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borisbubbles · 5 years

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Eurovision 2010s: 30 - 26

30. Nika Kocharov & Young Georgian Lolitaz - “Midnight Gold” Georgia 2016

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When rating Eurovision entrants, it’s important to also take note of the journey, and Nika Kocharov had one of the best ever? Similarly to The Shin, everyone was just about:blank towards “Midnight gold”, not understanding the concept and ranking it last in unison. Like Shin & Mariko, I was mostly intrigued and willing to give it a chance. Unlike the Shin though, I thought “Midnight Gold” was a good song for its genre, just not one I was that entheused by. The revamp, which provided the setting of a mad scientist’s laboratory, was a step in the right direction, providing a hint of entropy, a dash of absurdity, a spark of insanity. And then, at long last, the dénouement:

STAINS OF MUD

ON UR SKIN

THE NIGHT WILL COME

AND SO WILL SIN

Winning LIFE *and* everyone over with that <3 I don’t think ANYONE could have anticipated that “Midnight gold” would deliver a non-stop absynthe-minded ACID TRIP in Stockholm. 😍 The visuals were so ICONIC they are still setting the special effects bar in the present day. This is Sacha Jean-Baptiste’s best staging. Period. Not “Euphoria”. Not “Alter ego”. Not “Fuego”. "Midnight gold”. BY FAR. Would it be even considered a stretch to go as far as saying that “Midnight Gold” has the best staging of any Eurovision entrant to date? I don’t think it does, but it is definitely a contender.

Who would have thought that THIS song would become one of the more memorable, epic entries of a great year such as 2016? Of course the flawless staging also made me retroactively appreciate “Midnight gold” as a song as well and I regularly give it play time whenever I can. 😍 STAINS OF MUD.

ps: I don’t care about fashion much, but I want his hat.

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29. Naviband - “Story of my life” Belarus 2017

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[2017 Review here]

HEY HEY! HAYAYAYA HO!

What superlatives can I still use for describe the pure, unshattering LIGHT that is “Historija majho zyccia”? It leaks mirth from every pore, infecting everyone around it with the irresistable urge to tap their feet along to the HEY HEY HA JA JA HO’s!

At the center of this wonderful hovercraftian masterpiece lie Artiom and Ksenia, two of the most adorable humans ever to exist, who are also a couple irl and it shows. The two have chemistry and charisma in spades, especially Ksenia who is the living embodiment of the “^__^” emoji. I am ALWAYS happy when I listen to this song and I am thrilled we got to hear it twice.

Eurosnob contempt for happiness is a well-documented feature in this ranking, but it reached its nadir with Naviband: You see, in addition to being ‘A Happy Song’ (a term used with contempt, imagine that O_O), Naviband are also folk singers from Belarus, who -shocker- sing in Belarusian. However, don’t be harsh on the Eurosnobs because the area of the dopamine receptors in the brain of a Naviband hater are always attached to a person who isn’t living happily ever after. Naviband is life at its best. EMBRACE IT. Like this Lithuanian frump did:

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28. Måns Zelmerlöw - “Heroes” Sweden 2015

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lol I JUST spoke about “Midnight gold” having one of the best, but not the best staging. Well, that’s because “Heroes” is, in my opinion, the most visually impressive Eurovision entry of all times. 🤗 I don’t think it’s even a stretch to call it that? “Heroes” as a song is widely regarded as pretty whatever, winning due to its act. However, while I don’t necessarily disagree this is why Måns won, I feel this take very much undersells Måns. Using it at an excuse to dismiss his goodness is ridiculous.

First of all; “Heroes” IS a really, really good song. Infectuous, upbeat, irresistably positive with highly quotable lyrics (”now go sing it like a hummingbird the greatest anthem ever heard” 😍) and an earnest anti-bullying message (<3). It may not be *as* original as some of the entries ranked around it on this list, but it definitely handles its own, with and without an act.

Another defining factor in making “Heroes” a great entry is Måns himself. Måns Zelmerlöw is arguably the most attractive human to ever set a foot on a Eurovision stage. The man is irresistable even on a platonic level. He puts every other charismatic performer to shame and does it effortlessly.

