Eurovision Season 2019: The Balkan Blackout?

Forgive the dark title, but this year represents a very serious situation. Eurovision is built on a foundation of music from different regions around the continent being represented on a major stage but could this be the year when one of those regions is completely unrepresented? 2017 saw a Baltic blackout in Kiev as Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania all fell at the first hurdle but could we see an even more serious situation this year when as many as seven south-eastern European nations fail to qualify for the Eurovision Grand Final?

What are we defining as the Balkans?

So what is or is not considered the Balkans is very subjective. The Balkans get their name from the Balkan peninsula, the area in South-Eastern Europe that is based between the Adriatic, Mediterranean, Marara & Black Seas. Culturally, you could take many different definitions of which countries consider themselves Balkan vs. which ones don't based on Ottoman and Yugoslav influences throughout the history of many of these countries. For the sake of this post, we are going with the Encylopedia Brittanica definition which considers the Balkan states to be usually comprised of Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia & Slovenia. We will now take an in-depth look at each of the participating countries this year and discuss what each act has going for it. In any case, this is the first year in my living memory when none of the Balkan nations are considered to be certain qualifiers.

The Balkan Class of 2019

Albania (Jonida Maliqi - 'Kjethu Tokes') 
 

Pro: Last year's qualification put Albania back on the Eurovision map . The decision to keep Eugent Bushpepa's song in Albanian proved a major high point of the performance. Kjethu Tokes staying in Albanian will benefit the song and give it a unique Albanian identity that has served previous their acts well in the past.

Con: The song is unmemorable and whilst everything about the song being in Albanian is a big benefit, it will also make it harder for foreign audiences to connect to the lyrics. It's place in the semi final running order between Russia and Norway will also not help it.

Croatia (Roko - 'The Dream')

Pro: Jacques Houdek played Eurovision like a fiddle in 2017 and got the right level of technical prowess, fun, anthemic chorus and ridiculous all in one. The Dream is an attempt at playing the same trick and with the memorable staging he is set to bring to step Aviv, Roko might just pull it off. 

Con: Roko has no charisma and whilst his vocals are good, to sell a Jacques Houdek song, the vocals need to be on point and more. Additionally, the Croats have already suggested they will alter the stage show to make it bigger and I fear that a similar situation to Belarus last year might be the result of this.

Montenegro (D-mol - 'Heaven')

Pro: Again, not being ironic... I LOVE this song. Ok, it's not exactly lyrical poetic brilliance and it is clearly a song for 2 people sung by 6 but there's something about the lightness and positivity that makes this a song I really enjoy listening to. The Balkan strings and key change may seem contrasting to the cheesy vocal group feel but I think on a Eurovision stage with all of them giving it all they have, this will be a very enjoyable performance.

Con: Everybody has already buried this song. The press have buried this song. The odds have buried this song. As of yesterday, the producers have literally buried this song by giving it the dreaded second slot. Even though it won the national televote and I believe in everything I said above, this will definitively not qualify and if it does, it will be the biggest Eurovision miracle I have ever seen take place.

North Macedonia (Tamara Todevska - 'Proud')

Pro: The feminist nature of this anthem will serve it very well. The strong is stripped back and that contributes to the vulnerability that is clear in the production. She will belt this out perfectly on the night and is sure to get a few votes from juries. Its late slot in the semi final running order will also help.

Con: Simply, they needed to make this more Balkan. Beyond its clear feminist message, the song is very bland and struggles to take on any sort of identity. An easy fix to this would have been for the song to be in Macedonian and to add some strings in there to cement the song's place as the contest's only classic Balkan ballad. They opted not to do that and consequently the song will be very difficult to stage. I can't see this finding its way out of an action-packed bloodbath of a second semi.

Romania (Ester Peony - 'On a Sunday')

Pro: The staging at the national final took this song from lucky to have qualified out of the Romanian national final to the nation's representative. It is special and unique in a dark and haunting way that will appeal to people watching on the night. There's nothing quite like Ester's performance in this year's competition.

