Germany goes uptempo with ‘Violent Thing’ by Ben Dolic
In the past five years, Germany has struggled greatly to find the recipe to success in the Eurovision Song Contest. For four years they finished dead last or dangerously close to the last spot, while in 2018 they reached the 4th place all of a sudden with Michael Schulte’s ‘You Let Me Walk Alone’. As their national final did not deliver them steady successes, the German broadcaster opted for an internal selection using national and international juries. They selected The Voice alumni Ben Dolic with the song ‘Violent Thing’.

Slovenian born singer Ben Dolic gained fame in Germany when he finished as the runner up in The Voice of Germany in 2018. In Rotterdam in May, he will perform the upbeat pop tune ‘Violent Thing’, which was co-written and co-produced by Borislav Milanov, with the help of Dag Lundberg, Connor Martin, Jimmy Thorén and Peter St. James. Milanov and his team of songwriters had multiple Eurovision successes, including Bulgaria’s 2nd place in 2017 (Kristian Kostov – Beautiful Mess), Bulgaria’s 4th place in 2016 (Poli Genova – If Love Was A Crime) and Austria’s 3rd place in 2018 (Cesár Sampson – Nobody But You).

‘Violent Thing’ is an upbeat pop song with flirty lyrics and an irresistibly swinging rhythm. The hook in the chorus is instantly catchy and easily memorable. The production sounds very contemporary, with a funky bass line throughout and some infectious trumpets towards the end of the tune. Dolic sings in quite a high pitch with a soft vocal style, slightly reminiscent of Benjamin Ingrosso’s delivery of ‘Dance You Off’, Sweden’s 2018 entry in a similar style. ‘Violent Thing’ is a well-written, well produced and contagiously swinging tune that would not at all sound out of place on the radio these days. This has potential to attract both televoters and juries if the German team manages to create a compelling stage act.

The German delegation announced to be working with choreographer Marty Kudelka (famous for working with Justin Timberlake) for the performance on the Eurovision stage. This sounds promising and could definitely send Germany back into top 10 this year.

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