It's getting very exciting, Pat
The time is upon us once more, when we dare to watch an assembled crowd of geriatrics arrhythmically tapping their feet to a range of MOR pop songs on live television. The Late Late Show Eurosong 2009.
Oh Pat. Lovely, lovely Pat.
Have you heard some of the things they've been saying about you? They've even been so bold as to interrupt your unshakeable blandery on live television. But Pat - have you heard some of the things that you yourself have said live on air? Are you not wise?
Anyway, thanks to one Irish blogger for hitting the nail on the head re: the RTE schedule. This is at the nub of what I believe will surely prevent the most deserving Irish song being selected for Eurovision 2009 - more below.
Regarding the songs, I thoroughly agree with Mr Thompson that while none of them (see below - and many thanks to Emma's YouTube channel for making the vids available) are really that awful, none of them look like they're going to challenge the top of the leaderboard in Moscow. I also agree with Noogie that, given the relatively small population and music industry of Ireland, it seems a waste to search for a whole 6 songs to fight it out every year, when a quiet internal selection involving the combined efforts of several well-picked songwriters could be put to better use in getting something that's right for Eurovision.
As Mr Thompson pointed out, you really never can tell what will happen in a live performance, and this aspect is, of course, crucial for Eurovision. From the recordings alone, I can't say that I really like Amazing or So What?. In both cases, we've heard it all before. Flying sounds like fun but is dated. Unfortunately, even though I think I wish I could pretend is a solid ballad by a good singer, I do still have a preference for a song that has at least some involvement from a native of the country. So, for this reason, I'm putting that song to the side. So that leaves Laura-Jayne Hunter's Out of Control and Sinead Mulvey's Et Cetera. My twopenneth on these: Out of Control, on the surface of things, sounds like the most Euro-savvy thing that Ireland has come up with since The Voice. Irishy slow vocal introduction breaks into a frenetic dance number with folk influences. I can imagine a lively stage production with some Irish dancing around 2 mins 20. But, with the current production on this track it does sound like a bit of a dog's dinner. Particularly later on in the song, after all this diddly-dee stuff we get Andean pan pipes and African drumming followed by orchestral arpeggios and it all feels like too much. On the other hand Et Cetera is perfectly produced. An upbeat number after the likes of Avril Lavigne, Pink, even Katy Perry, it's definitely contemporary and I have faith that former You're A Star finalist Sinead will deliver a strong performance. But, I'm reminded of Andorra 2007, when Anonymous had a strong little bubblepunk number which disappeared without a trace in the semifinal. This is a great song for radio, but not for Euro. Ireland would go to Moscow, justifiably proud to have a good song without a turkey or a tudor frock in sight, only to miss qualification for the final yet again.
My hope - based on the expectation of a good vocal performance - is that Out of Control will win the selection tonight and someone with a bit of sense will be allowed to knock the backing track into shape before Moscow. And as we know, Ireland is well-known for turning Eurosong disasters into decent ESC entries. What I fear will happen tonight, though, is that So What? will take the ticket for Moscow. Why, you ask, when I ruled it out a whole 2 paragraphs ago? Well, because The Late Late Show is watched by middle-aged to old individuals all around Ireland from 9pm on a Friday night, by which time all the hip young things have gone out (and we can't assume they could even bear to watch if they were at home). This is a show where a 'postal quiz' for an Opel Corsa will capture the viewers' imagination for weeks until Pat phones some old farmer up to tell him he's won and the grumpy old goat offers little more than a grunt in the way of appreciation because he's an Irish millionaire and already owns 27 Massey Fergusons. A show where a regular star turn on the panel is Father Brian D'Arcy (a.k.a Father Showbiz), a show on which Pat Kenny actually asked Bibi Baskin what she'd been up to 'for the last 10 years'. Admittedly, also a show on which Sinead O'Connor appeared during her priest phase and tried to perform a blessing - GREAT TV - and a hundred middle-aged Catholic trouts in the audience clutched their rosaries and shook their heads in fear and disgust.
Song 1 - M.N.A. - Flying
Song 2 - Laura-Jayne Hunter - Out of Control
Song 3 - Lee Bradshaw - So What
Song 4 - Johnny Brady - Amazing
Song 5 - Kristina Zaharova - I wish I could pretend
Song 6 - Sinead Mulvey and Black Daisy - Et Cetera
We wait with bated breath...
