6 More For the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015

Over the past few weeks several more entries - which will participate in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in November - have been revealed. These six form part of a larger group of seventeen nations which will compete for the title in Sofia, Bulgaria.

So, let's take a look at what the following countries have to offer:

Armenia

Mika: Love

Mika

Earlier in October, the Armenian delegation presented their song for the JESC, a throwback rock'n'roll number sung by Michael Varosyan - who will be performing under the name Mika for the competition.

As anticipated, Love  is a 2015 take on the energetic styling of 1950s/1960s rock. Mika sells it well - for one so young he radiates the performance techniques of a seasoned professional.

That's a requirement for this song. After all, it's a positive, upbeat tune which should have no difficulty in attracting a lot of votes. Think Lulu and Shout! and you have some idea of what to expect.  8/10

See the official video here

Australia

Bella Paige: My Girls

Bella Paige

Australia returns to the Eurovision stage for the second time this year, as the Land DownUnder has been invited to make its début in Junior Eurovision. It's a very promising start, with the country represented by Bella Paige singing a Delta Goodrem-penned song called

Bella is another reality TV graduate having secured a runners-up slot in the 2014 series of the Austrlian version of The Voice Kids. For a 13-year-old, she possesses a powerful and emotive vocal style which is well-suited to My Girls - described as an upbeat electro track.

In fact, the song has a The Voice  connection itself. Originally scheduled as Anja Nissen's winner's single, it was suddenly withdrawn, even failing to secure an intended spot on her début album. Was this done because of its quality or for some other reason?

The answer is unknown, but this modern ballad - which has more than a hint of Alicia Keys' Girl on Fire - is certainly more than satisfactory for the Eurovision stage. Indeed, it would hold up well at the main Eurovision event, probably finding itself in the Top 10. For that reason, this one gets a 9/10.

See the official video here

Georgia

The Virus: Gabede

The Virus

An unfortunate name for the four-piece group which will represent one of Junior Eurovision's more successful nations: Georgia. Nevertheless, Helen Kezhrishvili, Lizzie Tavberidze, Tako Gagnidze and Data Pavliashvili put on an infectious performance as The Virus, no doubt hoping their song will spread among Eurovision fans and voters alike.

It has a good chance of doing so. Gabede is a lively, bouncy and enthusiastic entry with plenty of catchy, repetitive chants all of which is staged in a fun, wacky and eye-catching way.

All positive, but Georgia is unlikely to make 2015 its third winning year. Gabede should score well, but there are better selections this time around.  7/10.

See the official video here

Italy

Chiara and Martina Scarpari: Viva

Chiara and Martina

Last year's victors are represented by twin sisters Chiara and Martina Scarpari singing the song Viva. They travel to Sofia having won the Italian public vote quite convincingly on the TV show Ti Lascio Una Canzone (67%) in a final round against Giovanni Sutera Sardo.

Viva is pretty good: tight vocals and harmonies are spurred on by a catchy mid-section which has a naggingly familiar refrain. There's also a splendid Eurovision key change as the song enters its final thirty seconds which will do it no harm in pulling in a few more votes.

As with all things Eurovision these days, the staging and live performance will be all important because Viva is not as strong as it might be. For that reason 7/10 seems fair.

See the official video here

Macedonia

Ivana and Magdalena: Pletenka

Ivana and Magdalena

Following a year away from the competition, Macedonia returns with the female duo of Ivana and Magdalena and the song Pletenka (tr. Braid).

Both girls are 13 and were internally selected by Macedonia's national broadcaster, MRT. Having seen the video and listened to the song, they seem to have made a good choice.

Pletenka, a song about unity, happiness and peace (aren't a lot of Eurovision sings?) flies along at a rhythmic pace with an electric keyboard accompaniment that will immediately transport you back to the 1980s. Its chorus is catchy and you'll soon find yourself humming along to it - even if you don't want to.

