Croatia CROATIA 2021 - Albina - Tick-Tock

[escYOUnited]

Tried to fix the broken pieces, now I'm leaving
But you made it loud and clear I’m not enough
Tried to fool me more than once to keep me dreaming
'Cause you knew the truth would tear us apart

If you pull me down then I'll come around
And rise up to come show you who I am
I feel fire inside, my heart’s desire
I'm breaking free from you

Tick-tock, watch the days go
I'm losing track of time
Lost in your playzone
Don't overcomplicate
Now we're in warzone
You're screaming, "Oh no, oh no, oh no"

Tick-tock, I'll take you dancing
In time wе might break
You think you're fancy
I play those gamеs my way and you’ll be beggin’
"Please baby, don't go, don’t go, don't go"

I hear those voices from far away
They help me to escape (Escape)
I found myself and I'm finally free from
Your bad love in every strength

Tick-tock, watch the days go
I'm losing track of time
Lost in your playzone
Don’t overcomplicate
Now we're in warzone
You're screaming, "Oh no, oh no, oh no"

Dancin', dancin'
Think you, think you fancy
Tick-tock
Don't go, don't go, don't go

I hear those voices from far away
They help me to escape (Escape)
I found myself and I'm finally free from
Your bad love in every strength

Tick-tock, vrijeme curi, gdje si više
Usne grizem, sama jedva dišem
Tick-tock vrijeme juri ne mogu više
Oh no, oh no

Tick-tock, I'll take you dancing
In time we might break
You think you're fancy
I play those games my way and you'll be beggin'
"Please baby, don't go, don't go, don't go"

Dancin', dancin'
Think you, think you fancy
Tick-tock
Don't go, don't go, don't go​

 

[Iker]

I heard about this, can't stand her. It's one thing to say "I don't like this song and I'm not sure if it will manage to qualify", but completely another to say I DON'T WANT this to qualify. Like...I rarely curse and avoid it but...gtfo. That's all I can say. After this, I gave her a second chance and watched her video for Poland and she said "oh, ok. This might actually qualify. Is semi 2 getting competitive, guys?". That was the only thing she said in that whole video. Can that even be called a reaction? That's some time wasted that I'll never be able to get back.

Watch this instead. I like this guy because his reactions are not over the top, he stays respectful even when he doesn't like a song. And most of all - he knows what he's talking about.

I know this guy too but this only his 2nd video that I am watching so I will refrain from giving my judgement.

 

[pardoESC]

Song meh ... like that. There is nothing interesting about it

 

[Yazy]

Never really cared about Alesia.....or majority of the reactor community to be honest.

Regardless if they like our entry or not. Plenty of them liking "Tick Tock" and I´m still like: "What a boring reaction video".

About Alesia: Her preferring other entries more is nothing for me to personally lose sleep over.

Seen some of her reactions here and there. Wasn´t very amused.

I´m like:
"Lets hear if she has anything interesting to say this time around.............."

Alesia: "Ooh and I like her styling........."

Me: "Yep! Here we go again. The styling this, the styling that, yadi yada..........bye bye!

*clicks off video*

 

[Ana Raquel]

increased to

 

[Iker]

Never really cared about Alesia.....or majority of the reactor community to be honest.

Regardless if they like our entry or not. Plenty of them liking "Tick Tock" and I´m still like: "What a boring reaction video".

About Alesia: Her preferring other entries more is nothing for me to personally lose sleep over.

Seen some of her reactions here and there. Wasn´t very amused.

I´m like:
"Lets hear if she has anything interesting to say this time around.............."

Alesia: "Ooh and I like her styling........."

Me: "Yep! Here we go again. The styling this, the styling that, yadi yada..........bye bye!

*clicks off video*

I watch her videos because she's more in the know than I am especially soon before the contest starts (dress rehearsals etc.). I hate her obnoxious singing intro, and I nearly always skip that 1st self-promoting minute.

 

[Mimmon]

Never really cared about Alesia.....or majority of the reactor community to be honest.

Regardless if they like our entry or not. Plenty of them liking "Tick Tock" and I´m still like: "What a boring reaction video".

About Alesia: Her preferring other entries more is nothing for me to personally lose sleep over.

Seen some of her reactions here and there. Wasn´t very amused.

I´m like:
"Lets hear if she has anything interesting to say this time around.............."

Alesia: "Ooh and I like her styling........."

Me: "Yep! Here we go again. The styling this, the styling that, yadi yada..........bye bye!

*clicks off video*

Mine reactions of her reacting
At least im not alone in that

I prefer Toy and Goy than someone that very irevellant that prentending to be someone that we must take them serious...

 

[Euterpa]

I felt brave and went to watch her full reaction. It wasn't as bad as I had thought. It seems that she liked the song, but thought it needs some improvements here and there for the ESC performance (which is nothing new, even Albina said that she's aware she needs to improve some stuff). Alesia said Croatia isn't in "her Grand Final" because it's a death semi and there will be other songs that she'll want to see in the GF more than Croatia. If I understood well though, this was before we knew what those other, usually stronger countries, are going to send. She seems very disappointed with Sweden so maybe she's changing her mind about Croatia. xD

Now...I checked some of her other videos and based on them plus this Croatia reaction - she seems to be the type that puts "different" songs high in her ranking just because they're different. Croatia is not giving her that so she's not too excited about it. But I'm not like that. I don't think a "different" song should get a looot of bonus points and rank higher than most pop songs just because it's not pop. I expect more than that. I love when we have different genres in Eurovision and I appreciate when an artist tries something new but come on, it still has to be good.

