Light Me Up / Gromee ft. Lukas Meijer / Poland | Review

Can Gromee and Lukas Meijer light up the scoreboard for Poland?

Although Poland made a strong impact on their Eurovision debut in 1994 - when Edyta Gorniak secured the runners-up position behind Ireland - their results since have not proved so spectacular. With just two appearances in the Top Ten since 2003, the Polish team is hoping that Light Me Up will return the nation to the Grand Final - as well as the left-hand side of the scoreboard.

Composed by its performers, Swedish musician Lukas Meijar and Polish DJ Gromee, the track is one of the more modern offerings this year, combining dance rhythms with flavours of contemporary country and pop. The duo's live performances have certainly been rocking the folk at the preview parties in London, The Netherlands and Israel but, of course, this is not always a gauge of how well it will perform with the much larger Eurovision audience.

Nevertheless, given some of their recent results, Poland should be confident that this will make the Grand Final – and I think Light Me Up should accomplish that quite easily. The logic? If we look back at last year's results, JOWST's similarly composed song for Norway achieved 10th place. So, reasons to be cheerful for Poland!

However, how is it likely to fare with the juries? The vocals have not always been as strong as they might and, bearing in mind that the members usually vote fairly conservatively, I wonder if the song may suffer in the ranking as a consequence?

Personally, if all goes well, I expect the feel-good allure of this entry to see it through its semi-final, on its way to a possible Top 12 placing - especially if the Polish diaspora have anything to do with it. If they can really tighten up the live performance, Lukas and Gromee could equal (or better) Poland's eighth place in 2016.

Gromee by Serecki [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons 
Lukas Meijer by Serecki [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons 

Poland 

Artists: Gromee ft. Lukas Meijer

Song: Light Me Up 

Semi-Final 2 | Second Half

Eurovision 2016: Spotlight on Poland; North Macedonia; San Marino

Poland: Michał Szpak with Colour of Your Life

The Poles may have made a notorious display a couple of years ago with their busty milkmaids act, but just as in 2015 the country has returned to something much more familiar for Eurovision: the love ballad.

Titled Colour of Your Love, the vocals are provided by Michał Szpak - another former contestant of a reality TV show, this time the runner-up on Poland's version of The X-Factor  in 2011. There's no doubting he can sing well live and this ballad is the type of entry that can live or die by the type of performance level it is given. As such, expect a passionate and captivating presentation to help separate it from the pack.

Although it may not be the song that many were expecting to win the Polish national final, it's definitely the type of entry which has the credentials to appeal to the Eurovision jurors (as well as the far flung diaspora of Polish voters across Europe).

Appearance: Semi-Final 2, performing 2nd

Image by Eliza2foryou (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

North Macedonia: Kaliopi with Dona

Look who's back on the Eurovision stage? Yes, it's one of North Macedonia's biggest stars and (fairly) recent Contest graduate, Kaliopi.

If you know your Eurovision, you'll recall that she was North Macedonia's representative in 2012, performing Crno i Belo (Black and White) when Azerbaijan staged the competition in Baku. On that occasion, she managed to climb to a respectable thirteenth place, but can she better that feat this year?

While you know that she will give Dona - an opulent and extravagant ballad - her all, this could easily be one of this year's semi-final casualties. Unfortunately, it sounds much more dated than her 2012 effort, although singing in her native language definitely sets it apart from the parade of English entries.

However, in the improbable event that Kaliopi's popularity helps propel her into the Final alongside more fancied competitors, there's really no chance of North Macedonia climbing too far on the scoreboard.

Appearance: Semi-Final 2, performing 8th.

San Marino: Serhat with I Didn't Know  

San Marino famously made it to the Eurovision final two years ago when Valentina Monetta secured 24th place with her song, Maybe. This year Serhat, a Turkish television presenter and self-proclaimed singer, will try to better that effort with his (now) disco-flavoured comic turn called I Didn't Know.

Originally billed as a full-blown ballad, the song was quickly revamped when it was greeted with derision and disbelief by many die-hard Eurovision fans. The entire (now withdrawn) original video was surreal on a  grand scale, with Serhat wearing a monocle holster in some kind of outlandish dream sequence video.

