It’s mid-January, and only a few songs have been chosen for ESC 2013 so far – but a number of artists have been selected internally to represent their countries in Malmö. This article takes a look at five of them!
Georgia: Sopho Gelovani & Nodiko Tatishvili
Congratulations, Georgia! The Caucasian nation deserves our praise for somehow managing to send yet another Sopho to Eurovision. (No, really. Are there any other female names in the country?) And if nothing else, fans of Elene Gedevanishvili will like the surname of Sopho’s duet partner Nodiko. He took part in the International Song Contest in Astana in 2007, an event primarily notable for the participation of Romania’s Nico – without Vlad – two years previously. And it seems that Georgia have gone straight to the power base by approaching reigning ESC champion Thomas G:son as their composer too. Here’s hoping the end result is more like “Euphoria” and less like “Ge mig en kaka till kaffet”.
Macedonia: Esma Redžepova & Vlatko Lozanoski
Another duet, and the choice of experienced folk musician Esma Redžepova and pop star Vlatko Lozanoski is an intriguing one as Macedonia seek to build on last year’s comparatively strong result with Kaliopi. If the plan is to again appeal primarily to the Balkan vote, this looks like a potentially successful combination – as explained in detail in this excellent blog post by #esc chatroom regular SamB. Check it out!
Montenegro: Who See
At this stage, the main response to Who See would appear to be “Who Knows?”. What we do know is that this duo will represent another attempt to bring rap and hip-hop to the ESC stage. Historically, this has been a risky business – though you get the occasional relative success story like Love City Groove (even if they were less “street” and more “middle-class housing estate”), it’s just as common for such efforts to fall flat on their face, like with Austria’s Trackshittaz last year. Still, Montenegro don’t exactly have the best record at ESC, so why not try something different? As long as they bring a donkey with them on stage, we’ll be happy.
At this stage, the main response to Who See would appear to be “Who Knows?”. What we do know is that this duo will represent another attempt to bring rap and hip-hop to the ESC stage. Historically, this has been a risky business – though you get the occasional relative success story like Love City Groove (even if they were less “street” and more “middle-class housing estate”), it’s just as common for such efforts to fall flat on their face, like with Austria’s Trackshittaz last year. Still, Montenegro don’t exactly have the best record at ESC, so why not try something different? As long as they bring a donkey with them on stage, we’ll be happy.
Netherlands: Anouk
A big, big star in the Netherlands, or at least so we’re told – in any case, Anouk isn’t quite as famous as her fans claim her to be beyond domestic borders. That said, minor chart success in Central Europe and fond memories of “Nobody’s Wife” would certainly suffice for a stint on “I’m A Celebrity – Get Me Out Of Here”, and it might well be enough to drag the Dutch through to the Saturday night final for the first time since 2004 (we’ll say that again: 2004!). How her song will sound – and whether she decides to “Eurovision it up” for the occasion – remains to be seen, but this is an interesting change of approach for the Netherlands, in any case.
A big, big star in the Netherlands, or at least so we’re told – in any case, Anouk isn’t quite as famous as her fans claim her to be beyond domestic borders. That said, minor chart success in Central Europe and fond memories of “Nobody’s Wife” would certainly suffice for a stint on “I’m A Celebrity – Get Me Out Of Here”, and it might well be enough to drag the Dutch through to the Saturday night final for the first time since 2004 (we’ll say that again: 2004!). How her song will sound – and whether she decides to “Eurovision it up” for the occasion – remains to be seen, but this is an interesting change of approach for the Netherlands, in any case.
Spain: El Sueño de Morfeo
Following on from Pastora Soler’s top 10 finish in Baku, Spain have selected a band that fits the popular ESC model of “recently quite famous but their last album didn’t do so well”. Their name means “Morpheus’ Dream”, and the existence of 19 language versions of their Wikipedia article at least suggests that their fame has spread across borders to some extent. The band has gone through several name changes over the years: indeed, if they hadn’t opted for “Morpheus’ Dream”, we might now have “Blue Desk” singing for Spain. These Iberians seem to have a soft spot for furniture. And why not? A fondness for flat-packs could be good for the Swedish vote, if nothing else.
Following on from Pastora Soler’s top 10 finish in Baku, Spain have selected a band that fits the popular ESC model of “recently quite famous but their last album didn’t do so well”. Their name means “Morpheus’ Dream”, and the existence of 19 language versions of their Wikipedia article at least suggests that their fame has spread across borders to some extent. The band has gone through several name changes over the years: indeed, if they hadn’t opted for “Morpheus’ Dream”, we might now have “Blue Desk” singing for Spain. These Iberians seem to have a soft spot for furniture. And why not? A fondness for flat-packs could be good for the Swedish vote, if nothing else.
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