Ukraine earthbound

When Gravity was performed in the national final it was one hot mess. The scenography was chaotic and cheap looking, Zlata’s styling was all wrong even though she still managed to look kinda stunning, she was constantly fighting for attention over a couple of over eager backing singers who was mixed way too loud and there was really no proper chorus to hang on to before the whole thing was over.

Make no mistake, the Ukrainian delegation will clean up their act and present a slick, well produced, aesthetically flawless performance in Malmö. The expensive looking preview video gives us an idea of what kind of visual direction they’ll be aiming at and we’re curious to see how this will play out without a massive wall of led screens to rely on. We suspect Swedish frugality will stretch creativity even a couple of inches longer than usual.

The preview video also leads us to think that this is something Enya could have done in her heydays, all though she would have done it a whole lot better, with a more lush, cascading production and a floating, dreamy and etheric vocal, we imagine. Not that we’re avid Enya fans, we just acknowledge the fact that if you’re set out to do the whole organic world music thing, do it properly. There’s something rushed and manic about Zlata’s otherwise strong vocal and the staccato melody lacks structure, proper verses and a well defined chorus. Halfway through we’re still waiting for the intro to kick into the actual song and suddenly it’s finished and we’re like WTF, was that all? It’s like spending forever trying to start an old lawn mower, it gets really annoying after a while, especially if it dies on you the second you start mowing.

Zlata shouldn’t worry too much, she will surely sail safely on to the big final. But she better keep her feet firmly on the ground as we can’t see how this entry can bring her anywhere near the stars on the Eurovisional heaven.

3 comments

  1. It’s such a pity when a great singer gets to perform a mediocre song. Zlata’s voice is really special and she has so much potential to shine but I can’t see that happening as she’s competing with such an average song. The Ukraine will qualify to the grand final ONLY because of the singer.

    I thought that they learned their lesson last year when it was the very same thing happening: great singer with potential and average song.

    1. Oh, yes, Zlata definitely has truck loads of star quality. She’s in the same league as Ruslana, Tina Karol, Ani Lorak, Alyosha and the rest of the amazing women who have competed for Ukraine so far.

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