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Line-up check 2015: Russia

by | May 11, 2015 | 2015 reviews, Uncategorized

Line-up check 2015: Russia

by | May 11, 2015 | 2015 reviews, Uncategorized

In the 11 years since the semi-final system began, only four countries of this year’s participants have made it to every final, and who of those four (Greece, Russia, Romania and Azerbaijan) will be the last one standing is anybody’s guess. But there’s no doubt that this status – among other things – makes many fans wish for the failure of those nations. In the case of Russia, pairing this with a string of saccharine and calculated peace ballads makes the fan reception even worse.

Unfortunately for those fans, this is another year in which Russia will easily qualify and will probably just easily keep its place inside the top 10, like it has done in the last three competitions. And they will do so by doing exactly what they did in the last two years – a likeable female performer (or two, in the case of last year) who is also a capable vocalist, and an anthemic ballad penned by foreigners which allows for a grand visual performance on the night. This year they’ve upped the game a bit. Instead of sending a fresh-faced and rather unknown performer, they have chosen the experienced 28-year-old Polina Gagarina, who will carry the Russian flag (and consequently will probably be booed by some audience members) in Vienna with her song A Million Voices.

If the song sounds familiar to you, you are probably thinking of the Russian entry from two years ago, What If, which was written by the same songwriters and sounds like an earlier demo version of A Million Voices. Which is to say: they might be repeating themselves, but they do make sure to improve as they go along. The production is impressive and more modern, the pacing is better, and they really do go all in by the time the song reaches its peak.

My verdict? While fans of the competition love to hate this kind of song, especially from Russia, it has been proven time and time again that the audience and the juries at home don’t really share the same sentiment. What If, the older brother of A Million Voices, got points from almost everyone across the continent and the younger sibling should easily follow in its footsteps, with what I am sure will be no less than a dazzling performance. A performance which, knowing the Russians, will probably make me forget I actually don’t even like the song – exactly like what happened in the last two years.

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