Festivali i Këngës for beginners

OK, here are the rules:

1.  You need to make yourself available for three nights around Christmas.  (In 2015, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and the 27th of December). Although these dates may slightly change, FiK (as it shall be known) usually always takes place around Christmas.  So now you don't have to subject yourself to the 'joys' of Christmas TV.  But if you are a masochist and feel that way inclined, you can always record those shows anyway.  So thanks to Chromecast I can watch FiK on the big telly which explains the following screen shots from my living room!

2.  You need to throw any preconceived notions of start times out of the window.  FiK never starts when it's supposed to, but usually about 15 minutes later.  So in the meantime, sit back and enjoy the ads (more of them later) and some offbeat short films, and trailers with Michael Buble songs, and more ads, and clips of the Christmas lights in Tirana, and Buble, more ads, and trailers, Buble, Christmas lights, and ads, and (*explodes in frustration*) oh WTF when does this thing start???  But on the plus side it's an education because you will learn some new Albanian words and phrases.  And then it starts....

3.  Be prepared to sing along, or at least hum along, with the utter joy of the FiK theme tune.  This is arguably the best theme song of any Eurovision national final.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGsjidRwVWU

And if you want to belt it out even if you don't know a word of Albanian, the lyrics (and English translation) are on the FiK Wikipedia page. "The years pass, they flow one by one, a word is born, it becomes a melody, in each heart when you stop, you meet a new friend, we welcome you, our celebration".  Just lovely, isn't it!

4.  Be prepared for three very long nights ahead in this spectacular.  There are lots of songs in each semi-final, and not many of them are eliminated so there are also lots of songs in the final.   But there are equally a huge number of distractions which seriously affects the flow: so don't be surprised if the proceedings are interrupted by random speeches, sketches, more speeches, more sketches and who knows, even some old blokes singing "Gangnam Style".  Yes, people, you did not dream that, for it actually happened in 2015.  

5.  Expect the show to be presented by some old bloke (although we had a younger guy in 2014), accompanied by a reasonably glamorous but bored-looking younger woman.  With some hairdo variations.  It would be fair to say that the good people of Twitter-land weren't too thrilled with Blerta Tafani's styling this year.  Neither was she, if the first screenshot above was anything to go by.  

6.  Do you like orchestras?  Good.  For there is none of that backing-tape rubbish in FiK - it's a hardcore throwback to Eurovision's golden age where every song is backed by a live orchestra and each song has its own conductor.  In the years prior to 2015 the conductor got his own moment in the spotlight and an occasional camera shot.  Which would make this particular blogger very happy, given her fondness for a certain Mr Gridi Kraja.  But in 2015 it all changed - the conductors still get a mention but it's now blink and you'll miss them, no lingering camera shots any more.  They have been sidelined.  And that wasn't the only thing being sidelined in 2015 as the next 'rule' reveals...

7.  Do you like ad breaks?  For Eurovision fans, many of the ad breaks in national finals are often as iconic as the song contest itself; particularly if you have 6 hours to spare to watch the Maltese ads-interrupted-by-song-contest extravaganza.  When it comes to FiK, expect those long ad breaks to be dominated by ads for Eurosig, Vodafone and Ardeno to name three.  (Although in 2015 there was no sign of the cheesy singer at the piano or the Geraldina Sposa wedding dresses ad) The story so far: Ardeno, an Albanian furniture store, had expanded into Kosovo and Montenegro.  This was highlighted in the map at the end of the ad, which soon went into Twitter FiK fandom folklore, not because we have a thing for Albanian furniture stores, but for reasons of pure innuendo and nothing else.  

By 2015 though, they had expanded further and the legendary map had been axed from Ardeno's new ad, revealing this very boring conclusion....

Whether it was due to the company's further expansion into other countries, or them just spoiling our fun, we will never know. 

8.  Be prepared for guitars.  Lots of them.  For FiK loves guitars, and they will chuck in a guitar solo whether a song needs one or not.  Oh, and you can forget that three-minute rule at FiK too. Sometimes a song will last for 4 and a half minutes; sometimes it feels like 6 hours.  

9.  Forget televoting: FiK has been going for 54 years now, and as far as I know it has always selected its winners by a jury.  That remains the case even today.

10.  The Dashuri Drinking Game: it is the recommendation of this blog that you do not participate in this activity, which involves taking a drink every time you hear the word "dashuri" in a FiK song.  It is guaranteed that you would have alcoholic poisoning three songs in.  Please drink responsibly!

11. No, you can't sing along with it: having watched the last 4 FiK contests what strikes me is the rather different structure of Albanian songs, if this contest is anything to go by.

12.  After approximately 4½ hours (yes!!) of what feels like an interminable final on the 3rd night, a winner will finally be chosen by the jury.  Inevitably, the internet fan community will then go through the 5 stages of FiK grief: 1) Oh noooo!  2) Bad choice of winner.  3) Maybe with a revamp.... 4) It wasn't that bad, they could have chosen (insert your least favourite song) instead.  5) Maybe it'll sound better in English....

