Slovenia sends Ana Soklic with the ballad ‘Voda’
Although Slovenia reached the final of Eurovision two years in a row now, an actual big success for the country is a long time ago. The last time they reached the top 10 in the final, was all the way back in 2001. Ever since, they only made it into top 15 five times, of which last year was the most recent one with ‘Sebi’ by Zala & Gasper. This year the contestant for Eurovision was chosen through national final EMA, like every year. Ana Soklic managed to win with her ballad ‘Voda’ (‘Water’).
I hate to rain on Slovenia’s Eurovision parade, but a top 10 finish with ‘Voda’ seems highly unlikely. Not because I think it is a bad song, but I don’t see it as suitable for the contest. Now I am a strong believer that there is no such thing as a Eurovision song in terms of genre, but the build up of ‘Voda’ seems unsuitable. The track gets going very slowly and only after 1 minute and about 20 seconds, the chorus comes around for the first time. Because it takes this long (and because of the three minute time limit of course) we only get two verses and the chorus twice and then the song is done. This means there is not a lot of time for the melodies to settle in, which usually does not help in Eurovision.
Having said that, I do actually like ‘Voda’ and the larger than life notes in the chorus. The instrumentation (and the sound of falling drops, very suitable) is beautiful and the tension in the song is tangible. I just wish that tension reaches a climax earlier on. If anything will convince the juries and televoters to vote for Slovenia this year, it will be Ana’s outstanding vocals. ‘Voda’ seems like a hard song to sing and she hits every single note perfectly. ‘Voda’ may not make it past the semi finals, but I do appreciate this big ballad in the Slovenian language.
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