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Slovenia SLOVENIA 2021 - Ana Soklič - Amen

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  • 12

    32 18.5%
  • 10

    5 2.9%
  • 8

    14 8.1%
  • 7

    17 9.8%
  • 6

    17 9.8%
  • 5

    17 9.8%
  • 4

    20 11.6%
  • 3

    11 6.4%
  • 2

    13 7.5%
  • 1

    11 6.4%
  • 0

    16 9.2%

  • Total voters
    173

escYOUnited

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Hey child
Why ya hiding from the light?
Why ya cowering in fright?

Don’t tell yourself
The heavens cast you out
And you’ve fallen from grace

You’ll get beaten and bruised
You’ll be scarred unto your core
But it’s gonna make you who you are

When ya learn to heal
When ya learn to rise again
You can tell the sun, “Amen”

Hallelujah
We’re gloriousl
Hallelujah,
The day is dawning!
The storm’s relentless
But everybody knows
Everybody knows
We’re born to the fight

Hey child
The fear’ll never go away
Might as well accept it now

Learn to persevere.
Learn to count your blessings down
Greet the future with Amen

Hallelujah
We’re gloriousl
Hallelujah
The day is dawning!
The storm’s relentless
But everybody knows
Everybody knows
We’re born to the fight

Not until the rain has stopped,
Not until the thunder’s hushed
Are we at rest, are we at peace…
Just imagine it
Not until the storm has passed,
Not until it’s quiet
Can the heart that’s broken cry.

Hallelujah
We’re gloriousl
Hallelujah
The day is dawning!
The storm’s relentless
But everybody knows
Everybody knows
We’re born to the fight

Hey child
Why ya hiding from the light?​
 
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Mainshow

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Sorry guys, I guess I have still the "tourist guide" in me. I promise next time to send such messages in private to people.
Haha, no. I was actually planning my trip to Slovenia - I even bought a guide book, etc.

I just hope to travel when all this Covid-19 madness is over #Amen
 

Nienor

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I was thinking that this year will be 20 years, since Slovenia did not manage to get a top 10 result. 20 years! :oops: Energy by Nuša Derenda was the last song to finish so high for Slovenia in 2001(and even this was without the semi finals). It is a bit sad, I feel we had a lot of top 10 worthy songs over the years, but it just doesn't happen for us.
 

rasmuslights

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I was thinking that this year will be 20 years, since Slovenia did not manage to get a top 10 result. 20 years! :oops: Energy by Nuša Derenda was the last song to finish so high for Slovenia in 2001(and even this was without the semi finals). It is a bit sad, I feel we had a lot of top 10 worthy songs over the years, but it just doesn't happen for us.

2011 and 2019 especially deserved top 10. We did not send many great songs, but I'm very proud on some of them !
 

HayashiM

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I was thinking that this year will be 20 years, since Slovenia did not manage to get a top 10 result. 20 years! :oops: Energy by Nuša Derenda was the last song to finish so high for Slovenia in 2001(and even this was without the semi finals). It is a bit sad, I feel we had a lot of top 10 worthy songs over the years, but it just doesn't happen for us.

With such a jury friendly entry, I think this could very well be your year to break that streak :)
 
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Iker

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I agree with you in a way, but I would like to point out that Martina did not (and could not) have choir in the back. In this sense, I think that these new rules could "save" Ana. It will be interesting to see what happens with Ana, and then we will be able to draw some interesting conclusions, such as: the number of performers and singers on the stage seriously favors certain type of songs in ESC.
Pre-recorded choirs / backing vocals are allowed from now on? What is this ... Melodifestivalen?! I dislike that so much.
 

Carian

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With such a jury friendly entry, I think this could very well be your year to break that streak :)
I don't think it is only jury friendly. Reactions on YT (except Wiwibloggs) are good. Given that Slovenia is never hyped, I think it could do really well with televoters too. I don't know why, I am not extatic about this entry (it is okay, but not superb), but I have a really good feeling. Televote will remember Ana already cuz of her voice, and if she delivers well on the night (and if the staging is good), I believe this could actually go far up the scoreboard.
 

