Tim: Remember how, last May, Loreen won the Eurovision Song Contest?
Tom: I did. She was very good.
Tim: And you remember the main hook of the song was the “eu-PHOOOOOOR-i-AH” bit?
Tom: How could I forget? I always sing “euphonium” along to it instead.
Tim: Well, from the song that Cascada wants to enter this year’s contest with, it seems she remembers as well.
Tom: Hmm. That’s… close. That’s quite close. In fact, I’m fairly sure that’s basically ‘Euphoria’ tarted up a bit.
Tim: It’s a decent song – the original stuff is very good, danceable and perfectly listenable. Easily, a possible contender. So, why oh why did they lift the hook, note for note, from last year’s winner? How can that possibly go anywhere?
Tom: It is still a good song, though. With her name behind it, I can actually see it winning, assuming the juries don’t just go “no, that’s a blatant ripoff, nul points.”
Tim: You know, I think you could be right. But still, I’m trying to imagine a conversation that might have happened, at some point in the production process – the only scene I’ve got in my head is a meeting between an angry producer demanding an immediate people-pleaser and Euphoria being the only CD the assistant’s got to hand as an example. “THAT’S GOOD! Now take it away and make it a bit different.”
A month later, “NO! That’s TOO DIFFERENT. Make it LESS SO, and also throw in a bit of The Wanted at the start to throw people off the scent.”