Tom: They’re from Ukraine, pronounced “em em dance”, and their mission is to “bring people together through the songs of light, joy and smiles”.
Tim: Perfectly decent mission, especially for a pop group.
Tom: Yep, they’re a party band, they’ve got an accordion, and the song’s called Friends.
Tom: No, it’s not a Scooter cover, but it’s certainly got that same “take some else’s song and change it up a bit” feel to it. Does it remind you of anything else?
Tim: Erm…nope. Not at all, actually.
Tom: Wait, really? Weren’t you listening to the radio in the mid-90s?
Tim: Not the same radio you listened to, apparently. Go on, tell me.
Tom: It’s reggae-classic Shine by Aswad, filtered through the Ukraine with the help of an accordion. Did they credit it? No idea. Is it any good? Well, yes. It’s just, you know, from twenty years ago.
Tim: Hmm. To be honest, much as I hate to say this, they’ve kind of failed in their light/joy/smiles mission, because this song does precisely nothing for me. It’s very much a standard middle-of-the-semis at Eurovision, failing to progress through. Dial it up more and you might get back to Ukraine’s 2007 glory, but as it is, nope.