After getting confirmation that Azerbaijan made its selection for Eurovision 2009 - a newcomer and hardly known in her country Aysel Teymourzadeh, here are my first reflections.
(I mentioned this in comments section of my second blog Unzipped but decided to make a separate entry here too, as this blog is the main one to cover Eurovision related news.)
Now that I've seen few of her clips - it's average to below average. How on earth did they come up with such entry? They should work very hard on her vocal and performance skills to come up with something digestable. On the other hand, good news for Armenia - one potential contender is out, I suppose. Assuming, of course, that Armenia selection for Eurovision 2009 won't be similarly dismal. Here is hoping.
Psychotic Little Worlds
1 month ago
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18 comments:
Hi!
I found this blog accidentally, when googling :)
So surprised to see such a well organized community!
I was so impressed with what i saw, i even wrote about it in my blog (hope you dont mind ;))
check it out :)
What are the links for the clips?
For example this one:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1Rj3FlLTYM
And number of other clips now available on youtube.
It starts from around 2 mins. One of the first clips of her.
Yeah, I see what you mean. It's made especially worse by her over-confidence at the press conference announcing her entry.
Many thanks, Zhirair, for your nice reflection of my blog!
There are better clips and this song is pretty catchy if you like that sort of thing, but definitely nothing special:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejCubhxcfy8
However, forgetting the budget production, I'm not keen on her voice or her pronunciation. However, I'm in agreement so far that she wasn't a good choice.
Loads of singers like this in Armenia and probably Azerbaijan and doesn't sound the best of what there is.
Let's see, but both she and the Azerbaijani Eurovision team have a lot of work to do first.
Don't know who Mher is, but I'd favor Inga and Anush over Arame for sure.
ARMENIAN CONTESTANT AT 2009 EUROVISION SONG CONTEST IS STILL UNKNOWN
About twenty Armenian singers have applied for participation at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. Inga and Anush Arshakyans, Arame, Mher are among the candidates, said the head of the Armenian delegation to the Eurovision song contest Narek Adonts.
Applications should be submitted by February 7. On February 14 the Armenian Public Television (H1) will air the draw for the Armenian participant. The song must be of three minutes’ duration and must have no political colouring.
[...]
A1 Plus
Not sure about Mher, but Inga and Anush are not bad. However, if they are to be selected, their song for Eurovision should not be pure folk, it has to be something mixed, in my opinion.
Well, unknown or not, someone has spent money on her -- photo shoots and dance classes in the U.K. Will we be surprised, I wonder? I can't imagine she'd be entered if she couldn't deliver now, but let's see.
Of course, it should be pointed out that we've still yet to hear her really sing and even here, there's no voice. Anyway, she's either the daughter of someone very important in Azerbaijan, or she has promise. Waiting to see (or rather, hear).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlqLTxvQkrQ
Mika, yeah, agree, but I think Anush and Inga can pull that off with a nice folk bit in there somewhere. The right song and it could be perfect Eurovision, in fact.
As for Mher, just found this on Observer's blog so we might be discounting him for the wrong reasons i.e. simply because we don't know him:
Armenia was represented by Mher - 26, started singing since he was 4, studied in Russia. Excellent musician I daresay - clearly much better than anyone we have on the Armenian music scene today.
[...]
Our Mher was by far the best singer on the stage, but he only got the 5th place. So there I was - a totally frustrated Observer, swearing like a taxi driver, although I generally really enjoyed the show.
http://ditord.com/2008/07/28/armenias-mher-takes-the-5th-place-in-new-wave-2008-international-music-contest/
I know Mher, I just can't decide for now whether I'd like to see him for Eurovision or not. The key will be song and his performance.
I have to be honest, I did not follow New Wave contest, only watched Mher's performance there, so can't compare him with others. However, I can't say that I was particularly impressed, as Observer, but there could be some promise there, I agree.
Inga and Anush with some mixed folk bit could potentially do quite a good job, although I am hearing rumours that it would be between Mher and Arame, but these are just rumours. Also, unconfirmed reports that DerNova has already written song for Armenia's entry for Eurovision. No more details yet.
Yeah, well, just found video of Mher's performance on New Wave and I'm not as impressed either. His accent isn't clean enough or his voice not strong enough to deliver a cover song like this.
http://www.nme.com/awards/video/id/sBMxOsgDyi4/search/armenia
However, haven't heard anything else so will reserve final judgment as I'm doing with Aysel. Until then, I'd like to register a complaint about Unzipped.
Until last year I never gave a damn about Eurovision, but now you've got me hooked. And yes, I do blame it on your coverage... ;-)
Another Mher video from New Wave. Better than the Queen cover. Dunno, yeah, got promise with the right song if it can match his voice, but I really like the personality, charisma and voices of Inga and Anush. Think that would wow viewers of Eurovision as well as here.
http://azerilink.com/other-destinations/17-mher-armenia/
:) complaint accepted, Onnik! I'll make it up to you when in Yerevan, promise.
Interview with Aysel, but still no sign of any recent music videos.
http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/13001
All a little weird, but anyway...
Azerbaijan: Aysel goes to Eurovision with song by Arash - "Always"
Esctoday reports
The song, Aysel, Azerbaijan's hope in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest will perform on stage in Moscow has been chosen. It is called Always and it is a romantic song composed by Arash, the world known composer and songwriter.
Thirty songs were submitted to iTV when they launched an open call for songs to select the one which Aysel will perform in the Eurovision Song Contest in May. Today, it was announced that the winner of the composers' competition, voted unanimously by the seven member jury, was the song Always written by Arash known for his hits Pure Love, Donya and Boro Boro.
"I was completely confident in my song!" Arash said today in a telephone interview, "I found out about Azerbaijan's competition for the best song to represent them at Eurovision by chance, surfing the Internet. In one night, I finished the song I had worked on for quite some time - with just one thing missing from it: the understanding who this song could be for. When I saw AySel's pictures, I realised - this song is for her! So Always was written specially for AySel. Why did I take part in the contest? I'm originally Azerbaijani, and I would like to have a part in this country's confident ascent in the history of Eurovision. Frankly, I regret that I found out too late about Azerbaijan's national selection of its Eurovision participant and missed the casting. Besides being a songwriter and a composer, I am also a performer, and I would be thrilled to be on the Eurovision stage in 2009, instead of being on the backstage."
Murad Adigozelzade, one of the jury members, stated: ""Always is what we were looking for! This is a 100-percent Eurovision hit song, which fits AySel perfectly. It is a romantic song, and we are sure it will become a European hit of this spring. We are very satisfied with the selection, and now the matter depends on staging a bright and spectacular show!"
Aysel states that she was surprised to hear Arash had submitted a song in the Azeri preselection: "Of course, I have already heard the song, but I won't comment on it for the time being. The thing is that it's really important for me to understand how the song will sound in the final. So I am really looking forward to its recording and arrangement."
***
In the meantime, Inga and Anush Arshakyans revealed their Eurovision 2009 song for Armenia - "Gutan"
Below is link to Azeri song which has just been released:
http://www.youtube.com/v/wiaHC3dJwdk
Very average to below average, there is no 'salt' in this song. As a singer, Aysel is very weak. Also, there is something artificial with her performance that turns me off, and duet with Arash did not make the song any better. Still, thumbs down. Let's see if they'll come up with a good show to somehow save this entry.
*Thanks to Onnik for the link!
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