I can't quite figure out what Estonia is trying to go for. Sometimes they want to be pop, sometimes they want to be folk, sometimes they just seem to send whoever winks at the camera the best. I guess when you win so soon (this marks 8 years since Everybody won), it's more about participating than winning.
Anyway here's the contenders (courtesy of ETV's website, songs are under "Kuula laule!").
- Lowry, who was part of the unintentionally hilarious Soul Militia 2 years ago, goes solo this year has the very funky You Ain't What I Need, which is quite catchy, if not a bit derivative in the lyrics.
- Janne Saar seems to provide the answer song to Lowry's previous entry with I Am Too Good For You. It's a pleasant midtempo song with heavy Motown influences. The main problem, however, is that Janne does shriek during the chorus.
- This year is very heavy on the Estonian language entries (half of them in fact). The first one is StereoChemistry's Öösiti kõndides which is a hard driving modern rock song. Considering that Finnish rock has done well, it would be great for the Estonians to send a rock song with teeth.
- Urban Symphony goes the symphonic rock/electropop route (think Nightwish) with Rändajad. I like it on the first listen, but a lot would depend on the performance, and this year's Eesti Laul is very heavy on the avantgarde.
- Speaking of avantgarde, Chalice (male singer? band name?) has the very out-there and psychedelic Nelikümmend which is very moog-crazy and really goes nowhere. (Although it is a fun journey in parts.)
- Providing what I would call cute progressive pop (think Polyphonic Spree meets Stereolab) is Estonian electro band Köök and singer Kaire Vilgats and the song (which I'm guessing has a comedic tinge to it) Üürnik. (That's too many damn umlauts and double vowels.) Of the progressive/avantgarde songs so far, it's the best, and I would actually give it a fair shot at placing high if not winning.
- Rolf Junior takes us back to Top 40 land with Fre:dom. It's very catchy with a good bass riff. (It also sounds like a refugee from Melodifestivalen.) Strongest contender so far, but I can't for the life of me figure out what is up with the strange spelling and punctuation of the word "freedom."
- And we're back to Eesti Rock with Traffic's See Päev. It's slower than StereoChemistry's entry, but still manages to have a bit of a nice lo-fi kick behind it. Between the two, I lean more towards StereoChemistry, but I'd certainly change my position if the singer does perform the living daylights out of it, as he certainly sounds like he has a strong connection to the lyrics.
- Ithaka-Maria (one woman, not two) sings the pop/rock One Last Dance which like many songs this year is catchy and current, but unfortunately I don't think just being catchy and current will be enough to do the business this year.
- Laura (whose Sunflowers two years ago was apparently a big obsessive hit amongst some fans) returns this year with Destiny, an electropop song that is not bad, but not outstanding to my ears. The lyrics are rather dire (Vanilla Ninja set the bar really high by singing about heroin), and try to be profound but just make it sound like random English words were put in. That said, she'll probably do very well and has a very strong chance to win the lot.
Verdict: Laura or Rolf Junior for the win, K-Umlauts (Köök & Kaire Vilgats) and Lowry as dark horses.
2 comments:
so, you're saying that it's like estonia is a little bit country *and* a little bit rock and roll.
Yes, never know what you'll get from Estonia, but Urban Symphony's Rändajad is very interesting indeed and has the ethnic and modern elements that seems to be needed to go far these days. Unfortunately the break part is dead that will kill any chances for a very high placing should it go to to ESC.
Then Laura is good with Destiny, but the lyrics are not good like you say. (and yeah "cool vibes, why don't you kill me" drug anthem will be hard to beat for lyrical punch in ESC.. ;))
Still, 2 quite good songs is not bad at all from Estonia, seems you can always count on some decent melodies from that country. F.i. I quite liked the semi flop 'Partners in Crime' sex song by Gerli Padar in 2007 and also the favorite that was killed by Ines' nerves in 2000; 'Once in a Lifetime' (Wogan goldie: "[Ines] pants are so tight you could tell what she had for breakfast!" Lol.
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