Time for me to review this year's Italian entry
(sorry for yesterday, I unfortunately couldn't do it)
Francesca Michielin - Nessun Grado Di Separazione No Degree Of Separation
Status: yaaas!!
Song: I was very delighted to see Italy come back at Eurovision back in 2011 and I truly appreciate the fact they send songs that exist outside the Eurovision bubble (mostly through San Remo), if they did so well recently, I guess that's because their style speaks to people: musicality and lyrics are generally their forte (see what I did there
), their singers are also very good (for a reason!) and Italian language remains a widely appealing language. I didn't like their comeback entry "Madness Of Love" (2011) and "L'essenziale" (2013) was just meh to me; apart from these I liked (2014, 2015) or even loved (2012) their other efforts. Regarding their 2016 entry, it would definitely go to my "love" category, and that's quite a change because I found the song meh at first (while praising Francesca's performances) when I followed San Remo live. I guess I was kind of blinded by Annalisa's
Il Diluvio Universale and Patty Pravo's
Cieli Immensi (the latter remaining the best song of that San Remo edition to me), because it definitely grew on me afterwards, I was not in the right mood to appreciate the subtle beauty of the song. I won't judge Italians but seriously the voting results of San Remo were a mess: great songs were at the bottom, some cheap ones were rather well ranked and Stadio winning (with all due respect) was probably the straw that broke the camel's back. Finally, I was glad to see Francesca be offered that Eurovision opportunity (I didn't want Caccamo & Iurato), but it has been stressful not to know until the very end of the song submission deadline whether she would sing that song or not (and translate it). "No Degree Of Separation" is a pop ballad in pure Italian style dealing with an opposite point of view of the Six degrees of separation theory, which I found really philosophical and spiritual. For those of you who don't know what that theory is (I hadn't heard of it before either), here's the well-formulated wikipedia definition:
"Six degrees of separation is the theory that everyone and everything is six or fewer steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person in the world, so that a chain of "a friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps." I've studied Italian for four years at university, so I'm glad to be able to understand the lyrics quite well: they're accurate, touching and poetic to me. Francesca basically says that she knew nothing about life because she hadn't felt the freedom, power and prospects it holds. One day she realized what life meant and the world - a concept that is probably nebulous to many of us - suddenly became a place where anything is possible and anyone can bond with someone else despite distance, time and space. Our planet is a village because deep within ourselves we move in the same direction, hence why there is no degree of separation anymore. If we let our hearts override our minds more often, we would definitely be more in tune with each other and the world around us. I totally relate to her thoughts here, amazing message cleverly addressed. Of course, I'm glad she kept most of the lyrics in Italian, which feel more heartfelt. Personally, I found the English part useless as it didn't add anything to the song, the metaphor of the stars is unfortunately too common in Eurovision to be impactful there imo, but I can tolerate it because it's short and it surprisingly flows quite well. Regarding the musical aspect, the song starts right away with Francesca's soft voice, accompanied by discreet drums and atmospheric synthesizers (I guess), which help create a certain mood while highlighting the singer's voice, lyrics and main melody. The pre-chorus is probably my favourite part of the song as it develops in both a melancholic and hopeful way: the drums are stronger and the synth melody becomes more complex; the instrumentation fits the lyrics so well as one goes from a rather calm beginning (Francesca says she was emotionless when she was locked up is her own "mental box") to a build up that makes the song progressively come to life (because she got touched deep in her heart by the beauty of life in this world). Then comes the chorus: an allegro drum beat and additional bells (?) clearly galvanize the melody. Someone in this thread pointed out the particular phrasing rhythm brought by the lyrics and I agree this is perfectly balanced between three words of 2, 2 and 1 syllable (Nessun/grado/di) and one word of 5 syllables (separazione/esitazione), that rhythmic motif almost becomes a hook since such a symmetry brings dynamism imo, the first sentence is also repeated at the end of the chorus to make sure that part will stick in people's minds. The second chorus capitalizes on the chorus's instrumentation with clear strings melodic lines - some slight vocal and rhythmic changes were also included - while the pre-chorus gained additional drums. The second (and last) chorus is in English: on one hand, I feel like the transition flows as well as possible, but on the other hand, English is flat compared with Italian there, we lose the addictive phrasing dynamism brought by Italian words. A short instrumental part and half the chorus with ad-libs follow; finally the song ends on a last verse (which seems quite common in Italian songs), whose lines correspond to the pre-chorus of the first minute, with a simple but emotional piano arrangement. I will only speak for myself, but this is the polar opposite of Grande Amore, which was instant, in your face, vocally explosive but also less interesting composition/instrumentation wise. "No Degree Of Separation" is another kind of power: subtle, gradual and lasting with vocals and lyrics that resonate in me in a very special way. If mankind was a country, this would be its anthem, everything that truly matters in life are in these lyrics. I'm currently wondering if this song is going to be my favourite Italian song ever, it is that good to me.
