The technically impressive Eurovision 2011, hosted by the German city of Düsseldorf, and with its nine-metre high indoor pyrotechnic flames and slidable 60 x 18 metre LED wall has ended with the crowning of a beautiful song from Azerbaijan, leaving Italy second and Eurovision heavyweight Sweden third.
Nobody, including myself, had predicted such a surprising result. With 11 countries receiving more than 100 points and 20 out of 25 finalists getting the 12 points top score, it shows how tight the race was.
Running Scared by the Azerbaijani duo Ell/Nikki is a brilliant song. The stage performance was perfect, the voices outstanding and the tune just wonderful to listen to. The audience was swept into a romantic mood. Europe voted for a package that allows us to dream.
Maybe the biggest surprise of the evening was Italy’s Madness of Love, by Raphael Gualazzi, placing second. Italy returned to the Eurovision and it impressed us once more. Although the jazz/blues/bar style of the song is not everyone’s favourite, the feeling for music and the experience of Italian song writing was much appreciated.
The Swedish disco beat Popular by Eric Saade reminded us of previous Eurovision contributions from Sweden. A simple tune with non complicated lyrics and a lot of light effects surely impressed, especially the younger people following the event.
It was clear from the beginning that Germany’s Lena would not be able to win for a second time. The electro pop song Taken By A Stranger stuck out from the rest, but the great acceptance for it was missing. Also Lena herself is not the same genuine lovely and naïve singer anymore.
With all the Europe-wide promotion of the Irish song Lipstick by Jedward before the contest, it is difficult to explain its eighth place.
The bookmakers had placed the French opera song Sognu, by tenor Amaury Vassili, top. At the end it ranked 15 – the rank it deserved in my eyes.
One of my favourites before the evening was the Estonian song Rockefeller Street by Getter Jaani. I believe that this package deserved better than placing 24th.
As I had predicted earlier this year, Malta’s My Life by Glen Vella failed to qualify for the final. Tune, lyrics and stage performance were on a quality level below the Eurovision average, especially after having seen all the great and outstanding competitors. If the image that Glen has abroad had been pushed more, he might have gotten the extra one or two points to reach the final. Then obviously he would have drowned.
I think that Malta’s extraordinary big pool of excellent and outstanding musicians can create a winning package for the Eurovision. After all, Ira Losco’s 7th Wonder and Chiara’s Angel came pretty close.
A major problem I see in the local festival is the politics indirectly involved through the two major parties’ TV and radio programmes. Also, choosing the international jury should be done with a bit more deliberation.
I can say that the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was an outstanding event, definitely worth watching. The quality of the event and of the countries’ contributions have reached a very high standard. Malta has the potential to compete, hopefully next year!