Change is gonna come and it has arrived in France. From the moment we first heard Alma’s “Requiem”, we knew that it was not the official Eurovision version of the song. The French team have been busy working on their revamp, teasing us yesterday with a snippet of the English language chorus.
Well that certainly isn’t the only change, as the official video has now been revealed. There’s some serious edits made to the song here — it’s almost unrecognisable in some parts!
Alma — “Requiem” (Eurovision Version)
The instrumentation has been seriously ramped up and brings the drama. The strings have been removed from parts of the song and implemented elsewhere, particularly after the second chorus.
We initially thought that the English section of the song would be limited to a couple of lines, that’s not the case. Both repetitions of the chorus are almost entirely in English bar the final sentence. Will this help Alma appeal to a wider audience?
Finally, the end of the song is almost completely different. This was something that was pointed out as a potential issue for Alma when performing live. The new version is very similar to the edit we saw when Alma performed in Ukraine. It certainly seems like this suits her better!
What do y’all think of the new version of “Requiem”? Do you think it’s an improvement or should France go back to what they had? Shout out all your thoughts in the wiwibloggs app, or let us know in the comments section below!
joli petit human hair weave https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koiFnDsfNPU, très migon, message très agile
Nö. Im Moment noch nicht. Ich teste Outlook.com erstmal in Ruhe.
Howdy just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you know a few of the pictures aren’t loading correctly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different browsers and both show the same outcome.
So many acts think they will reach a bigger audience by including English lyrics, but then don’t write English lyrics that make sense or can be pronounced properly by the singer. It makes the act sound fake. If you’re going to sing in English (not my preference, but anyway), get an English speaker to work with your songwriters. Otherwise it just sounds like gibberish – no message being transmitted at all, just English-like “sounds”.
@ azotman.
Merci pour ces propos qui nous réconfortent car on en prend ” plein la tête ” depuis le revamp de requiem. Perso j’adore et cela convient très bien à l’Eurovision.
NON le FN ne passera pas ( fight for our rights )
Bonsoir Kiev, Bonsoir l’Europe, Je voulais également réagir sur la nouvelle version et en profiter pour répondre à @Nihaodoud. 1. Chacun peut s’exprimer dans la langue qu’il désire, c’est juste que plus de gens s’expriment en anglais en général et que ce site est basé au Royaume-Uni. La langue Française est toujours utilisée en Europe bien que l’influence décroisse. 2. Les raisons liées à la modification de la version initiales sont obscures. Une des hypothèse est que la première version soit trop tôt commercialement en Septembre 2016 et risquait la disqualification… Pas sûr de cela, il va falloir chercher. Musicalement… Read more »
Wow. 🙂 @Nihaodoud: Merci beaucoup pour les mots! That’s a very interesting paradox indeed, and a point of view of the culture I had never really fully considered. I’m (mostly) from the UK, so naturally there is a lot of arrogance in our culture about using the English language in the rest of the world – I personally think that the British attitude is wrong. Si on peut parler une autre langue: “let’s do this!” 🙂 Also, I do not know about the rest of Europe, but France is seen to many in the UK as special. (We may not… Read more »
Bien, normalement je ne poste aucun commentaire mais là, certaines réactions sont telles que j’ai envie de m’exprimer ( en Français, puisque cela gêne énormément de monde qu’un Français s’exprime en anglais. Dans un premier temps, je trouve la nouvelle version beaucoup plus “française” justement car le côté dramatique renforce les paroles de la chanson et le violon vient accentuer cela . Les personnes qui portent un regard negatif en argumentant, je respecte car votre raisonnement est construit et chacun est libre de penser ce qu’il veut. Mais ce que je n’accepte pas, ce sont les critiques sur la délégation… Read more »
I think noone had destroyed an ESC song so badly possibly from Vesna’s in 2002. I feel very disappointed. I don’t understand the mania of singing in English. Each language has its own musicality, it’s not just about understanding or not the lyrics. And about the instrumentalization, the new version is much cheaper, with that awful drilling bass from the beginning. They should go back to the original.
