#artsvik

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2024: #35

35. ALBANIA Besa - "Titan" 34th place

Decade ranking: 138/153 [Above Vasil, below Mia & Dion]

Besa, darling, this is some GARBAGE.

There you go. My instinctive pavlovian response every time I think about "TiTAN" (*sigh*) since its revamp. End of write-up, the rest is just filling in the dead space. Each time Albania announces a revamp that goes English, the NQ energy comes out.

Sometimes, it's a bit unfair to immediately dismiss a English FiK revamp. Not all of them were without merit, and most still offerend something of value because they were based off good songs.

"Zemrën n'dorë" for ex; was perfectly fine even if the fandom held it in contempt for being "generically Albanian". It was still fun? Besides, "generically Albanian" is like what - Karma or Duje? There are worse places to be, surely. Both still made the final, and were enjoyable in their own right.

If anything, I got a small chuckle out of both of Besa's FiK performances because they underlined Besa's penchant for extra outfits - In the first performance Besa strutted around in badly designed fantasy armour <3

"Every tear's gonna ricochet indeed."

which she then followed up with this Statue of Liberty waifu cosplay

Working her two best assets <3

Sadly, I don't think "Titan" can be ranked amongst the okay revamps of 2011, 2014, 2017 and 2022. It was a fall from the shajte. She took an average song with interesting elements and got rid of the interesting elements, which she then replaced with one of the WORST drop breaks I've ever heard in any song, ESC or not.

The second any of us heard "Titan" in full we knew it was dedge with near certainty, and that was precisely what happened. There were no miraculous turnarounds as with Bambie or surprise outsells as with Aiko and Megara. "Titan" remained uninspired and dull. Even when she was performing it in the semi all I could think about was how hopeless it was. None of the outfits Besa wore in Malmö were particularly inspired and the act was hopelessly stuck in 2017. It's been seven years since Artsvik. Time to move on from the "Hand Choreo into Wideshots" acts, mayhaps.

So, Besa was unremarkable fodder, what's the worry? Why this low a placement? Shouldn't she be ranked amongst the Vladanas and the Ukus?

Well, semi 2 happened to be quite good and even though "Titan" was without question the biggest dud within its line-up, but thanks to its drop and awful act it still managed to stand out as SHIT to me. Which might be worse than not standing out at all. It's one of the two for each one of us, so decide for yourself which one is worse. The fact that "Titan" can easily be forgotten about is its only saving grace, which is the true halllmark of its badness. Once you do pay it even a smidge of scrutiny (which requires considerably more concentration than I'm willing to throw at it), out come the exclamations of "THIS IS NOT IT, BESA."

So in the end, the results spoke for themselves. Besa should have been last place in Semi 2 and that would have been the verdict if she hadn't been the biggest name Albania had sent in years. Even with HER RECOGNITION AMONGST ALBANIANS, she still came second last, with 14 points, the same amount as Victor Vernikos last year, with only a smatting of points from the expat countries, a single point ahead of last place. it was as close a result to nilpoints that Albania could have realistically mustered under the current system, and I can't say it wasn't deserved.

BESA KOKËDHIMA, IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO RETIRE!!!

CAN YOU IMAGINE IF THE OLD FiK SYSTEM HAD STILL BEEN IN PLACE AND THE FIK WINNER HAD GONE INSTEAD?!

This Donkey Kong/Gaston hybrid <3 All he had was arms, a song and a dream. 😭 and I do mean that literally because the one thing Mal didn't have was performance talent. Throwing partitures around ♥ flexing ALL the time ♥ the adlibs, the shrieking, the "fucking hell" ♥ All while sounding like someone throttling a turkey ♥ How did this win a JURY VOTE ♥ Mal would have NQ'd too but it would have been FUNNY and ICONIQUE and MEMORABLE, all traits "Titan" did not have. 😭

HOORAY, we've already made it out of the ~Dislikes~. Yep, only *three* reds/oranges this year. Told you this year's entries were good. Time to rank some bores, mediocrities and mixed bags for the next few days, I guess.