Con: I am going to try very hard to write this without referring to the car crash of a national final voting process. Let's start with the part where it hardly picked up votes from the public in its national final let alone throwing it to the European public. Then let's think about all the technical qualities that Eurovision jurors are asked to look for and consider. Then let's remember that it is being performed in the top half of a second semi final right before the Danes and then the Swedes take the stage. I don't see how this all ends well for Romania this year.

Serbia (Nevena Bozovic - 'Kruna')

Pro: The song has a classic Serbian feel about it. The production is nice and her voice is nice. 

Con: Everything about this song and staging is disappointingly unmemorable. The staging is non-existant, there is no room to do anything interesting with camera angles and for all the build the song goes through, they could at least throw in a key change. Serbia normally represents the cornerstone of the classic Balkan entry but they might have the worst of the regional bunch this year. I wish I could say there was something redeeming that I could argue would make people want to pick up the phone and vote but I honestly can't think of anything.

Slovenia (Zala Kralj & Gasper Santl - 'Sebi')

Pro: This is unique, this is understated, this is small and this is sweet. It is one of those atmospheres and vibes that people will either connect into straight away or really dislike. Then again, couldn't you argue that that is how many of the acts have been this year? Iceland and Portugal spring to mind in particular. The connection is there, it just needs to come across live on the night. Having won the Slovenian final with over 70% of the vote, we know they are very capable of making that happen.

Con: The running order has not been favorable to Slovenia. They already have trouble qualifying for the Grand Final but the producers seem to be making their job even harder this year. Last year, 'Hvala Ne' scraped through because it demanded recognition. 'Sebi' doesn't demand anything and is consequently at risk of getting nothing. People are clearly going to pick up the phone and vote for this but I am not confident that there will be enough of those people or enough jury votes to send this through even in what is clearly the weaker Semi Final.

How did we get to this point?

Bulgaria's success over the last few years has definitely papered over the Balkan regional cracks at the contest. Serbia are no longer the force of old, the Romanians lost their incredible qualification streak last year and Bosnia-Herzegovina no longer even participate due the their debts with the EBU needing to be settled. Is it down to Balkan nations no longer finding the contest to be important? Yet if this was the case, how come we are seeing more and more national finals taking place across the Balkan region? Only North Macedonia's act was chosen as an internal selection this year. 

In my opinion, it comes down to broadcasters losing touch with the contest and what is required in an act in order to bring success. What Bulgaria managed to do that none of the other Balkan nations have yet caught on to has been an embracing of the modern contest by which I mean combining talented singers with a song that combines each nation's chosen identity with an understanding of musical tastes across Europe and then delivering a fantastic stage show with which to showcase said singer and song. Cyprus have done this by turning to Swedish producers. Germany have tried to do this by establishing a better working relationship with their nation's record labels. Sweden do this through staging a top quality marathon national final process that captures the excitement and imagination of the entire country (something that Spain are also trying to do in their own way). There is no definitive correct answer but if Balkan nations want to see success at Eurovision (by which I think we mean qualification for the Grand Final) then they need to decide what their answer to this will be. Yes, they only have a limited amount of resources but there are clever things that can be done even on a small budget (as shown this year by San Marino). 



What does this mean for Balkan nations moving forward?

The Balkans are an important region to Europe, to world culture and of course to the contest. There will never be a time or place when the world does not have a need for what the Balkans bring to the rest of Europe. However, I want to see them thrive and I want to see Balkan culture celebrated for all that it can be. As much as national finals have been great for some countries, I definitely wouldn't rule out countries opting for an internal selection if they could get an exceptional artist with an exceptional song. When a Balkan entry is good, it is exceptional and I hope that we will not only have Balkan nations regularly placing in the top 10 moving forward but that we can add other Balkan Eurovisions to Belgrade's 2008 spectacle. The future can be bright but only if Balkan broadcasters can shape an identity and plan for their country at the contest that fits their pool of singers and songwriters. I look forward to seeing that happen, especially given the potential upcoming addition of a Kosovan act to the Balkan Eurovision contingent in future editions.



Do you agree?

Please let me know what you think in the comments section below and don't forget to subscribe to the blog as we count down the final weeks towards this year's exciting spectacle in Tel Aviv!