When May approaches my fingers tingle in anticipation to the
Eurovision Song contest and I can’t help writing about it. I reviewed it in the
past years as well, promoting the Italian songs, of course. My articles are
here:
Occidentali’s Karma and The Naked
Ape:
Eurovision
Song Contest 2018
All countries and songs competing are here, included the
ones that did not pass the semi finals:
Emma Kelly
Though I
shamelessly support the Italian song with all my heart, I am aware there are
other
exceptional pieces this year; it will be a tough competition indeed.
Among the big five, a part from Italy which is my top one by default, I also
like France and Spain. Bilal Hassani, representing France with ‘Roi’ (king),
might repeat Conchita Wurst’s successful performance in 2014. He is a queerman reflecting
his experience in the song’s
impressive story and involving music. He cleverly mixes French
and English in the lyrics with a revealing effect. I especially like:
Je suis
free, oui, j'invente ma vie
Ne me
demandez pas qui je suis
…
I, I'm not
rich, but I'm shining bright
I can see my
kingdom now
Quand je
rêve, je suis un roi
(I am free,
yes I invent my life; don’t ask me who I am…when I dream, I’m a king)
The Spanish
song,‘La Venda’ by Niki, is catchy and entertaining; it gives you summer fever
and a few interesting tips to think about:
Te compran
porque te vendes
Te vendes
porque te sobras
(they buy
you because you are for sale, you are for sale because you are smug)
I like the
UK song too, the message is great and the story is moving. I hope it will make
the left hand side of the leaderboard this time.
The other
song that engages me is ‘Chameleon’ by Michela (Malta). It’s the rhythm that
takes me but not just this. Being a chameleon
in ‘technicolour’ can be resourceful, a way to survive. I also
enjoyed ‘Say Na Na Na’ by Serhat (San Marino). Don’t ask me why, I know the
lines are repetitive, maybe a bit plain, but I enjoy the rhythm. It makes my
feet move and gives me joy with a simple message, no nuances. Sometimes that’s
all we need.
It seems the
Netherlands and Sweden are among the favourites. Honestly, I don’t feel their
songs are so engaging, but who knows, there are always revelations at the
Eurovision Song contest. In the semi finals, the prettiest one was Australia
swinging on a pole and singing Opera. The weirdest one was Portugal wearing a
plastic beard and, unsurprisingly, he didn’t pass the round. Other highlights
were Austria’s electric blue hair, which didn’t grant her a place in the final
though, the stunning Albania’s black and golden outfit and Denmark’s
understated sweet song.
Now let’s
speak about Italy: Mahmood’s ‘Soldi’ (money), a touching story of the
disillusioned
relationship with his father. Alessandro Mahmoud is a young
Italian singer-songwriter who won the Sanremo Music Festival 2019. He is from
Milan born from an Italian mother and an Egyptian father, who divorced when he
was a little child. His stage name, Mahmood, refers to his Arabic origin and to
the English expression ‘my mood’, which reveals his strong determination to
succeed. There is a moving line in Arabic in ‘Soldi’: Waladi waladi habibi
ta’aleena (my son, my son, darling, come over here) as well as references to
Ramadan. Though Mahmood doesn’t speak Arabic (Italian and his mother’s
Sardinian dialect are his mother tongues) his personality testifies cultural
integration and talented diversity. His experience as a child raised up by the
mother comes up in ‘Soldi’ in which money is an important issue that affects
relationships, mainly the relationship with his almost absent father. Love and
care seem to depend only on money, mingled with lost pride and a deep sense of
betrayal. Here are the lyrics:
https://wiwibloggs.com/2019/02/11/mahmoods-soldi-lyrics-tell-a-painful-story-about-living-without-a-father-figure/
and here are
some more tips about Mahmood:
The song has
an engaging rap rhythm insisting on the ‘hook’ soldi, and pop music connotations.
The tone and the mood of the song are appropriate to the emotional story told
with disenchantment and participation. I think I will vote for it, though’ Roi’ is in my heart
too.
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