THE RANKING

[piquedpequod]

Fanmix for Swift, fourth in a set for the Authority. There's a little bit of Jenny/Swift and one track is for the Carrier (Time + Space).

Listen: (Youtube | Spotify) Lyrics:

Fly With Me - Artsvik Over deeps, over hills She casts her wings and now it feels Love is one Flying high she became A sun whose love and light’s the same For everyone

Another Way - Lastlings Slip through the dark Shot me from the start Runnin', runnin', runnin'

I need just another way I need just another way

Better Man - Ellie Goulding Out of my head but you made me this way, I swear Rose-tinted glasses, but trust me I'm seeing red Took the confidence I had You can watch me take it back I'm in the future and the past That's the perfect hourglass Tried to make me lose my cool Hold my karma in my hands Every time I get a chance Maybe I'm a better man

Run For Your Life - Tiffany Young Now walk (Run for your life) Walk (Run for your life) It rains out of control These chains don't have a hold on me Don't say I'm a sinner I'm ice cold, baby On an ocean of glitter

Many Colors - Uh Huh Her My destination, I'll give it all I got This realization is long overdue I'm fascinated with the way you move Your many colors could light up the room

You bring the light of love Cause fate leads the way When my eyes are closed I think of you Cause fate leads the way

Camo - BoA In the darkness With all the lights off I’ve hidden my shadow I can’t be tied down To some place tonight My face has changed My heart is moving But my camouflage will hide it

Time + Space - Thievery Corporation ft. Lou Lou Ghelickhani Give me the sound if you want to travel Give me the sound if you want to share I need the rhythm to be able to send us The strength inside you The force in me

Through the light, I can carry your pain Through the light, I can take all your worries Come on, I can carry time and space

Evergreen - Faithless Running with my rain face on Today I woke up feeling sad I know that you said That one day I would be glad

Oh, the choirs of winter, birds are calling To me and All the leaves I came to love Are falling

Ribbons on evergreen Owls that pull them apart I can hear you singing, my funny valentine Oh, you know that breaks my heart

Until My Wings Turn to Ashes - Jambinai

started april 2023, fin. may 2023.

[megan-loves-surveys]

#50.

Which media player(s) do you use? I use both iTunes and Spotify.

Is all your music organized? On iTunes, it's alphabetically by artist. For my main Spotify playlist (with over 4000 songs) it's in order of when I added them to it.

For this survey I'll use my iTunes library.

In order by ARTIST (a to z): Which is first? A*Teens

In order by ARTIST (a to z): Which is last? 9nine

How many songs do you have on your computer? 44,324

How much room does your music take up on your computer? 290.4GB. But I keep my entire library on an external HDD.

How long (hours, minutes, etc.) is your music, altogether? 112.8 days lol.

In oder by TITLE (a to z): Which is first?: Morning Musume - ～おはよう～

In order by TITLE (a to z): Which is last? (G)I-DLE - $$$

What are you listening to right now? O-Town - We Fit Together

Which band's music do you have the most of? Ayumi Hamasaki, exactly 1300 songs!

Put your music on RANDOM. What's comes up for the next ten songs? á

MINMI - Intro

Ayumi Hamasaki - Trust(A BEST -15th Anniversary Edition-)

Barbara Pravi - Voilá

Emi Hinouchi - 片想い

Kana Nishino - Best Friends Forever

Adam Lambert - Music Again (Glam Nation Live)

Shota Kageyama - Road to Cerulean City: Leaving Mt. Moon

Thelma Aoyama - HIGHER

Story of the Year - Just Close Your Eyes

Emilie Autumn - Adagio

In order by LENGTH/TIME (shortest to longest): Which comes first?: A whole bunch of Pokémon clips that are 1 second long, the first one is the level up sound from Legends Arceus lol.

In order by LENGTH/TIME (longest to shortest): Aira Mitsuki - Tofubeats Mash UP includes 11 Aira songs, it's 21 minutes 15 seconds

List off your top 25 most played songs?

