Belarus BELARUS 2016 - Ivan - Help You Fly
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Chorizo
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 9, 2014
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Chorizo
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 9, 2014
- Posts
- 4,346
No comments on the second rehearsal? Loved the start-managing to get naked Ivan and a wolf on stage! Well done them! Thought he sounded pretty good too
I would have been surprised, if you didn't appreciate the wolves.
ParadiseES
Well-known member
I think this was a comfortable top-10 in televoting, but so much gimmick and many better performances made him lose places with the juries.
I would have been surprised, if you didn't appreciate the wolves.
My nickname is not just in appreciation of wolves...
PeterLPZ
Well-known member
It was better as I expected, but I still didn´t see it in the final.
JimmyJump
Member
I wanted him too qualify, just because he was naked with wolves
Quent91
Well-known member
Re: BELARUS 2016
Actually I quite like it. I think Belarus had to qualify this year. Same for 2014 when they got robbed as well.
Actually I quite like it. I think Belarus had to qualify this year. Same for 2014 when they got robbed as well.
GianlucaTomoe
Banned
Quent91
Well-known member
Re: BELARUS 2016
oh sorry, I meant 2015, last year.
(yes I forgot we're in 2016 already).
oh sorry, I meant 2015, last year.
(yes I forgot we're in 2016 already).
Ok, yesterday I didn't have much time to do a review (sorry about that), so here is my opinion about the Belarusian entry this year
Ivan - Help You Fly
Status: Hmm, meh
Song: Belarus is definitely the only ex-U.S.S.R nation not to benefit much from the block votes and I've noticed that almost every time I liked their entries, they failed to qualify ("Eyes That Never Lie", "I Love Belarus", "Time") while they succeeded in getting through with songs I wouldn't have placed a bet on ("Butterflies", "Solayoh"...). Nevermind, Belarus have their own sound when it comes to Eurovision, but they're not quite constant from one year to another, it's kind of a lottery. "Help You Fly", performed by singer Ivan, is a pop song with strong rock and 80's eletro-pop influences. It starts with vocalizes and what sounds like an alarm to me, which is a rather moody and intriguing intro. Then Ivan starts singing on a 80's beat and vintage electro-pop sounds; at that point, while the atmosphere set by the intro is developed, the listener knows this will be a rather energetic entry with a possibly impactful chorus. Actually, it is quite catchy due to the beat loop and electric guitar, however I have mixed feelings about the melodic lines sung by Ivan and the streched syllables used as hooks ("help you flyyyy", "far behiiiiind"): sometimes I like it because hey that is supposed to be the catchiest part of the song, but sometimes I feel like it's annoying. In both cases, this isn't a song I can listen to twice in row, which is not a good sign, I mean I wouldn't skip it if it plays, but I wouldn't listen to it on my own. Two parts which I find meh: 1) the bridge that I think is useless, the lyrics are super boring there ("If I can fly, then you fly" :? ok!) and the melody isn't that appealing with the high notes and canon voices 2) the last note of the song, that I find kind of cheesy, I'm note sure why it bothers me exactly. I realize that I haven't much to say about that entry, overall it's fine and not badly constructed, the main weakness is that it doesn't go anywhere to me, Belarus had worse and better entries in the past, which makes it an average effort.
Voice: In studio and during his performances at parties, Ivan did a good job, it was pleasant to listen to and overall mastered vocally. However, I didn't have the same impression during the semi final, he didn't seem totally into it imo and some notes were rather meh in his lower register: I haven't been convinced at first listen tbh. It lacked energy in his intonations, even though it was objectively a more than decent performance.
Staging: So Belarus also jumped in the technology-driven train. First I thought I hadn't liked it because I already had seen too many visual tricks already in the first semi final, but no, unlike Iceland and Russia, I definitely think Belarusians opted for technology for the sake of it without having a solid concept behind it. Frankly, the visuals were a mess to me since they gathered elements that have very little connection to each other. A few months ago, Ivan stated he wanted to sing naked with wolves on stage, so he still succeeded in doing it through holograms (which was kind of thumbing their noses at the EBU by circumventing their rules). As the holograms disappeared, Ivan appeared on stage and started singing the first verse. The backdrops were displaying wolves walking at night in a mountainous area... Well, apart from the fact I didn't get what did wolves have to do with the song, it reminded me of cheap artworks one may find at marketplaces :? Then wolves in holograms sat down next to Ivan while he was pretending to look at one of them. The backdrops turned red like a fancy view of outer space and holograms of Ivan himself playing drums and electric guitar appeared. After that, the dark blue floor began to crackle while human silhouettes were moving, the backdrops changed again to display neon light-like lines and what seemed to be a wolf's face. Back to the floor, it eventually collapsed entirely in small pieces (which was imo the best visual part). I'll skip the tons of following backdrops to get to the final hologram displaying a walking baby wearing a diaper... Honestly, I'm confused about all this, there are some cool-looking parts, some cheap ones and some truly useless ones only meant to wow viewers (imo) because it's technological magic. Overall, there were too many things going on as they put everything they could not to look boring... For me it is the contrary, it's too much and totally inconsistent. Ivan wore a white jacket, a shirt, close-fitting trousers and black shoes. I'm not sure how I feel about his aboriginal-looking white make-up. Apart from that, I resent him for not showing us his gorgeous hair: Ivan, you deserved minus points for that!
