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.