France is so stubborn, they are so sure that they need an english chorus like Amir. No, this is not Amir. Its just different and needs 100% french.
Both versions are wonderful – I love them both. The new one suits the Eurovision format better, the light and shadow contrasts are heightened, and the bits of English open the door to a lot more of the audience. Very smart, and very well done.
I really want France, Italy or Portugal to win this year, with their beautiful songs in their own languages.
Oh dear, she just French toasted the song eek! the melody on the 1st version was better. The darker approach on this revamp made the song less appealing to my ears even though I understand that she intended to convey the ‘requiem’ meaning more but still this version is like an entirely different song altogether. Alma it is not too late to re-submit the original 🙁
Good song became ugly. Yack. She was my true favourite. Now I wish her last place. It shows Alma is not an artist if she decided to go for such a crappy mess. Language, drums, all these complex add-ons ruined it
i hate it.
Well, this took me by surprise. The song has changed significantly.
I will say the English lyrics sound rushed & a little difficult to understand.
It would be better if I had never heard the original version because I love it. It was my second favourite song so far. I will give the new version a chance though.
I think the first version would have been ok with English lyrics (although English doesn’t sound good fast, so perhaps in a different part of the song). To me this version is too French, which is why the lyrics sound wrong! The original was more modern. Please choose the original.
They deleted everything that made this song special. I love that France pop sound it had. Now it’s just a Euro-Pop song. It was in my top 5… I still do like it, but it’s not as strong as before.
It`s very bad decision. French version is royal but new version is so cheap… France, what did you do?
If you are wandering how is it possible to destroy a really good song and reduce it to s**t.. well now you have the answer!!!
I really believed in this song and in the fact that France can do a good Eurovision year again… sad 🙁
Soooooo good. Stop nitpicking folks. The audio quality is also much better than in the original – the odd artifacts from clipping have been smoothed out. France is in my top 5 for sure.
@chessguy99 has a point–the mixing in the chorus is pretty bad. It sounds muffled, and that’s what kind lets down the song as a whole. I’m hoping this was a rush job and that they submit a proper mix for the CD. I think we’re overreacting–we knew it wasn’t gonna be the final when the radio edit was released, and I actually think this is more Eurovision ready than the original was. The Radio Edit was just that: a super radio-friendly song. I believe the Wiwibloggs staff also said it works as a 3″ song, but there wasn’t a real… Read more »
As Bruno @ Geeky Explorer said: “This attempt competely destroyed the essence and authenticity of the song.” That is exactly how I feel! Even if it still will be the favourite in ESC, I will not have this version in my playlist. For me it is a mystery that it has been done. When the song was initially produced, they definitely understood that the essence of the song was elegance, lightness, beauty, novel culture and the French language; the perfect language for the poetic and philosophical text. The video with the dancers and the picturesque views of Paris was selected… Read more »
Reading back through the earlier comments, I think @chessguy99 makes an interesting point about the mixing. Perhaps that’s why the chorus sounds so awkward?
I’m not convinced on the English section. It doesn’t feel like a good fit for that section of music. Perhaps it’s because I’ve fallen so much in love with the studio version (which sounds so painfully French that I *love* it) that this version feels weird to me. I’ll sleep on it a day or two before making up my mind on re-ranking this one.
They seriously f*cked the whole thing up! I loved this song and even thought it to be the best this year. Now I’m not so sure. It’s become messy and that English sounds artificial. It’s hardly comprehensible. Leave out the English and frankly return to the original song!!
It was my favorite, but not anymore. This attempt completely destroyed the essence and authenticity of the song.
Arrangement improved but I wonder if a requiem goes together well with drums.
Alma should sing entirely in French as her English is hardly understandable, it’s just annoying.
Completely ruined. Just like Perralle last year.
NO! NO! NO! NO!
Why Mr Edoardo Grassi? WHY?
French broadcaster doesn’t want to win, that’s why they ruined the song.
Bye bye Alma, Bye bye France.
Well, I still prefer the original version by far. But I doubt Alma was ever gonna truly be able to deliver it live. The new instrumentation might be a safeguard against her unreliable vocals. The English needs to go, though. It sounds too forced.
