Tag: Serbia

Ready for a good ol’ foot-stomping banger?

Sanja Vucic, Ksenija Knezevic, and Ivana Nikolić formed Hurricane in 2017. Two of the members have participated in Eurovision before. Ksenija was backing singer for her father Knez when he represented Montenegro in 2015, while Sanja represented Serbia in 2016. Sanja co-wrote “Hasta La Vista” with Nemanja Antonić and Kosana Stojić.

“Hasta La Vista” is a blast, but there is also something dated about it. It reminds us of the the type of song that was prevalent when we first started watching Eurovision in 2006. We also thought the vocals on the verses were a bit thin. The vocal arrangement isolates the singers when the song could use some more richness.

Once Hurricane gets to the chorus, though, it’s easy to get hooked. We always take it as a hallmark of a catchy song that we only need to hear it once and then remember the chorus just by looking at the title. “Hasta La Vista” is a bit of an earworm, which is why we kinda wish those verses were a little tighter. It could have been that much more fun.

Sanja Ilić i Balkanika have won Beovizija 2018 with the song “Nova deca.”

Sanja Ilić is a Serbian composer and musician with a degree in architecture. He wrote the 1982 Yugoslavian Eurovision entry “Halo Halo” for the group Aska, and he composed the music to the anthem for the Red Star Belgrade soccer team.

Ilić formed Balkanika in 1998 with the goal of using traditional Balkan musical instruments in modern pop music. The band has 11 members, so they had to be strategic in which six musicians made the Beovizija line-up. They wisely included flutist Ljubomir Dimitrijević because he is the Jerry Garcia of Serbian flutists.

We would eat an ice cream named after him.

“Nova deca” is a challenging song. It takes a full minute to really get going, then it meanders from traditional-sounding choral parts to modern Balkan ballad sections. A touch of synthetic dance beats are thrown in for good measure.

We always fear for songs that deviate from a typical song structure. We harken back to something Daniel Gould wrote on Sofabet:

Pop songs tend to follow a pattern that goes like this: intro; first verse; first chorus; second verse; second chorus; middle eight with a change of pace; and final chorus with something a bit extra.

Eurovision winners tend to follow this formula, with only a few small deviations – in 2008, Serbia’s ‘Molitva’ had an instrumental second verse, for example. I would never back a song to do well that deviated significantly from this structure…

To that end, we remember the fate of “Icebreaker,” Norway’s Eurovision 2016 entry. It had an abrupt rhythm change about which singer Agnete admitted, “It seems like either you love it, or you simply strongly dislike it.” Norway finished 13th in the second Semi, behind Ivan and his wolves.

But it’s not so different from the type of Balkan ballad that has often made its way to the Eurovision stage. Ilić and company have just tweaked the form enough to make it interesting. It will be equally interesting to see how the juries and the public respond to it.

Tijana Bogićević is hoping to take Serbia deep into this year’s Eurovision competition with “In Too Deep.”

Bogićević first vied to represent her country in 2009, but her song “Pazi Šta Radiš” did not make it out of the Beovizija 2009 semifinal. At Eurovision 2011, she was a backing singer on Nina’s “Čaroban.” “In Too Deep” was written by Borislav Milanov, Sebastian Arman, and Joacim Bo Persson, who wrote this year’s Bulgarian entry “Beautiful Mess” and Bulgaria’s 2016 entry “If Love Was a Crime.”

“In Too Deep” sort of sounds like “If Love Was a Crime” crossed with Katy Perry’s “Firework.” It’s a pleasant enough pop song, but we’ve been struggling to remember it after we’ve listened to it. This year, Kristian Kostov got the songwriting team’s best work.

The Song Contest producers chose Serbia to open the second Semi, so Bogićević has a fair chance to make an impression on audiences before all the other acts. We think she has a shot of making it to the Final because there will be a a lot of chaff on display that Thursday night (and the chance for some friendly voting as well). But she is going to need every ounce of charisma and talent to make a lasting impression.