Carian

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Pre-recorded choirs / backing vocals are allowed from now on? What is this ... Melodifestivalen?! I dislike that so much.
I think this is an exception this year, cuz of the safety restrictions. Only 2 back-up singers are allowed on the stage, if I am not mistaken. This is the reason, why I think that Little Big won't be coming back this year for Russia.
 

rasmuslights

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Same I totally think this could qualify even tough I prefer Voda (Voda would not have qualify btw). And it's literally my number 12/14 entries (Albania and Germany behind), but still lowkey think her voice will make her qualify. Or not I'm not saying this will qualify 100 %, but there are some chances.
 

Carian

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Same I totally think this could qualify even tough I prefer Voda (Voda would not have qualify btw). And it's literally my number 12/14 entries (Albania and Germany behind), but still lowkey think her voice will make her qualify. Or not I'm not saying this will qualify 100 %, but there are some chances.

I am actually 100% sure it will qualify. I mean, I have this feeling, pure and simple, just like I was not nervous about Maraaya qualifying. I also prefered the revamped version of Voda, that bridge before the last chorus was fantastic and the lyrics in Slovenian were so beautiful. I really love that Ana sings Slovenian songs in the Standard Slovenian, which is today almost rarity. But I don't do rankings. I like a song or I dislike a song. What I like, I listen to. I can rank top 3 or 5 songs in chunk, saying: Okay, this is really good, this too, oh, and this too. But I cannot say: This one is my number one, this is my number two. And it is even worse with songs that I dislike or feel indifferent to!!! How can someone rank something that he does not care about?!?! I cant and I don't see point in it. But hey, that's just me. I see a lot of people take great pleasure in ranking songs and that's great as long as we don't start argue for nothing ;)
 

Iker

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T
I think this is an exception this year, cuz of the safety restrictions. Only 2 back-up singers are allowed on the stage, if I am not mistaken. This is the reason, why I think that Little Big won't be coming back this year for Russia.
There are many other ways (like testing, quarantine or simple plexi-glass walls to separate the singers) that can be used to limit the risk of transmission. So I find it kinda silly but whatever ... this is their method of coping with that.
 

Iker

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I am actually 100% sure it will qualify. I mean, I have this feeling, pure and simple, just like I was not nervous about Maraaya qualifying. I also prefered the revamped version of Voda, that bridge before the last chorus was fantastic and the lyrics in Slovenian were so beautiful. I really love that Ana sings Slovenian songs in the Standard Slovenian, which is today almost rarity. But I don't do rankings. I like a song or I dislike a song. What I like, I listen to. I can rank top 3 or 5 songs in chunk, saying: Okay, this is really good, this too, oh, and this too. But I cannot say: This one is my number one, this is my number two. And it is even worse with songs that I dislike or feel indifferent to!!! How can someone rank something that he does not care about?!?! I cant and I don't see point in it. But hey, that's just me. I see a lot of people take great pleasure in ranking songs and that's great as long as we don't start argue for nothing ;)
I think it will qualify too. It ticks all the right boxes for the juries imho which even Deban from wiwibloggs admitted (who dislikes it just as I do) and she will perform it well. It will not be ignored by the televote either. My early expectation for it is making the final and 14th to 18th place in the Grand Final.
 

Iker

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I'm actually planning my trip to Slovenia right now and I really enjoyed the current conversation. I already took down notes what to eat in which region haha
Visit Postojna caves and Postojna castle. Those where the highlights of my trip there years ago. :)
 

crashworld

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If Ana qualifies, I would expect her to have the results similar to Serbia 2019 and Albania 2019. I can't see the song denting the top 15 at all.

Unless she got the help of the religious Christian communities across Europe, which we should never underestimate as with unison comes power.
 