San Marino thought better of all that and, as a way of trying to rescue the song, a disco backing track has been added. It hasn't helped. Serhat's vocal abilities still make him sound like the miracle love child of Telly Savalas and Lee Marvin in need of a salt water gargle.

As a result, I Didn't Know is now camper than a row of tents (and that's saying something for Eurovision) and will very probably emerge as 2016's comic turn - if it hasn't already. Entertaining: yes. A winner: definitely not.

Appearance: Semi-Final 1, performing 8th.

Image by Albin Olsson (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons



What are your thoughts about these entries?

Review: Poland: Eurovision 2015 | Monika Kuszyńska

Monika Kuszyńska takes to the Eurovision stage In the Name of Love

Surrounded by some big names from the Polish entertainment industry, Monika Kuszyńska was announced as Poland's 2015 Eurovision representative on the country's early evening magazine TV show, Świat się kręci (The World is Turning). Internally selected by the public broadcaster, TVP, she will be singing her co-composed song In the Name of Love in the second half of the second semi-final on May 21.

Monika was the lead singer with the pop band Varius Manx for five years, until they were all involved in a serious road accident in 2006. While they all fortunately survived, Monika was left paralyzed from the waist down and is now reliant on the use of a wheelchair.

The accident did not dim her determination to continue to write and record her own music. In 2012, she released her first solo album, Ocalona, which was moderately successful in Poland. Since then, she has been involved with some reality TV ventures, but now feels fortunate to have been chosen to travel to Vienna with this understated ballad.

On first hearing it, there was a sense of disappointment after last year's display of controversial theatre from Donatan and Cleo and their buxom beauties. In comparison, this tune strikes you as merely beige to those red hot antics, even if it is one of 2015's stronger melodies amongst an ever growing assortment of ballads.

However, combining lyrics such as, "I wanna tell you, it’s gonna be better, you’ve got a greatness within you" with Monika's personal circumstances may prompt some "rubber necking" from Eurovision voters. In other words, from its initial appraisal as just another piano-driven love theme, the song manages to send out what could be construed as an entirely unintentional message. Overcoming adversity may not be the motive behind the lyrics, but many may be enticed into understanding them as such when watching the performance on the night.

Will this suddenly boost the prospects of what is essentially a very middle-of-the-road song? It's a vague possibility. However, this entry does not have the immediate impact of say PKN's punk outrage, a band which has its equally inspiring story to tell. Still, a lot of ballads are going to have to advance to the Final and, given Poland's powerful voting diaspora throughout Europe, this will probably be one of them.

Would you be happy with this song qualifying for the Final?

Eurovision 2014: Poland: My Słowianie (Slavic Girls)

Cleo

Polish television has decided that the song My Słowianie (Slavic Girls), performed by Donatan and Cleo, will represent Poland at this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen.

The choice was made based on the verdict of a specially appointed committee, which included both journalists and music experts. An important part of the selection process were also fans of the competition in Poland, who corresponded with Polish Television by sending in their proposals and suggestions. 

The result was My Słowianie (Slavic Girls), a track which has been one of the most popular in Poland since it debuted in early November 2013, enjoying more than 15 million views on YouTube in its first three days of release.

The video's popularity may be due more to the appearance of several buxom Slavic Girls than the music content, though. It has the appearance of a modern day Carry On film or something that Benny Hill may be producing now. Lots of low slung cleavage, sadly minus the humour.

Apparently it's meant to be a parody, but without knowledge of the language, it just falls flat - unlike the heaving chests. There is now an English version, but to be honest, that doesn't help to throw any light on the subject matter.

What we can tell is that the song is an attempt to fuse hip-hop with Polish folk music and culture, hence the traditional costumes of the girls. Cleo is a little "screechy" with her vocals and, to me, the entire feel of the track is reminiscent of I Don't Care by Icona Pop.

That musical styling was a big hit and I have a feeling that Donatan and Cleo can be assured of enough votes in their semi-final on May 8 to take them through to the following Saturday's big event.

It's one of the Contest's better entries so far, but I don't see it as the winner. How about you?