Bojana Stamenov has been chosen to represent Serbia at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with “Ceo svet je moj”:

Serbia returns to the Song Contest after a year away. Their 2013 entry “Ljubav je svuda,” was a hot, hot mess that didn’t qualify for the Final. Perhaps Serbia needed time away to reconsider its choices in life. We certainly needed time to be reminded how much we miss them when they are away.

National broadcaster RTS returned to familiar waters for its selection process. They used a format that has served them well in the past, presenting three songs co-written by one composer. This year, that composer was Vladimir Graić, who co-wrote Serbia’s Eurovision-winning entry “Molitva.” You may also recall that he teamed up with Hari Mata Hari (who represented Bosnia in 2006) to pen Slovenia’s 2012 entry “Verjamem.”

It’s as though Serbia saw Graić peddling his wares to nearby Slavic countries (“Verjamem” bore an uncomfortable resemblance to “Molitva”) and collectively let out an emphatic “Aw HELL no.”

To Serbia’s, and Graić’s, credit, the three songs that were up for consideration at the national final were all different from each other and none of them sounded like “Molitva”/”Verjamem.” (Well, 2 of 3 didn’t).

Rather, with “Ceo svet je moj,” we get something more like “Love is Blind” or “Crisalide.” One half Balkan power ballad, the other half Hera Björk disco anthem. It’s two, two, two songs in one!

Bojana is an R&B and jazz singer who finished fourth on the 2012 edition of Serbia’s version of [Your Country’s Name Here] Got Talent. She’s pretty bad-ass, especially when she has to bring “Ceo svet je moj” home at the end. That change in tempo and Bojana’s growl that accentuates it is guaranteed to get a rise out of the crowd in Vienna and the fans at home.

The staging of the song at their national final was a mess — a shoddy re-hash of Eurovision costuming gimmicks from the last 5 years — but we assume the Serbian delegation is working on that. In fact, a lot about “Ceo svet je moj” is up in the air right now, including which language it will be performed in. Bojana told the Serbian newspaper Novosti that she is recording an English version of the song called “Beauty Never Lies” with lyrics by Charlie Mason, who co-wrote “Rise Like a Phoenix.” You figure if they are bringing in one of Eurovision’s reigning champion songwriters, they are seriously considering performing in English.

However it comes together, we are expecting a confident performance from Bojana and a song that unexpectedly catches the crowd’s attention at the halfway point. In a national final season that has been a bit of a slog so far, we’re thrilled to have an honest-to-goodness fun entry.

It’s dire. It is really dire. From the stupid “angel vs devil” battle theme to the over-emoted, overwrought acting the Moje 3 members engage in to the Nomi Malone-style dancing to that staccato “sing up the scale then back down the scale” chorus, “Ljubav je svuda” is horrible.

Not that the people of Serbia had much to choose from. The other female trio in Beosong 2013, SKY’s, was even worse than Moje 3. Dušan Svilar, the one male singer, had a song that was so Celine Dion-esque I’m waiting for Bild to run an exposé. Saška Janković performed a generic pop ballad and Marija Mihajlović performed a generic jazz ballad. In the grand scheme of things, Serbia could have done worse than go for high camp.

Normally, I’m a fan of camp, so I have high hopes that the organizers really go for it in Malmö. They have to look at Elnur & Samir’s performance for Azerbaijan at Eurovision 2008 and TOP IT. They need to consult with whoever staged Gaitana’s “Be My Guest” for Ukraine last year and whoever staged Svetlana Loboda’s “Be My Valentine” for Ukraine in 2009 and anyone who has ever staged an entry for Ukraine and just make this the most insane Can’t Stop the Music meets Battlefield Earth extravaganza ever put on the Eurovision stage. This could be the Valley of the Dolls of Eurovision entries. Make it happen, Serbia. Make it happen.