Ezio

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So, guys, I am finally responding here as I promised, and I must say that I am genuinely happy to see that you have listened to my request not to be nasty towards Ana just because of the religious undertones in her song. Moreover, I'd like to thank to all those that have shared very personal accounts and experiences which go beyond religion and ESC. In fact, this thread has turned unexpectedly into a very interesting discussion that I was eager to read and it made me actually to think. So, bravo, guys, and thank you for sharing.
Now, I would like to respond to individual messages, which I believe were responding to my earlier posts, but I will also comment some of the other's posts which I find interesting or compelled to comment.

@Ezio - Thanks for telling your story and how you conceive the religion. I can surely relate to you when you say your faith is your refuge in the wild world of gays. When I came out and realized that 90% of gays are hurt people who hurt me cuz they had been hurt in the past, I was so angry with the gay community that it took me a while to get over. I did not seek consolation in religion, though it might have been better if I had done like you. It took me years to find peace not only with other gays, but also with myself, cuz I honestly felt betrayed by my own "kind". Next, I agree with you that there is evil in the world and that it is real. I believe in something too, but I would not cast the world around me in Judeo-Christian terms. In fact, though it may sound funny and strange, I feel polytheistic religions much closer to my own experience, yet it is hard to be a polytheist in modern society, as there are no temples and no polytheist communities around me. And I absolutely believe in karma. English say it well with "What goes around, it comes around".

@Ezio, @rasmuslights, @ESC94 - So, about Slovenian-Austrian/German relations and perceptions, there is nothing much to add beyond from what rasmulights had already said. Austria is almost proverbially place where we want to be as a state and nation in the future: you know, organized, no corruption etc. But there are also people, who do not adore that much - you know, WW2, but these are a dying minority. Nevertheless, there is also a lot of antagonism in sports, politics, etc., so people like to call Austrians and Germans "Švabi (read: Schwabi)", which is actually a slur word and really not flattering. So, if you ever travel here in Slovenia and someone calls you "Švaba" (this is a singular form), he is not being nice to you. One final note: late in 2018 I visited Trieste because of my studies. I was quite surprised to see how many Slovenes I met there during my stay. And I mention this, because I was shocked that Slovenes in Trieste still glorify the old days of Austro-Hungarian Empire, when Trieste was the biggest port in the empire and a good place to live in for Slovenes. That was a shock for me.

@Ezio, @ESC94, @Matt - thanks for the compliments for my German post. I apologize for my word order, but I must admit that I have problems with word worder in every foreign language and even in Standard Slovenian. Namely, I hail from the most NE region of Slovenia, where we speak a special "dialect" which foreign scholars (but not Slovenian) consider a distinct Slavic language. We use also sentence rhythm as a measure to put words in order. Basically, sometimes we will put some words in very unusual places in the sentences, only because of the sentence melody. Don't ask me how this is possible, but some friends told me that I write riming sentences in Slovene, though I do not do it consciously.

@ESC94 - although already someone else here replied to your question about the "language culture" and language minorities in Slovenia, I would like to add some details, if you are interested. Western Slovenia, especially coastal regions close by the Italian border, still has an Italian minority, just like my homeregion has the Hungarian minority. These two minorities are recognized by our state and their language is coofficial with the Slovenian language, where the minority represent the majority on a local level. However! I'd like to say that while it is well taken care of these two minorities (and I am not exagerating by saying this), we have also other minorities that do not fare that well. Nowadays, I am especially upset because of ex-Yugoslavian minorities which live in Slovenia and are not recognized as such. Though they assimilate at great speed, because Slovenian and Serbo-Croatian are very close, I still believe that they deserve the right to preserve their language and culture, even though they did not settle in Slovenia 400 years ago. Their recent settlement is often used as an excuse why not to recognize them. But this argument falls flat when we consider the Roma minorities in Slovenia. In my region, we have a huge Sinthi Roma minority which is very modern and there are numerous intermarriages between Roma and local Slovenians that started in Communist Yugoslavia. Our Roma are still struggling and I find their position very dire and unfair, cuz as I told earlier, they have to be "trilingual" in order to succeed. Beside their Roma language, they must learn our local dialect and then again Standard Slovene in schools. I mean, it is crazy. Can you imagine that you are trilingual, and no-one actually recognizes this fact which is a problem in itself? Finally, I'd like to say that there are also several German families living in the villages along the Austrian border with my hometown region. You will never hear of them, but they do exist.