13.  2015 brought, for me, a surprise winner.  There were many highly-rated singers who made it to the final - Sigi Bastri, Klodian Kacani and Rezarta Smaja, Adrian Lulgjuraj, Luiz Ejlli, Teuta Kurti, fan favourite Besa Krasniqi, Nilsa Hysi, Flaka Krelani, Lindi Islami to name a few - but of the 22 entries selected for the final it was Eneda Tarifa (above) who surprisingly triumphed with "Përrallë" - not a tribute to Swedish singer Charlotte (!) but it actually means "Fairytale" (hmm....getting a little deja-vu feeling with that song title in Eurovision!) and the song has a 'Bond theme' feel but I just wonder if the drama of the Albanian version will translate well into English in Stockholm?  The most concerning aspect of this song for me was that it required a number of listens before I really found a "hook".  And when you only get one chance to impress in the semi-final, this could be a major obstacle for Ms Tarifa.

14. Does FiK always choose the best song every year?  Well, this is a matter of opinion but in this writer's opinion the answer is....no.  In FiK 54, RTSH really missed the opportunity of achieving a decent result in Sweden with this energetic rock song performed by the winner of The Voice of Albania, a young man named Aslajdon Zaimaj.  This was my favourite song in FiK 54.



And finally....

15.  What are you doing next Christmas?  For there's the 55th edition of a certain Albanian song contest going on....!  

Notes from National Finals: Söngvakeppnin 2015, Iceland

It goes without saying that Söngvakeppnin is always one of my favourite national finals every year. But I'll say it anyway.

After a couple of semi-finals, it was time for this year's Icelandic national final on 14th February. Valentine's Day! But why spend the evening paying over the odds to go out with your loved one to an overpriced restaurant surrounded by boring loved up happy couples.  When you could spend the evening with the other great love of your life - national finals season!!  This was another Super Saturday with heats and semi-finals a go-go but I was saving my evening for the Icelandic final and the last night of Sanremo, which I've covered in a separate post.

But something was not right with the Icelandic final.  Something was missing...that restful little howl which we know and love.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THE THEME TUNE?  AND CAN WE HAVE IT BACK PLEASE??

The show began with a celebration of last year's winner, Enga fordóma, and the arrival of this year's finalists.  Following a short feature on the 'Pönk, it became clear that we would probably not see anything as quirky as them in the 2015 final.

One major change this year was a bizarre rule change which meant that if the winner chose to sing in English at Eurovision, then their song must also be in English in the national final.  I'm not sure if this applied just to Iceland or was it a general rule change?  Five of the finalists must have thought they were in with a chance as they changed their songs to English.  One of these was the pop trio Cadem - I rather liked them and thought of them as an enthusiastic Icelandic 'Alcazar-teens'.  This does have Melodifestivalen written all over it, and appropriately the whole feel of "Fly" is more scraped-through-to-Andra-Chansen than serious contender.

Sunday also chose to sing in English. Out went Fjaðrir and in came "Feathers" but it was still the coolest thing in the contest.  A Margaret Berger level of cool,  But I knew it wouldn't be enough. This song cried out for some major, massive staging, but the small venue failed it.

Björn and Friends were not only defiantly dated beyond belief, but they were uncompromising with it.  So no English translation for "Piltur og stúlka".  I checked my calendar to see that I hadn't time-travelled back to the 1980s.  They were good singers though, it has to be said.

Generic manic pixie Disney princess/prom queen alert. Maria Ólafsdóttir is a very pleasant and pretty young woman, and this is a rather cynical attempt to please. Barefoot. Unnecessary background dancing. This sounds like the kind of song which used to soundtrack teen dramas like Dawson's Creek. She has a similar natural look to Emmelie de Forest. Unbroken is a generic mid tempo number with shades of Uncover by Zara Larsson. This is in the vein of the safe entries which seem to go down well at ESC these days.

Followed by another pleasant but less-than-manic young woman. Elin Sif who also thinks she's got a chance at it as her song is translated to "Dance Slow". She wrote this herself. Its far too sickly sweet for me. Far far too sugary sweet.

Friðrik Dór reminds me a little of an Icelandic version of Erik Segerstedt with enhanced eyebrows. Extra points for "Divine" being played in the postcard.  It does have a memorable tune although the staging with the girl fans at the end of the catwalk annoys me and its embarrassing. It was a welcome change from the manic pixie girls though and although this could be any boyband-on-stools type ballad from any time in the past 20 years, he sings it very well.

The beard quota is fulfilled with nice beardy doctor bloke Haukur Heiðar Hauksson wearing what looks like leftover uniforms from the Belarus army band.  "Milljon Augnablik".  This song will get a post contest life on my iPod. But what about the interval act?

Well, it's only an all male interval act including Fridrik Omar and the wonderful Magni Asgeirsson (yes I do still miss him at Söngvakeppnin) who is going to appear in Jesus Christ Superstar with none other than Eythor Ingi, better known at EuropeCrazy HQ as "the egg a leaf guy" in the leading role.

