U.K. correspondent Deban Aderemi finds cohesion in Loreen’s official video for “Euphoria.” But post-Eurovision, he wonders what purpose it actually serves.
“Euphoria” the video sums up the proverbial calm after the storm.
Loreen’s victory at Eurovision 2012 was unanimous. She topped both the jury and televote scores in the final. The song’s success continued on the European music charts, including Germany, Switzerland and Greece, where it shot straight to the top. In Spain and the United Kingdom, where Eurovision tracks frequently struggle to gain traction, it managed to crack the top 3. It even appeared on the music charts in Australia and Canada, proving that Eurovision has pull outside of Europe. As of today Loreen has seen “Euphoria” go 5x platinum in her home country of Sweden. The song has done that on its own merits, not as a result of a massive p.r. push. Until July 5, there’s wasn’t even a music video for the song.
The song’s success is clear. What’s fuzzier is whether the video lives up to the song’s magic.
One thing I love about the video is that despite the vast amount of money poured into it, it remains in good taste, and seems to respect Loreen’s creative ethos. You don’t see any vulgarity going on in hot sands. Instead you encounter a beguiling Loreen in smoke and shadow effect, dancing alone in fields that play host to a variety of seasons.
Loreen remains faithful to her stage performance from Baku. Although, she loses her dancer in this video, her message isn’t lost. Loreen is as enigmatic as ever. Her movement works well with her surroundings, and her ‘look’ still melds geisha and druid. The costume is reminiscent of the Scottish Widows advert. Her hair responds to the elements. When it ‘s windy, it blows. When it rains, it soaks. What’s even more ingenious is that in the video, her movement through the fields is part of the musical composition. It can be heard throughout the video, giving it a dynamic audio output. If you mute the video, it makes sense. Add, some volume, it makes better sense. This is truly a work of art! (Even if my friends and colleagues on WiwiBloggs.Com disagree).
My strongest criticism is that this late in the game the video adds little value. Euphoria has had its peak in many of the music charts. I very much doubt that this video alone is strong enough to catapult the song to new heights. Others might argue that perhaps a different interpretation could have done the song some justice. However, I think that overall, this is a good move. Loreen’s PR team have retained the very essence of her image and message. The timing of this video hones the mystery of it all. This is a PR stunt re-defined.
I like the video, but hink it could have had a sunrise in it somewhere…
Well, the video is good, but not good enough for a song like “Euphoria”. I mean for 372 points it’s not worth it and I don’t see it’s point. Why to make a video to a song which already was televised on the music channels with the video being her performance, which was stunning!
I don’t like the video.
The video full Euphoric! WONDERFUL and BEAUTIFUL! Sometimes when you don’t understand something doesn’t means it’s meaningless, you’re just too stupid to understand that. From Hungary.(:
I don’t think the video is bad at all. It’s simple but effective. Euphoria is a powerful and great song and it doesn’t really need a flashy video. The video enhances the song, it fits the story.
You can’t start taking the song less seriously just because of the video.
Every powerful song has weak videos. Take Adele for instance. Powerful songs rely on the song, bad songs rely on the video.