Always on my mind

The top five in my Eurovision ranking this year is interesting. This is the first top five that has no solo male vocalists, although two of the songs have both male and female vocals. I also feel that I should mention this before anyone else does: three of them have been in my top 5 before. If this trend continues then I predict in 2010 my top five will be those three plus Slovenia and something else unexpected. As I said last week, there are a lot of songs in this contest this year that I really like, so just because a song didn’t make my top five doesn’t mean I don’t think it’s amazing. Also, this ranking does not reflect last week’s rehearsals, as I finalized these positions before rehearsals started, and I’ll write more on the rehearsals and my impressions of them later.

5. Ukraine
Svetlana Loboda - “Be My Valentine (Anti-Crisis Girl)”
Reaction: In the national final I didn’t like this but after it got cleaned up my opinion completely changed. There’s a lot of variety in this song. The verses have horns and drums, while the choruses are all pulsing synth. It’s a very “busy” song with a lot of things going on at once, but it instead of sounding cluttered it gives it energy and keeps it constantly interesting.
Best Part: “I call you on the phone/you speak in monotone”
Rating: 5/5

4. Sweden
Malena Ernman - “La Voix”
Reaction: Initially I resisted this song and its hype in favor of other Melodifestivalen songs (“Hope & Glory”, “Moving On”, “Save the Night”) and I still prefer those to this, but after the initial shock of its win I was eventually won over. Fredrik Kempe must have some sort of mind control power because despite my efforts to the contrary I end up liking most of his songs in Melodifestivalen. The combination of pop and opera and camp results in some fabulous monstrosity that is even less serious than the other Eurovision popera songs but just as fun.
Best Part: Last chorus
Rating: 5/5

3. Romania
Elena Gheorghe - “The Balkan Girls”
Reaction: This is just a typical pop song, but the melody is very memorable. It has a late-90s-pop feel, which gives me a little false nostalgia. The lyrics are cute and memorable, and make an attempt to be deeper than they seem (“I wonder if beyond this/there could be something better”). I like the addition of the ethnic horns to the instrumental breaks, but I prefer the choruses that don’t have them.
Best Part: “I’m gonna start my weekend with gin, tonic, and lime”
Rating: 5/5

2. Azerbaijan
AySel & Arash - “Always”
Reaction: In a year with a few very good ethno dance pop songs, this is the best. It’s more eastern than the others geographically but still sounds very western in a way with the synth and bass line during the verses. The song keeps up a fast pace and doesn’t drag on. It has one of the catchier choruses in this contest, but the verses are also memorable.
Best Part: Introduction
Rating: 5/5

1.Finland
Waldo‘s People - “Lose Control”
Reaction: I have a small trend of putting a 90’s-style Eurodance song at 2nd place (see: Romania 2006, Iceland 2008) and the minute I heard this song I expected I would do the same. The problem was that I couldn’t find a song that I felt I should put higher. I usually don’t prefer dance songs with rapping parts in the verses unless they have an interesting rhythm, which this one does. The pre-choruses and choruses are very strong and definitely my favorite of the year.
Best Part: Part before and start of the last chorus, where a key change should be, but even its absence doesn’t detract from this
Rating: 5/5

Tomorrow I’ll post my reactions to the rehearsals and my predictions for the first semifinal of 2009. Good luck to all the participants (of whom I’m sure none visit my blog).