@Iker - about "fant", I'd like say only that this is a standard Slovenian word used in central Slovenian dialects. But since there are 9 major dialectal groups, divided into about 60 dialectal groups, trust me, there are many many different words that you will not find them in any dictionary. For instance, Slovenian Eastern Styria region calls boys "čeh" (read: Tschechi) and it is basically the same word as the official word for Czeques. In my region, we call boys "pójeb" (read: Poyeb), and I believe that a lot of Slavic people will giggle now as we all now what the word "jebati" means in Slavic languages ;)

@Lindon - the number of German loanwords in dialects goes into hunderds. A lot of them are not only simple loanwords for newly invented stuff, but also grammatical function words. In my dialect, we use for instance the words "dönok" which comes from the German "dennoch", a lot of Slovenian dialects use also the word "fejst" in the sense "very, a lot" and it comes from the German "fest". You know what is the worst thing? Words for mechanic tools. We have one set of words for tools that about 90% come from German, and then you have parallel set of Standard Slovene words, which probably 90% of people never use in daily speech. As a translator, I am always petrified when I get to translate a text about mechanics. I know these words from daily speech and I know exactly what they mean, but I really do not know how they are called in Standard Slovene. Languages are a mess and Slovenian is no different. In the end, you should know that the Standard Slovenian language is basically an artificial creation of the 19th-century intellectuals. Its true that it is based like 80% on the forms and vocabulary of the Slovenian Central dialects, but in reality no-one ever spoke like this here.

@Pål Nordahl, @Sammy, @HayashiM - guys, thanks for sharing your stories and your opinions, but I still disagree with your position. Sammy literally wrote he finds the song as a hostile towards what he is. As an underpinning reasoning for your aversion and "fat 0" for Ana, you, Sammy, detail out your very personal and tragic account how you had a hard time accepting yourself because of the religious group/denomination/community you were part of when you were younger. I despise people and communities who do this what your community did to you, but allow me to say only that I had exactly the same experience as you, but I was not raised in a religious family or community. I hated myself, I rejected my homosexuality until I was 26 years old. I denied myself, despised myself, and even tried to hurt myself, because I thought that my family and friends would never accept me for who I am, as I was hearing them poke nasty jokes about gays etc. When I told my mum I was gay, I was ready and prepared to lose her, as I was 100% sure she would reject me. I had 100 scenarios running in my head what I would say, how I would respond to her, but I was not ready for what happened. You know what happened? She laughed loudly. Sincere laugh. It took her several days to think about it and only several days later she told me not to talk about it with other people about it, cuz they would not understand it and I would make my life harder. She was right. On the other hand, my sister's reaction was not nice, though I was sure that she would be the one who would be the only one to accept me unconditionally. We all have stories, but what I want to say is that my family is not religious, we do not belong to any church or religious cult, yet I was going through the same hell as you. So, apologies, if it offends you, but my case shows that people are just nasty when they want to be, regardless of the fact if they are religious or not. Anyways, is faith or religion a reason to hate a song, a person, or anything? I don't think so. People who hate will hate no matter what, and Holy Books and religion(s) are just a handy justification for their hatred. That's my view and it is fine to disagree, but please, do not take my position as an attempt to undermine your struggle or (past) sufferings. I am not, I am just saying that people twist religion into something bad. Religion per se is not and cannot be bad.

@A-lister - I agree with your summary and subscribe to your position 100%. You penned it perfectly. I end this debatte here.

