#18 Eurobandið, "This Is My Life"

This is my life
I don't wanna change a thing

Iceland, in the past ten years or so, has racked up a pretty good number of fantastic Eurovision entries, but its results rarely seem to have been in line with the quality of its entries. That's why I was particularly praying that "This Is My Life," a Eurodance song performed the male-female duo Eurobandið and composed by Örlygur "Öggi" Smári (fresh off of having revitalized Páll Óskar's music career), would make it through to the finals. "This Is My Life" is more than just a great Eurovision entry, though: in its final version, modified from its original schlager-style appearance in Iceland's national final, it's a genuinely fantastic dance song, one that with its catchiness, electro squiggles and washes, and uplifting but still insistent chorus, easily stands up outside the Eurovision context. The fact that Fridrik (who had the second best song in Iceland's 2007 national final) and Regína were so incredibly endearing and obviously real Eurovision fans who cared about other fans was just the icing on the cake, a cake of them having made a song Eurovision fans could already love.

(P.S. Joe, you were right.)

Find it on: This Is My Life

A brand new star

Once again, like last year, I'm left feeling there's little left for me to say about the results of the Eurovision final; my thoughts have already been expressed elsewhere in ways much more eloquent and concise way than I would have used. I'm not thrilled about the winner for several reasons and second place finisher Ukraine would have been a much more exciting winner for me (as well as my favorite winner of the '00's, I think), but life goes on. Well, how life is going to go on for the next few months without Eurovision to distract me, I've got no idea, but apparently it does.

Let's look at Ani Lorak performing "Shady Lady" one more time, though. Love those light-up boxes.



Those disco strings in the middle 8 get me every time. And the little head bobs that accompany the beeps. When will I learn, though? I should never rewatch performances from Eurovision or national finals--they never seem to come off as great as I remember them being.

I'm sad about Sweden's result, of course, but the song is still fantastic (in my eyes); I'm not sure whether it was a matter of staging, competing with similar songs for the same votes, the song being in a style most of Europe isn't interested in, or what, but it just failed to connect with Europe. A shame, since "Hero" deserves to be remembered fondly and Charlotte thought of well--I hope that can still happen anyway, at least in Sweden. It'll be interesting to see what Sweden votes for next year--there's been kind of a "vote for something beyond what people associate Sweden with"/that fails/"vote for 'typical Swedish music'" pattern going on for the past few years--what happens next?



I would've liked to see the lovely Eurobandið higher up on the scoreboard at the end of the night, too, but I'm still happy for Iceland that they made it to the finals.



Still, ALL of these artists--three of my four favorites, the three that made it to the final--did better than my favorite last year...so I think I'm just used to my taste not lining up with Europe's in Eurovision. Plus, only four of my preferred ten may have qualified from the second semifinal and an entry I adored may not have won out in the end, but really, the final itself was really enjoyable for me.

On a slightly different but still Eurovision-related note, the UK jury's vote for the final looked roughly (though not necessarily exactly; Latvia and Norway could be reversed and Finland and Portugal, though in the right order, could possibly have one more point each) like this (thank you again!):

12 - Sweden

10 - Latvia

8 - Norway

7 - Iceland

6 - Ukraine

5 - Denmark

4 - Finland

3 - Portugal

2 - Israel

1 - Armenia

All the pain, all the joy it brings

Just a quick, getting-things-out-of-my system post:

4/10 of my favorites through this time, but I'm really not going to complain. I mean, sure, I would've loved to see Paolo go through (though as Len said, his voice wasn't all I was hoping for), and yes, I think Bulgaria was great (and though I've not really got an attachment to "Vodka," it would have been nice to see poor Malta do well), but really...

SWEDEN AND ICELAND ARE THROUGH!

When the male announcer started to hum "Hero" and announced Sweden's name (just after Iceland had been pronounced safe), it was as if my spine disappeared and I collapsed onto the couch I was sitting on--I was already pretty sure about poor Paolo's fate, so I really couldn't have asked for more.

