Time for me to review the Greek entry this year 
Argo - Utopian Land
Status: no thanx try again
Song: Greece has been sending ethno-pop for several years and has been rewarded almost every time for that. Then in 2014, they decided to put that aside to send songs which were much less Greek sound-wise, but I saw that as an opportunity to show that Greece also has music that doesn't rely solely on traditional instruments and stuff, which is good, change is good. Unfortunately for them, their attempts at sending something else weren't successful, hence why they decided to get back to their comfort zone two years after since it seems like people only want typical Greek ethno-pop music from them. When the news came out, I was disappointed because I knew they would just follow their recipe with little enthusiasm for the sole purpose of reaching top 10 again without making too much effort... And I guess I was right because "Utopian Land" was released. The song is literally filled with so many ethnic sounds that I felt like they just put everything they could in it to emphasize that Greece is back at it. It starts with the English chorus which invites us to join a Utopian land, referring to the current social crisis going on in Europe and especially in Greece. Then comes the first verse which is rapped in Greek (kudos to them for showcasing their language at least), and the rest of the song is basically a copy and paste of the first minute, which makes it sound truly repetitive to me. Then comes the formulaic bridge with loud drums, but this time I don't think it was necessary, and why did they decide to opt for an arrythmic beat towards the end? It only enhanced the "messiness" of the whole entry tbh. Overall, I think this is a very lazy effort, no doubt the weakest one of their ethno-pop series: "Watch My Dance" ethno-rap mix was much more natural, "Alcohol Is Free" was crazy in terms of folk instruments but it still made sense, while I fail to find a sort of coherence and meticulousness in "Utopian Land". I don't feel like a lot of thought has been put into that song tbh.
Voice: Vocally, this is not a very demanding song in the first place, but I think all the members of Argo did their job right given the song they sung. The girls managed to make the most of the chorus while the boys did their thing during the verses. There is not much to talk about in this regard.
Staging: They tried to stage their act in the best way possible: traditional instruments were of course visible, the backdrops were quite busy and displaying warm shades of gold/orange and brown. The best part to me is the stylized sun that appears on the floor and behind the group during the chorus, that one is beautiful. They're all dressed in simple white/brown outfits, I guess not being too glamourous makes sense when talking about refugees. As for the choreography, I find it quite ok until they take each other's hands during the bridge and one of the guys starts dancing on the floor towards the end. It escalates quickly for no apparent reason imo
Overall, I didn't find their presentation entertaining or inspired, they visually did their best to save what could be saved, but it didn't make up for the mediocrity of the song to me. It could have done well in early 00's.
Outcome: Greece eventually missed the final for the first time ever, even though I thought they would still sneak in the top 10 of the semi. Thank God I was wrong, I find it reassuring that not only juries but also people didn't back that up, it was really poor and wasn't worth qualifying to me, it's almost like a parody of their past efforts. I guess the song is 36 out of 42 in my overall personal ranking this year and I'm glad Greece didn't steal a spot to a more deserving act. By the way, a failure is not the end of the world, you Greeks can do better than this, really. I'd like you to try other genres tbh, ethno-pop is nice when it's well-made but I refuse to believe that's all you can offer: sing in Greek if you want (that's very appreciated
) but feel free to "experiment" musically. Better luck next year guys and come back stronger!
Argo - Utopian Land
Status: no thanx
try againSong: Greece has been sending ethno-pop for several years and has been rewarded almost every time for that. Then in 2014, they decided to put that aside to send songs which were much less Greek sound-wise, but I saw that as an opportunity to show that Greece also has music that doesn't rely solely on traditional instruments and stuff, which is good, change is good. Unfortunately for them, their attempts at sending something else weren't successful, hence why they decided to get back to their comfort zone two years after since it seems like people only want typical Greek ethno-pop music from them. When the news came out, I was disappointed because I knew they would just follow their recipe with little enthusiasm for the sole purpose of reaching top 10 again without making too much effort... And I guess I was right because "Utopian Land" was released. The song is literally filled with so many ethnic sounds that I felt like they just put everything they could in it to emphasize that Greece is back at it. It starts with the English chorus which invites us to join a Utopian land, referring to the current social crisis going on in Europe and especially in Greece. Then comes the first verse which is rapped in Greek (kudos to them for showcasing their language at least), and the rest of the song is basically a copy and paste of the first minute, which makes it sound truly repetitive to me. Then comes the formulaic bridge with loud drums, but this time I don't think it was necessary, and why did they decide to opt for an arrythmic beat towards the end? It only enhanced the "messiness" of the whole entry tbh. Overall, I think this is a very lazy effort, no doubt the weakest one of their ethno-pop series: "Watch My Dance" ethno-rap mix was much more natural, "Alcohol Is Free" was crazy in terms of folk instruments but it still made sense, while I fail to find a sort of coherence and meticulousness in "Utopian Land". I don't feel like a lot of thought has been put into that song tbh.
Voice: Vocally, this is not a very demanding song in the first place, but I think all the members of Argo did their job right given the song they sung. The girls managed to make the most of the chorus while the boys did their thing during the verses. There is not much to talk about in this regard.
Staging: They tried to stage their act in the best way possible: traditional instruments were of course visible, the backdrops were quite busy and displaying warm shades of gold/orange and brown. The best part to me is the stylized sun that appears on the floor and behind the group during the chorus, that one is beautiful. They're all dressed in simple white/brown outfits, I guess not being too glamourous makes sense when talking about refugees. As for the choreography, I find it quite ok until they take each other's hands during the bridge and one of the guys starts dancing on the floor towards the end. It escalates quickly for no apparent reason imo
Overall, I didn't find their presentation entertaining or inspired, they visually did their best to save what could be saved, but it didn't make up for the mediocrity of the song to me. It could have done well in early 00's.Outcome: Greece eventually missed the final for the first time ever, even though I thought they would still sneak in the top 10 of the semi. Thank God I was wrong, I find it reassuring that not only juries but also people didn't back that up, it was really poor and wasn't worth qualifying to me, it's almost like a parody of their past efforts. I guess the song is 36 out of 42 in my overall personal ranking this year and I'm glad Greece didn't steal a spot to a more deserving act. By the way, a failure is not the end of the world, you Greeks can do better than this, really. I'd like you to try other genres tbh, ethno-pop is nice when it's well-made but I refuse to believe that's all you can offer: sing in Greek if you want (that's very appreciated
) but feel free to "experiment" musically. Better luck next year guys and come back stronger!