Finally, I'd like to add one last thing to this overlong post. I have seen numerous reactions to Ana's song, but none was as nasty and filthy as Wiwiblogg's. I mean, Wiwiblogg is really losing it. Their reactions and comments are simply unbearable as they behave as the ultimate authority for ESC. I think the leaders of that website absolutely need a reality check. They literally lambasted and spit on Ana's song, only because she forgot to inform them that the song is not a ballad. That fake acting how they expect the song to turn into some dance shtic was absolutely undigestable. And one final point - Devan was explaining all the time that Ana's song were a ballad, though she promised her song was not a ballad. Now, please, correct me, if I am mistaken, but I actually agree with Ana when she said that this was not a ballad. Even Wikipedia states clearly that in modern English usage the term ballad is used for a popular love song, particularly in pop and rock music. So, if a ballad is a love song, can please someone explain to Devan that Ana is not singing about love or broken heart? Ana's song is an empowering song with the message of hope and overcoming hardships. Wiwibloggs is plain simply obnoxious and I hope their blog slowly vanishes for their biased, stupid "reporting". And if I were Ana, I would absolutely decline interviews with them, as they are being FAKE NEWS, yet they call themselves "experts". Yeah, right.
I think your engagement in this thread is amazing. It makes it my favourite thread of all at the moment, although I am not fangirling over Amen.

But I think, there is a chance for Amen to grow in me. I need to hear it live. Maybe the production value for me is not amazing. The husky voice, the gospel chorus, it just doesn't sound right, although I live for any message that reminds us of our divine beings in this day and age.

About Faith: I think there is one being that speaks to different cultures but in equal terms. Even polytheistic "religions" align do that. God himself is jealous of other gods in the Bible, they should not be worshipped, so He Hiimself hints to their existence.
I have a friends who worships Mother Nature, another one tries to connect with the Universe. For me it's all the same. It's God, who inspired people to write down an amazing Book of Hope, Deliverance but also Rules for our Togetherness and His Worshipping.

I also want to emphasize that their is no negative word conveyed in the BIble for homosexuality by Jesus himself. Jesus himself had a favourite apostle, he also healed the favourite "slave" of a Roman wealthy man, who was very dear to his slave.
Homosexuality is mentioned when it comes to deprived sexuality, laying with boys (like the Ancient Greeks did), prostitution, hustling, but the Bible in general is not the code for sexual liberation. God apparently doesn't approve of depravity, because any form of entertainment and leisure activity is a distraction for oneself to not connect with God. If you are more worried about masturbation or threesomes, it doesn't matter if your are gay or straight, then maybe Heaven is not for you. Luckily for us, our sins are forgiven when we recognize Jesus as our saviour who died on the Cross for our sins, and with age comes wisdom. So, if you don't die early, you could have your reckoning at a higher age and still find the grace of god and redemption, even if you have been a promiscuit and sex-crazed whore all your life. But Death comes like a thief in the night, you never know when it's time to go.
Todo en todo: There is no word in the Bible that disavows a loving and caring relationship between a man and another man, as long as they are not related to each other. Sadly, most faithful people are blinded by the Church, which is a twisted and wicked institution nowaways. The Church is not bringing people together, but dividing mankind, like any other religion.

About Slovenian perception of Austria: I have to challenge your perception a bit. Austria not not corrupt. Business and politics are mingling a lot. Parties are funded by taxpayers so to reduce corruption, and yet billionaires and companies lobby around the clock with the government. Covid19 should bring a wealth tax in my opinion, but it won't happen. All of us will have to pay and social welfare and medical coverage will be cut by a lot. Politicians are robbing our country, and I am jealous of the cleaner systems in Germany and Switzerland or the Nordics. Austria is like the shaggy dog of Germanic countries when it comes to corruption.
Our politicians love to announce bold ideas, but in the end they don't deliver. And our government is always scandal-ridden when it comes to nepotism and corruption. Media is very much in line with government, because government pays them with taxpayer money for political advertorial and has total control over ORF and their minion stations in the federal states. So, that's a very peculiar form of corruption made in Austria.

