Tim: Here’s a question you’ve probably never been asked before: how many rock bands can you name with a flautist?
Tom: Depends. How good’s the flautist’s musical knowledge? Oh. Wait, never mind. Er, none.
Tim: Well, you can change that to one.
Tom: That starts like a reject from a Michael Flatley routine.
Tim: We’ve got another case here Reidun Sæther’s “THIS IS WHERE THE KEY CHANGE IS”, though to a slightly lesser extent, and while this could sort of be described as rock music, it could just as accurately be described as schlager-dressed-as-rock music. Standard progression of verses and choruses, key change, closing bit, it’s all in there. And, like many songs of this type, it works pretty damn well.
Tom: Amazing how one flute can change the tone so much, though.
Tim: It is, isn’t it? If it—the rock genre bit, that is, although it’s the case for the flute as well—became a regular thing, I don’t think it’d be so good, as part of the charm of these songs is the way they play with expectations. If it was expected, it’d be dull, and no more appealing than the usual stuff, and arguably less so. But as it is, it’s good.
Tom: That said, I can’t see it doing better than middle-of-the-table on the actual Eurovision board, so perhaps Norway did the right thing.