Saturday 7 June 2008

# 38 Hear my plea



If there was an eastern Europe bias in the results from the 28 country strong semi-final this year, Albania didn't benefit from it.

This was to be the second year running Albania had failed to get through the semi-final stage ending up with a disappointing 17th place. A shame really as "Hear My Plea" sung by Aida & Frederik Ndoci is, based on a very simple comparison with their previous efforts, by far the strongest contribution Albania has made.

The song's anthemic chorus has a simple melody and is the just desserts for what starts off sounding like a slightly alienating opening melody. The overall sound and the stage presence makes for a solid statement to boot.

There's no doubt either that singing couple Aida & Frederik Ndoci show their obvious ability at delivering a punchy performance. They, like previous Albanian representatives, obviously have the necessary competence for singing in these kind of situations, something I might even go so far as to say is something of a trait of Albania's. Naturally such a wild and unsubstantiated claim may well be disproved when I cast a critical eye over Albania's 2008 entry.

Final place: 17/28
Final score: 49

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's my own fault that I can't quite take this song seriously - ever since I first sang along to it as "Hear my plea - a banana". I can't believe anyone could lament so plaintively their wish for a bendy yellow fruit.

It is a charming tune, and elegantly performed, and yes probably my favourite Albanian entry to date, although that really isn't saying an awful lot.

Anonymous said...

Have you been partaking in a few too many intoxicating substances this weekend, Jon?!?

Best Albanian entry ever? More like worst!

I don't deny that the performers are indeed strong vocalists. But this is dull, Dull, DULL! It starts very shakily, the English is poorly pronounced, and it fails to engage the viewer on just about every level. It was lucky to get as many votes as it did, thanks precisely to the Balkan bloc!

It doesn't help that on either side of this are fantastic entries that completely overshadow it.

Jon Jacob said...

Oh no no no. I haven't been taking any intoxicating substances and I have to disagree. It doesn't start shakily and it has quite a rousing chorus. I've seen far worse.

Intoxicating substances indeed .. Tsk.

*Shuffles off*