However, even with these two trump cards, the staging is indeed the best part of “Heroes”. It bears repeating that I think this is the best Eurovision act to date. Impressive visual effects, flawless choreography and impeccable camerawork elevate “Heroes” to a much higher level. It tells it story with more clarity and efficacity than any other entry I can think of.

Ultimately, Måns staging is a testament of his goodness, and an acceptable reason for winning Eurovision. Because of “Heroes”, many countries have upped their staging game, resulting in more visually impressive entries (specifically the Sabotage Baptiste ones in 2016, and Sergey I guess), which is a positive development. Live music isn’t so much about which song you perform, but about how you perform it, and “Heroes” is the best example of that.

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27. ZiBBZ - “Stones” Switzerland 2018

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[2018 Review Here]

WILD JOKAH ON A GOLD THRONE

Here we are again, our annual appointment with everyone’s favourite sibling alliance. 😍 “Stones” is powerful kick-ass diamond of indie-rock and a serious contender for my favourite Swiss entry of all time.

The song is a masterclass in mental health awareness and self-empowerment, dismantling bullying and depression with perfectly timed percussion and AHUMs, truth-bombing lyrics and an insanely charismatic lead who sounds like Joss Stone on five packs a day. 😍 It’s catchier than ebola, more addictive than sugar and soars higher than a kite.

In addition to all of that jazz, “Stones” is also responsible for some of the most iconic visuals in 2018:

God the shot of Coco with the flare still sends shivers down my spine. WHAT A CRUSADER OF THE DOWNTRODDEN. 😍 Whenever I’m feeling down, this is the song that lifts me back up again.

Really, the only thing not good about ZiBBZ was the camerawork and that wasn’t their fault. FY Hans Pancake. 🙄 If ever there were a robbed NQ who deserves a Genovaesque return, it’s the Zibblings. BRING THEM BACK!!!

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26. Paula Seling & Ovi - “Playing with fire” Romania 2010

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Speaking of highly addictive songs, holy cow Ovi I need rehab for that beat alone because I CANNOT get it out of my head.

Anyway, who else would be the #1 for Romania if not for Paula Seling and Ovi? “Miracle” was a beautiful example of tacky taste, but “Playing with fire”, man, :takes a sip of gin:, now that is the real stuff.

I’ll start, I guess, where I’ve begun my write-up which is the composition: “Playing with fire” has one of the best underlying beats in this decade, which gives it infinite replayability. Layered on top of that is some delightfully aggressive piano (😍), on top of THAT some amazingly playful lyrics (”BOY BOY BOY If we’re mean, i would start a fight tonight” songs about playfighting <3) and on top of THAT, Paula Seling. Paula is the STAR of this performance, stealing the show every time she’s shown with deliciously flirtatious facial expressions

and some vocal masturbation in the guise of a dolphin impersonation.

She and Ovi and ignite the place with both insane pyrotechnics and spontaneous chemistry. So fun, SO GOOD, so dynamic especially for an act where the main singers sit down in front of a double-headed plexiglass piano (😍). Duncan Laurence DEAD in a motherfucking DITCH.

And with this update we have eliminated FIVE countries. Check their reviews below:

GEORGIA

Georgia is such a bizarre Eurovision country, often churning out absolutely BONKERS entries that leave Europe stunned in silence. <3 It may not be reflected in their vital statistics but I always look forward for what they have on offer because even in the rare case of them being boring, they are always interesting.

BELARUS

Belarus was one of the worst countries in the 00s, but in the 2010s they’ve evolved into a bargain bin Moldova, which makes them solidly good. It’s really astounding that a country SO GOOD at being entertaining gets dismissed so easily because of their flag (and dictatorship (and gay rights)). They’re mostly good and 100% worthy of our time, tyvm!!

SWEDEN

The worst part of Sweden’s success streak is that it made them conceited and lazy. They no longer need to be innovative, creative or entertaining in order to get a top five position and worse, they are fully aware of it. This resulted in a marked drop in quality and if they don’t curb their hubris quickly, I predict it will soon come back to bite them. (ie: another NQ)

SWITZERLAND

B A S I C. Zibbz and Luca did a lot of the heavy lifting here, which caused Switz to mathematically outrank Sweden, and while that’s hilarious it also feels absurd and wrong. Don’t be fooled by all that green though. Switzerland are basic bitches and have no idea what to do in order to be cool.

