TGE: The Aftermath of Eurovision 2017

Tutkain goes Eurovision is a series of articles about the legendary song contest written by social scientists. This article ends the series.

 

Text: Lilja Kettunen

Photo: Staff of Musiikkitalo

Amar Pelos Dois – Love for both (translation by Ms. Google and her friends Wikipedia and The Sun magazine) takes you to a slow, warm, summer night. That is certainly something we miss here in Helsinki these days. Warm, summer… Whoah.

Amar Pelos Dois is the winner of Eurovision song contest 2017 performed by Portugal’s Salvador Sobral. In my opinion, it sure has earned its trophy as the winner of Eurovision song contest 2017.

Tutkain’s Eurovision Song Contest 2017 panel consists of five students from the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Arts: Roy, Saara, Henni, Czarek and the author of this article. Here’s is our analysis of Eurovision 2017 top three performances.

 

Salvador Sobral: Amar Pelos Dois (Portugal)

Our ESC winner is causing divisions.

“Portugal’s unsophisticated, sensitive and casual performance on the Eurovision stage underlined the song’s beautiful composition, melody and lyrics. The harmony and the simplicity made the song feel genuine. Music is all about feelings, and Portugal’s performance was full of soul and emotions” says Henni, a student majoring in Communications and Media Studies who has been following Eurovision as long as she can remember. Her music taste varies depending on a day and a mood, and she says music is way to communicate something that cannot be put into words.

Saara, on the other hand, is more critical: “I’m going to be be honest. I just don’t get it. The song is boring and the performance didn’t raise any feelings. I think this was just another song from your ordinary Sunday Chill playlist you listen to as background music if you haven’t had the time to make your own.” Saara is majoring in Media and Communications Studies and she describes herself as being “not too picky when it comes to music.” She consumes all kinds of hit play lists she can find on Spotify.

Yes, I got to admit, the song is slow. But it’s still lovely. It’s also so romantic.

 

Kristian Kostov: Beautiful Mess (Bulgaria)

How about the 17-year-old boy with a deep voice, Bulgaria’s Kristian Kostov with the song Beautiful Mess? At least, it has got a clear theme with an impressive, yet simple staging.

Roy, our Social Policy student who feels that music is the ultimate art and nothing in his life would work without it, has been mesmerized by the talented singer. “Actually his singing was captivating enough to distract me so completely that I have no recollection of his outfit or anything that was going on behind him on the stage.” Also Henni is impressed: ”The Russian-born Kristian Kostov delivered a well-staged and strong performance in the Grand Final.” Czarek thinks it even has a potential to become a hit: “In my opinion, Bulgaria’s song is the best prepared song this year with the biggest chances to become a radio hit in the European countries”. Czarek is a student of Finno-ugric Languages and Cultures and has been watching Eurovision song contest since his country (Poland) was represented by Ich Troje, the most famous band at that time. He was just 6 years old and his parents let him stay awake till midnight for the first time. After that, watching Eurovision became Czarek’s annual tradition. However, not everyone was happy with Beautiful Mess. Saara says that “the melody of the song is quite catchy. But on the whole, both the performance and the song are pretty dull. I wouldn’t get back to this song.”

 

Sunstroke Project: Hey Mamma (Moldova)

“The guys from Sunstroke Project are stage animals!”

That’s how our panelist Czarek feels, at least, about Moldova’s performance that came in the third place. Moldova’s “Hey Mamma”, the song that came in the third place, is the kind of a song that you think is going to (unfortunately) be stuck in your head after the first time you hear it, but then suddenly, you don’t even recollect the melody afterwards. What I’ve learned from music during my six years of intensive studies on classic and pop jazz music, a good song is somehow catchy. Even though it might be annoying.

“Hey Mamma got me on a good mood, completed with special dance moves as well as black and white graphics on the screen behind created an unforgettable energy on the stage,” Henni feels. She’s not alone with her enthusiasm. Saara is already preparing to learn how to dance the coreography of Hey Mamma: “I guess I will hear this song on the dance floor in summer nights and I’m very happy that the signature move looks quite simple to learn!”

Both Saara and Roy became fans of the saxophones – whereas I just thought it as a weird, loud sound in the middle of a weird, loud noise.

Have a good week, let’s hope we get the warm summery vibes soon here, as well. Until then, let Amar Pelos Dois take us to those summer nights.

 

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