Outcome: Belarus eventually failed to qualify as juries didn't think he was worth the final. I'm not surprised about their non-qualification tbh, I thought they might have a chance to get through due to visual gimmicks, but Iceland failed, so...
In my personal ranking, I guess "Help You Fly" is around 28th (out of 42) - in the meh category - nothing majorly wrong with it, but nothing that interesting either to me. I didn't miss that visual orgy in the grand final. Better luck next time Belarus!
Ivan - Help You Fly
Status: Hmm, meh
Song: Belarus is definitely the only ex-U.S.S.R nation not to benefit much from the block votes and I've noticed that almost every time I liked their entries, they failed to qualify ("Eyes That Never Lie", "I Love Belarus", "Time") while they succeeded in getting through with songs I wouldn't have placed a bet on ("Butterflies", "Solayoh"...). Nevermind, Belarus have their own sound when it comes to Eurovision, but they're not quite constant from one year to another, it's kind of a lottery. "Help You Fly", performed by singer Ivan, is a pop song with strong rock and 80's eletro-pop influences. It starts with vocalizes and what sounds like an alarm to me, which is a rather moody and intriguing intro. Then Ivan starts singing on a 80's beat and vintage electro-pop sounds; at that point, while the atmosphere set by the intro is developed, the listener knows this will be a rather energetic entry with a possibly impactful chorus. Actually, it is quite catchy due to the beat loop and electric guitar, however I have mixed feelings about the melodic lines sung by Ivan and the streched syllables used as hooks ("help you flyyyy", "far behiiiiind"): sometimes I like it because hey that is supposed to be the catchiest part of the song, but sometimes I feel like it's annoying. In both cases, this isn't a song I can listen to twice in row, which is not a good sign, I mean I wouldn't skip it if it plays, but I wouldn't listen to it on my own. Two parts which I find meh: 1) the bridge that I think is useless, the lyrics are super boring there ("If I can fly, then you fly" :? ok!) and the melody isn't that appealing with the high notes and canon voices 2) the last note of the song, that I find kind of cheesy, I'm note sure why it bothers me exactly. I realize that I haven't much to say about that entry, overall it's fine and not badly constructed, the main weakness is that it doesn't go anywhere to me, Belarus had worse and better entries in the past, which makes it an average effort.
Voice: In studio and during his performances at parties, Ivan did a good job, it was pleasant to listen to and overall mastered vocally. However, I didn't have the same impression during the semi final, he didn't seem totally into it imo and some notes were rather meh in his lower register: I haven't been convinced at first listen tbh. It lacked energy in his intonations, even though it was objectively a more than decent performance.
Staging: So Belarus also jumped in the technology-driven train. First I thought I hadn't liked it because I already had seen too many visual tricks already in the first semi final, but no, unlike Iceland and Russia, I definitely think Belarusians opted for technology for the sake of it without having a solid concept behind it. Frankly, the visuals were a mess to me since they gathered elements that have very little connection to each other. A few months ago, Ivan stated he wanted to sing naked with wolves on stage, so he still succeeded in doing it through holograms (which was kind of thumbing their noses at the EBU by circumventing their rules
). As the holograms disappeared, Ivan appeared on stage and started singing the first verse. The backdrops were displaying wolves walking at night in a mountainous area... Well, apart from the fact I didn't get what did wolves have to do with the song, it reminded me of cheap artworks one may find at marketplaces :? Then wolves in holograms sat down next to Ivan while he was pretending to look at one of them. The backdrops turned red like a fancy view of outer space and holograms of Ivan himself playing drums and electric guitar appeared. After that, the dark blue floor began to crackle while human silhouettes were moving, the backdrops changed again to display neon light-like lines and what seemed to be a wolf's face. Back to the floor, it eventually collapsed entirely in small pieces (which was imo the best visual part). I'll skip the tons of following backdrops to get to the final hologram displaying a walking baby wearing a diaper... Honestly, I'm confused about all this, there are some cool-looking parts, some cheap ones and some truly useless ones only meant to wow viewers (imo) because it's technological magic. Overall, there were too many things going on as they put everything they could not to look boring... For me it is the contrary, it's too much and totally inconsistent. Ivan wore a white jacket, a shirt, close-fitting trousers and black shoes. I'm not sure how I feel about his aboriginal-looking white make-up. Apart from that, I resent him for not showing us his gorgeous hair: Ivan, you deserved minus points for that!Outcome: Belarus eventually failed to qualify as juries didn't think he was worth the final. I'm not surprised about their non-qualification tbh, I thought they might have a chance to get through due to visual gimmicks, but Iceland failed, so...
In my personal ranking, I guess "Help You Fly" is around 28th (out of 42) - in the meh category - nothing majorly wrong with it, but nothing that interesting either to me. I didn't miss that visual orgy in the grand final. Better luck next time Belarus! 