ESCfan
Active member
Kaliopi is one of the best singers in Eurovision's history...yeah it's true...but this song was not for her...sorry!!!Hope she come back once again with a better song!!!
North Macedonia FYR MACEDONIA 2016 - Kaliopi - Dona
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Mrm
Veteran
- Joined
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And obviously Germany and the UK who already were in the final..
She should have qualified! Maybe I am a little biased that she is my favourite singer from Macedonia, but in such a weak year she really stood out for me. She was one of the rare ones not singing in English, she sang a classy ballad and lifted it to higher levels (not sounding a bit boring). Unlike some of you, I thought the backings did a great job and added a little extra to the song, although she could've done it by herself and sounding equally amazing. I am very sad and disappointed she didn't qualify, especially coz Macedonia really tried by bringing one of the biggest stars in the country. She did well with the televoting, sadly the jury made her sink. It is kinda pathetic seeing that she was in the bottom on many of the juror's rankings, when vocally and with her charisma she stood from some of the others (Ukraine was the other one). I won't comment and go into discussions regarding how politicized was the jury ranking, especially with Australia (and how they promoted them like they are some kind of an important factor to European values and culture).
blue00eyes
Well-known member
Juries hate boobs, Kaliopi should have been warned...
What a beautiful sunny day to review this year's Macedonian entry 
Kaliopi - Dona
Status: Rather nice, but not my jam.
Song: After Latvia's two qualifications lately, Macedonia is officially one of the most unsuccessful countries of the 2010's since they qualified only once (in 2012) since I started watching the contest in 2009. I admit they aren't very consistent though: they've sent interesting efforts ("Jas Ja Imam Silata", "To The Sky"), weird/kinda hopeless ones ("Rusinka", "Pred Da Se Razdeni") and even one good song with potential - originally - that they ended up ruining completely ("Autumn Leaves"). Kudos to them for sending songs in their own language most of the time, in these Anglovision times, it is a "detail" that I appreciate very much. Let's get back to their wonderful qualification in 2012, when Kaliopi performed a song called "Crno I Belo"; even today, I'm still truly glad they finally achieved something with that effort as it is my favourite Macedonian entry by far. When it was announced that Kaliopi would return this year, I didn't jump for joy for three reasons: 1) It seemed to me that Macedonia had no clue anymore about what to send next, so they chose the easiest way of increasing their chances of qualifying by resorting to someone who has proved to be successful already a few years before 2) Kaliopi performed not a long time ago and - even if she's been kind of underrated imo - her performance and song were perfect and it would be difficult to at least be as good as in 2012 3) Macedonia have talented people and I would have liked them to push a less famous singer forward. Don't get me wrong, I love Kaliopi: she's talented, very nice and funny, and it's always a pleasure to see and listen to her, but I refuse to believe she's all Macedonia can offer at Eurovision. Anyway, I feared that her new song wouldn't be as great as her previous effort, and damn I was right. "Dona" is a heartfelt ballad (sung in Macedonian, which is a huge plus) that imo has a distinctive Balkan feel to it: it starts very slowly with very few instruments (a synthesizer, discreet drums and a piano), Kaliopi's voice basically creates the main melodic lines, which of course makes the listener focus on her rather than the music. The chorus contains a sort of hook with the word "Dona" repeated several times, there Kaliopi is accompanied by female backing vocalists, a noticeable electric guitar and some strings towards the end of that part. I agree with people who said that it sounds like an old Italian ballad, I'm not sure what gives me this impression too though. I think the backing vocals make the song sound a little bit old-fashioned, I would have preferred no other voice than Kaliopi's, but it's still okay. Kaliopi literally makes the song, had it been someone else, I doubt I would have enjoyed it as much as I do tbh. At first listen (that is, during the second semi), I rejected it because I think this is nowhere as powerful and poignant as "Crno I Belo", however it grew on me a little lately and, when taking it for what it is (that is, a heartfelt ballad without artifice), this is an enjoyable song. I don't think it was a smart choice for Eurovision though, as it failed to be "instant" on me.