I do feel that most pop songs tend to be way overanalysed in reactions...reactors are talking about the aspects of songs that NO ONE is going to think about in May when watching the show. They are watching/listening to the song, they are enjoying it and say they like it, say some first impressions and then...then they start overthinking it, talking about every single detail for 10 to 20 minutes. Ain't nobody got time for that. Most people in May will only have time for a quick conclusion if they like it or not. Their first reaction will be their only reaction, their first impression will be their only impression.

That being said, most reactors danced while watching Tick-Tock performance, sang "don't gooo, don't gooo" with Albina, sang the melody after watching it all for the first time. That just says the song is achieving what it wants to achieve. It makes people dance, it's catchy, it's memorable. There's a huge audience expecting exactly that kind of songs. It doesn't have to be "different" to succeed.

 

[Jopi]

Even tho I'm not fond of Tick-Tock, jesus Alesia is so subjective it's actually hilarious. It is not the semi of death for God sake and Albina actually has some chances to qualify.

 

[Euterpa]

Some people were saying that Albina appears to be almost lip-synching some parts of the song, that she can't be heard. I was disagreeing, as I was hearing her voice at all times. My opinion was that it only appears to people as lip-synching because her voice matches the background vocals perfectly. This happened to me once while singing in a local theatre, I was definitely singing but the backing voice and mine just blended into one.

So now I'm watching this interview and yeah, I was right. She said in this interview that there are no other backing vocalists in the song except Albina herself. So the voices match and that makes harder for some people to separate the main vocal from the backing, recorded one.

This also means that Albina will have no backing vocalists on the stage with her.

 

[crashworld]

Now that all songs have been released (except Belarus, but I doubt I will like the artist's song to make a huge change).
I am re-evaluating all songs as per studio form and re-looking into my grading system and how I have ranked the songs according to my personal preference.

Croatia is currently sitting at my no. 3 spot in my personal ranking. So I am upgrading the rating to an .

 

[Ianp16]

Does anyone get irritated by the "Oh no, oh no, oh nooooooooooo!" bits in this song? Something tells me I should love it but it's just a bit "Oh no-ey" to me.

 

[mauve]

Does anyone get irritated by the "Oh no, oh no, oh nooooooooooo!" bits in this song? Something tells me I should love it but it's just a bit "Oh no-ey" to me.

These are actually the parts I like most! That shows how strange I am.

 

[crashworld]

Some people were saying that Albina appears to be almost lip-synching some parts of the song, that she can't be heard. I was disagreeing, as I was hearing her voice at all times. My opinion was that it only appears to people as lip-synching because her voice matches the background vocals perfectly. This happened to me once while singing in a local theatre, I was definitely singing but the backing voice and mine just blended into one.

So now I'm watching this interview and yeah, I was right. She said in this interview that there are no other backing vocalists in the song except Albina herself. So the voices match and that makes harder for some people to separate the main vocal from the backing, recorded one.

This also means that Albina will have no backing vocalists on the stage with her.

I supposed the new rules of using pre-recorded backing vocal track would mean the main artist can also do the job as the backing vocalist instead of someone else and have it pre-recorded? Something similar to what Sweden is doing.

I believe she may have deliberately lower down her volume during the parts with the pre-recorded backing vocals instead of singing over it normally as it may sound weird as it's not mixed properly.

 

[Euterpa]

I supposed the new rules of using pre-recorded backing vocal track would mean the main artist can also do the job as the backing vocalist instead of someone else and have it pre-recorded? Something similar to what Sweden is doing.

I believe she may have deliberately lower down her volume during the parts with the pre-recorded backing vocals instead of singing over it normally as it may sound weird as it's not mixed properly.

Yeah, she can be her own backing vocalist because of the new rules.

If I remember well, some artists were complaining in Dora that the background music was a bit too loud. Sometimes I wonder if the songs in Dora suffer due to the conditions they have. Would those same songs sound a lot better in Melfest, with their production? I have hope that it will all be better in Rotterdam.

 

[Jopi]

Does anyone get irritated by the "Oh no, oh no, oh nooooooooooo!" bits in this song? Something tells me I should love it but it's just a bit "Oh no-ey" to me.

Me! That is the worst part of the song for me lol

 

[Ana Raquel]

Jazzy queen!

 

[MrLordi]

Hah, imo this is some deep shit that shouldn't be seen in Eurovision

 

[Brutalero]

Hah, imo this is some deep shit that shouldn't be seen in Eurovision

What is?

 

[lasse braun]

we have a lot songs like this this year!
well produced but nothing new.
the video is ok but the live croatian contest appearance a few weeks ago was not my cup of tea.
the jurys get some hard work with that 6-8 very similar songs.

 

[Euterpa]

Ok, this is amazing. I just love LOVE how Albina does something different each time she appears. She is appearing a lot, but always brings us something new.

I have to say, I have high hopes for her. I'm noticing she is improving vocally with each performance and she really feels at home while she's on the stage. She is growing as an artist and a performer and her future really seems bright at this point. I am actually so happy because Croatia has an old (school) generation of artists and new faces in talent shows failed to use the exposure they had to their advantage. I'm so happy Albina is making it. She used her talent show popularity, managed to quickly gather a team who believes in her around herself and publish songs while the public is still interested in what she does. Not only that, she is fuelling this interest with interviews, interesting performances - always adding a little twist to them, not repeating herself (like Roko did for example), etc. She's doing things the right way.

Also, if she achieves a great result in May, I see it as a game changer for Croatia. Dora has already changed its direction to more modern sound, HRT is making humble but safe steps towards giving us a better Dora each year. Albina's success might encourage our audience to choose upbeat, more modern sounds more often and Croatia just might bring back its old Eurovision shine. Fingers crossed!

EDIT:
Dora has just been confirmed for another three years, with Opatija as its hosting town.