FYRomantic guy from Macedonia


The Macedonians seem to take ESC rather seriously, and we suppose it’s a nice opportunity to celebrate and display their national identity. Because of the name dispute with the Greeks, we have to call them FYR Macedonia, needless to say that FYROM has not received many points from their Greek neighbours since their debut in 1998. Still, with a little help from their friends, they have managed to qualify for the final every year, but was twice unlucky in 2008 and 2009 after having finished 10th in the televoting, when the jury gave their wildcards to Sweden and Finland.

We find ourselves being a little indifferent towards FYR Macedonia’s entry this year. It’s not good, it’s not bad, there’s just nothing there to really catch our attention. If this is what the Macedonians want to share with Europe, we simply think that we don’t share the same taste in music. To us it sounds outdated, and quite frankly like a bit of a mess. Within less than 3 minutes we get a pale Macedonian version of Bruce Springsteen or Eros Ramazotti (can’t quite make up our minds), mixed with some ridiculously bad rapping and a horrible puddle rock guitar solo. What’s that all about? We just don’t get it.

Perhaps this is the kind of music that really catches on in more southern parts of Europe, perhaps you will hear Gjoko’s voice on the radio in a bar in Split or Ljubljana during your summer holiday this year. Perhaps you will grow to like it then, in a different setting, listening to it with a different mindset.

At the end of the day we must admit that we understand why the jury has kicked the Macedonians out of the final twice, in favour of our Nordic neighbours. We do however predict that it will not happen again for the third time this year. This year’s entry will not even come close to finishing among the 10 qualifiers in semi-final 1.

2 comments

  1. Hærlighet, så glad jeg blei da jeg så at noen blogger om Grand Pri!! Skulle bare ønske at dere skreiv på Norsk for dere er vel norske når dere heter Astrid og guri. Jeg var ganske dårli i Engelsk på skolen og skjønner derfr ike så mye av det dere skriver men det er veldi greit å samle alle sangene slik som dere gjør så kan jeg spille dem å gjøre meg opp ei menig. Håper det går greit at jeg kommenterer på Norsk!Vennlig hilsen Glenn

  2. Hei Glenn! Tusen takk for hyggelig kommentar:-) Vi skriv på engelsk fordi vi vil nå ut til MGP fans over heile verda, ikkje berre i Norge, men vi er norske, så det er heilt ok at du kommenterer på norsk:-) Og vi vil gjerne høyre di meining om dei ulike sangane! MGP-helsing frå oss:-)

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