Tim: Tom, I reckon it’s high time we broke with our standard sort-of tradition and discussed Eurovision tracks. Since it’s the bookies’ favourite, and mine, let’s start with Russia, this year an internal selection.
Tim: Well well well. In a year when even Sweden has almost entirely forgone schlager, with it being noticeably absent in any later rounds of Melodifestivalen, Russia of all countries comes along and pulls this out of the bag, one of the finest examples I’ve heard in years.
Tom: And it’s still clearly influenced by last year’s winner — not just in the obvious interactions with the graphics, but in the structure and general style. Yes, it technically hits the notes of schlager, but there’s a bit of Zelmerlow in here too.
Tim: I’ll be honest: I can’t overstate how much I love this track. Aside from those weird phone noises that are peppered throughout the second verse, I would genuinely go as far as saying I don’t think there’s anything to be done to improve this song. It’s brilliant – those strings in the chorus in particular are wonderfully done, and the soaring vocals after the perfect key change are excellent.
And that video: one of the most fun I’ve seen in a while, and great use of projections.
Tom: It’s very cleverly done: they’ve even changed the mapping perspective to follow the camera moves in a couple of places.
Tim: Would I have preferred it if they’d gone for one continuous shot? Yes, but only because the minute-long shot from 0:40 put that idea there and now I can’t help thinking of it as a missed opportunity. I know there’s a hidden cut when the camera pans over to her, but if they’re doing that there, and when it’s spinning around at 2:06, I cant help thinking it’d be lovely if they could keep it up for the whole thing.
Tom: Will it look like this on stage? If so, it’ll certainly be memorable — and might well clinch victory.
Tim: Oh, yes please – if only because it’ll be the first key change winner in well over a decade.