Part III - Romania

The Good Part III: Romania

We've got another edition of the good, the bad and the ugly today, with Romania taking the spotlight as the next "good".

'Miracle' by Paula Seling & Ovi

Oooooft. Eurodance stomper 'Miracle' really has got it what it takes to do well for Romania at this year's Eurovision. From the very first line to the end, the song feels like it is taking you on the journey. Well that's how I see it anyway. The fast pace continually picks up and does what it is supposed to do! It doesn't stop, and you can picture the lights and the fireworks already. What is great about this song is that it also feels a lot quicker than 3 minutes. By this I refer to the fact that with a ballad, you often feel the length of a song, whereas this song seems to happen in a heartbeat. Coupling that with the staging, and this year's Romanian entry will definitely get the crowd on their feet, whether they like the song or not. Romania also provide much needed pain relief for that ballad headache as well, and so this one will stick out like a sore thumb.

But I haven't mentioned the best bit... the return of Paula Seling & Ovi! Fans alike will remember their terrific 3rd back in the 2010 contest when 'Playing with Fire' finished strong, nearly going on to topple Turkey into 2nd place. That year was rightfully stolen by Lena and 'Satellite', but if the Germans hadn't turned up, would Romania have walked away with the grand prize? Quite potentially. But that's neither here nor there, the best thing is that the duo are back to try again. Since performing for Romania in 2010, Paula Seling has continued to grow as a national celebrity, with X Factor judging credentials and various work with films, including Cars 2 and Brave. Ovi has also been working hard, especially with Eurovision. He teamed up with the almighty Thomas G:Son in 2012 to have a crack at composing a winner, however this turned out not to be. But what can be seen is that by pairing up with Paula once again, Romania stand a cracking shot at success with name recognition alone.

What about the statistics? Well Romania have never failed to qualify for the final - they have 100% success rate in the semi-finals. In the finals, the last few years have seen varied success, but on the whole, they do fairly well, and I think with such a strong entry, predicting Romania to finish in the top 10 is a good estimate. I think what works well is that the whole package is there; they have a good song, they have respected and much-loved artists, Romania has many friends both neighbourly and culturally, and they have got luck on their side in that if they perform first or last they have something memorable.

So, could they win? I really don't see why not. I really don't know why they wouldn't win. If we're heavily critical, then the song isn't fantastic. The song also will need some choreography; I don't doubt that Romania will have good staging, but because of the nature of the song, there will need to be dancers or at least something happening in the chorus - if there's not, then the sheer power of Paula and Ovi's voices will ensure the juries mark highly, but will the televoters? See, without "something" I can't see televoters across Europe picking this over other favourites, even if Romania can rely on a few votes from the likes of Ukraine and Moldova - diaspora does not win Eurovision! Chances of winning? High, but perhaps not high enough...

Whatever the case, I like the song! It is performing okay in online fan polls and I'm yet to see anyone disregard Romania. The odds are pretty good for Romania, they're not down as a favourite, but I think if we were to predict this year's "dark horse" then Romania stand a pretty good shot at that.

Good Luck Romania! Good Luck Paula & Ovi! We look forward to seeing you in the final on the 10th May!

Glorious AND... German!?

16 days to go now everyone!

However, someone who you won't see until the actual final is Germany. As one of the "big 5" countries, Germany have automatic qualification. This year they are represented by Cascada and the song 'Glorious'.

Cascada is one of the biggest artists in the competition this year. And naturally, Glorious has turned out to be one of the biggest songs in the competition. The song is uber catchy and really modern. The lead singer of Cacada, Natalie, has a big voice - and so really everything about this is BIG. It will be played in all the clubs around Europe, and has already started to chart. By the end of Eurovision, it will be charting very well. This is just the type of song and performance that will be remembered at the end of the contest, even if it is performed first. UK fans will vote Cascada on name recognition alone and I feel that even though continental success hasn't truly happened in the rest of Europe, people will still know who they are (or at least who Natalie is). Germany are doing well in recent years - following the disaster of 'Miss Kiss Kiss Bang', they went on to win with 'Satellite'. Lena then took to the stage again with 'Taken By A Stranger' which finished within the top 10, a fate repeated by Roman Lob and 'Standing Still' last year. Glorious has success written all over it and fans should feel confident in saying this is a high finisher - and possible contender. The song is doing extremely well in the fans online polls and the rumours of plagiarism? Well lets be honest, they are ridiculous. Good Luck Germany! Will we being going there again!? It would be amusing. After competing in the contest since the dawn of time, they've won twice - 1982 and 2010. In a period of "bloc, diaspora voting" where "everyone votes for neighbouring countries" and it is all "soo political", Germany shouldn't have even won in 2010. Eurovision is changing - the critics need to accept it and move on. Well I say critics, I mean the miserable b******* in the UK who are insistent it's a waste of time (even though they are just fed up we've stopped being so successful).

Germany - 2012

Another one of the Big 5 countries! Germany this year will be represented by Roman Lob and the song Standing Still.

Roman Lob won a German Eurosivion song selection process (similar to A Song For Europe) and so the Germans like him. The song Standing Still has already reached number 3 in the German charts, which is pretty impressive. No doubt the neighbouring countries to Germany will have already heard of this man, and the song will probably already receiving airplay on the radios in countries such as Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland and so on.....

Standing Still is ANOTHER ballad, but it's different. One, it's by a man, Two, it's not competing for the loudest note, Three, it's a little more deep than others, and Four, it's completely in English. Roman Lob follows on well from Lena, as just another young artist with real talent, who can compete on the music stage. Personally, I really enjoy this song. As mentioned in an earlier post, I have a Eurovision 2012 playlist with all the songs from this year on, but this song quickly made the leap on to a regular playlist, and I wouldn't usually think of this as a Eurovision song. But there is it's flaw...it's not really a Eurovision song. And probably, because I am English and this song is very western, that's why I like it so very much.

Germany have done well in the last 2 years with Lena, so let's not mention anything before that. I'm hoping for a top half of the table finish for Roman Lob, so Good Luck to him in Baku!

Oh and one more thing... PHWOAR.

Song rating: 8/10
Liklihood to win: 6/10

Current odds: 14-1                          (oddschecker.com)