Last
year we started the Eurovision Fan Reviews, where you the readers
review the songs taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest. And today
we bring you the 12th Eurovision Fan Review for the 2015 contest!
The person who we will be reviewing the next song in the 2015 fan reviews is Martin from United Kingdom. He will be reviewing the Hungary Eurovision entry "Wars For Nothing" by Boggie.
You can check out what he has to say about the entry below.
1. Hello Martin, thank for agreeing to this, How long have you been a Eurovision fan for?
Martin: My pleasure as always. I've been a Eurovision fan on my own since 2002, when I watched the contest for the first time as a 16-year-old schoolkid, but I think secretly I've been a Eurovision fan my whole life because my dad used to watch Eurovision in the 1970s and 1980s when he was my age. So yeah, I've got my dad to thank for giving me my love of Eurovision because I can always remember him telling me about 'this Eurovision thing' and how Ireland would always win it, and dad's stories captivated me from a very young age.
There was always going to come a time when I would eventually start watching Eurovision on my own though, and being 16 was about the right age. That's really when my own personal love of Eurovision started - 2002.
2. As we know Hungary selected their Eurovision 2015 entry through Adal 2015, Did you watch the show? If so what where some of your highlights?
Martin: Of course I watched A Dal this year! It's my favourite of all the Eurovision National Final shows, and I'm not saying that to suck up to Hungary, I'm saying it because the format of A Dal is so simple, straightforward and because of this it's incredibly popular despite being one of the newer NFs. I am also very lucky to be really close friends with a Hungarian girl, Franciska van Waarden (@Fairytale0126). Franciska and I usually watch the shows together and she is always happy to translate into English for me, which is a massive bonus... although not when I take the piss out of her beloved Eric Saade, which I have been known to do on the odd occasion! ;)
In terms of A Dal this year, sadly I didn't get to see all of the shows this year. I watched the first 2 heats, then I missed the third heat and the first semi-final because I was on holiday in Malta and couldn't get a decent wi-fi signal. I managed to catch the 2nd semi-final and of course the final though :)
As I said before, I didn't get to watch as much of A Dal this year, but I think for me the highlight that I will take more than anything from A Dal 2015 is to see the continued rise of Dallos Bogi. 2015 was her third consecutive attempt at A Dal, and she is becoming a more complete singer every year. Although she didn't make the final this year, for me World of Violence was her best song yet. I have followed her career quite closely since her first appearance in A Dal in 2013, and it's one of the things that I'm really proud of as a fan of Eurovision National Finals because she's a wonderful talent. Bogi isn't far away at all from getting Hungary's vote for Eurovision.
3. The winner of the selection was Boggie with the song "Wars For Nothing", Could you tell us what you think of the song?
Martin: In the past I've described Boggie's song as being 'so simple, so beautiful and so Hungarian', and that's exactly what the song is - it's simple in that it doesn't overdo anything, it's beautiful because it carries a very strong and clear message and it's a quintessentially Hungarian song because that type of stripped back, acoustic-based music sells really well in Hungary.
The thing that worries me about the song is the war message that it carries, but if I'm honest it's not a major worry at all. I've seen people on Twitter saying things like 'can you imagine if it was Russia that wrote a song about war?', which is a fair point as it seems that because it's Hungary they aren't getting really any negative shots fired at them about the topic of their song.
4. How would you compare "Wars For Nothing" to recent Eurovision entries from Hungary?
Martin: It's different in that musically it's a lot more stripped back than say the likes of 'What About My Dreams' by Kati Wolf from 2011, so I think in that sense it will connect with the audience in Vienna. I think what will also make it stand out is that it's in English. I think the problem that Hungary often has is that Hungarian is only really spoken in Hungary, so sending a song in English will really open it up to a much wider audience.
Don't get me wrong, Kedvesem was a fantastic song, but unless you spoke Hungarian or knew what the song was about you probably didn't 'get' the song. Oh, and hallelujah Wars For Nothing isn't a traditional ballad, it's still a ballad but I personally am a big fan of slow ballads... so thank God for Hungary eh! :D
5. Hungary will be performing in the second half of the first Eurovision semi-final, do you think this is a good place for them to perform?
Martin: I think Hungary is one of those rare countries that, because of their reputation in Eurovision, you could place them anywhere in either semi-final and they will still be a safe bet to reach the final. Three other things will help Hungary big time this year - (1) they're in the 16 country semi-final, giving them a better chance to qualify anyway, (2) semi-final 1 is arguably the weaker semi-final this year and (3) they're right next door to Austria... and we all know how important it is to have lots of your neighbours voting for you in Eurovision! :P
6. Where do you think Hungary will place overall in this years Eurovision Song Contest?
Martin: I think Hungary will be at the bottom end of the top 10 again. It's their Eurovision comfort zone, and although Wars For Nothing is a brilliant song it's not a winner. For me, somewhere between 6th-10th is where I see Hungary again this year.
