Since 2008 North Macedonia — that’s the former Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia — has only managed to qualify for the grand final ONCE. It’s among the most abysmal records in the entire contest. But hopes were buoyed with the news that fan favourite and regional superstar Tamara Todevska would return to the contest. Can she finally get the country back to the Saturday night show?
That’s exactly what we wanted to know when we sat down to film our North Macedonia reaction video. Did Tamara’s classic melody tug on our heart strings? Did the power of her voice unleash a tsunami of sound that took our breath away? You’ll have to watch to find out.
What’s been the reaction to Tamara Todevska’s “Proud”?
Our readers had plenty to say about Tamara’s song on our original news post about her song reveal.
Writing in the comments section, esc stan was clearly vibing with her song.
“That’s how you do a classy ballad with a strong message, Jacques [Houdek] is quaking in his NQ jet,” he says. “I really love this, guys it gets better after each listen! Tamara and the whole Macedonian team should be very proud and I wish them good luck in May! <3”
Mirko suggested that the song has an authenticity that would make even bookies’ favourite Duncan Laurence quiver. “I really love it, is a beautiful modern ballad but with ethnic vibes. This is original and so unique; listening to it you understand where it came from. Compared to the Dutch one, I think that North Macedonia has a personal background which is a good point.”
How does “Proud” stack up against other songs about empowerment? KYLLITO weighs in. “This song has a lot of emotion and it feels very genuine. Of the two female empowerment songs, I much prefer North Macedonia’s than Germany’s. This will easily be in my personal top ten maybe even my top five.”
M_K doesn’t seem to think that it lives up to its initial promise. “The song starts off nicely but it gets quite dreary after a minute or so. The chorus seems over-dramatic. It’s supposed to be an empowering song (I guess) but I suppose it’s quite hard to empower people through agitated melancholia. It’s like ‘Toy’ on Xanax. Oh, and btw, I can already smell accusations of plagiarism in the air because the repeated line “Tell them” sounds vaguely like the hook line of the Streisand/Dion cheese fest ‘Tell Him’.”
Lourdes heard Barbara too. “That’s exactly what it reminded me of, and I spent the rest of the song playing ‘Tell him’ in my mind, when the chorus would start. I don’t know if it was an inspiration or they just didn’t notice it. It’s a huge let down for me when a song vividly reminds me of another one (the same with Estonia, where the start of the chorus is the same as ‘One Last Time’ from Ariana Grande).”
Did Eurovision need another song to give people strength? Ned is skeptical. “Ah, another cliché message as boring 90’s ballad. Still waiting for a song about left-handed people. No one talk about us. Such a discrimination.”
What was your first reaction to North Macedonia’s Eurovision song? Did it light your fire? Are you in tears? Let us know down below!
Until Eurovision starts calling my country by its proper name – Republic of Macedonia – I am not watching Eurovision. Good luck Iceland, North must be referring to you and greetings from the Republic of Macedonia, which is in southern Europe. Europe failed badly geography.
Should I feel empowered? I feel depressed and annoyed by that screaming. It has chance to be in final tho (with jury votes), nice classic melody at the begining of the song.
i am sure Greece will give 12 points to Cyprus this year, but 10 to North Macedonia. And they won’t be afraid to raise their voice and tell it.
Both televotes regularly exchange some points when they happen to be in the same semi, like last year. It’s only a text message, not a foreign policy statement. There is no Armenia-Azerbaijan levels of hatred among the two countries, only among some circles (and individual jury members, if you dare to look closely). With the nomenclature now sorted these two will be able to communicate and come closer, so it’s important to stick with it. People in third countries should make an effort to support this instead of recklessly still saying ‘Macedonia’, William and Deban I’m talking about you too.… Read more »
There’s a several memorable number of downvoting in the comment section regarding positive comments (or even any random comments) made about North Macedonia’s entry. It looked like it’s unsolvable–shame, because I love Duska’s entry and this particular person(s) kept doing this for the Macedonian articles.
