I spent ages looking for a new release that didn't include Mark Owen. The other options were Taylor Swift Featuring Ed Sheeran with "Everything Has Changed" but I don't think it is having an official single release in the UK, and others I looked for was Bridgit Mendler's "Hurricane" which also hasn't been released. I struggled, and finally came up with this one.
I always thought Tegan and Sara were a new duo, but I have just been surprised to find out that they released their first album in 1999. They are a Canadian duo consisting of twins Tegan Quin and Sara Quin. They have only recently hit the UK, and managed to become known for their song "Closer".
"I Was A Fool" was written by Tegan Quin and Sara Quin. It's a very emotional song, and could possibly be about past love interests. The song is one of those that gets stuck on my brain, and no matter how much I try to shake it, I end up singing it or at least tapping along to it in my head. It's currently climbing up the UK iTunes chart, but will it manage to hit the top 100 before Sunday? I haven't heard it much on the radio, and radio play is so important. Maybe they'll only be known for "Closer" here in the UK.
The music video matches the song, there is a performance side and a narrative side. The performance is simple with little to it. I feel the piano is a little on the distracting side, so much so that we don't quite see her emotional face. However I love the back drop and being able to see both the twins in the performance piece.
The narrative side is extremely emotional, clearly her and her partner has split, and she misses her partner. But she's so angry or upset that she won't take Sidney's phone calls. I like the idea of seeing the Quin girl in the narrative, it's almost as if she is a ghost or a guardian angel watching over her.
Overall a great music video, that has no flaws what so ever. The song is highly emotional and the music video reflects that perfectly. So here's my rating.
Farid Mammadov almost brought the competition back to Azerbaijan. He came runner-up in the competition, and I predict Azerbaijan will be hosting the Eurovision Song Contest again in the near future due to it's great performances in the last few years. Farid Mammadov is a new artist and has released three singles so far. This one being the most popular. Azerbaijan holds a national selection so the public can choose who will represent the country, it is called Milli Seçim Turu. And this country has been doing well since they first entered.
"Hold Me" was written by Dimitris Kontopoulos, who has written many Eurovision songs. The song is so engaging and emotional, but then the Turkish version is heard, retitled as "Bana Dönsen", and it has this sad spin on things, and pulls at my heart strings. I feel like they are two separate songs, and I can't choose which one I prefer, naturally I would go for the English version, but this Turkish version has a special feel to it.
Azerbaijan came 2nd, and it was very close at the start. Farid Mammadov got 234 points. 8 from France, 12 from Lithuania, 8 from Moldova, 7 from Spain, 5 from Belgium, 10 from Belarus, 12 from Malta, another 12 from Russia, 4 from Germany, 2 from the Netherlands, 10 from Romania, 12 from Hungary, 7 from Iceland, 12 from Greece, 10 from Ukraine, 12 from Georgia, 2 from Ireland, 12 from Austria, 3 from Slovenia, 7 from Croatia, 12 from Montenegro, 8 from Cyprus, 5 from Serbia, 3 from Latvia, 2 from San Marino, 12 from Bulgaria, another 12 from Israel, 7 from Albania and 6 from Switzerland.
Although Farid Mammadov didn't sing the song in Turkish, there is no English music video, and henceforth, I will have to review this one.
The music video is lacking the staging we had at Eurovision, check the video below, that staging is definitely one of my favourites, and if I were reviewing it, it would definitely get five stars, as for this one...
It's a pure performance piece, but I feel there are too many different scenes that lead to nothing, why do I want to see him performing in all these places, it's not as if he is touring or anything. I just think there's too much variety in the places we see.
On the other hand, he has perfect performance skills, you know how he's feeling, you can tell he just wants to be held, and it's so full emotion, I can't take my eyes off his face, it tells me everything, I don't even care that it's not in English, and it certainly doesn't need to be.
Overall the song, in whatever version, is amazingly emotional, one of those songs you'll sing along to when you're upset, and it gets your sadness out of you. The accompanying video fails to entertain me with the backgrounds, but Farid Mammadov's stage presence is fill of hurt and sorrow that I just want him to be happy again.
