Preface:
As I mentioned in a previous post (Random Thoughts Thursday: Eurovision), I’m going to start reviewing and making my predictions for ESC2022 as countries begin to name their artists and release their songs. While these songs will be performed at Eurovision, countries have some time to revamp the song (mainly to fit it into the 3-minute window) and staging.
In addition to making comments about the current entry, I’ll provide information about the country’s entry from last year’s Eurovision just as a comparison.
Stefan – Hope
Vocal:
I absolutely love the Johnny Cashness of Stefan’s voice, but it does not seem to be like a direct copy of Johnny Cash’s voice. For Estonia’s national final, I did find that it was hard to understand the lyrics in certain parts of the song . . . I think (for me) it might have been an issue with his diction. However, I cannot critique this too much since English probably is not Stefan’s first (or even second) language.
Musical Arrangement:
The musical arrangement with the country-western theme with pop elements definitely suits Stefan’s voice, and it brings something a bit different (so far) to ESC22. My only concern is that the end of the song is very repetitive.
Staging:
I thought the staging was just ok. Again, I’m not sure what else can be done for such a song besides having images of a desert, the Wild, Wild West, a dude riding a horse with a sephia or black and white filter. The only thing that I really did not like with the staging was the duel. I do not know, but the duel felt like it was overselling the Western/country theme of the song. Also, I’m not sure how the duel related to the title and theme of the song.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, I think this is a decent submission to ESC. However, I’m not too sure how it will do in the final, but I think it will qualify. That said, I personally like the song, and it has made it to my regular playlists. In addition to Stefan’s voice and appearance, I think will qualify (and maybe do well in the final) because it is something different. While I like this song, I’m not sure how well it will perform in ESC22.
Estonia in last year’s Eurovision:
Uku Suviste – The Lucky One
We have the rehearsal clip because the final is not available on YouTube.
- Semi-final results: 13th place out of 17 performances (58 – 29 national juries and 29 public votes
What a handsome dude. If singing does not work for him, he definitely will have a great career in modeling, especially for an expensive cologne line. What am I saying? He probably already does a lot of modeling and acting? While Uku has the face and the body, he really did not bring it with his song. The song sounded nice, but it was pretty dated (especially with the untied bowtie) so I agree with its nonqualifying status. Also, I think Uku and his team went too safe with the performance, but I can understand that it probably was hard to really elevate the staging of a slow, pop ballad.
Social Media Plug:
Run There, Drink That 