Eurovision

Now that Norway’s win is official, and not just a strong prediction, I thought it’d be interesting to compare the performance to Raykoff and Tobin’s winning song formula.

Alexander Rybak, “Fairytale”

1. Fast pace and catchy rhythms

“Fairytale” is certainly an upbeat and catchy song. While I don’t think there’s a rhythmic hook, per se, there is certainly a melodic hook that Rybak plays on the fiddle.

2. Memorable and repetitive lyrics

The song has a chorus that is sung several times, which I think are the only real memorable and repetitive lyrics. After hearing the song just once I think I could sing along to the chorus, at least the first couple lines.

3. Harmonically and dynamically contrasting chorus

Musically, the verses and choruses aren’t drastically different from each other; however, dynamically they contrast. The chorus is much louder than the verses and much more dramatic.

4. Key change

Towards the end of the song, there is most definitely a key change.

5. Clearly defined finish

The song has a clearly defined finish; once Rybak finishes singing, he plays the little fiddle riff a few times while dancing around with the other dancers. Once the song ends, everyone freezes to emphasize the song has ended.

6. Appealing dance routine

Even when I was getting sick of hearing the song so much, the dancing still remained exciting–the dancers in this performance were certainly talented and entertaining.

7. Costumes

This performance didn’t have elaborate costumes like some of the other performances. Rybak matched the dancers and the backup singers were wearing identical dresses, but the outfits weren’t really that amazing.

Overall, “Fairytale” pretty much goes along with the song formula, though not as strongly as some other entries. For almost every point, it seemed like an argument could be made for how the song adhered to it, but not many were obvious points that the song had. I think if the contest had been solely based off of how closely entries could adhere to this formula, the winner might have been Moldova, whose performance I think more closely adhered to this formula. However, since that entry wasn’t in English and was much more based in folk music and dance, I don’t think it did as well. It’s noteworthy to mention that Rybak’s song was also had a folk music and dance influence, but the song was in English, so it was more accessible to a wider audience, plus the flashy dancing and fiddle playing added to the song’s appeal as well.

It is also interesting to compare the second place entry from Iceland to this formula–I think that performance followed even fewer of these points, as it was a slow ballad with hardly anything memorable, aside from the giant soaring dolphin in the video behind the performers.

Source:

Raykoff, Ivan, and Robert Deam Tobin. 2007. “Introduction.”A Song for Europe: Popular Music and Politics in the Eurovision Song Contest. Burlinton, VT: Ashgate. xix.

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