Georgia sends Tornike Kipiani with rock song ‘Take Me As I Am’ to Eurovision
After a more than decent start when they debuted back in 2007, Georgia has not been doing so well in the Eurvision Song Contest more recently. In the past three years, the country failed to grab a ticket to the grand final. Their best result in Eurovision is still the 9th place, which they reached in both 2010 and 2011. This year, the winner of Georgian Idol also won a ticket to Rotterdam to represent the country. Tornike Kipiani managed to win and will sing his song ‘Take Me As I Am’ in The Netherlands.
Although Georgia might have had hits and misses at Eurovision, they do deliver something unique and different from most other entries almost every year and 2020 is no exception. Kipiani brings a proper rock song with a vibe similar to the work of Imagine Dragons and even Linkin Park. Unfortunately, the rock sound and Kipiani’s impressive vocals are a lot stronger than the composition itself.
Kipiani co-wrote ‘Take Me As I Am’ together with Aleko Berdzenishvili. In the verses he sings how he is expected to talk like an Englishman, dance like a Spanish guy and dress like an Italian. He name drops all five of the Big 5 countries, while asking why the person the song is directed towards does not just love him for who he is. Although the message is clear (and could be seen in a broader context), the way it is put in words is simply very clunky and his subpar pronunciation (even the world ‘love’ sounds off) of the English lyrics does not help.
Although the lyrics might make me cringe and I don’t find the composition to be drawing me in in any way, I wouldn’t fully rule out Georgia just yet. The rock song will stand out in the second semi final and Kipiani is an excellent vocalist with a raw edge that will definitely appeal to some Europeans.
MORE EUROVISION 2020 REVIEWS: ALBANIA – ARMENIA – AUSTRALIA – BELARUS – BELGIUM – BULGARIA – CZECH REPUBLIC – ESTONIA – FRANCE – GERMANY – GREECE – ICELAND – ISRAEL – ITALY – LATVIA – LITHUANIA – THE NETHERLANDS – NORWAY – POLAND – ROMANIA – SLOVENIA – SPAIN – SWITZERLAND – UKRAINE – UNITED KINGDOM