What a shame. “How not to do a revamp” has been given a new prime example. The ending is possibly an improvement, but everything else is… a real shame.
Not good at all…So far israel is the best
New lyrics for the Chorus extension are:
Will you take me to paradise?
With you nothing ever dies,
You take my smile and make it bright,
before the night erases the light,
I won’t go below silver skies
The only dark is in your eyes,
On pleure mais on survit quand même,
C’est la beauté du Requiem
In addition to my previous comment, in the first verse @0:15, she keeps the “Ce que tu crois être la mort” as it was in the original full french version.
The change is only at the second verse @1:11
This is much more accessible to an wider audience, I like it as much as the original. It translates very well. I can see Alma performing this version very well on stage. I am predicting a high score in May.
I thought the objective of English lyrics was to make the message go through to more people, but to be honest I’m not even sure I understand what she’s saying (and French is my mothertongue):
Will you take me to paradise
“Would you nothing ever dies” (??)
You take my smile and make it bright
“Before the matter hit the light” (??)
“I want a billion silver skies” (??)
This is gibberish… Boo France! 🙁
There is also a change in the french part of the new lyrics. One word, but quite important.
@1:11 in the new ESC version, she now says “Ce que tu crois être l’amour” (english : What you believe to be love)
In the original french version, @1:06 she was saying “Ce que tu crois être la mort’ (english : What you believe to be death)
It sounds almost the same in french but the meaning is very different.
@Denis – Amir’s song was written in English/French combo. When it was created, it was imagined to be that way. Similar situation is with Croatian song this year. However, when songs get translated, the meaning often gets bit (or a lot in some cases) changed and interweaving of languages doesn’t come as organic most of the time. I cannot remember the last time someone translated (parts of the) song in English and it was still equally good. The only examples coming to mind are Greta Salome’s ”Hear them Calling” and ”Never Forget”, and it turns out both was originally written… Read more »
The revamp itself sounds good, but the English lyrics really destroyed everything. I have no idea how they could listen to such a disaster and greenlight it… 🙁
Listening to the new version is like listening to an old Ace Of Base song 😛 i prefered the old version…
I really like it. It’s quite original and I like the whole Oriental feeling to it.
And I don’t get the fuss over the English. Amir used English too, no one complained.
Love the instrumentation, particularly strings at the end.
Hate the English lyrics.
My first reaction: NO, NO and NO! Why did you do this too such an original song? The part I thought it would bother me didn’t do that at all! (the English lyrics) It fits really well the song! Like it! But I can’t deny I preferred it entirely in French! The thing that bothers me now is the instrumentation. The music is more solid and monotonous, it’s not as fresh as it was before! Apart from that, the very last part of the song (I mean the last 3sec) was way better than it is now. However, I have… Read more »
I wasn’t a big fan of the song in the first place but I did prefer the all French version The English parts ruin it for me This could have been a top 10 but I think it will be a mid-table finish at best
Terrible job of remixing in the revamped chorus. They really should have just recorded a new version from scratch. I’ll reserve my final verdict until I hear her do this at a pre-party. Seems fine if you disregard the lousy mixing job the producer did on the chorus.
Boo on France for not listening to the fans. We asked her to keep it in French, not this “version bilingue”. C’est dommage! Big drop in my ranking! 🙁
Not as good, but still tres bien! Also, the English lyrics are still better than those of Spain, Malta, Azerbaijan, Israel, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Cyprus, Greece…
Serbia’s song is here: https://youtu.be/UMvqfykkMYU
It probably won’t matter in Kyiv, but I can’t help comparing it to the original version and feel like a revamp was wholly unnecessary. I like the ending better now, but the instrumentation is just too much and the English is just dreadful and out of place. I could live with it if it was just one chorus, but this is too much.
The song isn’t completely ruined of course, but it’s slipped a few places down my top.
Why there’s no article about Czech Republic’s new video clip? 😐
Btw. the new version of Requiem is meh for me.. It’s now my 11th.