Overall, I was satisfied with the outcome of the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Düsseldorf, Germany.
My #3 favourite song won the entire thing: Ell and Nikki with the wonderful and modern ballad Running Scared representing Azerbaijan. It’s a well deserved victory for Azerbaijan because they have ever since their 2007 debut in the competition they have shown great interest and put lots of effort into their songs and performances, especially considering they’re one of Europe’s smaller countries. So I am thrilled that ESC 2012 will be held in the capital of Baku.
My #2 favourite song, the wonderful 60′s-influenced, Serbian-sung, soul-pop euphoria of Čaroban sung by Nina for Serbia ended up in a not too shabby 14th place. But really, I would have expected it to reach the top 10. Čaroban means magical in Serbian and indeed there’s something magical about the chords and melody here. And teamed with Serbian it sounds absolutely wonderful.
And my #1 absolute favourite song came in 10th place but to be honest, it stood outside the entire competition. Now that she has won the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 and competed two years in a row for Germany, Lena really is above and beyond any other artist who has competed in it. I don’t mind if Germany would send her every year for the next coming 20 years, as long as she’s got as strangely compelling songs as Satellite and the minimalistically hypnotic Taken By A Stranger, the former with which she won the whole thing and latter which she competed with this year. Taken By A Stranger is one of the very few songs performed this year that I would have activelly sought out to listen to and thoroughly enjoy outside the competition. It’s the most forward-thinking, experimental and artistically credible song that has ever entered the ESC. Indeed, stranger things are starting to begin in the ongoing history of the ESC.
Listen to Taken By A Stranger on Spotify!
And watch the equally classy video for the song below!
