#Lindita Halimi

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2010s: 305 - 301

305.  Tijana Bogićević - “In too deep” Serbia 2017

[2017 Review here]

That awkward moment when you realize you’re going to NQ and force your Hot Male Dancer to go shirtless at the last second...x

I’ll be honest, everything about “In too deep” kind of sucks. The song probably the weakest of the Milanov/Symphonix compositions, serving nothing but a bunch of pleasantly sounding background noise, performed by a woman who is probably too old for the part. WHERE’S THE FUN, THE DRAMA, THE EXCITEMENT? ROXY IS LOOKING FOR IT AND CANNOT FIND IT.

At the same time however, while this entry is *thoroughly* mediocre and a very deserving NQ, I am also... no longer offended by it? I actually don’t mind Serbia going for something pseudo-modern like this again and I wouldn’t be unhappy if they produced similar entry in the near future, provided they can get a better than a Milanov hand-me-down. 🤗

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304. Anna Bergendahl - “This is my life” Sweden 2010

Here were are: the one Swedish Semifinal flop. I kind of dislike the song? It’s an insipid, twee, repetitive “cute” ballad from the same vein as “Unbroken” and “Undo”, relying too hard on its mediocrity to get carried. I’m still annoyed she beat “Manboy” and “Kom”. (not to mention causing Eric Saade to win Melfest with his only *bad* song. UGH!)

Fortunately for Anna, she returned to Melfest with not only one of my favourite songs of the 2019 NF season, but with an excellent bookend to her decade-long zero-to-hero arc. Watching this ugly duckling blossom into a majestic goblin fairy thawed me to a song I normally would’ve disliked hardcore, so gj Anna! 

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303. Lindita - “World” Albania 2017 

[2017 Review here]

I actually really like “World” as a song! I think it’s an interesting ballad with a strong build-up. Unfortunately, the live just wasn’t there for me, with a ridiculously generous dollop of crazy eyes:

and just general forgettableness? People blame the revamp, but nope, it was all staging and soundmixing, sorry. “Ktheju tokës” had better staging than this! "WORLD” COULD HAVE BEEN GOOD AND WOULD’VE QUALIFIED, and wasn’t, so it didn’t. What a sad waste of perfectly good Halimi. 😭

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302. Edurne - “Amanecer” Spain 2015

Edurne mostly exists as one of the biggest practical jokes in Eurovision, where *everyone* knew she would score fewer than twenty points total upon song release, except for the Edurne fans (Spaniards) who of course IMMEDIATELY convinced themselves she would win because Screaming Solo Blonde Woman and betted A LOT of money on Edurne, boating her odds and tanking Spain’s economy. 😂 Oh Spain. 😂 

As far as the song/staging go, I mean, both the orchestration and arc try way too hard to be EPIC, but in reality:

Scintillating.

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301. Sjonni’s friends - “Coming home” Iceland 2011

God now many Sjonni tribute songs do we NEED?? At least this one isn’t too bad, I guess. 🙄😒 I’m mostly just pissed they denied (what would have been) Yohanna’s EPIC return to the contest. (You may not know this about me, but “Is it true?” is in my all-time top FIVE esc songs, because even I cannot resist the call of the Gorgeous Solo Blonde With A Sentimental Ballad. Sometimes). “Coming home” itself is perfectly average and unremarkable. K that all I’ve got to say, ending this write-up now.

[schneefusslanti]

Your annual reminder from Lindita that Eurovision performances are geoblocked in the USA

[eurovisionopinions]

[crysiris]

So I asked Alexa (the echo dot) what her favorite Eurovision song is, and she said “World”, with no reasoning or any other comment. I have so many questions now?! Like, why is “World” her favorite Song? Why was she programmed to say that? And I understanding her wrong?! Does this happen to everyone with Alexa?

[modricthediscoman]

This years Eurovision season just started and they already have a great relationship wow yes

[trinklied]

Lindita & Isaiah at the Wiwi Jam (x)

[arabela25]

Eurovision Song Contest 2017 countdown: 21 days left!

World - Lindita, Albania        [x]

[lianaofrome]

I'd lie if I said I'm not almost expecting Peter Capaldi's name popping up in the background.

[escunited]

Moldova and Ukraine host Eurovision parties: Reports

[shut-up-mum-im-on-msn]

The only countries that I’m kind of sad about not qualifying are Albania and Iceland.

and Montenegro, but we all knew that Slavko wasn’t gonna qualify anyways.

[anotherescsite]

The Another ESC Site Award for Long notes for nothing

ALBANIA: WORLD - LINDITA

Rating: # 37th Pre-contest rating: 34th Post-contest rating: 35th

From a distance the set looks good. The lighting is moody; the background has part of the preview film and it fits the song somewhat. I don’t get the dress in reference to the song through. The song is so sober and it looks sort of bridal. Then there is the sequin thing at the front that looks like an apron. Otherwise she is styled nice.

The song seemed better in Albanian. The words seem to fit the music better, where the English seems to employ every clique that it available. I don’t like the vocal aerobics generally, but this song needs them because otherwise there will be a whole lot of nothing. That said I’d listen to other songs by Lindita, I just don’t enjoy this one too much.

