#21. Eurovision Şarkı Yarışması Türkiye Finali 1998

[betweenthetimeandsound]

Şebnem Paker - Çal (21. Eurovision Şarkı Yarışması Türkiye Finali 1998)

"Mevsimler güzle gün Yâr gelir dört nebi Her bahar yalnızım Sevdama göz değdi"

"Seasons include spring and the mornings My love, here come the four prophets I am lonely every springtime; My love is touched by the evil eye"

This would've been Şebnem's third time at Eurovision--in a row. Every year she participated, she provided gems for the Eurovision canon (Beşinci mevsim is my third of 1996, and Dinle is my top 20 of all time), but it also makes me worry about if Cal would've exceeded Dinle's third place and given her the win.

That aside, Cal is awesome, in that it speeds things up significantly from both songs  Şebnem participated with, without letting go of the melancholic lyrics which appeared in her other two songs. This time, Sebnem turns on the pressure with her lover, in that she wants them to "play another song". I also love the traditional instrumentation, which is commonplace amongst 1990s Eurovision entries, but would accelerate in the 2000s.

Had it made it to the contest, I think it would've fought off with Neka mi ne Svane and Aava for the ethno-vote. That said, if it ended up in the same place in the running order as Unutamazsın, it would've stood out amongst the last three songs. And thus, a better place on the scoreboard. :)

But would it be higher than Dinle amongst her songs for me? I don't know.