It's Friðrik and Maria to the super final. Safe versus safe. What happened to that Icelandic 'edge' this year?  Maria wins.

Mum: why is (Maria) wandering around looking for her shoes?
Mum has spoken, she doesn't like Unbroken.  And neither do I really, if I'm honest.  In recent years Iceland has given us disco bangers, sweet, daft or anthemic pop songs and epic swooping ballads, which have all been wonderful in their own way.  Unbroken is none of these.  It's bland, and safe, and dull, and it would only have gone up in my estimations if it had stayed in Icelandic.  Iceland usually have an automatic pass to my favourite songs list in any Eurovision year.  Sorry Maria, but you're crossed off my list this year.  

Notes from National Finals: Eesti Laul 2015, Estonia

Saturday 21st February. Another Super Saturday, and another national final. The most "indie" of national finals started, as is now the tradition, with a performance of the previous year's winner.  And although I was no fan of Tanja's "Euphoria" oops I mean "Amazing", I was quite impressed with the sax-tastic remix/makeover of the song, which I thought was a vast improvement on the original. Maybe if they'd have sent this version last year I would have had a more favourable view of it. 

The acts were introduced, with big cheers for favourites Elina and Stig who have already topped the Estonian singles chart.  By the way, it's good to see that they are still using the instrumental section of Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up" as background music whilst the presenters were talking.  And then you have the postcards where they sing the artist name and song title. All of these add up to Eesti Laul being one of Europe's coolest national finals.  So let's get on with the songs!

Welcome to Estonia, where they have an endless conveyor belt of women with spectacular long shiny hair. Luisa performs song 1,"Minu päike" sitting on a swing and then she and her backing singers take turns to play on the climbing frame. Childish and twee yes but its not the worst.  You see, that's where Eesti Laul differs from Melodifestivalen: it's smaller but less calculated, less ruthless, more 'real'.

Song 2 is by Maia Vahtramäe.  "Üle vesihalli taeva" is pretty forgettable. It may be sung by yet another Estonian woman with fabulous hair but the song is as dull as her dress.

I don't really understand the postcards this year "Alasti tõde" but I am reliably informed on Twitter that it was pretty funny. It's not a patch on the Estonian clowns though!!

Song 3 is the night's big favourite "Goodbye to Yesterday" sung by Elina Born and Stig Rästa. It's in black and white but the staging is slightly different from in the semi final. But where's Elina? All together now, "she's behind you!" Not sure about the white shirt and big cummerbund but I suppose it matches the feel of the song. Vocally it's ok and I can't really see anything overtaking it.

Song 4 is "Idiot" by the Kali Briis Band. Well I really like this and they look as if they are having great fun. Love their wacky shirts. I think I might listen to this after the contest is over although it doesn't have Eurovision appeal. But it does include the cracking line "In my opinion you're just an idiot".

Song 5 is "Troubles" by Robin Juhkental and the Big Bangers. This is very different from "Siren" although he uses a similar camera technique. Imagine big band meets indie and that's somewhere near this.

Song 6 is sung by Daniel Levi - I wondered why the French singer who had a massive hit a few years ago with "L'envie d'aimer" was doing in Eesti Laul.  But it's not that one.  Well hello Estonian version of Daniel Levi, nobody told me you were this cute! "Burning Lights" is in with a good chance then he completely seals it with a stage dive and a bit of crowd surfing.

What I notice in this final is that everyone looks as if they're enjoying the experience. I can only watch and envy this, imagine a UK ESC final like this. No you can't, because that's an experience we are denied.

The 7th song is "Superlove" by Elisa Kolk aka the one which doesn't sound indie. Really hoping this doesn't win as right now we have too many interchangeable brunettes already. The song is OK but not my favourite.

The Blurry Lane look like an Estonian version of the Corrs but don't really have much else going for them. The song Exceptional certainly doesn't live up to its title.

Next up is my other favourite finalist, "Unriddle Me" by the brilliantly-named Elephants from Neptune is just great and again I will be listening to this long after Eesti Laul is over.

Unlike "This is Our Choice" by Triin Niitoja and John 4. It's certainly more commercial but a bit too 'Eurovisiony' and given Estonia's left-field reputation it would be a serious cop-out if Estonia was to send this.

The juries send "Goodbye to Yesterday", "Burning Lights" and "Superlove" (what, no "Unriddle Me"????)  to the superfinal, and it's "GTY" which is a resounding winner with 79% of the televote.

I'm delighted with this result as the song is one of the best to come out of national finals season in 2015 and is way better than any of the indistinguishable mid-tempo/ballads sung by interchangeable brunettes. I'm guessing though that the staging remains a work in progress until Vienna and then it will be make or break. If they get it right I'm predicting a definite top 10 place for Stig and Elina.

Notes from National Finals: Sanremo 2015

Although I had previously caught some of the Sanremo final in 2013, I think it was, I had never watched the 5 night bonanza before.  But all that was about to change this year.