7. Finally, what are you most looking foward to about this years Eurovision Song Contest?
Martin: The same as always - everything! It's Eurovision. What is there to not get excited about with Eurovision? :D
Nah but seriously, I think the thing I'm most curious about with Eurovision this year is to see how well Austria can cope with hosting Eurovision. The contest is obviously a lot different now to the last time when they won in 1966 (don't EVER mention that year to a Scottish person!) and then hosted in 1967. There are a lot of Eurovision fans who weren't born the last time Vienna hosted Eurovision (me being one of them!)
It's such a shame that Udo Jurgens won't be with us in Vienna. His win in 1966 did so much to elevate the contest towards the level of being the spectacle that us Eurovision fans know and love today, and he more than anyone really paved the way for Eurovision to grow because, as you can imagine, Eurovision was still a relatively new thing in 1966. In many ways, Eurovision is what it is today because of Udo Jurgens and, although his presence in Vienna will be sorely missed, I have no doubt he will be smiling down over everyone during Eurovision week in Vienna.
I suppose I should finish off by also throwing in that, at the moment, I'm about 90% certain to be going to Vienna next month, which is fantastic for me because it would be my third straight Eurovision after Malmö and Copenhagen - both of which were incredible experiences for me. You can never truly understand or appreciate how special Eurovision is until you experience it live. Finally getting to live my dream in Sweden 2 years ago was amazing and I truly caught the Eurovision bug in the worst way in Sweden!
The reason I say I'm only 90% certain about going is because I've had to leave everything to the last minute because I knew my uni exams were scheduled for around the same time as Eurovision, and it was only at the start of March I found out that the exam gods have smiled on me and allowed me to make plans for Vienna because my last exam is 8 days before the first semi-final in Vienna, which means that all being well I will be making it a Eurovision hat-trick in Vienna.
Right now, I still don't have tickets for any of the shows, I haven't booked any flights or a hotel. I'm really lucky again though because I'm good friends with Sam Beaton (@3urovision), who lives in Brno in the Czech Republic and he's offered me a roof over my head for free, so I'll probably take him up on that offer because it will save me a fortune if I don't have to shell out for a hotel in Vienna.
But yeah, to finally round things off, for me there is nothing in the world that is more a part of my soul than Eurovision. I'm not too sure that my beautiful Maltese girlfriend Joanna (@_JoannaMaria012) will agree with me, but she knows what Eurovision means to me so she will understand because it's the same with her - Eurovision consumes her as much as it does me. Eurovision week in May is the one week in the year where I really come out of my shell because of what the contest means to me, and 2015 will be no different. I can't wait for Vienna!
Photo: hircsarda.blog.hu
The person who we will be reviewing the next song in the 2015 fan reviews is Martin from United Kingdom. He will be reviewing the Hungary Eurovision entry "Wars For Nothing" by Boggie.
You can check out what he has to say about the entry below.
1. Hello Martin, thank for agreeing to this, How long have you been a Eurovision fan for?
Martin: My pleasure as always. I've been a Eurovision fan on my own since 2002, when I watched the contest for the first time as a 16-year-old schoolkid, but I think secretly I've been a Eurovision fan my whole life because my dad used to watch Eurovision in the 1970s and 1980s when he was my age. So yeah, I've got my dad to thank for giving me my love of Eurovision because I can always remember him telling me about 'this Eurovision thing' and how Ireland would always win it, and dad's stories captivated me from a very young age.
There was always going to come a time when I would eventually start watching Eurovision on my own though, and being 16 was about the right age. That's really when my own personal love of Eurovision started - 2002.
2. As we know Hungary selected their Eurovision 2015 entry through Adal 2015, Did you watch the show? If so what where some of your highlights?
Martin: Of course I watched A Dal this year! It's my favourite of all the Eurovision National Final shows, and I'm not saying that to suck up to Hungary, I'm saying it because the format of A Dal is so simple, straightforward and because of this it's incredibly popular despite being one of the newer NFs. I am also very lucky to be really close friends with a Hungarian girl, Franciska van Waarden (@Fairytale0126). Franciska and I usually watch the shows together and she is always happy to translate into English for me, which is a massive bonus... although not when I take the piss out of her beloved Eric Saade, which I have been known to do on the odd occasion! ;)
In terms of A Dal this year, sadly I didn't get to see all of the shows this year. I watched the first 2 heats, then I missed the third heat and the first semi-final because I was on holiday in Malta and couldn't get a decent wi-fi signal. I managed to catch the 2nd semi-final and of course the final though :)
As I said before, I didn't get to watch as much of A Dal this year, but I think for me the highlight that I will take more than anything from A Dal 2015 is to see the continued rise of Dallos Bogi. 2015 was her third consecutive attempt at A Dal, and she is becoming a more complete singer every year. Although she didn't make the final this year, for me World of Violence was her best song yet. I have followed her career quite closely since her first appearance in A Dal in 2013, and it's one of the things that I'm really proud of as a fan of Eurovision National Finals because she's a wonderful talent. Bogi isn't far away at all from getting Hungary's vote for Eurovision.