Oh Pat. Lovely, lovely Pat.
Have you heard some of the things they've been saying about you? They've even been so bold as to interrupt your unshakeable blandery on live television. But Pat - have you heard some of the things that you yourself have said live on air? Are you not wise?
Anyway, thanks to one Irish blogger for hitting the nail on the head re: the RTE schedule. This is at the nub of what I believe will surely prevent the most deserving Irish song being selected for Eurovision 2009 - more below.
Regarding the songs, I thoroughly agree with Mr Thompson that while none of them (see below - and many thanks to Emma's YouTube channel for making the vids available) are really that awful, none of them look like they're going to challenge the top of the leaderboard in Moscow. I also agree with Noogie that, given the relatively small population and music industry of Ireland, it seems a waste to search for a whole 6 songs to fight it out every year, when a quiet internal selection involving the combined efforts of several well-picked songwriters could be put to better use in getting something that's right for Eurovision.
As Mr Thompson pointed out, you really never can tell what will happen in a live performance, and this aspect is, of course, crucial for Eurovision. From the recordings alone, I can't say that I really like Amazing or So What?. In both cases, we've heard it all before. Flying sounds like fun but is dated. Unfortunately, even though I think I wish I could pretend is a solid ballad by a good singer, I do still have a preference for a song that has at least some involvement from a native of the country. So, for this reason, I'm putting that song to the side. So that leaves Laura-Jayne Hunter's Out of Control and Sinead Mulvey's Et Cetera. My twopenneth on these: Out of Control, on the surface of things, sounds like the most Euro-savvy thing that Ireland has come up with since The Voice. Irishy slow vocal introduction breaks into a frenetic dance number with folk influences. I can imagine a lively stage production with some Irish dancing around 2 mins 20. But, with the current production on this track it does sound like a bit of a dog's dinner. Particularly later on in the song, after all this diddly-dee stuff we get Andean pan pipes and African drumming followed by orchestral arpeggios and it all feels like too much. On the other hand Et Cetera is perfectly produced. An upbeat number after the likes of Avril Lavigne, Pink, even Katy Perry, it's definitely contemporary and I have faith that former You're A Star finalist Sinead will deliver a strong performance. But, I'm reminded of Andorra 2007, when Anonymous had a strong little bubblepunk number which disappeared without a trace in the semifinal. This is a great song for radio, but not for Euro. Ireland would go to Moscow, justifiably proud to have a good song without a turkey or a tudor frock in sight, only to miss qualification for the final yet again.
My hope - based on the expectation of a good vocal performance - is that Out of Control will win the selection tonight and someone with a bit of sense will be allowed to knock the backing track into shape before Moscow. And as we know, Ireland is well-known for turning Eurosong disasters into decent ESC entries. What I fear will happen tonight, though, is that So What? will take the ticket for Moscow. Why, you ask, when I ruled it out a whole 2 paragraphs ago? Well, because The Late Late Show is watched by middle-aged to old individuals all around Ireland from 9pm on a Friday night, by which time all the hip young things have gone out (and we can't assume they could even bear to watch if they were at home). This is a show where a 'postal quiz' for an Opel Corsa will capture the viewers' imagination for weeks until Pat phones some old farmer up to tell him he's won and the grumpy old goat offers little more than a grunt in the way of appreciation because he's an Irish millionaire and already owns 27 Massey Fergusons. A show where a regular star turn on the panel is Father Brian D'Arcy (a.k.a Father Showbiz), a show on which Pat Kenny actually asked Bibi Baskin what she'd been up to 'for the last 10 years'. Admittedly, also a show on which Sinead O'Connor appeared during her priest phase and tried to perform a blessing - GREAT TV - and a hundred middle-aged Catholic trouts in the audience clutched their rosaries and shook their heads in fear and disgust.
Song 1 - M.N.A. - Flying
Song 2 - Laura-Jayne Hunter - Out of Control
Song 3 - Lee Bradshaw - So What
Song 4 - Johnny Brady - Amazing
Song 5 - Kristina Zaharova - I wish I could pretend
Song 6 - Sinead Mulvey and Black Daisy - Et Cetera
We wait with bated breath...
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