Saturday Flashback: Typically Tropical – Barbados

“I’m just in shock really.”

Tim: In an attempt to be educational, we’ve had a few tracks here in the “songs you didn’t know were covers” – namely Everytime We Touch, Hey Mickey and Torn. We were surprised by those, but this is in a TOTALLY DIFFERENT LEAGUE because, and I say this with only a small degree of hyperbole, it will BLOW. YOUR. MIND.

Tom: Oh, I haven’t heard that in years! But alas, Tim, I have heard it.

Tim: Oh.

Tom: In fact, I remember that from when I was a kid, before the Vengaboys were even a band. Number 1 in 1975, you know. I can remember my Mum complaining about that the cover version wasn’t nearly as good.

Tim: Fair enough, although I will happily place a sizeable bet on most people under the age of, say, 30 having no idea. Which is weird, because while I know the Vengaboys had a reputation for being unusual and kooky, did no-one point it out at the time? It was one of the biggest tracks of that year, with airplay all over the bloody place, but I heard not one mention of it.

I don’t mean that in a “they got cheated” way, mind – I’m sure they made plenty of cash, being the only credited lyricists – but I…well, I’m just in shock really. The one thing I really want to know is why they changed to to Ibiza – if you’re going to go somewhere else, why not go to Jamaica so you can stop Uncle John calling every day?

Tom: Because they knew their target market, Tim. And it worked.

Alesso feat. Nico & Vinz – I Wanna Know

“Why have we got a firefight in a standard love song?”

Tim: New one of Alesso, who’s recruited a multiple person act for vocal duties, which I’m not sure I can remember happening previously. Anyway, have a listen.

Tim: And I think the phrase du jour there is “Boy, that escalated quickly,” because I was sat calmly watching that and then BAM what on earth is going on why have we got a firefight in a standard love song?

Tom: I’d pretty much fallen asleep by then, to be honest. The fight scene at least woke me back up a bit.

Tim: Is this a metaphor for the actor and his feelings towards the other people she’s flirting with? Or is this meant to be a song that would fit as the soundtrack to this film? WHO KNOWS, but in any case it’s generally the music that matters, and here that’s a pleasant surprise.

Tom: Really? Because I waited 90 seconds for something to kick in, and then got something that sounds a bit like a GarageBand loop.

Tim: Oh, you want a GarageBand loop? Compare and contrast Umbrella with the vastly superior Symphonies. But in any case, at least it’s a good loop – Alesso more often produces dance music that’s a bit harsh and intense for my liking, but this is lovely to listen to. There is that pronunciation of “here”, though, which I think is the weirdest I’ve ever heard, but that aside, it’s all great.

Laleh – Bara få va mig själv

“If she’s going to bring us chorus lines like that, I’m very much in favour”

Tim: In this song, Laleh was us to let her “just be myself”, so let’s have a listen.

Tom: Subtitles! The video has English subtitles! That’s a lovely touch. Well done whoever put that together. Anyway: yes, “just be myself”.

Tim: Truth is, if she’s going to bring us chorus lines like that, I’m very much in favour of doing that.

Tom: Wait, really? This is too slow, too plodding for my tastes.

Tim: Maybe in parts – the verses aren’t always entirely to my taste, as the vocal can get a bit grating for me – but the pre-chorus and chorus are so good that I can entirely and absolutely forgive that. Instrumentation is also very nicely put together – 2nd/4th beat claps can be a bit risky and horribly repetitive, but here they’re used very well indeed.

Tom: It just leaves me cold, alas. I think it’s actually the fault of the melody — or, rather, my brain for just not liking it.

Tim: Well, personally, all in all I’ve few complaints about this. Nice one.

Jürgen Drews – Das ist der Moment

“Formulas may be all well and good, but…”

Tim: Let’s jump across the border from yesterday’s Austria to today’s Germany, and also: remember a few weeks ago when I posted the track that was every europop fan’s nightmare, being entirely stereotypical and entirely awful? Well, here’s another entirely stereotypical one.

Tom: I notice you say “stereotypical” there, but not necessarily “awful”. I don’t rate it that highly: do you?

Tim: Oh, absolutely – those two in combination show just how formulas may be all well and good, but they sure as hell can’t predict the enjoyability of any song they produce. You can probably guess the title translation; the full line is “This is the moment when the sky will burn, when everything turns, when you see the stars”, and that’s one hell of a moment definitely deserving of a song like this.

Tom: Hmm. I’m not sure I feel it: those flashback clips in the video just seem a little cringeworthy to me; that repeating synth melody doesn’t work for me; and the chorus just seems a little… well, dull.

Tim: No, it’s EXCITING – Just listen to how excited by it he is coming into the middle eight, and how many times he’s sings that one line (ten).