Voice: Francesca has a soft voice that still can be incisive when the song demands it. In absolute terms, I don't think her voice is super special BUT she makes it a point of honour to give everything in her interpretation, which is how I differentiate between singers (who are only able to hit notes) and artists/performers (who add that extra touch of emotion by literally living their songs): Francesca is a performer. One could tell she was stressed during her performance in the grand final (her blushing cheeks were so cute
), she had difficulties relaxing and seemed shy at the beginning but she got better in the course of the song. I would lie if I said this was the best performance she gave (she was more comfortable in San Remo imo) but this was more than enough to do justice to the song.
Good job cutie!
Staging: Given the song, I expected a staging a la l'Essenziale (monochromatic vanilla visuals that are nothing to be thrilled about)... Well, I was surprised by the colourful presentation they opted for when I watched the extract during the semi final.
The performance started off by a camera shot of Francesca standing behind a microphone stand (with the rainbow strips many San Remo artists sported this year to support same-sex civil partnerships), the backdrops then displayed a large tree in front of a blue sky with inclusion of drawing-looking moving clouds and several other elements taken from the video clip (eye, 3D glasses, balloons, flowers, etc.). Francesca herself was standing on a little round platform with grass and weeds on. Next to her and behind her, there were two series of aligned objects on vertical rods which could be considered as symbolic representations of "lightheartedness/daydreaming" (red and yellow balloons), "emotions" (flower bouquets), "growing awareness" (3D glasses) and "lucidity" (glass prisms). The LED floor was like a moving water surface, making Francesca's platform look like an island.
During the pre-chorus, the blue sky turned green, orange and dark blue, then the tree sported lights that looked like fireflies or glimmers of lanterns that expanded on the floor and lateral structures during the chorus. The initial presentation came back during the second verse and at the end. Finally, Francesca took a plant sprout in her hand which imo symbolizes two things: her own rebirth (her awareness made her a new person) and hope mankind represents (as she said, we are precious and we have so much potential to positively influence the world, there are so many reasons that make our lives worth living). Besides, they included drawing-like animated elements on camera throughout the performance (moving dots, circles, hearts, crosses, lines and ripples) which accentuated the naive character of the presentation. Overall, I think they did a great job because they came up with an eye-catching staging while avoiding lazy visuals. I can understand people may find it childish, out there or cheesy though; personally, I liked it.
Second positive surprise: I was expecting Francesca to wear a dress and some casual outfit... No no no! She wore a white sleeveless shirt and glamourous taupe-y brown overalls (and God knows I usually find overalls unflattering on anyone) with dark brown/golden flowery patterns and shiny embellishments. Damn! That was so cute! Best outfit of the year imo.
Outcome: Italy placed 16th out of 26 countries in the grand final, since they were ranked 13th with juries and 18th with televoters... Meh position tbh, realistically I never imagined Italy in the top ten, but she deserved more than this place: around 12th place maybe. Whatever, "No Degree Of Separation" is 8th out of 42 in my personal ranking, I love the song now as it constantly grew on me, it's a very good effort with lovely melody (and singer!) and deep meaning I do relate to. Grazie Italia per la loro musica! Your 2016 effort may well be my favourite song from you as of now
I don't have any recommendations to make as (thankfully) you'll never stop sending songs that resemble you and most of the time don't sound Eurovision. See you next year guys
P.S.: I got a crush on Francesca, you're so cute and humble girl! I wish you all the best in your future endeavours!