It's fantastic Ukraine's through as well, though that wasn't really in doubt--they'll have more of my mental and emotional support on Saturday, when it'll matter more.

Plus, the countries through generally gave solid performances.

Speaking of solid performances: tricky, tricky Denmark, trying to win my nonexistent vote with your good-looking singer. It will not work, I tell you!

Also, I'm already plotting about how on Earth I'm going to get myself to wherever Eurovision 2009 is--I mean, it's not like school or money is that important, right?

Here, in remembrance of Paolo, is the promo video for "Era Stupendo," which I love--I know it could seem incongruous to some, but for me it captures the song's energy so well.

Oh my days, like fairytales

...and we're off again: my favorites in the second semifinal.

Eurobandið, "This Is My Life" (Iceland)
Ah, Eurobandið--I've been in love since the first taste of this song last fall, when it was called "Fullkomið lif" and was more schlager than the energetic dance it is now. I think I've continually complained about the change in style (not that I disliked its new version, just that I thought it lost something)...until now. I went back and listened to "Fullkomið lif" again and, whether it's just me becoming accustomed to the new version or something else, I can now officially say that I'm fine with it in its new version. In fact, I prefer it. Eep. Backtrack much? Anyway, speaking without regards to the odds, I think I can fairly say that few results this year would make me more ecstatic than an Icelandic win--I love this song and poor Iceland has sent so many great songs in fairly recent years, often without proper reward. I'll be desperately hoping they make it out the semifinals.

Charlotte Perrelli, "Hero" (Sweden)
...but boy, am I worried that the one-two-four punch of danceable pop songs is going to end up really hurting someone. Do I need to say much more about this song? I adore it--disco-pop performed by a true professional; I can only pray Europe takes it to its heart. Please let everything transfer well to the Eurovision stage! The song that I would most love to win the whole thing.

Ani Lorak, "Shady Lady" (Ukraine)
I LOVE this song. Love Ani as a performer (from what I've seen). Out of the names people are tossing around as likely winners, it's the one I'd most like to take it. "Shady Lady" is dramatic revvy disco pop, the sort of song I thought we'd be getting from Dimitris Kontopoulos in the Greek national final. My heart of hearts, though, still belongs to Sweden, though I know Ani will take to the stage like a sexy dervish with an eye towards filling up the arena and demolishing all competition and may very well have a bigger performance that leaves a bigger impression on viewers.

Paolo Meneguzzi, "Era Stupendo" (Switzerland)
Aww, Paolo. Well, I love him--that's well documented; have ever since PinkieDust introduced me to him last spring or so. "Ti Amo Ti Odio" even ranked as my eighteenth favorite single of 2007. In other words, I like his musical style, I like what he does--and I love this too. "Era Stupendo" starts off as lovely ballad before morphing into a more up-tempo song, but one that still has a bit of a ballad feel. It's a lovely feel good song with a lovely feel good promotional video and I would be so thrilled to see it do well. I'm very worried, though.

Now, those four songs I've just listed are my true favorites (out of those four, I'd be most excited about Sweden, Iceland, or Switzerland winning, but Ukraine has the best chance of it), the four that mean the most to me--not just in the second semifinal, but overall. The next song is in a kind of second tier.

Tereza Kerndlová, "Have Some Fun" (Czech Republic)
You know how I didn't complain about changes to the Icelandic song? This is where I start complaining. I always knew that this was a song that never really stood much of a chance of leaving an impression on the Eurovision audience (and apparently its rehearsals have been a mess), but in that early national finals season, this was one of my favorites, a sweet Europop song with a Timbaland-type beat underneath and some lovely string-like sound effects that are somewhere between fluttering and frantic. I know they had to shorten it down to meet the three minute requirements, but did we really have to get those added Greek-style instrumental flourishes? Sigh. Those really detract from the song for me.