Sanremo is of course the daddy of all song contests; it predated and inspired the Eurovision Song Contest.  For those of us who love Festivali i Kenges because it still has that sense of 'old Eurovision' with the orchestra and conductors, then Sanremo is also a must-see.  There are no badly translated songs in English here either: it's native language all the way.  And as languages go, Italian is probably the most musical of all.

I was impressed by this year's team of presenters, although as I have virtually no knowledge of the Italian language I can only go on the professionalism which came across - I believe though that there were a few gaffes, according to some coverage on the internet.  This year, Carlo Conti was accompanied by last year's winner Arisa, and last year's ESC representative Emma Marrone.  I thought Emma did very well and all those fancy gowns showed off another side of the 'rock chick'. As for Arisa, I found her speaking voice quite irritating.

It took me a while to understand how the two competitions worked at Sanremo.  A couple of years ago, Antonio Maggio won the newcomers category with "Mi Servirebbe Sapere"and I couldn't understand why he was not allowed to either compete in the final night's contest or indeed represent Italy at Eurovision.  But some research later, I know all the rules and this helped me to understand the contest better.  So we have the 'nuove proposti' (newcomers/young artists) section, which runs alongside the 'campioni' (big artists) over 5 nights of Italian music and mayhem.  Sanremo has been responsible for launching the careers of Eros Ramazzotti, Laura Pausini and Andrea Bocelli, and this year's winner of the 'nuove proposti' was Giovanni Caccamo with "Ritornero da te".  I like this song a lot, and hopefully we'll hear more from him.  It was certainly a very successful year as he also wrote Malika Ayane's lovely ballad "Adesso e qui" which ended in 3rd place in the 'Big Artists' category.

This year's line-up boasted some big names: Raf - yes, the Raf of Gente di Mare/Self Control fame. But fame doesn't guarantee success, and he failed to make it to the 'Big Artists' final night.  Nina Zilli also returned but made less impact this time round.

It became very apparent very quickly that Sanremo 2015 was going to be about one artist only for me.  I had become a Nek fan in the early 2000s ironically not through his Italian-language music, but his Spanish-language recordings.  On my first trip to Barcelona in 2001 I bought his "Las Cosas Que Defendere" album and was hooked.  However as the years went on I 'lost' Nek so it was good to find him again.  And do you know what?  It was worth the wait.

"Fatti Avanti Amore" marked Nek's return to Sanremo and in a generally 'meh' national finals season (for me anyway, sorry) it had something which was lacking in many of the entries chosen to date.  It was punchy, lively and dynamic.  However I was realistic enough to know that if Nek won Sanremo he would probably not compete at ESC so I just accepted this and enjoyed his performance for what it was.

There were two very strong contenders sung by female artists: "Una finestra tra le stelle" by Annalisa and "Straordinario"by Chiara, and I thought earlier in the week that one of these might win.  But it was Malika Ayane's low-key, soulful ballad "Adesso e Qui" which impressed me, and it also impressed the juries and televoters

Meanwhile the three young men who make up Il Volo (or Il Divo Juniors if you prefer!!) had also grabbed my attention.  They impressed me a lot with their vocal prowess on "Grande Amore".  I had come to terms with the possibility of Nek not winning, and decided that I would be very happy with this winning Sanremo.

And so it came to pass.  When the juries and televoting totals were added together, "Grande Amore was the big winner, with "Fatti Avanti Amore" in 2nd place and "Adesso e Qui" 3rd.

It had been a very long night, thanks to that Icelandic final followed by the epic final night of Sanremo.  By the time it was all over it was late and I felt emotionally exhausted but happy that I had not only survived my whole Sanremo experience, but that it had given us a worthy winner.

We didn't have to wait too long for confirmation that, yes, Il Volo would in fact represent Italy at this year's Eurovision Song Contest.  "Grande Amore" has gone on to become one of my favourite ESC entries this year.  

And Sanremo?  Well yes, it's overlong, yes there are far too many stops and starts and random special guests and interviews along the way, but it's a true event which is a must-see if you love Italian language music and want to discover new and established artists.  I'll be watching it again next year!

Notes from National Finals: Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, Denmark

February 7th arrived, the first of the 'Super Saturdays' with a number of heats and semi-finals going on all over Europe.  However I had made my decision.  After making the horrible mistake of missing last year's DMGP final, I made sure that this was going to be my main viewing choice this time round.

Laptop wired up to the TV (this was in the days before I finally got my Chromecast to work) and I even persuaded my mum to watch some of this.  However she was quite bamboozled by the sound of the Danish language spoken by presenters Esben Bjerre and Jacob Riising!

DMGP is a one night only contest, which is a rarity in a time of never-ending heats and semi-finals. But would it be all killer and no filler?  Not quite, but you're always guaranteed that DR will put on a good show on a grand scale.  This year's host venue was the appropriately named Gigantium in Aalborg.

But would the songs be as gigantic in quality?

1. "Love Me Love Me" - Sara Sukurani

A lively Eastern-flavoured opener, co-written by Arash, Unfortunately the song is just too generic - "My Number One" and all its copies all thrown into a great big blender and this came out.  Sara is an enthusiastic performer but her orange and grey dress does her no favours, and could they not have chosen another colour instead of grey for the backing dancers' outfits?

