An instant fan favourite, Hovi Star is next on my Eurovision 2016 Special. Already an established star in Israel, He finally achieved his dream, to grace the Eurovision stage and represent his country. He's vocally talented, stylishly fashionable, and is definitely the LGBT+ representative this year. The song is strong, but I always expect an amazing chorus and it's kind of lacking. This guy has conquered his dream, now it's time to be an international star, as he definitely has the voice for it. Hovi Star claims we're all Made of Stars in this LGBT+ anthem, whilst singing out to a number of drones in this music video.
Hovi Star, real name Hovav Sekulets, took part in Kokhav Nolad (meaning A Star Is Born), which is similar to 'Pop Idol' and it's spinoffs. He came seventh, then known as Hovi "Star" Sekulets, he launched a career and has rerecorded songs in Hebrew for well known films such as 'Frozen', 'Cinderella' and 'Inside Out'. He then competed in HaKokhav HaBa L'Eirovizion, based off the 'Raising Star' franchise, where the winner represents the country in the Eurovision Song Contest. This, Hovi Star won, which he is more than deserving. He came 14th in the Grand Final with 135 points. I'm sure this is not the last we've seen of Hovi Star. The song was written by Doron Medalie.
This music video shows off Tel Aviv in Israel, with the help of drones. It's a little weird that Hovi Star is singing to them, I presume they represent stars or people who are stars.
Hovi Star performs with so much emotion, he has clearly connected with this song and he performed just as well during the Grand Final as well as the Semi-Final.
There's not much to this video apart from Hovi Star serenading the drones that are both flying around him and following him. Nothing amazing but clear performance vibes. Hovi Star will be back, this is not the last we've seen of him!
With one rapper still on top of the UK Chart, Drake with "One Dance", which still doesn't have a music video yet; another rapper has entered the top 10. Desiigner is at number seven with this smash hit that has already conquered the US Billboard Chart. Panda is about Desiigner's affinity for the BMW X6, a confusing weird video with Kanye West appearing, what more can you want?
Desiigner, real name Sidney Selby III, is signed to Kanye West's label GOOD (Getting Out Our Dreams) Music after this song was released on Desiigner's YouTube and Soundcloud. Is this the start of Desiigner's amazing career as a rapper? Or will Panda just be a one-hit wonder, and he'll fade away like so many rappers before him? Panda was written by Sidney Selby III and Adnan Khan. The song has been sampled by Kanye West for two tracks on his album.
The video is directed by Paul Geusebroek. It contains many different scenes, some of which are difficult to follow. Not quite narrative-based and I surely hope this is not some sort of performance.
The selfie scene is an intricate scene as most people think Desiigner may be high. It captures his passion for this song in that scene more than anything, and kind of reminds me of Alexandra Stan's "Vanilla Chocolat" or Times Red's "Not Listening" because they both contain selfie scenes.
Kanye West appears as a friend throughout the music video, which is definitely expected since he was the one who signed him and sampled his track. However no sign of a real panda, and surely Desiigner is fully promoting the BMW X6 with both this song and it's music video.
A few shocking clips, like the panda painted on an ass that twerks, and Desiigner lying down on a bed whilst being touched up (he looks quite sexy here, not going to lie), him smoking, and the craziness of the rest of the video. It's hard to follow and difficult to understand. On the other hand, it's a typical music video for a rap song, identifiably relatable that way, for sure.
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!