Tom: Ten! Ten is too many.

Tim: I don’t know, we’ve seen considerably more previously. A big moment, and a big song to go with it. Admittedly, any europop-sceptic still wouldn’t be remotely impressed by it, but I don’t care. I think it’s great.

Incidentally, both this song and yesterday’s came off Apple Music’s playlist of new German pop music, and I can’t currently recommend a better one to get you out of bed in the morning. YOU’RE WELCOME.

Nik P. – Da oben

“It’s like a warm mug of cocoa. Predictable and comforting.”

Tim: We first met the Austrian Nik P. a couple of weeks ago when we looked at DJ Ötzi’s rework of a 2014 track of his; here’s his current track.

Tom: Is that schlager? That feels like schlager. If it were Scandinavian, I’d file it under schlager.

Tim: Well, given that schlager is originally a German word for pop music, it very much counts, and I think in both senses. And I love it. It subscribes to a formula that I will never, ever tire of – light major key synth work, gentle vocals which (probably) aren’t remotely deep or meaningful, with “Da Oben” translating to “Up There”, a decent beat to dance to, and then that key change is just a beautiful bow on top of the present.

Tom: Right! I had a massive grin on my face. It’s… it’s like a warm mug of cocoa. Predictable and comforting. I’m not sure that analogy works, but you know what I mean.

Tim: Yeah, that holds up. It’s not going to win any awards any time soon – let’s face it, there’d be something wrong with the award system if it did – but damn, it hits every single button of mine, and I just want it on repeat many, many times over.

Hilda – Smashing Hearts

“Good chorus, good urgent percussion.”

Tom: Our reader, Luca, sends this in, with the comment “released in March, for some reason it’s been growing upon me.”

Tom: First, let’s deal with that YouTube title. “Offical Audio Video”? That… that would be a music video. Unless they mean “low-budget not quite a lyric video”. Baffling.

Tim: Well, ‘Official Audio’ these days can mean lyric video before the main one, so maybe they’re just covering all their bases with a proper video that contains some of the lyrics as well?

Tom: Aside from that: good chorus, good urgent percussion. And a good choice to go for the quiet middle eight back into a final chorus that… well, it could be bigger, but it’s not bad.

Tim: Not bad, no, although it didn’t stop me getting slightly bored halfway through the last part.

Tom: Oddly, the only bit that doesn’t really work for me is one particular note: that high bit on ‘hearts’. I know it’s an odd thing to nitpick, but the harmony almost sounds discordant to me for some reason.

Tim: Really? I’ve no problem with this musically at all – not hugely exciting for me right now, but for the song and genre it’s going for, it does it very well, I think.

Tom: But overall: good track.

Saturday Flashback: Marija Šerifović – Molitva

“Not exactly the stuff of wonder.”

Tim: So, tonight’s the night, and rather than producing another Reject I’d like to take a look back at an unusual point in Eurovision’s recent history; to be more precise, 2007, and Serbia’s entry.

Tom: I have no memory of that song. The face rings a bell, but… I know it’s been nine years, but seriously, I have no memory of that song.

Tim: So here’s the unusual part: this won. It’s the only victor since 1999 to have not been sung in English, and the only victor since 2001 to have a key change – in fact it has two. So how did it win? Let’s face it, even by mid-00’s Eurovision quality it’s not exactly the stuff of wonder.

Well, I’ve a theory. Sure it’s got those counting against it, but on the other hand: it was one of the few acts that year that were neither Lordi-inspired hefty rock, nor the novelty ‎Verka Serduchka, nor… Scooch.

Tom: Ouch. That… yes, now you come to mention it, 2007 was not a good year. I mean, Verka was great, but the rest…

Tim: There was still a bit of shoutiness involved to get passionate about, and given that it’s in foreign that could be about something exciting.

Tom: “In foreign”, there.

Tim: Though in reality it’s just about praying to be loved by someone). On top of that, it wasn’t a runaway winner – not far behind was the aforementioned novelty of Verka Seduchka, and not far behind that was the top of the metal crowd, from Russia. In summary: basically, it got lucky.

Saturday Reject: Isa – I Will Wait

Tim: Last year, Isa reached the Melodifestivalen final with Hairspray-variant Don’t Stop; this year, she bowed out at Andra Chansen, with this, a beautiful waltz of a ballad.

Tom: Strong lighting design there. Admittedly the dodgy curtain behind her does make it look a bit like she’s singing in someone’s living room, but still, strong lighting design, and strong dance to go with it.

Tim: It is indeed. As for the music – I don’t know why this is, but the way it seems to work with me is that if a song is in ¾ time it has to do a lot, lot wrong for me not to like it.

