#I seriously love the name mun alma

[usstatesofsong]

ESC 2019 Reviews - Iceland

Semifinal 1, #13 - Hatari, “Hatrið mun sigra”

We have arrived. Who would have guessed Iceland would bounce back? ICELAND. Am I saying that prematurely? I have a few doubts from time to time, but NO. Iceland’s year has to be this year. I did love Svala, but… well… How else can Iceland win this competition?

The country of 400,000 have been competing since 1986 and have had two shots for the victory: 1999 and 2009; each time placing 2nd. Seeing a trend here? With Israel, they hosted in 1979 and 1999… I’m becoming superstitious. What I’m saying is that it’s Iceland’s year to get out of that semifinal and have a run for the top. Whether that will be 2nd, or (god forbid) 1st? I’m getting ahead of myself; let’s dig in.

The artist and song? Yep, some guys in leather, spandex, and pointy spike masks. Listen: this blog post is so easy to write because the first lesson I was given in what Eurovision 2019 had in store was my good friend from Florida sending me a clip of Hatari’s “Hatrið mun sigra” (Eng: “Hatred will prevail”) … and while I loved the grittiness of it, I was kind of turned off at first, similarly for the same reasons Australia’s stage performance bothered me in yesterday’s blog. Do we need to go back to the antics of ten years ago to win Eurovision? Is that the trend we should expect in the future?

But if you start looking into Hatari, the act… this is their alma mater, their joie de vivre. These aren’t just Eurovision-style antics. Yes, it’s an act insofar that they obviously act differently when not in costume, but it is a definite part of their repertoire. And they’ve made a point to be as genuinely sarcastic as possible in interviews and abroad. To gain understanding about Iceland is to witness the brainchild of this act in some ways; there’s a line on their Wikipedia page that reads, and I quote: “On 21 December 2018, Hatari announced that the board of directors … passed a resolution to dissolve the band. The band explained that the decision came about because they had failed to topple capitalism.” Naturally! I mean, why aren’t all bands broken up yet? You all FAILED!

Klemens and Mattias (and later Einar) dropped their first EP in 2017, and because I’m as sadistic as the sound of their entry, I gave it a listen. The sound of “Hatrið mun sigra” is nothing new for them. Loud techno-industrial bass beats, shouty vocals from Mattias, and supplemental “things” from Klemens. You will take solace in one of the two’s vocals, but it’s purely taste. Mattias is a bit of a mismatch from voice to face, by the way.

Hearing this song makes me question the success of humanity, and the purpose of measuring songs against one another for their ‘likability’. It’s the essence of techno music being plunged into a colony of sewer rats and flushed through synthetic clouds of candy floss and cutting blades. It bears no real purpose to hate this song because then you’re letting hatred prevail. To hate this song is to agree with its goals; to love this song is to kill the hopes and dreams of the world.

This might end up being the most divisive entry of this decade if it has a chance at gold. We’re stuck on the song a lot in this review, but we all know the staging is going to SLICE APART the delicate fabric of family-friendly Eurovision in one way or another. The colony of people left speechless, saying WTF, will vote for this. I don’t think they can have a slave-dog crawling around on stage, but 1997’s entry pushed the acceptability bar, so who knows. In my opinion, when Lordi won in 2006, it created a rift that hasn’t healed in the causal viewer community about the seriousness of the contest and whether it can be trusted…. YEAH so, expect the public to lap this up like ice cream but potentially for the jury to kill this song before we even get to announcing the public vote winner. If nothing else, certain countries will love this song in the televote while others detest it and the scoring could get really weird. Lucky number thirteen.

I’m just going to shrug my shoulders, tune in on Saturday night (imagine a world where this doesn’t qualify, I dare you), and hope that somehow Europe spares itself from allowing a song named “Hatred will prevail” from prevailing. My doubts about their ability to perform this well on stage without it looking sloppy keeps this from escalating up my rank. Let this song get another silver like Verka Serduchka and we can let love live a prosperous career unto its own.

My Rating: 7/10 Ranking: 8th of 41

[hogwartsdarkbridal]

Mun! Madame and Mun! Alma your OCs are certainly much appreciated. Maybe your readers are just shy to make any comment. So what of Akari and its total "disengagement" with the hassle of Reiji? It's just lovely. I wonder Reiji in his room feeling completely confused with how she ignores his temper and sure she has that one day will be together.

Cont: Akari does not seem to want to break it. She seems happy just enjoying the way he is. (I really like this admiration Akari feel for Reiji. It reminds me of the beginning of my relationship with my husband. Lol). And Kuroe I really hope she can break Shin. I want her to make that wolf a sweet puppy. She just needs a little more confidence in herself. Well, you two do a great job. Keep it up.

Mun Alma omgggg me encanta!! Soul we gotta change your name like right now hot damn como que todo suena mejor en español heheh. 

But omg thank you so much lovely anon! And yeah I guess people are more shy or whatever but that’s ok too! I mean we’d write it anyway lol we’re in too deep. But ah omg I seriously have to thank you because you went ahead and like pointed out what you liked about each character like gah in all of my stories that’s always the best type of feedback :D

And awwww omg that’s so cute with you and your husband haha! (I hope he’s not a sadistic wizard though XD) But holy shit Kuroe breaking Shin *insert lenny face* Now THAT would be interesting wouldn’t it? Anything could happen I guess ;) Although idk what I want more, Kuroe breaking Shin, or Shin breaking Kuroe…