...and after that, a third tier of songs:

Ruslan, "Hasta La Vista" (Belarus)
I've avoided re-listening to the original pop version of this song in hopes that I could adjust to this new rock version, so I can't go into too much detail about my complaints except to say that I remember being very disappointed when the change was revealed--who knows, maybe if I went back and relistened to the original I'd realize it was actually a change for the better. I can't say I'm too invested in this doing well, but it's OK. It does give us the line that gives this post its title (it's actually "all my days like fairytales," but that's how I first heard it and now I can't hear anything else).

Pirates Of The Sea, "Wolves Of The Sea" (Latvia)
I feel like I'm going to be attacked by Eurofans every time I admit this, but if Schlagerprick and Chig can admit it, so I can I: I like this. Yes, it's kind of cheap and tacky (catchy Europop/dance that sounds like it could have been made for young kids, by the way), but there's something about its bouncy fun that reels me in.

The countries I want to make it to the final (based just on the songs, not on how well they'll come across when performed, and what I'd like to happen, not what I think will happen), then:

Sweden
Iceland
Ukraine
Switzerland
Czech Republic
Latvia
Belarus

...oh, and I don't know after that...maybe Bulgaria. That's odd--I didn't realize it until now, but, although I've been looking forward to the second semifinal more than the first, I don't think there are ten songs I'm really cheering for here, whereas I was able to choose ten for the first. Let's throw in FYR Macedonia and...I don't know, Malta or Albania or something. Let's go with Malta. (Edit: a few more spins and I'm more enthusiastic--Bulgaria especially deserves to at least be in my third tier of songs--but I'm open to performances swaying me to shift my support.)

Random thoughts on other songs: it was while watching the promo for Inför ESC (Sweden's preview show for this year's Eurovision songs) that I realized what Denmark's song ("All Night Long" by Simon Matthews) reminds me of: it's a commercial song. As in, a song made to play in the background of a commercial--about twenty seconds of sound, mildly catchy mid-tempo chorus but in a completely non-distracting way, completely generic. Apparently he's a solid performer, but "All Night Long" is just so completely uninspiring.

I keep reading good things from the people actually in Belgrade about Croatia, but it's not won me over yet. I've got a similar reaction to the very positive feelings behind Portugal, too; apparently it comes across amazingly when performed and I know there were positive feelings about it even before that, but I'm not sold yet.

I realized that all my heartaches were a blessing in disguise

While Sweden was having its third semifinal last night, a lot of countries were having their finals. Some great songs were knocked out (Poland [though once I get a chance to properly listen I may end up thinking Isis Gee's entry is fine--not something I'll love, but fine], Romania, Ireland--though I still haven't caught up on the live performances there), but luckily we did get some real gems out of the night.

Iceland chose Eurobandið's "This Is My Life" as their entry to Eurovision--yay! I'm so happy for them, and really hope they do well on the night; the song is great (even if you think the original arrangement was better, I'd argue this version is still easily one of the better songs chosen so far), the singers can sing, and Iceland is well overdue for some good results, considering the great songs they've generally given us recently. Not only that, but the styling was finally approaching something reasonable--thank goodness they had three tries to get it right. Fridrik's outfit kind of reminds me of someone, though I can't place who...



Ukraine chose a stomping pop song that had a great performance. Ani Lorak is apparently a major popstar over there, which I love to see, and she was preselected as the singer for Ukraine--last night was dedicated to choosing which song she would sing. "Shady Lady" won--ignore the sketchy title, it's a great hard-hitting pop song with a performance that makes up for anything that might be pedestrian about the song.



I've still not made up my mind about Bulgaria yet. Deep Zone and Balthazar's ravey (in parts) "DJ, Take Me Away" won there. It's definitely a different sort of sound for Eurovision.

I opened my eyes and finally I realized...

Just a quick note to say that the English version of Eurobandið's "Fullkomið líf," my favorite song in Iceland's national final, has, fantastically enough, been put up for free and legal download by the song's creators. It's worth mentioning, though, that in addition to the language being changed, the arrangement has been changed as well; this version is more Eurodance, a change I'm not entirely sold on yet but we'll see if that changes. Anyway, you can download the English version, called "This Is My Life," here.