Zlata Ognevich, real name Inna Bordiuh, has tried to represent the
Ukraine in Eurovision a total of three times. This year she finally got
selected. She came fifth in 2009, and 2nd in 2010, this year she won
Evrobachennya, Ukraine's national selection. She obviously was eager to
represent her country, and in competing so many times, made her known to
the fans of Eurovision in the Ukraine. I just hope this isn't the end
for her.
"Gravity" was written by Mikhail Nekrasov and Karen Kavaleryan. The song definitely stands out, and it's one of those songs I end up singing along to and I don't realise it. The thing is, I don't think it would've done as well, if that giant, Igor Vovkovinskiy, didn't carry her in during her performance. I was hoping to see the giant in the music video, but there's no sign of him
The Ukraine came 3rd out of 26 countries. 214 points were awarded to Zlata Ognevich. 10 from Lithuania, 12 from Moldova, 10 from Spain, 8 from Belgium, 10 from Estonia, 12 from Belarus, 10 from Malta, 1 from Russia, 12 from Armenia, 5 from the Netherlands, 4 from Romania, 5 from the UK, 7 from Hungary, 3 from Denmark, 3 from Iceland, 12 from Azerbaijan, 8 from Greece, 5 from Italy, 1 from Norway, 8 from Georgia, another 8 from Ireland, 1 from Austria, 12 from Croatia, 10 from Cyprus, another 10 from Serbia, 7 from Latvia, 10 from Bulgaria and another 10 from Israel.
The music video is dream like. It's the sort of place I'd love to live, a place without a care in a world and everything is beautiful around me, guess I'll have to leave that to my dreams rather than searching for a floating bit of land in Space, where I could safely live.
There a narrative and performance piece. The narrative hasn't got an actual story to it, just that she awakens from a metal flower and looks wide-eyed at all the things on this floating piece of land.
There are various performance pieces, which stands out totally. She has such a presence when she sings that you are captured. She is also really beautiful, and I'm not the only one who thinks that, many people have commented on her looks, it may also be another reason why people become captured in her singing.
Various scenes stand out, such as when she is singing in that red dress, and when she is floating in the bubble with diamonds surrounding her. It's such a powerful video, and she didn't even need to do much.
Overall a song I can listen to again and again, but I think there was better songs in the competition this year. The music video is powerful, with the occasional direct translation of the lyrics, what with the birds which are mentioned in the song. however, it's is theatrical and dramatic, and draws many people in.
Margaret Berger is another act from a reality singing competition. She entered Idol (Norway) in 2004 and came second. She since went on to release four singles as well as two albums. She competed in Melodi Grand Prix 2013, Norway's national selection, where she won to represent her country in the Eurovision Song Contest. She is currently working on her third album in London, England... Does this mean she will release the song over Europe at least? And will people remember her name enough to buy the album... Maybe she will do promotion for it, nowadays that is what you have to do to be successful. And she is definitely bringing her own style to the table. I didn't expect this song to perform so well in Eurovision let alone on the UK chart, I can't think of anyone like her at the moment, so she can definitely get the chart numbers she needs.
"I Feed You My Love" was written by Karin Park and MachoPsycho. The song has hit charts globally, and has done so well in most countries. The song is about having the courage and strength to do what you want. But I have a sneaky feeling it is meant to settle into your bones, enough to creep you out. It is quite scary, but it works well and the meaning behind the song does come through.
Norway came 4th out of 26 countries. Meaning Margaret Berger got 191 points. 6 points from Lithuania, 2 points from Moldova, 12 points from Finland, 5 points from Spain, 7 points from Belgium, 3 points from Estonia, another 3 points from Belarus, a further 3 points from Malta, 7 points from Russia, another 7 points from Germany, 3 points from Armenia, 6 points from the Netherlands, 8 points from Romania, 12 points from Sweden, 2 points from Hungary, 12 points from Denmark, 10 points from Iceland, 2 points from Azerbaijan, 4 points from Greece, 3 points from Ukraine, 8 points from Italy, 4 points from Georgia, 5 points from Slovenia, 3 points from Croatia, 4 points from Montenegro, another 4 points from Cyprus, 7 points from Serbia, 8 points from Latvia, 7 points from San Marino, 8 points from Macedonia, 1 point from Bulgaria, 6 points from Israel, 2 points from Albania and 7 points from Switzerland.