2.  "Mi Amore" - Tina and Rene.

And in a moment like this (!) it's time for Tina and Rene.

Mum: This is more like it.
Laura: Unfortunately it's also more like another song which represented Denmark 5 years ago.
M: If they sent the same song do you think anyone would notice the difference?
L: We fans would!  Have to say I actually prefer this song to In a Moment Like This.

3.  "Nar Vejde Kryses" - Marcel and Soulman Group.

Firstly, I'm glad to finally hear a song in the Danish language.  Marcel certainly has an interesting style, but he is probably better than the song, which probably belongs to the "Love Power"/"Even If" school of "let's do a funky/soulful song for Eurovision".  This song doesn't really go anywhere. Next!

4.  "Hotel A" - Cecilie Alexandra.

I'm feeling a Joe le Taxi vibe from this.  Crikey, there's even an accordion solo. It's all just too sweet and twee and a bit of a cynical attempt to do well.  Written by Swedes.

M: Sometimes something simple works best.
L: I just think it's too lightweight, too flimsy, to work at Eurovision.  And a bit too desperate to please voters.

Trine Jepsen then makes an appearance, and I didn't even recognise her.  Meanwhile mum has developed an obsession with Jacob's collar: she thinks it's far too tight.  She also thinks the postcards are too long!

5. "Love is Love" - Andy Roda.

Never thought much of this from the pre-show clips, but for some strange reason it seemed to click with me.  And there was even an undressing dancer gimmick.  It's not great, but it's ok. Mum is getting a bit restless though.

M: Has this programme got long to go?

Rene swallows an egg.  As you do.  But not even this can distract my mum from the real pressing issue of the evening.  Jacob's collar, to be precise.
M: "LOOSEN YOUR SHIRT!!"

6. "Tæt på mine drømme" - Julie Bjerre.

Julie is so youthful that she looks as if she belongs in Junior ESC, but she brings a welcome freshness and enthusiasm to the evening with her light and summery pop song. This was very nice.

7.  "The Way You Are" - Anti Social Media.

For a band with a name like Anti Social Media you'd expect them to look a bit edgy.  They look anything but.  The song is catchy but safe.  Mum's delivered her verdict.

M: He looks so square.  Like one of those singers who was around before rock n'roll came along.
L: I think they might want to be the Beatles.  I find him quite annoying to look at.  This song sounds like something McFly might do.

8. "Suitcase" - Anne Gadegaard.

This seems to be one of the pre-contest favourites.  No dancers or backing singers, Anne is accompanied by a solo guitarist sitting on the 'suitcase' of the song's title.

She has a very nice voice and the song is quite sweet, although maybe a little too lightweight. Nevertheless I could see this one working on a Eurovision stage.

9.  "Manjana" - Babou.

This is quite an agreeable boybandish tune, and mum is quite taken with it.
M: This is lively! (nodding head) Manjana! Manjana!
L: It sounds like something else.
M: I like this,

10.  "Summer Without You" - World of Girls

Yes, it's a country-pop hybrid, and to labour the point the girls are dressed in check shirts for this Avicii-influenced number. Their performance is a bit of a let-down.  There is a fake ending.  I expected a much slicker performance of this, but it fell short of my expectations.

Mum quotes the lyrics disapprovingly.
L: It's a no from me.

So that's it for the songs.

Songs over, recap time, and a visit to Vienna by the two presenters.

During the recap, mum decides that Mi Amore has a good chance as it is "more Eurovision" than some of the other songs.

The jury voting is dispatched very quickly.  The jury spokespersons are some very familiar faces.  By the way it was nice to see the lovely Tim Schou again!  I wonder if he would ever return to DMGP as a solo artist in the future?

I really can't be doing with children singing on stage, and this seems to be some kind of DMGP Junior anthem thing, I don't know, my mind is wandering.  We also get a very welcome performance by last year's DMGP winner Basim.  But Basim aside, DR seem to have totally neglected the concept of a quality interval act.  I guess DR had no money left after putting on tonight's extravaganza?

So on to the big finale: the result of the televote.  Despite "Suitcase" winning the televote, the total points gathered are not enough to defeat Anti Social Media, who will represent Denmark in Vienna with "The Way You Are".  It's a catchy pop song a la McFly, but unfortunately it doesn't have that something special.  The song is just too safe and bland.  As for the band, their singer looks like a posh schoolboy and the whole staging of this needs some serious restyling if they're to make the final.

M: This song is too repetitive.  And he looks like a....librarian.  

(If any librarians are reading this, I would sincerely like to apologise).

Notes from National Finals: Festivali i Këngës 53, Albania

In line with the months which preceded it, Christmas 2014 was rotten.  I spent most of it suffering from a horrible cold/virus which didn't go away for ages.  The TV was awful.  I needed something to cheer me up on Sunday 28th December as I was going back to work the following day.  So what better than the Albanian national final?