Five - It's The Things You Do

O-Town - We Fit Together

Blue - Back Someday

B*Witched - Leaves

Crowded House - Don't Dream It's Over

Little Mix - Motivate

Charli XCX - Set Me Free

Spice Girls - Last Time Lover

Enya - Only Time

Kerli - Speed Limit

Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street

TLC - No Scrubs

Another Level - Freak Me

Norma John - Blackbird

Dream - In My Dreams

Talk Talk - Life's What You Make It

Little Mix - More Than Words

Holly Valance - Down Boy

Artsvik - Fly With Me

K/DA - POP/STARS

Blue - Get Down

Five - Cold Sweat

Elina Nechayeva - La Forza

Girl Thing - If That's What It Takes

Little Mix - Wasabi

Ranging from 714 plays at #1 to 156 plays at #25.

Do people think you have good taste in music? I don't care if they do or not.

Song of the moment? emlyn - that's how you make a villain

What band are you listening to, currently? K/DA - POP/STARS

Put the bands in alphabetical order - list the first 10 bands from the top:

A*Teens

A. G. Cook

A.DE

A.KOR

A.Sibel Tuzun

A.T.T.

a1

AAA

Aaliyah

Aaron Carter

And from the bottom:

9nine

98 Degrees

911

8utterfly

78violet

5NY

5dolls

50 Grind

50 Cent

4TEN

Do the same with albums, please - from the top:

Perfume - ⊿

Mizca - ♡UFUFU♡

Maki Goto - ②ペイント イット ゴールド

℃-ute - ④ 憧れ My STAR

hitomi - ∞

Ayumi Hamasaki - A

Ayumi Hamasaki - A BEST -15th Anniversary Edition-

a1 - The A List

The Saturdays - A Very Sats Christmas

Katy Perry - (A) Katy Perry

From the bottom:

Ayumi Hamasaki - &

Aira Mitsuki - ???

9MUSES - 9MUSES S/S EDITION

Santigold - 99 Cents

Jazmin Sisters - 90's Baby

Kat DeLuna - 9 Lives

Kaela Kimura - 8EIGHT8

FEMM - 80s/90s J-POP REVIVAL

Destiny's Child - 8 Days Of Christmas

Fifth Harmony - 7/27

So, what are you listening to right now? Five - Cold Sweat

How many genres do you have? Loads and loads.

Which one dominates your music collection? Pop. According to one of the last.fm Discord bots, I have almost 1200 artists tagged pop in my library lol.

Do you even rate your songs? No.

Is your itunes (or whatever) nice and pretty, with everything filled in and album art displayed? Everything's filled, but I don't bother with album art.

Do you make playlists often? I have hundreds.

If so, tell me the playlists you have right now and what's in them: LOL I'm not listening them all, we'd be here all day.

What's your top listened to song? Five - It's The Things You Do

Do you have songs you haven't even listened to? Thousands, lol.

What's the 5 shortest songs? They're all Pokemon jingles.

The 5 longest? That Aira Mitsuki one from above, a Charli XCX mixtape, some classical song, a Ayumi Hamasaki megamix and another Ayu one but it's a dance/dubstep remix.

What's the last song, or songs, you added to your library? It was a J-pop album.

What are you listening to now? Elina Nechayeva - La Forza

How many songs do you have by this artist? 1.

How did you acquire all this music anyways? My personal CD collection, and the rest is downloaded.

What artist do you have the most songs/albums from? Ayumi Hamasaki, 1300.

Search for these and see how many songs come up - Peace: 69 Love: 3886 Earth: 71 Death: 33 God: 150 Sun: 715 Moon: 456 Bird: 88 Little: 588 (including all of Little Mix's discography lol) Big: 200

Put it on shuffle, and write the first 5 songs that come up:

Tomomi Itano - SWAGGALICIOUS

Cheryl Cole - Fight On

ELRIS - Wonderland Girl

BONNIE PINK - Over The Brown Bridge

Mai Kuraki - Stepping ∞ Out

What is your favourite song out of those? I don't really like any of them, so I guess Cheryl's.

