25 February 2014

Eurovision 2014: Hungary, Latvia and Spain Decide

Three Eurovision national finals were completed this past weekend and now we have the 2014 songs that will represent Hungary, Latvia and Spain. Another entry was also revealed, as the internal selection from (FYR) Macedonia was presented on local television.

With so many shows to choose from, you really have to be an expert at dipping in and out of all of the video feeds provided. As I'm not one, I decided to stay with Spain's show for the evening. Only five songs in the presentation and one of them was a personal favourite, so TVE's show was a must-see.

The quality of songs from Spain this year was above average, but the winning ticket eventually came down to just two of them. My preferred choice (and that of the Spanish jury) was Brequette's Más, but the telephone vote favoured Ruth Lorenzo's Dancing in the Rain. Consequently, there was a tie. In this situation, the public's wishes prevailed and the latter became Spain's entry for Copenhagen.





Among the already announced songs, it's one of the better entries, but I don't feel it's strong enough to win. The presentation of the ballad on Saturday evening was very "shouty", although Ms. Lorenzo does usually have a fabulous voice. Her vocal ability will, no doubt, impress the juries in Denmark when the time comes, but this Disneyesque type song tends to get ignored by the public. Having said that, it should get high marks from the UK, where the singer is most recognisable from her stint on The X-Factor.

Over to Hungary 


Meanwhile, in Hungary, eight songs were featured in the A Dal final, of which four were pushed through to the Super Final by an expert jury. It was up to the Hungarian public to pick the winner and it ultimately chose Running sung by András Kállay-Saunders.


Now, this one I like - very much. It has a solid, contemporary soul/R'n'B vibe going on and is a song that you could easily see climbing the music charts around the world. Although there is a story and a message within its lyrics, it's extremely radio-friendly and is likely to appeal to both a young and more mature audience alike.

Depending on its presentation and execution on the night, we could very well be listening to the winner right here. Budapest 2015?

Heading North to Latvia


Dropping in at the Dziesma in Ventspils, Latvia was like moving from the sublime to the ridiculous. I must admit that I didn't hear all twelve of the songs in contention at this national final, but having heard the winner it was perhaps for the best. This time, twelve were whittled down to three for a Super Final. The 50/50 combination of jury and televoting gave the win to the group Aarzemnieki with the song Cake to Bake.



Much like Switzerland and Malta, Latvia have chosen a group and song that will try and charm votes out of viewers. Unlike those fellow entrants, Cake to Bake's jaunty, campfire feel is more likely to extinguish any hope that Eurovision 2015 will take place in Riga.

In fact, the instrumentation is probably the only thing that this effort has going for it. The vocals are pretty bad and the lyrics worse. Not even Mary Berry could help this entry rise to the occasion!

Is your favourite Eurovision song amongst these?

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