My review of "World":
-Song-wise - even in these times of English language obsession - I could tell no other country would have sent this dramatic and intricately composed ballad. Albania have definitely their own style and I hope they won't deny it anytime soon. The pros: it's got a lovely melody, the arrangements are organic and a perfect balance is kept throughout the song as it builds up. Like in their previous efforts, the backing vocalists play an important part in the mood of the song and the slightly rock-ish vibe brought by the heavy drums is really nice. The cons: the chorus is fairly easy to remember because it's made up of two melodic lines only. Theoretically, there's nothing wrong with that, still I wish there had been a longer and more elaborate chorus. The bridge breaks the linearity of the structure, yet I don't feel like it's that "eventful" in that particular song. Overall, I'm under the impression "World" lacks something important for me to consider it a great effort. It's not bad, but not that particularly interesting either.
The only musical highlight of the song - to me - is the piano intro: it's so simple yet so effective to instantly set the mood of the song. Love how cinematic that short part is, it sounds apocalyptic to me.
I also reiterate my rant about Albanian entries being constantly sung in English: by doing that they lose all the mystery and extra potential they have (especially last year and this year). Albanian is a beautiful and melodious language and - even if the lyrics of "World" were decent compared with the mess of "Fairytale" - it's just another peace message. And don't get me started on the "but it's been originally written in English" lame excuse: I couldn't care less if it has been written in English or Chinese, as you first perform it in Albanian, stick to it because you won with that particular version and the music sounds so like you that it's a shame to make it generic due to language change.
-Vocally, we all knew Lindita was going to deliver. I love the tone of her voice and she's got a fantastic couple of lungs: her long note is a real challenge, let's be real. However, I don't feel like it worked as much in this song than in S'te Fal (which was a far superior song to begin with imo). She seemed nervous in the semi, but still delivered.
-Visually, I have to say no to her cake face: she's a beautiful woman, why put tons of make-up to look like an oozing candle? Outfit-wise, I don't approve of it either: it wasn't very flattering and it looked borderline cheap with her "roses collar". I don't know what was the idea behind the bridal gown realness - honestly it didn't bother me - it's just the dress ifself that wasn't beautiful to me. Besides it made her look bulkier than she is while she's a got a stunning body. I really liked the background presentation with the backing vocalists in front of a sort of ruin on a starry night. The colour scheme was nice: it was dark with what seemed to be a subtle mix of white, black and various blue/green shades, almost monochromatic-looking at times. The clock design on the floor was lit! The flying ships towards the end when the background turned gold were... unexpected to say the least
Strange but creative. Overall, I enjoyed the visuals.
-About the results: when I discovered the song during the semi, I felt like she was robbed. But since then, the song has faded a lot to me, and when making my personal ranking of the first semi, Albania don't qualify anymore, so their failure doesn't make me too upset in the end. Albania is one of favourite ESC nations, but they've lost me since last year, they can do better than "World" honestly (justice for S'te Fal, thanks). I'm glad Timur reminded people about Goddessa Nishliu, who still owns the crown with her 5th place: "Suus" remains the ultimate Eurovision masterpiece to me, so please guys be daring, sing in your own language again and don't be afraid to showcase your unique sound. You've got so many talents
I would love you to win in the following years!
-Song-wise - even in these times of English language obsession - I could tell no other country would have sent this dramatic and intricately composed ballad. Albania have definitely their own style and I hope they won't deny it anytime soon. The pros: it's got a lovely melody, the arrangements are organic and a perfect balance is kept throughout the song as it builds up. Like in their previous efforts, the backing vocalists play an important part in the mood of the song and the slightly rock-ish vibe brought by the heavy drums is really nice. The cons: the chorus is fairly easy to remember because it's made up of two melodic lines only. Theoretically, there's nothing wrong with that, still I wish there had been a longer and more elaborate chorus. The bridge breaks the linearity of the structure, yet I don't feel like it's that "eventful" in that particular song. Overall, I'm under the impression "World" lacks something important for me to consider it a great effort. It's not bad, but not that particularly interesting either.
The only musical highlight of the song - to me - is the piano intro: it's so simple yet so effective to instantly set the mood of the song. Love how cinematic that short part is, it sounds apocalyptic to me.
I also reiterate my rant about Albanian entries being constantly sung in English: by doing that they lose all the mystery and extra potential they have (especially last year and this year). Albanian is a beautiful and melodious language and - even if the lyrics of "World" were decent compared with the mess of "Fairytale" - it's just another peace message. And don't get me started on the "but it's been originally written in English" lame excuse: I couldn't care less if it has been written in English or Chinese, as you first perform it in Albanian, stick to it because you won with that particular version and the music sounds so like you that it's a shame to make it generic due to language change.
-Vocally, we all knew Lindita was going to deliver. I love the tone of her voice and she's got a fantastic couple of lungs: her long note is a real challenge, let's be real. However, I don't feel like it worked as much in this song than in S'te Fal (which was a far superior song to begin with imo). She seemed nervous in the semi, but still delivered.
-Visually, I have to say no to her cake face: she's a beautiful woman, why put tons of make-up to look like an oozing candle? Outfit-wise, I don't approve of it either: it wasn't very flattering and it looked borderline cheap with her "roses collar". I don't know what was the idea behind the bridal gown realness - honestly it didn't bother me - it's just the dress ifself that wasn't beautiful to me. Besides it made her look bulkier than she is while she's a got a stunning body. I really liked the background presentation with the backing vocalists in front of a sort of ruin on a starry night. The colour scheme was nice: it was dark with what seemed to be a subtle mix of white, black and various blue/green shades, almost monochromatic-looking at times. The clock design on the floor was lit! The flying ships towards the end when the background turned gold were... unexpected to say the least
Strange but creative. Overall, I enjoyed the visuals.-About the results: when I discovered the song during the semi, I felt like she was robbed. But since then, the song has faded a lot to me, and when making my personal ranking of the first semi, Albania don't qualify anymore, so their failure doesn't make me too upset in the end. Albania is one of favourite ESC nations, but they've lost me since last year, they can do better than "World" honestly (justice for S'te Fal, thanks). I'm glad Timur reminded people about Goddessa Nishliu, who still owns the crown with her 5th place: "Suus" remains the ultimate Eurovision masterpiece to me, so please guys be daring, sing in your own language again and don't be afraid to showcase your unique sound. You've got so many talents
I would love you to win in the following years!