Yesterday, Željko Joksimovic presented the song he will perform for Serbia in Baku, “Nije ljubav stvar”:

Joksimovic is of course Eurovision royalty. When then-Serbia and Montenegro debuted at the Song Contest in 2004, he came second with a song he co-wrote, “Lane Moje.” This was by far my favorite song of that year and I really would have preferred this to win over Ruslana’s “Wild Dances,” When Serbia hosted the 2008 Song Contest, Joksimovic co-hosted with Jovana Jankovic and also wrote that year’s Serbian entry, “Oro,” for Jelena Tomaševic. He also wrote the 2006 Bosnia and Herzegovina entry “Lejla” for Hari Mata Hari, a third place finish to another mad performance, this time by Lordi.

I’m actually concerned how Joksimovic would react if he finished just behind Buranovskiye Babushki or Jedward.

Anyway, the Serbian song presentation consisted of Joksimovic, Tomaševic, Hari Mata Hari, and other singers performing Joksimovic’s songs, before presenting the 2012 entry in both English (as “Synonym“) and in Serbian. esctoday.com reports that the version that will go to Baku is to be determined, but the official Eurovision website states that “Nije ljubav stvar” is the selection. I’m going to trust the official website in this case, and frankly, I’d rather the song be performed in Serbian anyway. While Joksimovic’s English is very good, he gives a better performance in his native language.

As for the song itself, it’s not as strong as some of the past songs he’s sent to the Song Contest, but it is still a pretty darned good Balkan pop ballad. The only thing that would have made me nervous would be that he is performing in the first half of the second Semi, which is turning out to be a ballad-heavy night: Portugal, Slovenia, Estonia, Croatia, and FYR Macedonia (sort of) are all ballads, while Sweden is presenting a down-tempo schlager song (that, granted, picks up a bit when it gets going) and Lithuania’s number starts off as a ballad before it turns into a disco track. I’m also presuming that Bosnia and Herzegovina’s song by Maya Sar is going to be a ballad as well. (UPDATED: Yes indeed.)

On the other hand, the only former Yugoslav republic not performing in the second Semi is Montenegro, and if the Balkan voting bloc is going to benefit anyone, it’s going to be Joksimovic. If I were a non-Balkan balladeer, I’d be very nervous right now.

A lot of times, we decry Eurovision entries for being old-fashioned. But we tend to like entries that are nostalgic, songs that are evocative of an earlier style of music. The retro-blue-eyed soul style of Petula Clark peddled by Duffy has been in recently, and Serbia has decided to get in on it just as the trend is passing. Here’s Nina with “Caroban”:

Doesn’t that just sound like the theme to a 70s Serbian sitcom? Tonight on the Marija Tyler Mrdja Show, special guest Goldie Hawn from Laugh-In!

That sounds a bit harsh, and we don’t mean to be, because we both enjoyed this song. After all, we’re fans of Pat Williams, who wrote the theme to the Bob Newhart Show. But we’re not exactly sure voters will respond to something that is this dated.

Another marathon Eurovision day: Estonia, United Kingdom, Sweden and Serbia.  To be fair, we started watching Estonia last night, and we only caught the tail end of the Serbia show since it overlapped with Sweden.  Still, that is a big ol’ pile of Eurovision.

UPDATED: After I wrote this, we ended up watching the Germany final too. AH, WAHNSINN!!

Serbia selected Goran Bregović as the composer of their Eurovision entry this year.  He wrote three songs, and all three songs were done in a traditional folk style. Three acts (Emina Jahović, Milan Stanković, and Oliver Katić & Jelena Marković) were assigned each one of the songs.

Milan was rocking the Let Us Play With Your Look look:

Despite the fact that Will Ferrell didn’t have a cameo during his song, Milan won the night with his rendition of “Ovo je Balkan”:

Pretty solid, though it sounds like Milan got a little pitchy in the middle.  What was fun about the act was the costume change two-thirds of the way through the song, in which the folk dancers changed into b-girls.  It’s doubtful that this will win Eurovision, but it’s a lock to make it out of the Semis, and probably finish strong in the final. How could it not pick up neighborly voting when it’s called “This Is the Balkans,” right?