Strictly speaking of course, Festivali i Këngës (or FiK as I'll refer to it from now on) isn't really a national final.  For the uninitiated, the Albanian national song contest existed long before the country started competing at ESC.  FiK has a turbulent history with its darkest time following the 11th final in 1972: however these days no-one is killed or imprisoned if their song lyrics fall foul of the authorities.

My first FiK experience was in 2012.  Watching the show for the first time I was bowled over by the "old Eurovision" feel, with the orchestra and the different conductors.  It was like a real blast from the past.  Then there is also the "different sound" of Albanian music, which maybe doesn't have the hooks or song structures we are used to.  Add to that the strangeness of the Albanian language and the utter joy of those ad breaks and I was completely hooked!  I managed to see two nights of the 2013 FiK so was determined when it came around again that I would be there for all three nights. FiK always takes place around Christmas time and 2014 was no different: I welcomed the break from the usual bad TV and it was just great to hang out on Twitter with everyone else who was watching FiK of course!

There seems to be a trend of doing away with much-loved theme tunes (hello Iceland) but you will be glad to hear that the legendary FiK theme is still around.  Here's the FiK 53 opening titles....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGsjidRwVWU

FiK 53 had a new male host - out went Enkel Demi and in came Turjan Hyska, who soon won me over.  You can always expect lots of glamorous frocks to blow TVSH's budget, and so it was again this time round for his co-hosts Liberta Spahiu and Floriana Garo.  The remaining money in the TVSH budget this year went on buying those very pricey Beats headphones for the RTSH orchestra. No, actually they must have had a bigger budget this year - that stage (pictured below) was dazzling and quite spectacular, wasn't it!

The greatest thing about FiK - it's 100% Albanian - all songs must be in the native language and all composers/artists must be of Albanian origin too.  It remains, along with Sanremo, one of the finest old-school song contests and completely uncompromising.  But that just makes us love it more!

There was a large number of returning performers this year.  Thankfully RTSH dropped the stupid duets from last year and just went with nights 1 and 2 purely focused on this year's entries, before the final on Sunday 28th December.  Which turned out to be a very long night!! But a very enjoyable one.  I must mention the ad breaks.  There are lots of them, with the same ads repeated over and over again.  And one very entertaining ad with chickens on a treadmill (!!).  If you want to get the most out of your FiK experience, you must embrace the ads :))  By the way, FiK 53 is available to watch all over again at www.eurovision.tv (go to the Web TV section which lists all national finals available to watch).

My pre-contest favourite was Rezarta Smaja, competing for her third year in a row.  I loved "Ti....", didn't like last year's song as much (although it was ok), but completely loved "Me Rrëmbe" on first hearing.  This song would not work as an ESC entry - it's probably too 'old-fashioned' but I still continue to play it to this day.  I love everything about it, from the ethnic intro to the live orchestra to Rezarta, well, just being Rezarta, although she does run out of steam at the end of the song.

When I am not listening to that song, I'm probably listening to "S'te fal" which threatened to drag FiK kicking and screaming into the modern age. They'd probably never seen anyone like Linda 'Lindita' Halimi at FiK before, strutting her feisty stuff all over the stage like an Albanian Beyonce (I nicknamed her "Albeyonce"!) . She was fierce and fabulous, and probably too much for the traditionalists, but we had some Twitter fandom going for her on the night of the final and I was particularly delighted that she read and retweeted my tweet, so she will always be in my hall of fame. Hope to see you back again at FiK some day Linda!

One of the best things about FiK is that most (all?) of the songs don't pretend to aspire to be Eurovision entries. The offbeat orchestrated jazz of Jozefina Simoni's "Mendje Trazi" would have no chance at Eurovision, but for some reason I rather liked it.

The final featured a number of talented female singers, many of whom had come through the talent show process.  One of them even won a talent show in Italy.  But more about her later...

As for the guys, where would FiK be without a bit of Rock! As if Altin Goci's song (never sing a rock song where the word rock is repeated endlessly) wasn't enough, we were treated to FiK repeat offender Bojken Lako with his tortured rock number "Të ndjej".  But for a few of us on Twitter, our main man was not one of the singers but one of the conductors. FiK wouldn't be FiK without Gridi Kraja :))

In their semi-final, Offchestra had impressed me with "Bajram". It's like an Albanian variant of "Alcohol Is Free" but failed to make it out of the semi-final.  Nevertheless they did get to perform it again on the final as the song won an award.

The interval act included Aurela Gace paying an emotional tribute to Dr Flori, who recently passed away, aged 35 years old.  Dr Flori was a famous songwriter and producer and was responsible for many FiK songs including Rezarta's song this year and also my all-time favourite Albanian ESC entry Zharr e Ftohtë.

There was one particular female artist who got a lot of attention before she even stepped on the Tirana stage.  Elhaida Dani had not only competed in various Albanian talent contests but had gone a step further and competed in - and won - the Italian version of The Voice.  In the final, Elhaida swapped her plain black frock of night 2 to a glittery red gown (and a bad hair day!) to perform "Diell" in the final.  Whilst Elhaida had world-class vocal diva quality, unfortunately the same could not be said for the song, one of the most forgettable of the evening, nothing more than a vocal workout for Ms Dani.  Although it could have been worse: sorry Bojken Lako fans, but just imagine....