Tom: Interesting. And this time?

Tim: It does absolutely nothing wrong, and so it joins Queen Of My Heart and Can I Have This Dance as one of my all time Top Tracks.

Tom: For a moment, I thought you meant Top Tracks Ever, but that’s only because I never realised Queen Of My Heart was a waltz.

Tim: And one of the very best. But last year, Isa was all very much about the action, with little time spent to appreciate the vocal. Here, though, with such minimalist (though still lovely) staging, the voice is all we have, and my word it’s superb. Big range, big volume, big track, and quite possibly a top 10 Eurovision placer. The curse of Andra Chansen, though, is that when you’re up against even a slightly better or more popular track, you’re OUT. And so she was, so maybe next year?

Saturday Reject: Rūta Ščiogolevaitė – United

“The audience and her backing singers weren’t remotely interested in helping.”

Tim: Remember Russia’s 2013 entry, Dina Garipova’s utopia-inducing What If? Well, this year someone wanting to represent Lithuania wanted to recreate that.

Tom: Oh, bloody hell, it’s Robson and Jerome’s cover of I Believe all over again. Incidentally, do send that link to any American Game of Thrones fans you know, it’ll really confuse them.

Tim: Duly noted. Sadly, Rūta didn’t quite have the vocal skills to pull that off, nor indeed were the audience or her backing singers remotely interested in helping her.

Tom: Tough crowd. Tough, tough crowd.

Tim: Points to her for effort, though – her pointing directly at an audience member to get them going does demonstrate quite a level of passion. It’s also a shame the backing folk haven’t decided in advance what to do with their hands, as having some of them gently swaying while others are full on with the arm movement really doesn’t push forward the “let’s stand united” message. To be quite honest, this could be a decent entry, because musically and lyrically it’s all there.

Tom: Maybe not lyrically, but I’ll agree with you on musically. This is a retro, but plausible, Eurovision track, complete with key change. And full marks for attempting the steadicam-spin-shot there, although with an audience that looks like it belongs in a church hall, it’s less impressive. I know it’s Lithuania, but when the rest of the show looks fairly smooth, it stands out.

Tim: Pump some cash into it, get some dancing and singing lessons, they could be laughing their way to the top half of the table. As it is – sadly, doesn’t quite make enough of an impact.

Saturday Reject: Annica Milán & Kimmo Blom – Good Enough

“You don’t need to go all Big Bad Wolf.”

Tim: Here’s one from Finland’s final; fourth in the televote, sixth with the jury (which is done WEIRDLY – split into nine mini-juries, categories of which include Parliament, Eurovision experts, musicians, bloggers, LGBT and, erm, asphalt constructors), so have a listen. Though first, I want you to know that I’m going to make a HILARIOUS joke at the end of this post, which I just know will have you ACTUALLY rolling on the floor laughing, so be prepared for that.

Tim: And that’s possibly the oddest staging I’ve ever seen, not least because at time I actually find myself distracted by the song trying to work out where the two were actually standing and what they were singing at. Even when they’re not singing at the mirrors, we hardly ever see them in the same shot. Towards the end, we assume (or at least I did) that they were yelling in each others faces, except right at the end it turns out they were facing the audience singing. It’s really, really disconcerting at times.

Tom: I suspect there’s a Pepper’s Ghost effect going on there too: a semi-transparent mirror, like you see on ghost trains. It’s a nice shtick, just very confusing.

Tim: Other than that, though – pretty good, albeit slightly High School Musical. The yelling is a bit off-putting – I know it’s a singing competition, and you want to get your reassuring message across, but you don’t need to go all Big Bad Wolf and try to blast the stadium walls down.

Tom: I was about to complain about you complaining about that, but then I saw his face during the second act as he’s doing his full-on Acting And Singing, and yeah, I’ve got to agree.

Tim: Nice message – it’s hard to imagine “pick yourself right back up, you’re better than just good enough” going down too badly – and decent melody, and I’d give decent odds for at least mid-table finishing, possibly top 10.

Tom: That’s optimistic, but perhaps not duly. It’s a good song.

Tim: Okay, now, prepare yourself: I guess that, in the end, it just WASN’T GOOD ENOUGH. HAHAHAHAHAHA oh wait you’re not laughing, you probably didn’t get it. Basically, it’s a really funny joke based on the fact that the title of the song is “Good Enough”, and yet the song itself was not, as it turned out, “Good Enough”.

Tom: …

Tim: You know, because you’d expect it to be “Good Enough” because the song is called “Good Enough”, but in the end it actually wasn’t “Good Enough” to win. YEP, THERE YOU GO, now you’re laughing. Man, I’m HILARIOUS.

Tom: I exhaled a small amount of air out of my nose.