ROMANIA

Romania are one of the better hit-or-miss countries in Eurovision, imo even if the chart doesn’t fully reflect it. The problem I have with them is that their entries don’t have a long shelf life. Like, the Cezars and Ilincae of this world grow stale very quickly because they’re exhausting and shallow. Having said that, this is by far preferable over being consistently boring (UK) or violently oscillating between great and demonic entries (Germany, Demark).

#Eurovision #Eurovision Song Contest #Georgia #Belarus #Sweden #Switzerland #Romania #Nika Kocharov & Young Georgian Lolitaz #Midnight Gold #navimumbai #Story of my life #Historija majho zyccia #Måns Zelmerlöw #Heroes #ZiBBZ #stones #Paula Seling #Ovi #playing with fire

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borisbubbles · 7 years

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2. BELARUS

Naviband - “Story of my life” 17th place

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ALL ABOARD THE NAVI NAUTILUS!!! WITH A HEY HEY HEY AND A YA YA YA YA HO WE SAIL ON A OCEAN OF ADORABLE.

It was so poetic that the first two songs revealed for this mixed bag of a year were also one of the best and worst, respectively. It was more than “being better than Tako” that drew me to Naviband though. After the Pharrellapocalypse of 2013, I’ve become really picky w/r/t “Happyness Anthems” (”clap along if you feel like a room w/o a roof” a of all um what that doesn’t even make sense? b of all, stfu you suck!!!), still I was SWEPT by Xenia’s cutesy, adorable dance routine and the rest is HERSTORY (Q: is there anything about Naviband which isn’t cutesy and adorable? A: no)

Before I delve further into why I think Naviband are awesome, I’d like to point out some statements I’ve heard from... “haters”. Well not EXACTLY haters because I haven’t come across anyone who *dislikes* sitting through “Story of my life” (because lol how *can* you hate these earth angels, like swallowing with your eyes open or being attracted to Milan Stankovic, it’s physically impossible) but because Naviband are firmly positioned on the “Light” side of Ethnic Entry spectrum, they were OF COURSE greeted with the necessary contempt by Value Seekers:

“REALLY, IS “HAPPINESS” THEIR SELLING POINT? THAT’S SO SHALLOW”

“LOL THEY’LL NEED ALL THE RIGGING THEY CAN GET TO MAKE IT TO THE FINALE. HEY HEY HAYAYAYA HO HA HA HA HA”

“YEAH, THEY’RE FINE BUT NOT FINALE FINE :-/”

“THIS IS NOTHING SPECIAL, I’VE HEARD THIS BEFORE”

or as one Belgian newspaper article put it (translated as closely as I could)

“Riding the wave of “Hey Hey Hayaya Ho”, the Belarussians managed to steer their hovercraft into an iceberg of indifference”

Eh? I sort of get the general line of thought (honestly the above sentence is roughly how I would have written it had I agreed), but I don’t follow it at all. To me, it sounds like people are fabricating excuses to not like it. Debunk time.

1) Joy is not an inferior emotion. Yes, it’s arguably the simplest emotion on the spectrum, but given how *difficult* it is to be *truly* happy, I think shrugging it off as lesser or invaluable is classisist bullshit or the work of jealous bitter people.

2) “Story of my life” isn’t just about “happiness”. Happiness doesn’t just *happen* on its own and unless you’re, like, a living Pixar Character, there has to be a *reason* for feeling that way. Likewise, while Navi relied on their feelgood-vibe to carry them, the underlining story is that of the love between Artiom and Xenia themselves. They love each other so much, that the glow in each other’s eyes brightens their life’s stories. They sing this WHILE LOOKING EACH OTHER IN THE EYE. My heart MELTS like a wax candle at the sight of that. Two beautiful, pristine unicorns of human beings <3

3) “Story of my life” has more depth than it lets on. The translated lyrics show that “story of my life” has fairly poetic, if simple lyrics. Both the blessing and the curse of poetry is that you can take it at face value or analyze it deeply, depending on how you’re feeling at the moment. In other words, the person who decides how deep or valuable it truly is, is the reader themselves. (hence why “too shallow” reeks of elitism and politics and i never buy it as a reason to dislike this sort of entry). The message itself is straight-forward, but that’s only a good thing imo; makes it easier to establish a connection and melt the language barrier.