[schneefusslanti]

Another reminder from Lindita that Americans can't watch Eurovision without using a VPN or non-US broadcaster

[eurovisionopinions]

[americanateurovision]

Eurovision 2017: The Balkans

These nations make up the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Most of them were formerly part of Yugoslavia, and though ethnically-diverse, they are often characterized at Eurovision by the moody, Balkan ballad. These countries are a tight-knit group at the Contest, usually trading votes amongst them.

FYR Macedonia: “Dance Alone,” Jana Burčeska

Macedonia is not known for doing so well at Eurovision. They rarely make the final, not for lack of trying, having qualified only once in the last decade. “Dance Alone” is a great little retro pop song though, and hopefully Jana can bring it with her performance.

Serbia: “In Too Deep,” Tijana Bogićević

Serbia hired Swedish songwriter, Joacim Persson, to write “In Too Deep.” It has a distinct Scandi-sounding chorus to it, but it’s missing just a little something. 

Slovenia: “On My Way,” Omar Naber

Omar first competed in Eurovision in 2005 (coincidentally, the last time Kiev hosted), and he failed to qualify for the final. He’s a pretty big star in the Balkans, so he might get the votes this time. Watch “On My Way” here.

Croatia: “My Friend,” Jacques Houdek

Hmmmmm. An operatic duet between two people, with one guy singing both parts. Only this garbage could exist at Eurovision. "My Friend” might be the train wreck of the year, and I cannot wait to see it. 

Albania: “World,” Lindita

Lindita Halimi was originally born in Kosovo, but has been living in the United States for the past few years. She even appeared on the last season of American Idol. “World,” as a song, is a little lackluster, but Lindita seems like a capable performer. Watch her here.

Greece: “This Is Love,” Demy

After stumbling for a couple years and failing to make the final last year (for the first time ever), Greece has returned to the recipe that has worked so well in the past: a fun, clubby song, a cute girl, lots of dancing. I am glad they’re back to this formula. 

Montenegro: “Space,” Slavko Kalezić

OKAY. This is pretty much everything I need from Eurovision. Slavko got his start on Serbia’s version of The X Factor, where he was mentored by former Eurovision superstar, Željko Joksimović. “Space” is loaded with sexual innuendos, which will be a hard sell to the families at home watching Eurovision. But Slavko is clearly a STAR, and I genuinely hope to see him in the final.

[usstatesofsong]

2017 Eurovision Reviews: Albania

Semifinal 1, #4 - ALBANIA - Lindita - World

Not qualifying last year was a tragedy for the tiny Mediterranean country. Or, at least I’d like to think it was... a mini-tragedy, if you will. We will never know whether or not the Albanian delegation learned their lesson from last year and reanalyzed their processes, but the people who worked to compose “World” supposedly wrote the song in English first, and then had it translated over to the Albanian language for Festivali i Kenges. That’s not what I believe, but we’ll get to that later. If it’s true, it was a good decision, because I enjoy “World” much more than “Fairytale,” even though they both have similar melodic and thematic elements. 

For some Eurovision fans, they may be unaware that Lindita Halimi (i.e. Lindita) is a native Albanian/Kosovan who moved to America in 2013, and was a contestant on the final season of American Idol (post-edit: There’s an Albanian news video on YouTube of her qualifying that has 143,000 views, so, umm... never mind!) It was in watching her audition video that I learned some of the adversity that Lindita has had to overcome - dealing with weight issues and her diverse upbringing. You won’t find a huge Slavic population in America, so it was awesome to learn about this side of her - even if the majority of viewers won’t know this when watching the contest.

The song is nothing that Eurovision hasn’t seen before, which is not a good first impression. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what the song is about - the challenges and complications of the world, and why we continue to fight (”what’s the fight all for?”). Unfortunately, the lyrics are grammatically incorrect English, which may deduct some jury points. In fact, viewers may categorize this as another “Bond theme” song, which we already got from Georgia's entry. So there are a couple problems upfront that Albania will have to overcome.

But unlike Tamara, and above all else - Lindita SELLS this.

From about the 2:12 mark to the end of the song, we get nothing but pure vocals from Lindita. From what I’ve been reading, the note starting at 2:12 lasts unstopped until 2:31, which if performed in the same way at the Final would become the longest sustained note ever at the Eurovision Song Contest. Holy crap!! Even better is that watching live performances, she can totally do it. She’s got the whole “diva” vibe going on! Doing this successfully on the night will win her a ton of votes.

So! This is currently one of my favorite ballads, and due to Albania’s usually successful record, I think this will sneak through to the Final (similar to Serbia 2016.) However, this will have to compete with the United Kingdom and several other ballads for supremacy, thus why I don’t think it could do much more after that. It’s not something I will download, and I probably won’t focus much time on it after this blog, but I admire the entry for what it is - and it’s an improvement from last year.

My Rating: 6 / 10 Ranking: 22nd of 42

-50SS