Two exotic ladies for two countries that are willing to well. Anggun from Indonesia for France and Gaitana, a half Congolese for Ukraine. Both have high hopes but while France's high hopes in the recent years have crashed and burned come the final night despite making interesting artistic choices that usually would have deserved more, while Ukraine's efforts have sailed to the final and have been on top year after year. Will this year change this or will they both be on top, or neither, or just one of them? France is promising a great show on stage and we know we will get one from Ukraine, the master of the game of turning a mediocre song into a real show stopper with its staging and tricking people to vote for it... 2-1 for France.
France - Anggun - Echo (You and I) ***
Anggun has the fame already and a lot of international experience and success. The song tries to capture what's in the hit lists at the moment with its whistling but not quite capturing it. Anggun looks stunning on stage and can also belt out a song live and the promised great show will add to the package. Somehow the song still doesn't get going and gets a bit repetitive. Knowing Anggun's previous work this can't feel but a little disappointment and I can only hope she had a better song. I'm afraid France won't reach the top this year either but secretly I hope I'm wrong - for Anggun's sake.
Ukraine - Gaitana - Be my guest **
The song starts with a sound that sounds very familiar, like France trying to be in touch what's in the charts. Gaitana kicks in with her powerful voice and it all promises something good. But after one minute nothing new is added and this is more like a 30 seconds jingle for an orange juice or something that has been stretched into 3 minutes. Gaitana is good, the song isn't. But that has never stopped Ukraine doing well in Eurovision, just look at 2011 when the clever staging pushed them to the 4th place with a song no one remembers... This year they will probably do the trick again, unless Gaitana's color of skin makes the Eastern Europe withdraw their vote as suggested by some who know the reality over there.
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