Ms Kelly is a former child star in her home country and has also appeared on the The Voice in Austria. In February, she was one of five acts competing in the Austrian National Final of Eurovision and romped home as the clear winner.
Co-written by the beautiful Natália, Shine is a mid-tempo, anthemic-style belter that, to be honest, does not light up this writer. Yes, there is an obvious hook in the chorus, but my feeling is that it is not strong enough to reel in the voters of Europe. It stomps along, going nowhere, until the final few seconds when Natália ramps it up with some vocal gymnastics. Sorry Austria, however, I'm not impressed this year.
Shine will be performed first in the first semi-final, which already gives it something of a disadvantage. It may just scrape through to the final, but there are some strong contenders that will feature on the stage in Malmö on May 14th. [6/10].
What are your thoughts about the Austrian entry?
Natália Kelly on iTunes
If you had asked me after watching her performance in the Austrian NF whether she would 'shine' in Malmo, I would have said no. However, I have seen Natalia perform this live several times now and she is growing with confidence with each performance - I now think she will qualify easily from SF1 and may even be a surprise package for getting regular low to medium votes from the countries around Europe.
ReplyDeleteI know that singing first on SF1 is huge but if she can nail the song and performance, she might be the act that everyone compares those who follow her to - it will only be when Denmark come on in 5th and the four big hitters appear in a row (Denmark, Russia, Ukraine, Netherlands) that her act will be tested. She is fortunate to have Estonia after her in a way...
It is so much better than Trackshittaz!