Esma and Lozano couldn’t caterwaul their way out of the Eurovision 2013 semi-finals, but at least they now have one victory to be proud of. The duo from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia have won our poll for the withdrawn song you most wanted to see in Eurovision. “Imperija,” an ethnic club number, beat out four other withdrawn songs for the win.
The duo received 262 votes, or 37% of the total. Although it was withdrawn because of harsh criticism from musical “experts”, we here at wiwibloggs preferred it to “Pred da se razdeni,” and a former poll shows reflects that opinion.
In second place, with 182 votes (26%), is Alyona Lanskaya’s “Rhythm of Love.” It was originally selected in Belarus for the contest in Malmö. Lanskaya later replaced it with “Solayoh,” believing it would fare better. Given that it gave Belarus its second-best placing ever (later matched by Teo), we can’t complain too much (there’s still that whole homophobic dictatorship thing though). But would this have fared better? We will never know.
Missing out on second place by two votes is Lebanon’s sole attempt at the contest, the French-language “Quand Tout S’Enfuit,” sung by The Voice of France contestant Aline Lahoud. She received 180 votes, or 25%. She was the unfortunate victim of an early withdrawal, when Lebanon refused to broadcast Israel’s entry (Shiri Maimon’s “Hasheket shenish’ar,” which placed fourth) and was barred from the contest for three years.
Results
- Esma and Lozano’s Imperija: 262 votes (37%)
- Alyona Lanskaya’s Rhythm of Love: 182 votes (26%)
- Aline Lahoud’s Quand Tout S’Enfuit: 180 votes (25%)
- 3+2’s Far Away: 46 votes (6%)
- Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov’s Kismet: 41 votes (6%)
Both songs share a common problem: EMMA! None of the songs do suit her very traditional gypsy singing style at all. Many of you may love her presence for whatever reason, but technically speaking she does not fit this at all. Her live performance last year was the biggest disaster in Malmö … On the other hand, he is a stunning vocalist, poised and vocally capable … and he did a brilliant job singing his parts which sadly were the only good parts of that bizarre song. Having faith (one year later) on the previous song being better believing that… Read more »
@Charles: I don’t think anybody’s crying about it, geez. This is just a poll.
So much happened in ESC when it shouldn’t have … yet … this is what everyone is still crying about?
Imperija was very good song, and I don’t understend what was a problem 🙁 Belarus had good song also.
Well, I guess I’m the only person on this planet who absolutely LOVES Pred da se razdeni. I still listen to it and I still enjoy that song. I remember thinking “this is the best track, this is going to win”; but obviously nobody else liked it.
Alex, I don’t understand the experts either. The only difference between 2009 and 2014 in Macedonian Eurovision was that there was a national final, so the experts had less of a right to complain and couldn’t blast the network for it.
I liked “Pred da se razdeni” better as a song, but for live performance, it was just totally impractical. Esma didn’t seem to be able to hear herself over the beat, and it seems like she would have done just fine with Imperija by comparison. Also, the backup vocalists for FYR Macedonia that year performed awkwardly, and it seems that they were tasked with trying to cover for Esma’s shortcomings. If it weren’t for the ridiculous complaints about the song being about “empire” and the statue of Alexander the Great in the video, Macedonia may have actually made the final… Read more »