Slovenia chooses tonight
Slovenia has been a tricky customer in Eurovision. Somehow, they never send anything that offensive, which of course is a blessing, but nor have they given us anything to really get excited about since Nuša Derenda flew around the stage in 2001 (God, them were the days).
Unfortunately, this year's finalists aren't really setting my heart (or herbs) on fire. I should mention the return of two former Slovenian representatives at Eurovision - Omar Naber who sang "Stop" in 2005, and Karmen Stavec who rather unfortunately crashed and burned with the catchy "Nanana" in 2003. Both return with well-produced efforts. I think Omar rather loses out this time, as his Western-sounding mid-tempo effort is just forgettable and bears little of the charm of his 2005 entry. I wonder if a Swede has had a hand in this composition? Karmen, on the other hand, has put forward a rather sassy little Slav 'n' B number ("A si želiš"), which may, as suggested by this amusing home-made YouTube clip, have something to do with a desire for riches (including diamond-encrusted pianos and large refrigerators). This clip also references a controversy from a past Slovenian selection. In 2002, poor old Karmen convincingly won the televote but was squeezed into second place when the juries chose drag trio Sestre. Perhaps 2009 is Karmen's thyme.
Anyway, I don't know enough about the popularity of the different contestants so one of the above might squeeze through on reputation. Aside from them, my three picks are quite eclectic. "Blond Power" is the novelty song of this selection - a kind of punky effort by a duo of female comedians called Bjonde, it's quite attention-grabbing, with whispers of Bosnia-Herzigovina 2008. Slovenia isn't normally a nation for that so it could help them to be remembered. Cut of a more traditional cloth, Samuel Lucas' song is more reminiscent of Omar Naber in 2005. With a strong rock voice and a good belter of a power ballad, this would probably be a pleasing effort. "Vsaj Za En Dan" is a rock-pop song from Nexys (who feature a rather giant looking lead vocalist). If you can get over the initial interaction with the stumpy guitarist, this is pretty contemporary, builds nicely and is well-performed. But is the backing singer wearing a boxer's headguard?
And finally, the award for most outrageous plagiarism of the 2009 preselection season must go to Nuška Drašček. I'm not sure what this song has to do with puppies, but please compare and contrast that opening riff with Gloria Gaynor in 1975 (tune into Gloria around 1:00 for the first chorus):
Amazing.
Unfortunately, this year's finalists aren't really setting my heart (or herbs) on fire. I should mention the return of two former Slovenian representatives at Eurovision - Omar Naber who sang "Stop" in 2005, and Karmen Stavec who rather unfortunately crashed and burned with the catchy "Nanana" in 2003. Both return with well-produced efforts. I think Omar rather loses out this time, as his Western-sounding mid-tempo effort is just forgettable and bears little of the charm of his 2005 entry. I wonder if a Swede has had a hand in this composition? Karmen, on the other hand, has put forward a rather sassy little Slav 'n' B number ("A si želiš"), which may, as suggested by this amusing home-made YouTube clip, have something to do with a desire for riches (including diamond-encrusted pianos and large refrigerators). This clip also references a controversy from a past Slovenian selection. In 2002, poor old Karmen convincingly won the televote but was squeezed into second place when the juries chose drag trio Sestre. Perhaps 2009 is Karmen's thyme.
Anyway, I don't know enough about the popularity of the different contestants so one of the above might squeeze through on reputation. Aside from them, my three picks are quite eclectic. "Blond Power" is the novelty song of this selection - a kind of punky effort by a duo of female comedians called Bjonde, it's quite attention-grabbing, with whispers of Bosnia-Herzigovina 2008. Slovenia isn't normally a nation for that so it could help them to be remembered. Cut of a more traditional cloth, Samuel Lucas' song is more reminiscent of Omar Naber in 2005. With a strong rock voice and a good belter of a power ballad, this would probably be a pleasing effort. "Vsaj Za En Dan" is a rock-pop song from Nexys (who feature a rather giant looking lead vocalist). If you can get over the initial interaction with the stumpy guitarist, this is pretty contemporary, builds nicely and is well-performed. But is the backing singer wearing a boxer's headguard?
And finally, the award for most outrageous plagiarism of the 2009 preselection season must go to Nuška Drašček. I'm not sure what this song has to do with puppies, but please compare and contrast that opening riff with Gloria Gaynor in 1975 (tune into Gloria around 1:00 for the first chorus):
Amazing.
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