Fortunes may be more promising for Macedonia this year, then. The country has often struggled to impress on the scoreboard, with two fifth places its best showing. Ivana and Magdalena could improve on those.  7/10.

See the official video here

Serbia

Lena Stamenković: Lenina pesma

Lena Stamenković

Serbia returns to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest hoping to improve on their tenth place in 2014. This year the Balkan nation has internally selected Lena Stamenković, an 11-year-old with a big voice.

Obviously talented, she impressed many on a Serbian TV talent show and has also contributed to the composition of Lenina pesma, her song which will compete at the JESC 2015.

Translated as Lena's Song, it's a powerful ballad which carries a message of optimism and hopefulness. Its reminiscent of Serbia's entry at the main Eurovision event earlier this year and young Lena possesses a similar vocal style to that of Bojana Stamenov.

Although it appears to have secured much online support due to Lena's incredibly mature singing voice, the song is somewhat less dynamic.

Eurovision has always been about making a positive first impression - her vocal may achieve this, but her song lacks a hook to draw in the listener.  6/10.

See the official video here

More Junior Eurovision song reviews to come...

Eurovision 2015: Macedonia: Lisja Esenski: Daniel Kajmakoski

Daniel Kajmakoski

Daniel Kajmakoski, singing the composition Lisja esenski (Autumn Leaves), will represent Macedonia at the 60th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2015 in Vienna, Austria.

Twenty music stars, accompanied by a live orchestra, performed their songs on the stage of the Metropolis at the Skopje 2014 Music Festival. Daniel accumulated the most points in a 50:50 weighted vote, split between an international jury and a public telephone vote. It was a close run thing, though, with just two points separating first and second place (Tamara Todevska with Brod sto tone). Lisja esenski thus becomes the first national selection in the 2014/15 season.

As such, there is obviously nothing else to compare it with, but even so, it's a strong, modern pop ballad that shows great potential. It helps that local X-Factor winner Daniel Kajmakoski is a strong singer because he carries the melody very well, even if I have no understanding of his lyrics.

Will an English version help the song? Very possibly. While I usually prefer to hear the original language, the current lyrics offer limited appeal to the wider, Eurovision audience. In the long run, this may hamper its chances of success.

A change in language didn't help Macedonia earlier this year, however. The country failed to qualify from the semi-finals when Tijana's poor performance of the totally dissimilar To the Sky failed to garner enough votes.

Will the same happen to Daniel Kajmakoski in Vienna in 2015? Time will only tell.

What do you think of Macedonia's chances with this song?

Image: Facebook

An English version, Autumn Leaves, has been released:

Eurovision 2014: Macedonia: To the Sky

Tijana Dapčević By Petkowsky [CC-BY-SA-3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

In addition to the various national finals and semi-finals last weekend, Macedonia's 2014 Eurovision effort was also unveiled for public scrutiny. For months we've known that Tijana Dapčević will be the vocalist, but it was on Saturday that the English title was confirmed as To the Sky (Macedonian: Таму кај што припаѓам).

Tijana Dapčević is no stranger to Eurovision, having tried to represent Macedonia on three former occasions, as well as taking part in Serbia and Montenegro's 2006 national final. She has finally succeeded through an internal selection, singing a club song composed by last year's Macedonian writers.

To the Sky is very different from Pred da se razdeni, though. It's much more accessible than that song and wouldn't be out of place on the playlists in Ibiza. And while the sound is David Guetta, the look is P!nk - just without the attitude.

The problem is, can Tijana deliver a good live performance in Copenhagen? So far, we've only seen her mime to playback. And will she opt for the English or Macedonian lyric? Many have commented that she should stay with the latter but, more often than not, a song sung in English performs better with the voters.

Whichever she chooses, To the Sky has the potential to be Macedonia's best performing entry yet. At the moment, it's witnessing a lot of positive feedback and is one the best of the bunch amongst those already announced. I like it and I hope it returns the country to the Final.

Here's the Macedonian version. Which do you prefer?