For those of you who spotted my post on Wednesday, this week it is the Eurovision Song Contest and as I have been watching the contest for 10 years now, I am counting down my Top 10 Eurovision Songs from the last ten years. I have already said what my 10 through 6 songs (including a range of other songs of note mostly seeming to be from 2006) were, if you haven’t seen it yet, please check it out, but here and now are my Top 5 Favourite songs from the Eurovision Song Contest.
5. Finland 2007 – Hanna Pakarinen – Leave Me Alone: With Finland’s ground breaking, history recording as well as record-breaking victory the previous year, Finland’s presentation of the contest in 2007 was one of the best years yet, but that didn’t stop them from entering an absolute monster of a song. This song may not have won, but it was certainly the loudest song in 2007. Leave Me Alone is a song sung with passion. The lead singer is talking to someone, who she wants to leave her alone but as the song progresses, she gets a lot angrier, leading to what may be something bigger but what is actually sadder, as if she has had enough and has broken down but managed to keep it together. Such lyrics work in good tandem with the tune as that progresses in a similar fashion but gets heavier and louder. The gothic theme presented from Finland in 2006 continues into this song with a gothic fantasy design for the clothes, set and background images, but the tune itself is very dark and offers a gothic fantasy piece in parts, but altogether it is more of a rock-based tune than pop, but as shown the previous year, that works and works well, and with the inclusion of the passion that singer is producing, it is one song that anyone can join in, feel and enjoy. Hanna is an amazing singer and her style is very clearly represented, one of the best vocalists in the contests history (not to mention that once again, YouTube has a problem with the video being up here, so please click the below picture to watch the video, thank you).
4. Sweden 2011 – Eric Saade – Popular: It is a well known idea that Eurovision likes Pop Music as it is something that mostly everyone can join in. The most popular of songs as well as those who have won a lot are in form of usually upbeat light songs which the audience viewing the contest can join in with as well as everyone at home as it releases a form of energy inside everyone to join in with in some form. This is a good sign as to the success of bands like ABBA in the past. It is only really in more recent years that music in different forms and styles are stating to get a shot in. But Pop will always have a place, as shown with this song. I don’t like pop as much, but you can’t help but like this song, from the opening quick beat, to the dark style throughout in the low pitch moments to the more out loud chorus, to the great dancing that you want to join in with, the amazing vocals by everyone involved, the glass breaking near the end and not forgetting the great lyrics as is the song while not forgetting the amazingly lit stage and background imaging. And with saying all that I have pretty much summed up how good and what this song is, and while I could go on by talking how the song shows the optimism by those who want fame but the tune shows the dark side of fame, I don’t really need to do that all that much as the song really carries itself. I am not much a fan of pop in the contest as can be seen, but I really do approve of this song.
3. Switzerland 2005 – Vanilla Ninja – Cool Vibes: In 2005, Switzerland did something odd by asking a prominent girl band from Estonia to represent them in the contest. Now, while it does sound odd that a country asks a band from another country who did previously try to represent their own country a couple of years previously without much look and tried again for 2007 as well as the bands lead singer (Lenna Kuurmaa), as a solo artist trying three times to do the same thing, (in many respects it would be like France asking Motorhead to sing for them), I am glad that Switzerland decided to do so, as they are Awesome. Vanilla Ninja is a girl band from Estonia who have enjoyed widespread critical success in continental Europe whose style ranges from pop rock, to hard rock and gothic rock. The first time I heard of them was at the 2005 contest, and I am glad I did, as I am now a fan. They are an incredible band, and I don’t use the term lightly when I state that in my opinion that they are the Best Girl Band. Their song at the contest in 2005, starts off in a dark operatic piece for about a minute before the lead singer announces the beginning of the main bit. The song then keeps it’s dark gothic tone throughout with cooperation with the lyrics. the band is nicely presented with an absolutely fabulous choice of clothing, keeping a similar rock look but also wearing the same colour and playing it as well given the choice colour for their instruments. For the whole song also, your concentration on the groups members is on all of them not just one, which think the choice of clothing helps too. It is really hard to say anything more about this song with out talking so much about how amazing the band are, so I’ll leave it there, but I will say that if you have not heard the song, do give it a go, it is sheer brilliance, and if you have not heard of Vanilla Ninja, do look them up, it is totally worth it.
2. Ukraine 2004 – Ruslana – Wild Dances: It really was a hard choice for second place between this and the above song. While the song may look tribal and the dancers and singer look like a group of Savages, don’t knock it because it worked, and well, it won the contest in 2004 and due to its appealing tune as well as the brilliant singing and dancing, basically the whole thing, it got me interested in the contest and without it, I probably wouldn’t be watching it. To call it a song would not give it all much justice as it is more of a performance than a song. The song is sung with a lot of passion from Ruslana, and the song is not dark at all, it is very upbeat throughout and the dancing matches it too and the tune is very memorable and uses more traditional forms of music such as traditional horns and drums. The song’s presentation is also of note as the singer and dancers choice of clothing really helps to represent the song and what they are trying to perform, but the song itself has a strange aura about it that produces tingles down my spine and so the song serves everything to the viewer if it can do something as well as be something more than just a song.
1. Finland 2006 – Lordi – Hard Rock Hallelujah: First entering the contest back in 1961, Finland for years was almost nothing more than a massive joke in the contest, getting zero (Nul Points) points on three occasions and finishing last eight times, there was even a popular joke going round about them. Then in 2006, Finland had had enough and unleashed something radically different that was ground breaking, history making and record-breaking. While the popular format at Eurovision is in the form of pop music due to its accessibility, Finland entered something that was definitely, very different as well as over the top and whose presentation scared organisers into trying to pull it from the contest but also released a rabid like reaction from the audience, a sort of essence which had stayed dormant for so long, that it hasn’t really been suppressed since. They entered a Hard Rock band with a Hard Rock song and made history. The song is, Hard Rock Hallelujah performed by Finnish Rock Group Lordi, is obviously quite different to any Eurovision song in the past as Rock is hardly entered at all, but this level of rock which is knocking on the doors of both Gothic and Heavy Metal has its dark style, but it’s also upbeat enough for anyone to join in at all. The lyrics are quite easy to learn and is great to sing along too and while maybe not a dance song, there is something literally for everyone. But the real success in the song is not just in what style the song is or what the lyrics are, it is also in what the band is, as in what it looks like. Eurovision has always been a place for gimmicks and dressing up in unusual ways, but Finland’s Entry were not in the usual sense, but in nasty looking monsters that while looking horrific really appealed to everyone and made the entire entry stand out above the rest. I don’t think that the costumes would have worked if the song had been pleasant, it would have been ironic, but the song released the rock fans as it were that Europe has all over it and got them voting in the contest while other people were voting for the monsters to win it, everything about the performance was being voted for and lead to not only a first time win for Finland but also the achievement of having the highest score in the contest’s history at that time at 292 and stayed like that until Norway’s victory in 2009. Hard Rock Hallelujah ticks all the boxes as a great song at Eurovision and while it could be some time until a song comes along to be better than it, Lordi’s performance as a whole will remain a key favourite for everyone for years to come (So Britain, if we want to win, it may be an idea to see if Kiss is willing to do it, or beating that, Iron Maiden with an appearance from Eddie).
GENEPOOL (Does anyone else think that Vanilla Ninja’s lead singer looks a bit like Jennifer Lawrence?).
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