reminds me of me, if I could actually sing, I mean. Literally, I'd be singing into that microphone and I'd be giving the song all I've got, every hand movement and emotional face used at the artful moment in the lyrics. Samra does the exact same thing. She's singing this song to someone and boy does she mean business! I hope she gets to released more singles and hopefully an album, because this is one voice I want to hear more of.
Here comes Barei! This was an early favourite, and it is the song I spent most of my money on voting. Here Barei comes on to my Eurovision 2016 Special. I voted so much for this song, and it's good to know that it appeared on the UK public vote, so I helped. Unfortunately she followed Russia's entrant Sergey Lazarev who was the favourite to win, with his song "You Are the Only One". This totally faltered Barei in the voting, because Russia had a very visual performance, whereas Barei gave a great dance performance that was overshadowed by the previous contestant. She sadly only managed to get 77 points in the Grand Final, placing her 22nd. Catchy, upbeat and empowering, Spain sent Barei to Eurovision with this banger. Style on point, Barei tells you to Say Yay!
Barei, real name Bárbara González-Aller, is a star in the making. Her style is on point her vocals are electric, she's gorgeous, and if she doesn't become an international star in the next decade or so we will totally be missing out in the music world! She has released two albums and a number of singles. After winning the Spanish national selection Objetivo Eurovisión, she signed to Universal Music Spain, who re-released her album. Barei has star quality, she just needs the promotion to become an international star. Eurovision was a great platform for her, even if she did perform after the Russian entrant. The song was written by Barei, Rubén Villanueva and Víctor Púa Vivó. The song is all about not giving up, keep going, climb over those hills and follow your dreams. Definitely uplifting, it's a very encouraging song.
Directed by Gus Carballo, this video is such an amazing performance piece, showcasing to the world who Barei is and her style and her music. She replicated this perfectly in the Grand Final of Eurovision.
Clearly coming from a dance background, Barei shines throughout, using footwork which has recently became the in-thing to do in a club (the one dance move I can't pull off). Even the guys are getting on the dance floor and pulling these moves off!
The video also shows off the city streets of Spain, joining together different dancers who all come together with this song. I really want to visit Spain if people randomly just dance in the streets, that is my kind of place.
The middle is pulled off perfectly, when she falls down, she fell in the performance of the Eurovision Grand Final too. She gets back up and carries on, conquering those mountains and releasing her battle cry. Just like Orianthi sung in her song "Courage".
The ending is perfection. To have all the dancers perform in-sync with that technical footwork, where it's easy to go wrong, just proves how strong of a dancer Barei is as well as her backing dancers. She is a star, she just needs her fame now! But she's got me as a fan already, and I'm sure I'm not the only one!
If anyone's killing it recently, it's Anne-Marie, and this new summer hit is definitely one of my favourites from her. Staying cool and true to who she is, Anne-Marie is getting popular, fast. Her sound is unique, and she will be at Birmingham Pride 2016, and after this release, I won't be missing her on the stage! Anne-Marie describes the cheating alarm that rings through her head when she doesn't trust her boyfriend, beautifully replicated in this video.
Anne-Marie is hitting the charts with this song. She has already charted with "Do It Right" which gained traction months after it's release. She has collaborated with Rudimental and Wretch 32, both of which should've made the chart. Now her name is being thrown about, this is one girl who is confident in her music. Alarm will be her biggest hit to date, but definitely not the last!
The music video is directed by Malia James. It features three main characters: Anne-Marie, Romeo and Sirena (Romeo's conquest). It confuses me at the start though, because Romeo has a phone number on a piece of paper by Amelia, is that his ex? Who knows? But it's definitely not Sirena.
The video continues. Anne-Marie looks gorgeous, so stylish, she reminds me of Rita Ora in "Poison" purely because of how beautiful she looks in the video. She is stunning, especially compared to Sirena. What is Romeo thinking?
Typical love scenes happen that do make me jealous. I want that relationship, I had that relationship (for a week and a half, but I had it), and I miss being in that state of euphoria. It's a perfect portrayal, great acting skills from Anne-Marie and Romeo.
Romeo doesn't try hard to get Sirena. She doesn't look much of a conquest, and he seems pretty relaxed about it. The main scene seems like a drunken mishap; regardless of which, it is still significant, and would put alarm bells in Anne-Marie's head but it's something that can be looked past. There isn't enough emphasis on Romeo and Sirena together.
Anne-Marie performs amazingly, the narrative shows off her great acting skills, but what makes Anne-Marie more of a star is her performance of this song. It's such an emotional song and she pulls it off effortlessly, whilst looking stunning. Overall, brilliant performance with a great narrative. Anne-Marie is a star in the making! Watch out for her guys!
My Eurovision Special welcomes Deen back to the Eurovision Song Contest! He returns after an 11 year gap, only this time he is joined by amazing vocalist Dalal, brilliant cellist Ana Rucner and hip-hop artist Jala. This was one of my favourites this year, and I'm sad to see it just missed out. It came 11th in the first Semi-Final with 104 points. Dalal & Deen show emotion throughout in Ljubav Je, with the help of the amazing cellist Ana Rucner. Jala adds a new flavour to the mix that feels out of place in the video and the song.
Dalal & Deen team up for this song. Dalal, real name Dalal Midhat-Talakić, has had an all right solo career, her achievement was performing "Amazing Grace" at a concert for Pope Francis. She is one half of duo Erato, who have released two albums. As for Deen, real name Fuad Backović, he represented Bosnia & Herzegovina back in 2004 with "In The Disco", where he placed ninth overall. Deen looks totally different 11 years on, but his vocals have improved even more so, although this song didn't make the Grand Final, it'll be one I will remember. Featuring on the song is Ana Rucner who is one of Croatia's most successful performers. Jala, real name Jasmin Fazlić, has had a successful hip-hop career, releasing three albums both under Jala and Jala Brat, as well as two EPs. He is the founding member of BluntBylon and music studio Red Eye Vision. A song that infuses four different styles of music, and it almost completely works, but Jala doesn't quite fit as much as we all hoped he would. He's rap is better in the studio version than live on stage. The song was written by Almir Ajanović and Jasmin Fazlić Jala. It is sung in Bosnian and the title means Love Is.
The music video is performance based, fully traditional. It represents Bosnia & Herzegovina beautifully.
Dalal & Deen shine throughout, their vocals are on point, from their vantage point, they are watching Ana Rucner below, and later Jala, when he steps in.
Ana Rucner is mesmerising, she's technically amazing, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who's awe-stuck by her and her cello. Ana Rucner out does herself in this song, let alone this music video. It didn't quite transfer perfectly on stage, but that may have been Jala's fault.
He's lyrics are good, it just changes the tempo of the song. He doesn't look like he fits in the music video that well either, a total opposite to the cello, that probably always works well behind the scenes, but visually it's not something you would expect. He switches the song which makes it more interesting, without Jala it would have been just another ballad in this competition.
Overall an intricate traditional music video, that definitely is enlightening, opening the viewers into the world of Boznia & Herzegovina, who probably have a lot more to show us, which they no doubt will if they ever win the Eurovision Song Contest. A great performance piece to a strong song.