4) Emotions are always a hard sell and happiness is the hardest of all. Salvador *was* right in that pure emotion is incredibly important. However it can’t be stated enough that emotions can’t be force-fed down your throats. It has to come from the *heart*, pacemakered or not. Try to fake happiness for instance and you get this:

(GET OVER IT, Jacques, nobody bought it and all your votes were for the lolz only)

try to fake love and you achieve this:

(GET OVER IT, Alex, she will never sleep with you)

Meanwhile, Naviband take us on a magical hovercraft journey through their LYF, singing and dancing and Ha Ya Ya Yo-ing their way through all of its candyfloss-like nooks and crannies. It all feels so real and genuine because it *is* (lest we forget, Xenia & Artiom *are* an irl-couple and this *is* the love story of their *IRL* romance put to music.) Candyfloss is the best way to describe this entry, I think. It’s colourful, sweet and festive, if simple. Naviband never pretended to be anything other than what they are (two upbeat people who love each other) and I find that a charming quality.

5) Simplicity is generally a good thing, especially if you sing in your own language. You have three minutes to convince a live audience you’re the best of 26. if you’re singing in NotEnglish, this can be a challenge, so you’re best left using your strengths and not overtly complicate shit. Naviband succeeded, hence why they didn’t too bad. (I don’t think anyone would argue with this? That we’re going to Lisbon next year and not Turin just proves this as an uncontested fact, tbh.)

In other words, anyone who still doesn’t appreciate Naviband after reading this... our universes are so divergent, they’ll simply never ever align on this plane or the next one. (but thanks for reading anyway ^__^)

Even with all of that, we’re still at the tip of the Iceberg? Both live performances are littered with little, cute moments that I’ve tried to gif and some which I couldn’t, such as this crazed Lithuanian frump from the semifinal who was sooooo into it:

Spirit animal/totem of love/child of the moon/ruler of the sun, etc.

In conclusion, what a fantastic ending to a true underdog arc. Navi had to sit through a really difficult semifinal with no allies, snobistic eurofans who tried to paint them with the Basic Brush and you know, the usual stigma of being from BELARUS, but still scraped through the finale (Ukraine handing them a free 24 points <3) because of their unfiltered goodness, to finish in a respectable THIRTEENTH place with the audience from slot #03, which is generally one the weaker starting positions. They placed ahead of ARTSVIK and DEMY lmfao <3 They may not have won this ranking, but they have WON hearts!! Hey! Hey! Hayayahoooooo~

Decade rank: 22/324

THE 2017 RANKING SO FAR:

-ADORE- 1. 2. Belarus (22/324) 3. Macedonia (28/324) 4. Norway (29/324) 5. Lithuania (43/324) 6. Hungary (47/324) -LOVE- 7. Moldova (55/324) 8. Italy (61/324) 9. the Netherlands (63/324) 10. United Kingdom (67/324) 11. Finland (68/324) 12. Estonia (71/324) 13. Azerbaijan (84/324) 14. Latvia (87/324) 15. Israel (93/324)

-LIKE- 16. Bulgaria (100/324) 17. Portugal (105/324) 18. Croatia (115/324) 19. Austria (119/324) 20. France (138/324) 21. Poland (154/324) 22. Armenia (158/324) 23. Romania (164/324)

-OKAY- 24. Iceland (174/324) 25. Ukraine (190/324) 26. San Marino (203/324) 27. Albania (217/324) 28. Denmark (228/324) 29. Spain (237/324) 30. Cyprus (240/324) -DISLIKE- 31. Germany (258/324) 32. Montenegro (263/324) 33. Sweden (270/324) 34. Serbia (275/324) 35. Australia (280/324) 36. Switzerland (286/324) 37. Czech Republic (288/324) 38. Malta (291/324) -HATE- 39. Georgia (301/324) 40. Greece (303/324) 41. Slovenia (307/324) 42. Ireland (312/324)

#Eurovision #Eurovision Song Contest #Eurovision 2017 #Belarus #Navi #Naviband #Story of my life #Historija majho zyccia #Hey hey hayayayayaho

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