Georgia returning home

Last year Georgia thought they could win ESC by stealing Azerbaijan’s successful recipe. Throw a coin (or actually a whole lot of coins) on the swedomat and get an off the rack, one size fits all schlager ballad straight from the assembly line overcrowded by overeager Swedish songwriters, who gladly sell their souls, spines and what little integrity they might have for an opportunity to represent some random dictatorship or totalitarian state in the more shady parts of Europe. Good thing Georgia forgot to buy the votes needed to actually win, and ended up somewhere on the middle of the scoreboard with their vile and charmless dirge.

Lessons should be learned from last year’s epic failure and we urge all those nations out there low on self esteem and bewildered by the huge misunderstanding that Swedes need to be involved to ensure success in ESC to take notes from Georgia’s fundamental shift of direction. It might not bring the contest to Tbilisi next year, but we salute the Georgians for presenting one of the most unique, intriguing and challenging entries in Copenhagen.

We were genuinely confused the first time we played Three Minutes To Earth. Can it be even classified as a song, was our initial reaction. It sounded more like a randomly placed string of hooks, tempo shifts, yodeling men and a wailing woman, heading straight for the dreaded nil points. But then we listened to it again, and again and again. Now we simply can’t stop and we’ve grown to absolutely loving it! Unfortunately a bad omen for Georgia’s chances to do well since you’re basically doomed with a song not instantly catching the televoters attention. But all the more reason to respect a bold choice. We’re grateful for being introduced to a small glimpse of what the rich music scene in Georgia has to offer. We’re glad the Georgians get to be represented by someone they can be proud of. And for the sake of the competition’s future, it’s entries like these that ensure continued diversity and quality.

We can’t wait to see this entry live in Copenhagen and hope it will be staged as lush and dreamy as in the preview video, complete with feathers and pantomime artists. The group The Shin has probably done a million live gigs before and will be steady as rocks, while singer Mariko Ebralidze is instantly eye catching and we trust her to sing her heart out. Thank you, Georgia, for sprinkling your stardust over us!

3 comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.