About wiwibloggs: they are absolutely disgusting. I stuck to their website for some years, but I am done with them the second year in a row. They comport themselves as the authority of Eurovision fandom, they are rating and judging like hell, then cozying up with the artists, even though they bashed them before in their reviews.

They don't provide an amazing forum and you don't get to read great editorials. They are just sassy and disingenuous. That was it from me with my rant of today. I am happy to ignore their existence.

I really want to visit Slovenia this year. Just a short trip by car anyways.
 
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Iker

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If Ana qualifies, I would expect her to have the results similar to Serbia 2019 and Albania 2019. I can't see the song denting the top 15 at all.

Unless she got the help of the religious Christian communities across Europe, which we should never underestimate as with unison comes power.

To be fair, I did not see Northern Macedonia and 'Proud' finishing as high as it eventually did. I can see similarities between these two entries and it can pull off a miracle of sorts too.
 

crashworld

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To be fair, I did not see Northern Macedonia and 'Proud' finishing as high as it eventually did. I can see similarities between these two entries and it can pull off a miracle of sorts too.

To be honest, North Macedonia 2019 was like coming out of nowhere. And I strongly believe that is a one-time occurrence. Plus the members of the juries change every year, so I don't expect them to keep rewarding such entries everytime.
 

Loindici

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About wiwibloggs: they are absolutely disgusting. I stuck to their website for some years, but I am done with them the second year in a row. They comport themselves as the authority of Eurovision fandom, they are rating and judging like hell, then cozying up with the artists, even though they bashed them before in their reviews.

They don't provide an amazing forum and you don't get to read great editorials. They are just sassy and disingenuous. That was it from me with my rant of today. I am happy to ignore their existence.

You summed it up well. I only visited Wiwibloggs very occasionally this year. I once found the joy in Wiwibloggs and stayed there for the entire Tel Aviv season. However, I can see them hyping entries that William obviously prefers and have an obvious bias towards Melfest (and citing source from fucking Aftonbladet), plus the toxicity that spread on the comment section is sometimes unbearable. Their plus-minus system are also a terrible addition to the forum. I don't find so much joy in them like I was before.
 

Stargazer

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Amen is quite a letdown for me, to be honest. The melody is too off for me. At times the tune sounds decent, and then suddenly it takes irksome turns. I'm not a fan of the over the top, big voice singing style for a slow song either.

I don't hate it, but I don't really like it that much either I'm afraid.
 

MooseShoes

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A few thoughts...

First of all, love and respect to all those who've filled us in on their religious backstories, especially if you've had to suffer. I'm lucky to have received a relaxed Catholic upbringing, containing no bad feelings or worse (despite the well-deserved terrible reputation that the Catholic Church has). Mum and Dad still go to church but I gave up being bothered years ago. Also, I now live in the Basque Country and it's weird to compare Catholicism in Spain, where it's been part of the hierarchy, with the UK, where Catholics have been persecuted at various points in time. Still, that's a conversation for a different part of the forum.

A quick interlude to say that the tourist and cultural guide to Slovenia is much appreciated. I spent a week there over twenty years ago and am desperate to go back one day.

Back to the religion thing and the song thing: I dunno, I'm not necessarily against religious content at the ESC but this feels a bit preachy to me and that's putting me off for starters. Also, my main gripe is that this basically feels like a "Bond theme" song and for me the gospel sound doesn't fit. I know a lot of Eurovision songs have had gospel elements lately, but there's always been an uplifting feel to them and that's missing here. It's like there are some fantastic ingredients like Ana's voice and the choir, but with the wrong recipe. Basically, I wish I liked it more but it's a :3: from me. Sorry.

Oh, and as a massive "Proud" fan from the day it came out, I'm not getting the comparisons.
 
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