Despite Diell being a non-song, that didn't stop the jurors (which this year included Rona Nishliu) showering the song with top marks.  Elhaida was a runaway winner, with Bojken Lako Band in 2nd place and Lindita 3rd - she should have won! As for Rezarta, she came 7th out of 18 entries so didn't do too badly.

It's (not) the same old song.....

Whilst Elhaida's vocal talent was acknowledged and acclaimed within the fan community, the same could not be said for Diell.  The song was an unpopular choice with fans and its chances written off at an early stage.  And then in February came the shock announcement that this song was being replaced as Albania's ESC entry, seemingly 'withdrawn' by its composer, and replaced by a new song, "I'm Alive" written by Zzap and Chriss of "S'te fal" fame.  I was temporarily excited by this move, expecting something similar to "S'te fal" however it was not to be.  "I'm Alive" is certainly an improvement on "Diell" but it doesn't really float my particular musical boat. I'll write more about this song in my ESC preview post coming soon.  

In a calendar of national song contests, Festivali i Këngës is unusual, different and special, and is always a great way to start national finals season :)

Festivali i Këngës 52

Just catching up with some long overdue posts!  Apologies as this is almost a month late....!

As you all know, Eurovision season, much as we love it, can be a long, frustrating, emotional rollercoaster which will deliver both joy and disappointment.  At the beginning of that long road, we had the iconic Albanian Festivali i Këngës, which defiantly existed outwith the ESC mainstream until 10 years ago, when they began sending the winner to the Eurovision Song Contest with varying results since that time.

In 2012 I decided to dip my toes into the FiK pool and watch my first ever Albanian national final which didn't disappoint.  (The 2012 FiK was also quite moving as it paid tribute to the songs and singers of the 1972 contest who paid the price for being viewed as 'enemies of the state' under the leadership of Enver Hoxha).

Fast forward 12 months to FiK 52.  As ever, the contest took place over three nights in December, but TVSH messed with the format this year (to the detriment of the contest, IMHO).  After each artist performed their competing song, they then performed a duet of a well-known old song with a famous Albanian artist.  Over the first two nights, the competing song/duet sequence seriously interrupted the flow.

FiK is first and foremost an Albanian song contest, which has existed outside Eurovision for a long time and therefore does not go down the route of trying to find an "obvious" Eurovision" song.  That is the particular charm of this particular contest, but it can be equally as frustrating when almost every song is a rather unfocused ballad/mid-tempo song lacking an obvious hook.  However, there are also some wonderful things about FiK.  The defiantly cheesy theme tune.   The orchestra.  The opportunity to watch Albanian ad breaks.  And in 2014, the return of Luiz Ejlli.  Unfortunately "Kthehu" lacked the instantly catchy hook of his previous Albanian entry, but one month later it still gets my vote, although still lacked that 'big finish' required of such a dramatic ballad.

While we're on eye candy - special mentions for Klodian Kacani and Lindi Islami - both of whom I would be happy to see in FiK at a later date....!

Oh, and so much for the running order - the winning song was the first one sung in the final. Herciana a.k.a Hersi Matmuja brought a 'Kiss From A Rose'-style mid-tempo ballad, "Zemërimi i një nate" (One Night's Anger).  I recently read the lyrics of this song and was pretty impressed: "Take away the anger from your heart/every morning is wiser than any night/don’t let the madness of a heart/think a little more, forget this night".  The song needs some surgery, although it will probably be translated into something more basic, sanitised, meaningless...which would be a real shame as that would dilute the meaning of the song. 

Having introduced my mum to the last hour of the competition - which she clearly thought was interminable, although I helpfully reminded her that it had been on for three hours  - her view was that Hersi's voice was better than the song.  All these weeks down the line, I'm not feeling too hopeful about Hersi's qualification chances, but it would be nice to be wrong!

Super Saturday #1

Tonight is the first of many "Super Saturdays" in song-contest land.  Iceland and Malta will host their national finals whilst it's the third heat of the Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix and, of course, the long-awaited first heat of Melodifestivalen.

I'm not making any predictions for Iceland, but I'm just glad to see my fave Magni in the final line-up as he made it through to the final on the wildcard.  I don't expect him to win but would be delighted if he did.

I'll be wiring up my computer to the telly to watch Melfest so I'll catch up with the other shows later. Hoping to post a review tonight or tomorrow!

MGP 2013: Week 1

I have been trying to cut down on my internet time over the last couple of weeks as I've had lots to do around the house....but it's impossible to resist the lure of Eurovision national finals season, and MGP is one of my favourite national finals. So.....

Norway's Melodi Grand Prix process for 2013 seemed shrouded in secrecy, with week 1's songs and artists only being revealed a few days beforehand.  There's also been a change in the presenters this year: out goes Per Sundnes and his various female sidekicks, in comes Erik Solbakken (who seems to have got better looking since he co-hosted ESC in 2010) and Jenny Skavlan.