Somewhat relatedly, now's as good a time as any to remind you that the creator of "Fullkomið líf" also worked on Páll Óskar's album from 2007, which I still maintain deserves far more attention (outside of Iceland, in Internet circles; inside Iceland, it's launched major hits); if you like that song, it's very much worth at least checking out some of the singles from Páll's album; "International," "Allt fyrir ástina," and "Betra Lif" are all fantastic (and videos for the first two are on YouTube). Páll also wrote the lyrics to "This Is My Life," while we're talking about him.

Also, there's another country's national final that has thoughts brewing in my brain--I'll probably write about it tomorrow.

Can I just say again...

Eurobandið have to win in Iceland. C'mon, Iceland, put 'em through to the final and then send them all the way! "Fullkomið líf" is easily one of the best songs in all the national finals so far.

Also, that was a lot of purple.

Edit: I should say that I like Mercedes Club's song as well, but the live vocals on that are (as far as I know) so far untested...and I prefer "Fullkomið líf" anyway, I think.

Fullkomið líf

Something unrelated to the rest of the post to start it off: is this the best promotional picture of the season?



Just possibly yes...

Thanks to Alex for the tip that you can buy that Agnes/Måns Zelmerlöw "All I Want For Christmas Is You" duet I was talking about yesterday from Expressen here (you can also listen to a preview of the song there). I was able to buy it, so I presume anyone who has a credit card, regardless of country, should be able to do so as well, which is a big "yay." It's a slowed down version, going more for the "lovely" thing than the "jump around dancing" thing. You can watch a small news feature on it that features clips from the music video/ad here.

The actual song for today? Well, I'm not sure that I have that much to say about it--I wrote about Eurobandið just a little earlier and said that their song "Fullkomið líf" had qualified to the finals of Iceland's national selection for Eurovision. I think I really like it, so I decided to post it.

Fullkomið líf--oh, completely unrelated to this song, but have I mentioned how high Iceland is rising on my good list? Not only do they have some great artists of their own, a certain someone has his version of "You Give Love A Bad Name" getting frequent play on at least one of their big radio stations. Anyhow, "Fullkomið líf" (which I've read means "Perfect Life") is a big upbeat duet between Regína Ósk and Friðrik Ómar and yes, there were some "styling issues" (incidentally, they didn't look at all like they do in this picture), but the song is catchy and strong. Given poor Iceland's luck in making it out of the semifinals recently, I have no idea if this song would do the trick for them, but at least it'll be a good listen for Eurovision fans. One more note: the song is written by Örlygur (Öggi) Smári, who's done several of my favorite Icelandic songs from 2007, Páll Óskar's "International" and "Allt fyrir ástina."

I don't know of anywhere where you can buy this song yet, but I imagine Tonlist.is/.com will end up carrying the album for Laugardagslögin 2008 when it comes out.

Speaking of Iceland, apparently Birgitta Haukdaul (their 2003 representative) will be in the next semifinal (as part of a duet), a fact which I'd be more excited about (I think "Open Your Heart" is great) if her latest album didn't sound pretty dull from all the preview clips I've heard of it.

Next up: maybe something else from Iceland.

Impossibile per me accettare che per te è lo stesso

Eeee!

Paolo Meneguzzi is going to represent Switzerland in Eurovision 2008!

Back with more intelligent commentary and other Eurovision-related news (which I know I've been bad at reporting recently) in a bit, when I've stopped freaking out (with excitement).

(I'll just edit my thoughts and stuff into this post.)

Updated:

All right, so the idea of Paolo--my favorite Italian singer (well, technically Swiss, but his career is based in Italy) and an artist I've adored since PinkieDust first wrote about him over on You Call That Life--in Eurovision has me incredibly excited. He's entered some great songs in Sanremo over the years, and I would think if there's anything we can look at to get a good idea of the sort of song he's likely to sing for Eurovision, it would be the songs he's sung in Italy's national song contest than inspired Eurovision (though Italy has pulled out of Eurovision, Sanremo continues).

