There was something about Alex Vorobyov’s ‘Get You’ that I really liked and I couldn’t put my finger on. I wasn’t a fan of the big opening, waily note as that was pretty painful to listen to, despite the fact he held it in key, and I could probably have done without it. It was catchy, probably down to production from mega-producer RedOne and I quite liked all the synchronized dancing and the light-up leather jackets. 12 Points on props if nothing else. Then I discovered why I quite liked it, but didn’t rate it in the upper echelons of 2011’s entries…

…because it’s a massive rip-off of Sirusho’s ‘Qele Qele.’ Alright, so Alex isn’t a woman. That I’ll except. ‘Get You’ is also a bit slower and doesn’t involve quite so much vocal gymnastics, but the song is a very close copy of Armenia’s earlier entry. The opening of the misleading waily note is the same and probably the standout steal, but the sudden lunge into a dance song and the repetition of the primary chorus also deserve honourable…or should that be dishonourable mentions. There might be a little more lyrical diversity to ‘Got You’ but it’s all in all a copy of ‘Qele Qele’, only 40% as good, which was why I quite liked it, but wasn’t overwhelmed by Alex in 2011.

There’s a lot of dubious things to Russian participation at Eurovision, but stealing from Sirusho must rank pretty heftily in their category of crime. Besides tempo and vocal similarities, Sirusho also had 3 backing dancers and cracking choreography. Imitation might be the sincerest form of flattery, but if I were Sirusho and it was my work being copied as heavy-handedly as Alex Vorobyov I’d have been insulted rather than flattered. I’m sincerely hoping they don’t decide to copy this year’s Armenian act…Dorians 2.0 might be too much to bear…

What do you all think? Is there absolutely no similarity? Is it more of a subtle hint toward ‘Qele Qele’ than a stunning steal? Comments below!

Angus Quinn contributed this report from the U.K. You can follow him on Twitter at @Angus_Quinn17. Then like our Facebook page to keep up-to-date with all the latest news and gossip.

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il pleut
il pleut
10 years ago

I can`t say there is any simiralites between these performances………..But I can say there`s similaites between Eric Saade and Alexsey Vorobyov`s presentations…………Even I mix them up…………

Vlad
Vlad
10 years ago

I didn’t notice similarities. I like both songs, but Alexey’s performance was damaged by the mid-song yelling at the audience and, from what I’ve heard, excessive alcohol consumption.

Diane
Diane
10 years ago

I think it’s an useless discussion

Alex
Alex
10 years ago

The slow intro kind of felt like a cheap addition, but not nearly as cheap as the intro to “I’m a Joker” felt. And yes, they are taking a page out of the book of Qele, Qele. However, apart from this little idea of a slow “ethno” introduction, that’s about as far as the similarities go between these two songs. I think it’s more interesting to say, as one of my friends suggested, that Only Teardrops has some striking similarities to Qele, Qele, at least in the chorus. The two songs are also both in the key of A minor,… Read more »

Marion
Marion
10 years ago

Padraig Jude, true !!!

Padraig Muldoon
Admin
10 years ago

Did Paradise Oskar copy Tom Dice? Did Cascasda copy Loreen? etc etc. There’s always questions of copying. With the number of entries every year there’s inevitably going to be a certain amount of similarities between songs. I don’t think any one country would purposely go out to “steal” a song…especially not one as bad as “Qele-qele”.

Charles
Charles
10 years ago

I liked none of those 2. I understand the comparasions but it’s all about that intro that I personally find unimpressive. I couldn’t care less for ethno-pop which has always sound so cheesy to my ears … more genuine ethnic music sounds way better if anyone bothers to listen. So if she returns with more of the same … boring. As for him …. terrible english as always, a terrible vocal tone resembling Magnus Carlsson’s vocals with a sort of Danny Saucedo looks and the song is just a generic dance pop song, nothing interesting nor impressive. But again …it… Read more »

Fikri
Fikri
10 years ago

btw, vrobyov is so gorgeous. ahhh.

Fikri
Fikri
10 years ago

like it or not, sirusho has started a trend of opening the song that way. i heard even russians don’t understand the introduction of vrobyov’s song in 2011. apparently it is sung in old russian or something. azerbaijan 2009 copied armenia too, by the way.

Aria
Aria
10 years ago

So did Georgia in 2012 do the whole ethno-opening which bursts into an upbeat track thing (albeit poorly). Does it mean it was plagarism? Of course not.

Qele Qele is an ethnopop song, Get You is dance. As for the lyrical content, I could sit here for hours listing other songs with such themes. The similarities are slim.

On another note, I’d also love to see Sirusho back in Eurovision!

Leon
Leon
10 years ago

I don’t see any similarities. Sirusho actually had two back up vocalists, both male and referring to another post that was published earlier, props to Sirusho for pulling Qele-Qele with solo female vocals (she did not heavily rely on the back up vocalists). I really want to see Sirusho back with another ethno-pop song and hopefully a performance that will resemble Pregomesh style. As for Alex, forgettable entry.

Alexander
Alexander
10 years ago

Sorry but the songs are not similar (besides the beginning). This is a very far-fetched comparison.

Jordan
Jordan
10 years ago

Whether Alex Vorobyov stole Sirusho’s song or not…. I’d still sit on his face.