Bizarrely, my usually reliable internet connection chose Saturday night to go a bit erratic, just when I wanted to watch the first heat of MGP live online, and I didn't get to join the show until later.

As I tweeted on Saturday night, national finals season is the same every year: anticipation, followed by disappointment, followed by further disappointment.  But we love it.  Because good or bad, national finals season gives us the kind of diversity which we just can't find in the all-too-generic music scene at the moment.  Even in what was, I think you will agree, a below-par heat of the usually high-standard MGP, you can't deny that it was certainly diverse: rockabilly, Euphoria-clones, gentle acoustic pop, death metal and electro-disco to name some musical styles.

First out in Steinkjer this week was Vidar Busk with his rockabilly-tune "Paid My Way".  Now, seasoned Eurovision fans should be well-aware of the 'underestimate rock n' roll songs at your peril' rule in national finals, particularly in the Nordic region (although it can also be a non-Nordic thing: the-hell-that-was-Copycat) yet despite this I didn't see it qualifying to Oslo Spektrum.  WRONG!!!!  I will never learn.

Next up was "Sleepwalking" sung by Carina Dahl.  This was the first of the week's entries co-written by Ben Adams, no less, which caused brief excitement, however the result was a kind of generic Taylor Swift-style contemporary girlie-pop and nothing really special.  I only caught this in the recap and listened to the song later on, however it never really changed my mind.

A break from all the frenzied dance routines next: "Det Er Du" sung by Tom Hugo.  Which was rather nice.  I'm not really into this acoustic style but this nice sweet song was actually very welcome here and I would have been very happy if it had qualified.  But it didn't :(

Then there are "songs" which you just completely shake your head at , but allow them a spot in the running order whilst giving thanks for diversity.  Oh look, it's Didrik Tangent-Thingy's brother Emil Solli-Tangen!  Teaming up with a death-metal combo named Gromth with a "tune" called "Alone".  Now I've always been partial to a bit of the old metal but this is taking it too far, then the less-handsome Tangent-Thingy brother goes and does his little 'I'm a proper singer, me' bit before the scary death-metal screamers take over again.

My internet connection recovered in time to catch Julie Bergan sing yet another Ben Adams co-write, "Give A Little Something Back" the title of which called to mind "Give A Little Love Back To The World" from that horrific era of ESC.  This was burdened with hellish staging, with people dancing and faffing about around a park bench and distracting from Ms Bergan's vocal efforts.  Unremarkable.

There is an established Eurovision trend where a song wins and then a fair amount of songs try to copy it the following year.  So the "Euphoria" tribute prize on Saturday evening went to Mimi Blix, she of "Allergic" fame.  The very generic EDM of "Catch Me" sounded like the Swedish House Mafia featuring Loreen....

You only live twice!  Tomorrow never dies!

And so we arrive at the final song, which immediately grabbed me on first hearing.  After just one hearing, "The Underground" by Datarock became my absolute favourite of national finals season so far - OK there's not much to compare with at this stage, but hey ho - it's got a brilliant introduction and even if it borrows the title from Girls Aloud, and the tracksuits are a bit naff, you succumb to the irresistible electro-disco rhythms.  This is the first song to book a place in my 2013-50 year-end chart as we speak.  What I really like about national finals season is that it will introduce us to acts which we were previously unaware of.  So I checked out more of their music on iTunes.  They sound like a Norwegian version of Chromeo.  And yes, long-term fans of this blog will know that's a good thing.

So, after a little interval segment and some very long X Factor-style pauses, the three qualifiers were revealed in reverse order:

3rd - Vidar Busk.  (Damn! Foiled again)
2nd - Datarock. (Yay!!!!)
1st - Gromth and Tangent-Thingy.  (?????)

Above: this week's qualifiers celebrate in Steinkjer.

(All of the above pictures courtesy of www.nrk.no)

I wonder what next week's heat will bring?  Hopefully it will be better than this week.

If you're up for a bit of nostalgia, NRK's website still has all the old MGP heats and finals from the past few years...check out http://www.nrk.no/nett-tv/prosjekt/218

This weekend...

....it's all about Melodifestivalen (and Your Country Needs You)

If I can do a little retail analogy, if Melodifestivalen is the Harrods of national finals, Your Country Needs You is the pound shop.

Anyway I'd like to wish the best of luck to everyone competing in our national final tonight and hope for two things: may the best act win, and I hope the song written by Stock & Waterman is more like "Never Gonna Give You Up" or "Better The Devil You Know" than...um..."Sheila's Wheels".

But I digress. It's all Melodifestivalen, all the time this weekend and I'll be blogging about it both here and at Planet Salem.

In the meantime, I wanted to share this very good article by Aftonbladet's Markus Larsson about MF, international juries and the possible outcome tomorrow night ....http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/melodifestivalen2010/article6764447.ab

By the way, I don't agree with the whole international jury idea. Unless my favourite wins of course :)))