Lots of news out of Eurovision in Concert this weekend, and it’s the focus of this week’s ESC Insight newsletter, along with more thoughts on how to fill up the month of April as the Contest gets closer.
Our look at ‘Wonderful Wonderful Copenhagen’ continues, giving you more background for a trip to this year’s Eurovision capital, while Ben Robertson’s reflection looks at his winners and losers from Amsterdam:
Winner: Spain – Ruth confirmed in an earlier interview in Amsterdam that Dancing in the Rain has been sitting in her proverbial chest of drawers for three years until now. It’s not a song prescribed to the contest, and for me lacks a melody and natural build in the emotions which we would expect. However, Ruth is more than able to confuse our senses into thinking it’s wonderful and passionate by the way she uses her voice. More screamy Spanish jury fodder and fanwank here, could impress the public too I think, and the new voting rules will suit this.
Loser: United Kingdom – I think this is more of a horses-for-courses kind of problem. It’s great on the tv screens, and great with the live backing, but there just isn’t enough oomph in the track on the gig scene. It starts so promising, but after 20 seconds of Molly’s starting mumble bits the impact is lost. Needs the big sweeping camera shots to give the anthemic feel, and a little less reverb for Molly to make it feel just right. She’s doing fine, but it’s clear that it’s a bit dull in this setting. Still putting this just above half way in the final. Listen here.
Who else gets a thumbs up From Ben? You’ll need to read the newsletter to get the answer, and all the stories from this week in Eurovision. If you are a subscriber, you should have your copy now. If you missed it, or want to read it online then head over to the ESC Insight Newsletter archive, and feel free to sign up either in the text box below or when you’re finished reading!
I think these will both be winners at Copenhagen – Ruth will stand out with her amazing vocals whilst the writer admits himself why Molly will do better in the Final: “great on the tv screens and great with the live backing”. Isn’t that what the 3-4 hours on May 10th will all be about?
Maybe “Children” isn’t the best song for Amsterdam or London but us in the UK won’t care about that if she wins in Denmark!
Of course it is all about what happens on May 10th. In the modern Eurovision though, with social media the biggest king, building up momentum is key. There were no shocking performances here on Saturday in Amsterdam, but some that maybe lost a little sparkle, that may result in slightly less PR, and slightly less talk by the media and be less noticed by the juries and so on. We are though talking about the fractions of points for each country at this stage.
When can we expect to see the puppet in Amsterdam? I’m growing impatient…
Carola, we’ll be spacing Terry’s Adventures in Amsterdam out over the next two or three weeks.