Time for me to review this year's Hungarian entry
Freddie - Pioneer
Status: ok-ish
Song: Personally, I think Hungary is one of the countries that clearly deserve to win Eurovision in the following years because they've sent quality songs with interesting arrangements quite constantly. Like Eesti Laul, their NF is totally on another level quality-wise compared with most entry selection shows imo. Since I started watching the contest in 2009, I loved two of their recent efforts (2012, 2014) and liked another one (2011); I've never been fond of "Kvedesem" (2013) but objectively recognised it was an interesting song (and Hungarian is bomb
); and tbh "Wars For Nothing" and "Dance With Me" were very decent too (even if the staging was horrendous for the latter). Overall, I've never been disappointed by Hungary - their propositions might not always be my cup of tea - but they know what musicality and originality means, they don't send the same thing year after year either - which is nice - and I believe they'll slay Europe soon.
This year, they chose to send "Pioneer", a mid-tempo electro-pop effort about self-esteem and empowerment: it says not to be afraid of being who we are and follow our own paths in a world that - due to religion, societal pressure and thirst for power or fame - leaves very little space to individuals who don't fit the mould. Therefore, making peace with one's own personality and aspirations is the only way to go. Even though the subject matter is quite common in Eurovision, I like how most of the lyrics were written, if someone out there has a doubt about what to become in life, I think this is a rather convincing text. On the musical aspect, the song starts off with a short introduction made of one single repeated piano chord and what sounds like an electric guitar riff (I might be wrong though). Then Freddie starts singing with a proper piano accompaniment (with some slight reverb), a clear, heavy and busy beat appears during the second part of the first verse, giving the build-up more depth and groove imo. The pre-chorus takes us back to piano only with an unexpected whistle/bell melodic line in between the two phrasings. While I do think that detail gives the song more originality, I've never been fond of whistling in music, whether it be in Eurovision (Anggun and Sebalter come to my mind) or in real life, so I can stand it because it's short there, still it's not an arrangement I like. The chorus comes with a different heavy beat, an "irritated" electronic light drum, and backing vocalists who help support the main melodic lines and are responsible for the vocal hook used twice (which is a simple wordless "oh-oh" pattern), some bell sounds can also be heard after the hook. While the chorus is indeed quite powerful and energetic, I feel like it fails to be totally catchy and it tends to get repetitive quickly since each chorus is composed of two melodic lines that are exactly the same. The second chorus has the same instrumentation as the first one (it should be noted that slight vocal variations were performed though). I also have mixed feelings about the bridge, I mean it quickens the pace and tries to develop into something bigger, yet I'm not feeling it: the melody is ok but the instrumentation doesn't stand out enough from the first two minutes, heavy beats are nice but I guess they annihilated any potential for impact the bridge was supposed to have. The transition to the last chorus is executed by a long high note from Freddie, followed by some ad-libs. The song ends on a slower and quieter note with two low-register "you should know", accompanied by a piano and a couple of bell sounds. Overall, I find the song perfectly acceptable and enjoyable. Actually, I thought it had a chance to be top ten (or even win) because it's a well-crafted pop song with distinctive mood and slightly unexpected arrangements, but I changed my mind since then. Unlike LesterMalvo's comment right above mine (who said it was a grower), it has been a fader for me as it went from "great" to "just ok". I don't mean the song is bad of anything - I do enjoy it when playing it - but some parts could have been improved imo (the repetitive chorus, the weak bridge) and overall, I feel like it lacks something (I don't know what) to be truly great. I compared that effort to "Running" - mainly for the slow verse/quick chorus arrangements - but I think their 2014 entry was way stronger actually.
Voice: Honestly, when I saw Freddie's looks (he's a fine-looking man, that's for sure), I was expecting him to meow a la Tom Dice and God knows how much I hate that kind of "pretty face/kitten's voice" male singer. Thankfully, I was wrong because Freddie has a deep hoarse voice with character - which is totally right up my alley - he could do wonders with it tbh, I hope he's aware of that. Actually, I think he was better than his song (which is a shame), a big part of the appeal also came from his voice and it's sad the composition didn't do him justice. A stripped-down song like "Kuula" (maybe slightly faster-paced) would have been the perfect means to flatter his gift imo. Anyway, he sang very well live to me, he might not have been comfortable with every note, but his tone made up for the flaws. By the way, I prefer his live vocals over the studio version, the song somehow comes to life.
Staging: Hungary went for a simple staging not to distract viewers from the song I guess. The performance started off by black backdrops and red lights enabling us to see all the people on stage: Freddie was standing at the center of the stage, three backing vocalists with microphone stands were on his left-hand side and a fake drummer was on his right-hand side. As Freddie began to sing, he moved forward while the drummer pretended to beat his instrument. The pool of lights turned red while the LED floor displayed an orangy brown pattern resembling cracked arid land whose white cracks were flickering to the beat of the verse: a peculiar choice that filled and decorated the stage quite nicely imo. During the chorus, the backdrops showed what seemed to be a black and red stormy sky lit up by lightning. The choreography performed by the backing vocalists was both funny and cute to me
I guess the performance would have looked too static otherwise since they were an essential part of the song. I don't mind the drummer, he wasn't very usesul - apart from the little dance he did during the second verse - but I believe he was considered as needed visual addition/gimmick. White flickering lights were used during the bridge to emphasize the beat and a dark red tornado (?) encircled Freddie. The performance ended with falling leaves (?) in the background. Overall, the visual work was pleasant to the eye for me (with interesting colour pairs: red and black, orange and white) and not "intrusive" or distracting, we were not overwhelmed by images and lights, even the camera work was rather "calm". It didn't need more tbh. Freddie wore a pendant, ripped jeans and a long asymmetrical white shirt. Some people really disliked his shirt and were like: "get proper clothes man", personally I've been dying to find something like that for myself
(Freddie, if you read me, I can give you my e-mail address for shipping information
talk to you soon!) I liked his casual outfit (even though I'm not fond of ripped trousers... makes me want to rip them off
). The backing vocalists were wearing black shirts and orangy-brown trousers, while the shirtless drummer had large brown Japanese trousers and a long matching piece of fabric on his right-hand shoulder tied thanks to a strip on his chest. Well, it was fancy and nice to watch when he performed his dance routine.
Outcome: Hungary qualified for the final and placed 19th out of 26 countries. Juries ranked Freddie 18th while viewers ranked him 14th. Actually, I would have seen him somewhere between those two scores, probably 16th, but 19th is a bit too low imo. It wasn't a bad effort at all to me, I just believe the song lacked something to be really solid. Freddie was great though, he did his best and his voice was an A+ for me (one of the best male voices this year). In my personal ranking, "Pioneer" is placed 23rd out of 42, it's frustrating, I wish I liked it more but due to the aforementioned reasons, I can't. Hungary, I see you!
I believe in you guys, you've sent so many wonderful contributions to the contest already that I'm confident about next year, you're definitely in my "countries to win soon" shortlist, your time will come
Please keep trying.