(Usually, since I tend to prefer studio versions over live versions, I'd post the music videos for these songs, but instead, to give an idea of what he's like live, for his Sanremo songs, I'm actually posting him performing them for Sanremo.)

In 2004, Paolo sang "Guardami negli occhi (Prego)" in San Remo. It's one of my favorite songs of his. If there's any artist who can make me pay attention even when he's not singing something danceable, it's Paolo; the mid-tempo and ballad songs he does are completely lush and gorgeous. "Guardami negli occhi (prego)" is catchy as well, though.



2005 brought the equally lovely though slightly sadder-sounding and slightly less energetic "Non capiva che l'amavo." It's another of my favorites of his. His songs tend to have this gorgeous (but also often strong and dramatic) orchestral backing, and this is no exception--love the strings.



In 2006, he sang probably the most "typical ballad" of these three songs, "Musica." Though I prefer recent single "Ti amo ti odio" (I'm still upset about its actual music video, so I'm just linking to the audio instead), it's good as well.



He can do danceable songs too, though! "Vero falso," from his album Lei è (which I strongly recommend getting in its 2004 reedition if you like any of the songs I've posted; it's one of the best albums I own), is dance-influenced, catchy, and fantastic.



I mean, a genuinely great professional singer who's also a great pop artist--could this get any better? Well, I guess the answer is that depends on the song, but I'm hopeful.

In other Eurovision news, Iceland, which has a pretty good recent history quality-wise if not ranking-wise in the contest, is in the middle of its national selection process. To be honest, I've not been paying the closest of attention to it, but from what I have watched, there are only three songs worth paying any sort of attention to so far, either because they're good or interesting or divisive in some way.

Mercedes Club's "Ho, Ho, Ho, We Say Hey, Hey, Hey" is a '90's-sounding techno-influenced upbeat song (with chants and drums) sung mainly by a female singer. It's notable both for the fact that its probably-not-sung-live-so-far nature (Iceland isn't requiring singers to perform live) makes what it will actually sound like at Eurovision (if it makes it) questionable and for the abundance of greased-up shirtless men in the performance (which is not as exciting as it sounds). It's through to the final.



Eurobandið, made up of Regína Ósk and Friðrik Ómar, two popular contestants from 2006 and 2007's national finals, sung the dance-influenced upbeat "Fullkomið lif" to the finals last night. They made a point of singing live. It's kind of schlager-y, if not quite (more in a "if you like Melodifestivalen's schlager, you might like this" sort of way).



The two-woman duo Hara's "I Wanna Manicure" disappointed me after having been intrigued by them earlier as a result of their song choices on X Factor and then intrigued again by the media buildup to their performance--the chorus isn't as catchy as I would've liked (the music's beeps are catchy, but the vocal melody in the chorus didn't feel catchy enough for me). I could change my mind when I hear the studio version, though. Still, their slightly punky pop song was backed up by enough staging and fireworks that I imagine people will remember at least the performance. "I Wanna Manicure" will probably make it to the second chance round (edit: but there's no guarantee--"Fullkomið lif" made it to the finals--and we'll find out if "I Wanna Manicure" makes it to the second chance round next week).



Speculation continues about Sweden's singers, though I think--if I'm remembering correctly--we're supposed to find out the official list this Tuesday. Expressen ran an article about the performers, though. We'll have to wait even longer to find out the wildcards--the annual rumor about Ace of Base has cropped up again (EDIT: and, unsurprisingly, we've just found out that they're not doing it) and Lena Philipsson has been said to be entering as a duo with her writer and touring partner Orup. I'm not so sure that I want Lena in Melodifestivalen again--she was great, but I'm just not that sure about entering again in 2008 when she won so recently (in 2004), just because it seems like you might want a little more time to bask in the glory of winning, but I would LOVE new music from her.