ESC 2011 one-song-at-a-time: Lithuania

There are certain things which are really painful to watch at. A beautiful song being destroyed is one of them. Lithuania's entry this year is just such a case. It's also a good example for what can happen to whoever wishes to write songs "especially for Eurovision". But before I start with my critcs, I have to declare: I adore C'est ma vie. I oved it from the very first time I listened to it, and I still do now. The opening tones make me cry inside every time I hear them, and the lady's voice is just..so rich and charming. Well, she Is a jazz singer after all. And still, some negative comments must also be said about this song.

Here's the story of the creation of Lithuania's entry to Eurovision 2011, as I see it. One lithuanian composer, let's call him Paulius, was a talented musician who liked musicals and grandiose tones that makes your heart swell and your soul melt. He started composing a beautiful sorrowful and dramatic melody with sad minor chords to accompany it...

But then he suddenly remembered it's Eurovision we are talking about, not some musical on a big tour. In order to make the song more catchy and easly-digested by Eurovision viewers, he caled his friend Zdanavičius, who was a devoted Eurovision watcher, in order to compose a decent chorus. Lovely Zdanavičius made himself a cup of coffee. Then he oppened his French dictionary and chose a typical Eurovision phrase - C'est la vie. Then he felt it was too much banal, so he added a little interest by changing the "la" into "ma". The genious then set it into a boring and easy-to-remember melody which every single listener in the whole world would feel like he's heard it before. Somewhere. A few cheap drum effects were addad in order to dramaticize, and then he ended everything with a big last Eurovisionish last "c'est ma vie" with full orchestra. Bravo.

This was what Zdanavičius did. Yeah, I know that all of the information sites say that this song was composed by one Paulius Zdanavičius, but I am convinced. This song could not be written by one person. It sounds like two parts which have been pasted together due to an unfortunate injustice. This song starts so beautifully. the piano opening and the sadness it reflects just melt my heart. The melody of the verses is just so NOT typical and lame, but unconventional and special and combines both sorrow and optimism. The chorus, on the other hand, is awful. It gave the song its title, which is the lowest a Eurovision song can go. C'est ma vie? really! What's next? Voules-vous? Veni vidi vici? A stupid eurovisionary attempt at internationality and multy-linguality, which we fans hate, and them - Eurovision watchers - simply laugh at. And the too-much-drama effect of drum rolls just destroy the worderful quiet ambience that was created at the start with the piano. As the song proceeds, the piano disapears and the playback becomes ugly and traying-too-hard.

Additional things I hate in this song, because they just ruin its huge potential:

1. The singer's dress. What's that?! Does she HAVE to wear two skirts, the lower one black and apparent bellow the transperant upper one?

2. The singer's accent. Am I just imagining it, or all Eastern-European singers has a very strange way of pronouncing the sound "sh", especially when it comes in the word "shine"?

And still - I see hope for this song. This is an only ballad in its semi final, and quite a catchy one. what could go wrong when you get those splendid conditions? Even the worst ballad in the whole world would do well in a situation like this one, and this one is so far from being the worst of all. Even though it is a praise-the-Eurovision song and ends like a sad cliche, it still starts amazingly good. And isn't that all that matters when it comes to Eurovision?  

(In these pictures: Evelina Sašenko, representative of Lithuania, from various sites on the net)