My review of "Beautiful Mess" (better late than never):
-Bulgaria made a u-turn last year when they radically changed their ESC approach and were rewarded for it. Personally, Bulgaria has always been on my map because I've liked most of their unsuccessful/unpopular entries ("Samo Shampioni" was quite decent in its genre, and "Illusion", "Angel Si Ti", "Love Unlimited" are still fresh jams to me). This year, they've of course built on their best placing ever by honouring their newly-found high-end mainstream pop segment. "Beautiful Mess" - a grandiloquent electro-pop ballad that definitely would fit the current radio standards - was born. A piano base and a vocal-distortion loop (or is it a synth? I don't know) are used as an intro, before they are replaced by quiet and sparse arrangements during the first verse, allowing Kristian's voice to shine while setting an oddly intimate atmosphere. The vocal lines are soothing and flowing nicely imo, and the pauses/silences help emphasising them. The first chorus then kicks off with background synths and fading electric guitar, which is a choice I approve of, for many Eurovision entries tend to go loud as quickly as possible or reach a plateau that ends up being quite frustrating. Following the chorus, the transition to the second verse features the vocal loop of the intro, along with trendy electro beats: that part is very efficient imo, at least it left an impact on me. The second verse follows the same melodic structure as the first one, the only difference is that the electric guitar and "dosed out" beats replaced the piano, so that the momentum created doesn't totally go to waste: I really like the percussion work here, a mixture of electro beats and organic ones that thankfully give the second chorus a bit more power. Another musical break (similar to the first one) ensues, with added ad-libs and background vocalises. Finally, we got another part of chorus with a slight vocal variation from Kristian. Overall, as far as the mainstream pop field is concerned, it's a competently-written song with a rather good melody and arrangements that made it sound current and high-end within the Eurovision bubble. However, despite the efforts put into this entry, I feel it lacks a bit of heart and originality: with "If Love Was A Crime", they had succeeded in mixing mass-appeal pop music with elements that gave an identity to the final product, and I don't see that in "Beautiful Mess". A chorus in Bulgarian, a musical twist, an arrangement change... something unexpected would have been welcome imo (hence why, out of the three songs from Borislav Milanov this year, "In Too Deep" and its ear-catching elements has become my favourite). Pros: professional production, 2017-sounding arrangements, nice melody and build up overall. Cons: lacks that spark of originality to really be a banger to me.
My favourite part of the song is definitely the musical break following the first verse, it's full of power, I really like it.
-Vocally, Kristian is a skillful singer, tone-wise he's got a rather mature quality in his voice, even though his voice does sound his age (am I making sense?
). Contrary to his competitors Isaiah and Anja, he didn't merely sang the notes but put a certain amount of emotion in his performance. I'm not saying he was poignant to such an extent that he brought me to tears (that would be exaggerated), but he did perform in an unexpectedly delicate and tasteful way to me. I appreciated both his performances (by the way, the live version knocks the studio version off). On a sidenote, I'm officially giving the "Francesca Michielin Award" (meaning the cutest contestant of the year) to him, like... it should be illegal to look that cute tbh. His Kazakh origins are speaking for themselves I guess
-Visually, Bulgarians have done it again! I like how twice in a row they succeeded in staging their song in a way that comes across as expensive, appropriate and eventful without looking too much. Kristian was all alone on stage, yet I felt like he filled it perfectly. I liked the overall sparsity of visuals that fit the relative starkness of the music, the use of black and white with hints of colour (while remaining borderline monochromatic) was just what was needed: less was more. The camera work was on point, there was a good balance of close-ups and wide angles imo. They used the LED chandelier to display clouds in motion, I hope Omar Naber noticed he could have done something cool with it as well. :? During my favourite part (remember the musical break), it's where the whole presentation came to life with flashing lights, digital drawing-like insertions (which I found very tasteful in this case) and the sensation of space (or void?) given by the pared-down visuals on the main background screen. I liked the "camera jolts" a lot, like with Artsvik, I think it gave an edgier varnish to the presentation. The second visual highlight to me was during the bridge when the background screen displayed rain and flashing lights, I also approved of the box (or should I say window?) that strangely and surely structured the whole thing. Choreography-wise, Kristian's gestures and poses were slick and not try-hard-looking (unlike Hovig for instance). Finally, I 100% got behind his outfit, he and I have the same type of morphology and this type of elegant avant-garde-is clothes is right up my alley as well, I would rock this if I had the chance to stumble upon something similar
(especially the jacket
). To sum up, thumbs up to the Bulgarian team for staging the song so well, there was something almost poetic going on about this starkness and sparse elements used here and there, the colour scheme was awesome, and everything came together. Well done!
-Results-wise, I couldn't stay away from odds and forum comments, so I knew roughly what to expect from Kristian's fate in Kiev.
Of course, Bulgaria qualified, then they reached the second place in the competition: not bad at all for a nation that has been slept on for years (the final battle between Bulgaria, Portugal and Moldova was both refreshing and hilarious: who would have imagined that?
). While my opinion on the song has changed a bit over the last couple of months, I objectively think Bulgaria did deserve such a place, for their package was one of the strongest this year imo (I expected Kristian to be the juries' favourite tbh). Musically though, I maintain "If Love Was A Crime" was a stronger effort due to it retaining some kind of originality. But congrats to Bulgarians anyway, you guys must have been thrilled! I for sure wouldn't have been mad had Kristian won (I mean Bulgaria's first victory would have been such a party), yet I'm glad Salvador took the crown, simply because musically and performance-wise it is what the contest needed imo. People may come for me for saying this but in terms of legacy, the best winners to me are the ones who bring something different from the mass, "Beautiful Mess" would have been gratifying as a winning entry because Eurovision would have been (for once) in line with today's current mainstream music, but it wouldn't have held the symbolism "Amar Pelos Dois" has. Anyway, in my personal ranking, "Beautiful Mess" started at 3rd place to eventually be downgraded to 9th place. I still like the song but other entries have grown on me over time, and I'm aware already that that song won't be as evergreen as "If Love Was A Crime", which was my second favourite song last year. I totally support the Bulgarian team since they're doing marvelous work. I hope they'll keep their standards high, I just wish they don't totally "blend in" next time, I'm convinced Bulgaria can win with a song that's got more texture and identity (fingers crossed for Bulgarian language too). Best of luck in Lisbon
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