Armenia sends Artsvik with intriguing composition ‘Fly With Me’
The Armenians are not scared to take some risks when it comes to the Eurovision Song Contest. The successful country has been sending quite some daring and unusual tracks to the big stage. Take for example last year’s ‘LoveWave’, a progressive pop song with a quirky production, an incredible staging and a stunning vocal performance by Iveta Mukuchyan. This year, they asked the same composers, Lilith and Levon Navasardyan, to write ‘Fly With Me’, for Artsvik, who won the talent competition that served as national final.

Although Artsvik first gained fame through the Armenian version of The Voice and did not make it past the battles round, in the music video for ‘Fly With Me’, she comes across as an experienced pop artist with bucketloads of personality and charisma. This will definitely help selling the song to the big audience on stage in Kiev. The choreography and staging in the video would work perfectly and hopefully the Armenian delegation will stay close to the colours and movements portrayed, because it all works perfectly with the rhythm of the song.

But what does that song exactly sound like? ‘Fly With Me’ is a thrilling ride that starts out quietly with just Artsvik’s voice, until a catchy bass line kicks in, driven by percussion to a literally soaring chorus on which the singer shows off the power of her vocals. The build up is stunning, and just like with ‘LoveWave’ last year, the composers left room for some national instruments, which gives the track more identity. The only downfall here is that ‘Fly With Me’ needs some time to get going and settle in and only truly starts to unfold itself upon multiple listens, for which there is no time in the Eurovision Song Contest. With a memorable staging Armenia could hopefully tackle this risk and soar right into the top 10 of the final with this classy entry.

UPDATE – Review on semi final performance:
Vocally, Artsvik is convincing and the stage show with two female dancers, although not as spectacular as last year, works well on screen. Artsvik is a star and my winner of this first semi final. Keep an eye on her on Saturday. I would be very surprised if we don’t see her back in at least the top 10.

UPDATE – Review on final performance and result (18th):
Armenia’s 18th(!) position is potentially the biggest shocker in the result show for me. ‘Fly With Me’ is such a beautiful composition and both vocally and visually, Artsvik once again gave a stunning performance. I have to admit that the track had to grow on my slightly and possibly the European audience didn’t ‘get’ it on first listen either, which obviously is essential in Eurovision. Either way, I hope Armenia keeps on sending classy songs and performances like this for years to come!

Check all Eurovision 2017 reviews: Albania – Armenia – Australia – Austria – Azerbaijan – Belarus – Belgium – Bulgaria – Croatia – Cyprus – Czech Republic – Denmark – Estonia – Finland – France – FYR Macedonia – Georgia – Germany – Greece – Hungary – Iceland – Ireland – Israel – Italy – Latvia – Lithuania – Malta – Moldova – Montenegro – The Netherlands – Norway – Poland – Portugal – Romania – San Marino – Serbia – Slovenia – Spain – Sweden – Switzerland – Ukraine – United Kingdom