Slovenia: Ula Lozar and Her Mentors Cover Rise Like A Phoenix

Yes, I get it. Since May, we’ve heard at least a trillion covers of this year’s winning song “Rise Like a Phoenix”— from Federica Falzon to Farid Mammadov and everyone on every edition of X Factor. You probably don’t want to hear another artist wail “I’m gonna fly” one more time. But I have something to say: y’all, you have GOT to check out this cover from Ula Lozar!

Slovenia’s JESC 2014 singer and her mentors Marjetka and Raay (known collectively as Maraaya), have produced a music video covering the Queen of Europe. In an exclusive interview, which we’ll be publishing imminently, she tells us about the experience: “[Marjetka and Raay] are both idols to me. Not everybody gets a chance to sing with their teacher!”

So what is so great about their cover? They did not force themselves to become Shirley Bassey and adapt their voice to the song, but rather adapted the song to fit their voices. As both Marjetka and Ula are blues singers, they added more piano and nixed the horns. The harmonies are golden soundwaves, and the addition of strings really made their adaption their own, rather than a cheap copy.

Ula Lozar will represent Slovenia next month at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest with her bluesy ballad “Nisi sam (Your Light)“.