Voice: What can I say? Everyone knows Kaliopi has an amazing voice with character and she can sing live. She was in her element on stage during the second semi, giving everything as usual. As expected, her vocals were way better live than in the studio version: we shouldn't listen to Kaliopi actually, we should live her, experience her. The only thing I would criticize is the high note she added at the end, which sounded odd and out of place, it really wasn't necessary. The high note in Crno Belo did sound natural and was like the culmination of the song, on the contrary, I didn't see what was the use of having one in "Dona", especially at the very end.
Staging: The staging was kept simple because Kaliopi can fill the stage effortlessly. Kaliopi stood at the centre of the stage while white/blue lights were pointed at her and purple ones were embellishing the lateral backdrops. During the chorus, the white lights moved towards the ceiling and a golden drop fell on the floor that displayed a sort of gold pond ripple. As the floor remained like liquid gold, the while lights got back to their initial position behind Kaliopi. The riddle returned during the second chorus, but on the main backdrop this time, and the performance ended with blue-ish/purple-ish lights. It was rather nice too watch (not wow, but not distracting either) and I guess they did a good job because "Dona" was a tricky song to stage imo. Four backing vocalists and a drummer were also present on stage. Kaliopi wore a long black split dress with a plunging neckline and off-white flounces at the front. Personally, I didn't like her outfit, she looked like a maid and it made her look older than she actually is imo, a more flattering dress would have better. Apart from that, she was confident, smiling at the camera and definitely inhabited by her song, which was the most important thing.
Outcome: Macedonia failed to qualify, they just missed out on qualification as they were 11th in the semi (ranked 11th with juries and 8th with televoters). Well, I can't say I'm surprised: I knew they wouldn't bomb in the semi because it's Kaliopi, but the fact that the song isn't quite instant only could have made them borderline qualifiers and, unfortunately for them, they didn't make it. "Dona" is 25th (out of 42) in my personal ranking, it grew on me so now I enjoy it to some extent, still I can't get the shadow of Crno I Belo out of my head, which remains my favourite effort from both Macedonia AND Kaliopi. I can imagine that non-qualification must have hit the Macedonian delegation hard because it seemed like they wanted so badly to qualify again. I just hope that you guys won't leave the party and won't lose faith because some people out there (like me) believe in you Please bring your A-game, showcase your beautiful language and talented people, there is no secret for being rewarded when you're an underrated country: keep on trying and be consistent It'll pay off.
Kaliopi - Dona
Status: Rather nice, but not my jam.
Song: After Latvia's two qualifications lately, Macedonia is officially one of the most unsuccessful countries of the 2010's since they qualified only once (in 2012) since I started watching the contest in 2009. I admit they aren't very consistent though: they've sent interesting efforts ("Jas Ja Imam Silata", "To The Sky"), weird/kinda hopeless ones ("Rusinka", "Pred Da Se Razdeni") and even one good song with potential - originally - that they ended up ruining completely ("Autumn Leaves"). Kudos to them for sending songs in their own language most of the time, in these Anglovision times, it is a "detail" that I appreciate very much. Let's get back to their wonderful qualification in 2012, when Kaliopi performed a song called "Crno I Belo"; even today, I'm still truly glad they finally achieved something with that effort as it is my favourite Macedonian entry by far. When it was announced that Kaliopi would return this year, I didn't jump for joy for three reasons: 1) It seemed to me that Macedonia had no clue anymore about what to send next, so they chose the easiest way of increasing their chances of qualifying by resorting to someone who has proved to be successful already a few years before 2) Kaliopi performed not a long time ago and - even if she's been kind of underrated imo - her performance and song were perfect and it would be difficult to at least be as good as in 2012 3) Macedonia have talented people and I would have liked them to push a less famous singer forward. Don't get me wrong, I love Kaliopi: she's talented, very nice and funny, and it's always a pleasure to see and listen to her, but I refuse to believe she's all Macedonia can offer at Eurovision. Anyway, I feared that her new song wouldn't be as great as her previous effort, and damn I was right. "Dona" is a heartfelt ballad (sung in Macedonian, which is a huge plus) that imo has a distinctive Balkan feel to it: it starts very slowly with very few instruments (a synthesizer, discreet drums and a piano), Kaliopi's voice basically creates the main melodic lines, which of course makes the listener focus on her rather than the music. The chorus contains a sort of hook with the word "Dona" repeated several times, there Kaliopi is accompanied by female backing vocalists, a noticeable electric guitar and some strings towards the end of that part. I agree with people who said that it sounds like an old Italian ballad, I'm not sure what gives me this impression too though. I think the backing vocals make the song sound a little bit old-fashioned, I would have preferred no other voice than Kaliopi's, but it's still okay. Kaliopi literally makes the song, had it been someone else, I doubt I would have enjoyed it as much as I do tbh. At first listen (that is, during the second semi), I rejected it because I think this is nowhere as powerful and poignant as "Crno I Belo", however it grew on me a little lately and, when taking it for what it is (that is, a heartfelt ballad without artifice), this is an enjoyable song. I don't think it was a smart choice for Eurovision though, as it failed to be "instant" on me.
