A Swede who lives in Finland and who is lost in Euroland - the wonderful world of Eurovision
There is always some matter to discuss or just a song I want to share
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Friday, May 8, 2015

Finalist: Italy

Three charming young men with a rousing ballad - mixing pop music and opera - that won the Sanremo festival by a landslide. Is that this year's winner?

It's not impossible at all. In fact, it is even pretty likely. The only thing that seems to talk against it is that opera never did well at the ESC before.

We have heard more traditional approaches to opera as well as operetta (especially in the early days of the contest but also from France 2011) as well as more pop-based attempts with operatic ornaments, like Sweden 2009.

Arguably Italy provided the best popera entry ever in the history of the ESC in the form of the magnificent "Fiumi di parole" from 1997. The 4th place of that particular song was a bit disappointing back then but it also shows that operatic notes can have a wider appeal as long as they are delivered in an attractive manner.

These boys surely deliver and come across as very likeable. My guess is several people will vote for them just because they are adorable, not even paying attention to their song. The question is if these can counterbalance for the people who break out in a rash as soon as they sense a pop aria coming on.

Personally I like it better before it breaks into the opera register - those verses are gorgeous - but can't deny this is a most effective and catchy belter.

A potential winner:
Yes. Alongside Australia and Sweden the most likely winner. Without saying too much, I still secretly hope RAI got their organisation skills together since 1991.

My grade: 4/5



Il Volo - Grande amore (Italy 2015)

1 comment:

  1. Oh, God, it's amazing to see how "Fiume di parole" is considered a masterpiece anywhere, while here in Italy is generally seen as one of the worst winners of Sanremo AND one the worst Italian songs ever heard. :D

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