Favourite artist ? Cheryl or BONNIE.

Do you ever go through your collection and do some 'spring cleaning'? I sometimes go through and fix tags and that.

Do you like acoustic songs? Sure.

Lastly, tell me how many songs you have by each artist listed - Panic! At the Disco: 0 Duran Duran: 0 Dir en Grey: 0 Marilyn Manson: 1 Utada Hikaru: 146 Ashlee Simpson: 48 Fall Out Boy: 0 Bright Eyes: 0 Brand New: 0 The Beatles: 372 Metallica: 0 Mozart: 0 The Rolling Stones: 0 David Bowie: 0 John Mayer: 0 Michael Jackson: 49 Avril Lavigne: 0 but I listen to her on Spotify Afi: 0 Blink 182: 0 Nsync: 69 Rancid: 0 No Doubt: 2 Eminem: 19 Incubus: 0 Something Corporate: 0 Jack's Mannequin: 0 Beethoven: 0 Kelly Clarkson: 21 Clay Aiken: 0 A Perfect Circle: 0 The Postal Service: 0 Death Cab for Cutie: 0 Switchfoot: 0 The Killers: 0 The White Stripes: 0 30 Seconds to Mars: 0 Evanescence: 0 Orgy: 0 Sum 41: 0 HIM: 0 Billy Joel: 0 Staind: 0 Korn: 0 The Red Hot Chili Peppers: 0 Slipknot: 0 My Chemical Romance: 1 Green Day: 0 Our Lady Peace: 0 The Cure: 0 Modest Mouse: 0 The Smashing Pumpkins: 0

[anotherescsite]

Favourite thing: Armenia

Fly with me - Artsvik   

When it come to Armenia, I’d rather not. They are not my favourite county, some of their choices for Eurovision have been strange and in most cases they are not in native language so their entries are a mash of words. Don’t get me wrong, the entries are well choreographed and thought out. I just am not a fan.

Fly with me was an interesting song because it told a story. Artsvik is an engaging person and I felt drawn into her story, and she appears to be a likeable. The performance of the evening was very considered and wasn’t a clone of the film before hand but a new approach in sorts. The choreography worked too and combined to be a good performance. Sadly, it is the lowest placing in a final for the country.

[babolat85]

MY FAVOURITE EUROVISION ENTRIES: DAY 3 - Armenia

Armenia produces some good songs with a strong ethnic tone to them which works with the modern music scene.  Today it’s Artsvik with Fly With Me from the 2017 contest. I like the mix of musical genres, and the video is pretty cool with the costuming.  I was tempted to add Snap by Rosa Lin, but given it’s charted in most countries, I felt this one stood out to me more 

PREVIOUS COUNTRIES:

Albania

Andorra

[eurovisionder]

Artsvik (Armenia 2017) and Lea Sirk (Slovenia 2018)

[chanandlerbong]

Special 20 years watching Eurovision; Favourite acts → 2017  

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2010s: 190 - 186

190. Nathan Trent - “Running on air” Austria 2017

[2017] Review here] 

Eres tu, sr. Bezzina?

That tells you all you need to know about Nathan. His appeal is the exact same as Gianluca’s, except Nathan isn’t nearly as good. I happen to adOOOOOOre Gianluca though (um, spoiler), so I’ll happily accept a discount store alternative, why not? 🤗 As for Nathan himself, he brought some lowkey adorable ferrety charm to the table, but “Running on air” is a conformist dreamscape on the verge between “acceptably boring” and “unacceptably” boring for me. It’s as nice as a salad... and ain’t nobody buying no friends with a salad~

________________________________________________________________

189. Senit - “Stand by” San Marino 2011

Senit is pretty great, how come she isn’t mentioned more??? I suppose being a quiet San Marinese NQ in a sea of deafening LOUDness is the main reason why she’s getting overlooked, but that’s why I like her. She’s like the batty Eritrean aunt I’ve always wanted to have (um, since May 2011) 🤗. So sweet, so pure, so hopeless, so Senit. 😊