Voice: What can I say? Everyone knows Kaliopi has an amazing voice with character and she can sing live. She was in her element on stage during the second semi, giving everything as usual. As expected, her vocals were way better live than in the studio version: we shouldn't listen to Kaliopi actually, we should live her, experience her.
The only thing I would criticize is the high note she added at the end, which sounded odd and out of place, it really wasn't necessary. The high note in Crno Belo did sound natural and was like the culmination of the song, on the contrary, I didn't see what was the use of having one in "Dona", especially at the very end.Staging: The staging was kept simple because Kaliopi can fill the stage effortlessly. Kaliopi stood at the centre of the stage while white/blue lights were pointed at her and purple ones were embellishing the lateral backdrops. During the chorus, the white lights moved towards the ceiling and a golden drop fell on the floor that displayed a sort of gold pond ripple. As the floor remained like liquid gold, the while lights got back to their initial position behind Kaliopi. The riddle returned during the second chorus, but on the main backdrop this time, and the performance ended with blue-ish/purple-ish lights. It was rather nice too watch (not wow, but not distracting either) and I guess they did a good job because "Dona" was a tricky song to stage imo. Four backing vocalists and a drummer were also present on stage. Kaliopi wore a long black split dress with a plunging neckline and off-white flounces at the front. Personally, I didn't like her outfit, she looked like a maid and it made her look older than she actually is imo, a more flattering dress would have better. Apart from that, she was confident, smiling at the camera and definitely inhabited by her song, which was the most important thing.
Outcome: Macedonia failed to qualify, they just missed out on qualification as they were 11th in the semi (ranked 11th with juries and 8th with televoters). Well, I can't say I'm surprised: I knew they wouldn't bomb in the semi because it's Kaliopi, but the fact that the song isn't quite instant only could have made them borderline qualifiers and, unfortunately for them, they didn't make it. "Dona" is 25th (out of 42) in my personal ranking, it grew on me so now I enjoy it to some extent, still I can't get the shadow of Crno I Belo out of my head, which remains my favourite effort from both Macedonia AND Kaliopi. I can imagine that non-qualification must have hit the Macedonian delegation hard because it seemed like they wanted so badly to qualify again. I just hope that you guys won't leave the party and won't lose faith because some people out there (like me) believe in you
Please bring your A-game, showcase your beautiful language and talented people, there is no secret for being rewarded when you're an underrated country: keep on trying and be consistent It'll pay off.
GianlucaTomoe
Banned
"Autumn leaves" never was a good song which just got ruined, that's just what the fanboys always like to imagine. It always was a bad song, with no substance, which didn't go anywhere, whose appeal was big only within' the niche of the eurofans, but outside of it, there was not a single person who fell for it. Everything about it can be related also to 2016.
2016."Autumn leaves" never was a good song which just got ruined, that's just what the fanboys always like to imagine. It always was a bad song, with no substance, which didn't go anywhere, whose appeal was big only within' the niche of the eurofans, but outside of it, there was not a single person who fell for it. Everything about it can be related also to
"Autumn Leaves" wasn't a good song to me either, "Lisja Esenski" was I guess. And they ruined it by turning it into this meh English melfest-sounding version.