3. The winner of the selection was Boggie with the song "Wars For Nothing", Could you tell us what you think of the song?
Martin: In the past I've described Boggie's song as being 'so simple, so beautiful and so Hungarian', and that's exactly what the song is - it's simple in that it doesn't overdo anything, it's beautiful because it carries a very strong and clear message and it's a quintessentially Hungarian song because that type of stripped back, acoustic-based music sells really well in Hungary.
The thing that worries me about the song is the war message that it carries, but if I'm honest it's not a major worry at all. I've seen people on Twitter saying things like 'can you imagine if it was Russia that wrote a song about war?', which is a fair point as it seems that because it's Hungary they aren't getting really any negative shots fired at them about the topic of their song.
4. How would you compare "Wars For Nothing" to recent Eurovision entries from Hungary?
Martin: It's different in that musically it's a lot more stripped back than say the likes of 'What About My Dreams' by Kati Wolf from 2011, so I think in that sense it will connect with the audience in Vienna. I think what will also make it stand out is that it's in English. I think the problem that Hungary often has is that Hungarian is only really spoken in Hungary, so sending a song in English will really open it up to a much wider audience.
Don't get me wrong, Kedvesem was a fantastic song, but unless you spoke Hungarian or knew what the song was about you probably didn't 'get' the song. Oh, and hallelujah Wars For Nothing isn't a traditional ballad, it's still a ballad but I personally am a big fan of slow ballads... so thank God for Hungary eh! :D
5. Hungary will be performing in the second half of the first Eurovision semi-final, do you think this is a good place for them to perform?
Martin: I think Hungary is one of those rare countries that, because of their reputation in Eurovision, you could place them anywhere in either semi-final and they will still be a safe bet to reach the final. Three other things will help Hungary big time this year - (1) they're in the 16 country semi-final, giving them a better chance to qualify anyway, (2) semi-final 1 is arguably the weaker semi-final this year and (3) they're right next door to Austria... and we all know how important it is to have lots of your neighbours voting for you in Eurovision! :P
6. Where do you think Hungary will place overall in this years Eurovision Song Contest?
Martin: I think Hungary will be at the bottom end of the top 10 again. It's their Eurovision comfort zone, and although Wars For Nothing is a brilliant song it's not a winner. For me, somewhere between 6th-10th is where I see Hungary again this year.
7. Finally, what are you most looking foward to about this years Eurovision Song Contest?
Martin: The same as always - everything! It's Eurovision. What is there to not get excited about with Eurovision? :D
Nah but seriously, I think the thing I'm most curious about with Eurovision this year is to see how well Austria can cope with hosting Eurovision. The contest is obviously a lot different now to the last time when they won in 1966 (don't EVER mention that year to a Scottish person!) and then hosted in 1967. There are a lot of Eurovision fans who weren't born the last time Vienna hosted Eurovision (me being one of them!)
It's such a shame that Udo Jurgens won't be with us in Vienna. His win in 1966 did so much to elevate the contest towards the level of being the spectacle that us Eurovision fans know and love today, and he more than anyone really paved the way for Eurovision to grow because, as you can imagine, Eurovision was still a relatively new thing in 1966. In many ways, Eurovision is what it is today because of Udo Jurgens and, although his presence in Vienna will be sorely missed, I have no doubt he will be smiling down over everyone during Eurovision week in Vienna.
I suppose I should finish off by also throwing in that, at the moment, I'm about 90% certain to be going to Vienna next month, which is fantastic for me because it would be my third straight Eurovision after Malmö and Copenhagen - both of which were incredible experiences for me. You can never truly understand or appreciate how special Eurovision is until you experience it live. Finally getting to live my dream in Sweden 2 years ago was amazing and I truly caught the Eurovision bug in the worst way in Sweden!
The reason I say I'm only 90% certain about going is because I've had to leave everything to the last minute because I knew my uni exams were scheduled for around the same time as Eurovision, and it was only at the start of March I found out that the exam gods have smiled on me and allowed me to make plans for Vienna because my last exam is 8 days before the first semi-final in Vienna, which means that all being well I will be making it a Eurovision hat-trick in Vienna.
Right now, I still don't have tickets for any of the shows, I haven't booked any flights or a hotel. I'm really lucky again though because I'm good friends with Sam Beaton (@3urovision), who lives in Brno in the Czech Republic and he's offered me a roof over my head for free, so I'll probably take him up on that offer because it will save me a fortune if I don't have to shell out for a hotel in Vienna.
But yeah, to finally round things off, for me there is nothing in the world that is more a part of my soul than Eurovision. I'm not too sure that my beautiful Maltese girlfriend Joanna (@_JoannaMaria012) will agree with me, but she knows what Eurovision means to me so she will understand because it's the same with her - Eurovision consumes her as much as it does me. Eurovision week in May is the one week in the year where I really come out of my shell because of what the contest means to me, and 2015 will be no different. I can't wait for Vienna!
Photo: hircsarda.blog.hu