________________________________________________________________

188. Paula Seling & Ovi - “Miracle” Romania 2014

SCRUMP BITCHES <3 God, Paula and Ovi are just Romania at their most glorious: King and Queen of tacky trashpop <3 Don’t mistake me, “Miracle” is a terrible song, but that’s precisely why I find enjoyable: The shouting, the hand choreography, the impractical circular synthesizer, the lowres hologram, the FORCED HUG. If you’re going to be horrible at music, please, YES, cloak it in non-stop, over-the-top showboating. 😍

PS: Paula and Ovi thought they would win with this. 😂 Bless ‘em. 

________________________________________________________________

187. Artsvik - “Fly with me” Armenia 2017

[2017 Review here]

Artsvik is one of those entrants where I feel the bulk of the potential she had was largely left untapped. Like, “Fly with me” is a dreamy, droll, whimsical cocktail of secondary colours and ethno-indie noise, baptised by Sacha’s signature magenta lighting. It easily could’ve been one of the all-time greats under the right circumstances. Instead, it kind of gets lost on a giant stage wit only a meager hand choreography and a CGI simurgh left to compensate. "Fly with me” is still really good, mind, but its role in Euroivision 2017 is that of a townsperson.

________________________________________________________________

MÉLOVIN - “Under the ladder” Ukraine 2018

[2018 Review here]

God, I remember this place turning into Jonestown, Guyana once MELOVIN into our Eurovision lives all: “I AM A VAMPYRE!!!! WORSHIP HOW ALTERNATIVE AND ARTISTIC I AM 😈”. Everyone was so ready to drink the killer koolaid for this *so real, so weird ::cuts self::* type of creature. 

As such, Mélovin could have easily end up as annoying and insufferable as his rabid fanbase did, but fortunately he was an entity of lowkey hilarity. The tone was set once he decided to go all from can I consider the most LEGENDARY 40 seconds of a Grand Final opener.

A vibe was then continued in an impromptu interview with Filomena which she had to cut off once Mélovin came out as the strigoi of Stavropol, blurring the line between Genuine Indie Weirdo and Actually Insane Person. 

Unfortunately though, much like Artsvik the whole does NOT live up to the hype created by the artist. Mélovin is p. good and I’ll forever cherish his unique spin on the English language, but after its epic opening “Under the ladder” then sinks into a jibberish, underwhelming poprock vehicle, with no real climax or reference point. It’s pretty fun and all, but a far cry from the songs that make my heart race, so bye!

[tw-innie]

MY TOP 2017 // 4 Favourite songs from ESC 2017

Kristian Kostov - Beautiful Mess (Bulgaria)

Naviband - Гісторыя майго жыцця/ Story of my life (Belarus)

Francesco Gabbani - Occidentali's Karma (Italy)

Artsvik - Fly with me (Armenia)

[eurovisionopinions]

[wiwibloggs]

LONGING FOR LOVE! ARTSVIK RELEASES HER FIRST ARMENIAN LANGUAGE SINGLE “MNA DU” | wiwibloggs

[jsmithcameronx]

ESC 2017 Favourite Performances - Fly with Me by Artsvik (Armenia) (x)

[sleepysnowfinch]

All Eurovision acts art challenge 2/42:  Artsvik - "Fly with Me" (Armenia)

[dailyeurovision-blog]

Eurovision 2017 - Armenia Artsvik - Fly With Me

[allarmenia]

🖐🏽🤜🏽🖖🏽👋🏽 Can we appreciate the Armenian dancers for a second 🤚🏽🤛🏽👌🏽👆🏽

[tsar3na]

My Top 10 for the Grand Final

Crazy how we’re already at 2017 and already we’re gonna find out who the winner would be. I wish all of them the best of luck because my god, it will be a fucking hard competition.