It was the sensation of the Eurovision Song Contest 2014: San Marino qualified for the final! On the third consecutive attempt of Valentina Monetta, the fifth attempt of the microstate, it finally happened. Surprisingly or not, SMTV decided to send someone different this year: Michele Perniola & Anita Simoncini.

Neither of the youngsters is a stranger to the Eurovision world, as we reported earlier. Are they ready for the real thing though? Will they be able to follow in the steps of Valentina Monetta?

First, let’s lay the song on the table: Chain of Lights, once again a Ralph Siegel piece, just like the three most recent Sammarinese entries. And it shows. And no, it will not be his second ESC winner, that much is already sure.

Two things catch the viewers’ eyes and ears soon after the first beats: First, these two are young. Very young. Second, even in the studio version, the verse sounds very confused and vague. Is this really a composition? And what will it sound like, if – if – the vocal performance of our microstate teenagers doesn’t live up to expectations? The problem is the melody isn’t just unusual. It sounds clumsy, and that alone before we reach the singers’ area of responsibility. Now imagine a cumbersome melody, badly sung! Do you really want to delegate that responsibility to barely legal (in a Eurovision sense!) kids, facing an audience of hundreds of million people between Ísafjörður and Sydney? No.

Okay, Michele and Anita haven’t sung a word at Eurovision yet, so I shouldn’t take that as the starting situation for my (p)review. However, I am already so worried that I want to call the youth protection. Or our friend Rigas Bebrs who could comfort them in the greenroom.

Even after the chorus (those R&B strings belong back in 2001 or the poison cabinet, sorry!), you just feel that this is not a suitable song for Eurovision juniors. And you begin to wonder if it is actually a suitable song for anyone. No. Not for singers, and not for the audience. It’s not. It has some Siegel signature elements, but as a whole it’s just a mess, no matter who would sing it.

My verdict has often been harsh lately. Now look, these candidates are damn young. They aren’t responsible. So please understand, that my – once again harsh – verdict is just based on the song: Well, it’s a challenge. Both, for the singers, and for the audience. With a bit of luck, this will not come last in its semi, though. Two things could help: First, singing well enough. Second, not just being cute (that’s surely given, in the eyes of some viewers), but also having some charisma and chemistry on stage. Then the miracle might happen and they can avoid the shame of the last place in the semi. Could it even qualify? To say it with Michele’s own first word in the song: “No.”

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