Tim: The greatest music competition of the year kicks off in Gothenburg tonight, Tom, so let’s have another trip to the archives, with this third placer from 2007.
Tim: So that there is I think the first time ever that I’ve been pleasantly surprised by a lack of a key change.
Tom: I know! I really wasn’t expecting that.
Tim: Until that closing section, it’s very much by the numbers – good by the numbers, sure, with its BWO styling and very singable chorus line, but still fairly standard.
Tom: Now, see, I think differently to you: it think it’s a bit of an odd mix. Like you say, it’s good, but the introduction, verse, chorus, and middle eight all sound a bit like they come from different songs. And even that chorus has two very different parts — and there’s one solitary orchestra hit and what sounds like a single run down an accordion keyboard chucked in for the heck of it.
Tim: Hmm, I suppose it does differ in those respects, but there’s the big one that makes it stand out. After that middle eight (which I recommend watching in the non-embeddable official video), is that lovely bit where it goes all euphoric. It doesn’t last long, and I’d have loved it if it kept going for more that eight seconds, because it’s something genuinely different and unusual.
Tom: Yep, despite my grousing, I really do like this song. It’s got a lot of the ‘classic Eurovision’ about it, but not enough to make it immediately dismissable as ‘just schlager’.
Tim: I can’t help thinking that if it had been kept going longer, maybe even until the end, and given an impressive stage treatment, the song might have done a bit better. Ah, well.