The music video is officially titled as a promo video, hence why it isn't an actual music video, and kind of reminds me of PeR's "Here We Go" in that they both aren't real videos for the songs. However, like "Here We Go" I'm going to imagine that this is a proper video for the song since there is no other video available.
It follows the song in the scariness. I feel that nothing is totally explained and the short featured clips are more of an exact explanation of the song. The lyrics say certain visual items such as hands or feeding and we find that replicated in the video, what with the lips, the hands and the balls, which could be sweets of all sorts.
I think the clips of Margaret Berger brings nothing to the table, apart from the fact that she looks a bit like Pixie Lott with her hair down. But it's not a performance side of the video and fails to include anything. It makes her more identifiable, so much so that you can tell it's her singing, but since she's not performing to the song and she's not even lip-syncing, then I don't see the inclusion.
The other clips doesn't bring much to the table either. I will definitely not be going out of my way to watch this video a second time. Don't get me wrong, I love the song and I would certainly give it five stars, however this is a music video review, like I've said in past reviews, and so it's just down to the video and nothing else. Hence why my rating is so low. If a proper video were made for this song, I wouldn't be surprised if it's better than this.
Dina Garipova was a surprising entry, because compared to the other songs in the competition, this one was slow and a ballad, and it's hard to define yourself when this happens, and to make me enjoy it as well. Anouk may have sung "Birds" during the competition and stood out, but I didn't like the song, this one I did, hence why she's in my Eurovision Special and Anouk, who represented The Netherlands, isn't. Dina Garipova won Russian's version of The Voice called Golos. And then was selected internally to represent Russia. I think this girl has a big future ahead of her. Keep an eye on the name Dina Garipova, as I reckon she'll be on everyone's lips soon enough.
"What If" was written by Gabriel Alares, Joakim Björnberg and Leonid Gutkin. The song is very emotional and believable, it's one of those songs that lifts spirits up and really encourages people to believe in others too. The song made a big impact in Eurovision, but also across Europe. It even charted in the UK at number 161. But made bigger impacts on charts in other countries.
Russia got to 5th out of 26 countries and Dina Garipova got 174 points. France gave 6 points, Lithuania gave 7 points, Moldova also gave 7 points, Finland gave 2 points, Spain gave 6 points, Belgium gave 4 points, Estonia gave 12 points, Belarus gave 8 points, Germany gave 2 points, Armenia gave 7 points, the Netherlands gave 4 points, the UK gave 10 points, Sweden gave 5 points, Denmark gave 7 points, Iceland gave 1 point, Ukraine gave 4 points, Georgia gave 6 points, Ireland gave 10, Slovenia also gave 10 points, Croatia gave 6 points, Montenegro gave 7 points, Cyprus gave 5 points, Serbia gave 8 points, Latvia gave 12 points, Macedonia gave 6 points, Bulgaria gave 5 points and Israel gave 7 points.
The music video, at first, seems like a usual, expected performance piece. I was waiting to see amazing stage presence which she showed on the Eurovision Song Contest 2013. And just when she starts, we flit over to the audience. Annoying at first, until I realised they were all part of the story and she manages to uplifts them with her song, and makes them believe, not only in themselves, but in others as well.
There isn't much to this video, but there doesn't need to be, It's inspirational and that is all it needs to be. It's missing one thing that could've made this a little bit better. We could have seen the background of some of the audience members, what has brought them to this point? The point where they are sad and need to be uplifted by this song. I want to know more about the characters in the audience. It reminds me a bit of Papa Roach's "Last Resort" however even in that music video there was short snappy background profiles, and should've been more.
Overall a song that is catchy and makes you warm and fuzzy inside. The accompanying music video does the exact same thing, only missing out a few crucial details that should've been included. That is the only reason why I dropped a star, it could've been more, and I feel like they missed out on such an opportunity.