It is not just against North Macedonian entries. Wiwibloggs has enemies, it seems.
Good question.
ESC fan here. 🙂
Wiwibloggs follower since 2013. (Y’all)
Great video. Shame Will took the white male privilege route of refusing even to look at images of female empowerment.
I don’t know where you’re from but in eastern, southeastern and central europe only live white people. Our minorities are nationalities not skin colour, that’s why white privilege doesn’t exist here. Southeastern woman here. Chill
Where are all the downvotes coming from? We’re calling it North Macedonia now, what else do you want?
Adam Lambert? 😛
https://youtu.be/X1Fqn9du7xo
BRAVO TAMARA!!!
I see some jealous people downvoting.
Still have my hopes for NM this year, the stage direction was said to be ‘conceptual’, they had Alexander Noshpal for styling–so expect either a dramatic styling or interpretive dancers. They would also have two Swedish people to work out as staging director. I’m kind of unsure if it would work, but we’ll see.
actually the short sign is not NM but MK. Please remember only to the name is added North so it is North Macedonia, everything else is Macedonian as a language, person, song, singer. the codes are MKD, MK… If you are talking about North Macedonia but you want to use a sign, u use MK, example “Tamara Todevska – Proud – North Macedonia MK – Official Music Video – Eurovision 2019” as in the title of the official video
Okay, Phillip, we get it.
considering you haven’t corrected your mistake, i wouldn’t agree you got it.. it’s more like i don’t give a f
No, actually, it’s more like: Why is this pedantic point worth downvotes? Seriously: Do you actually support Wiwibloggs and the Eurovision fandom, or did you come on here just to bring it all down?
Yes, people make mistakes. You can easily and politely correct them without questioning their motives, or downvoting them. So do it.
Purely musically speaking, this is probably the best song this year. It isn’t very original, and the lyrics are slightly cringey, but there’s a little classical, a bit of jazz, a little Broadway in there… I like it.
I think this will be the surprise qualifier of this year
Does anyone else thinks that this song has the same flow as Eurovision 2015 – Greece – One Last Breath! And before anyone even considers to make a comment on this “No this has nothing to do with Macedonia having a new name” and “me” somehow mentioning Greece! Just listen to both songs few times and then make your assessment!
I just watched the Wiwi reaction video to this one. The music is indeed very powerful, and I can see both sides of the argument on whether or not to “brand” the song with the empowerment message or alternatively just have Tamara sell it on her own. I am still getting a disconnect between the lamenting music and the uplifting lyrics. But, William might be right – with Tamara on her own, this could end up being the surprise top classical entry of the year. Realistically it shouldn’t outscore Russia in that genre, but I would be humbled if it… Read more »
Stunning song.
It would be getting a lot more attention if it didn’t have North Macedonia above it. 😉
so true, if it was a swedish entry, everyone would say it is a winner.. but since it is macedonian.. hmm.. maybe because in the past we were disappointed by North Macedonia even though our expectations were high, they didn’t deliver.. so now we are chilled.. thinking, at the end they probably wouldn’t achieve anyhow, so why even bother cheering
Actually, this is a ‘North Macedonian’ entry. Anything that belongs, is funded, or represents the state of North Macedonia is ‘North Macedonian’. The adjective ‘Macedonian’ is still valid as a marker for nationality or language, so you can often play with words and get away with it, but alas the song is in English so there are no legal or cultural grounds for it to be called ‘Macedonian’.
What are you talking about? Last year sweden was 4th to last in televote, people obviously didn’t like it. Stop using excuses that makes no sense
Here’s a question: did the Eurovision site just release the semi running order? Checking the two semis, there isn’t any kind of specific order to the way the songs are listed besides noting which half they’re in, but they’re not sorted alphabetically or anything. If so, it looks like Slovenia is going to open semi one with Belgium closing, and Switzerland is going to open semi two with Azerbaijan closing (the fateful second spot for each, at the moment, is respectively Belarus and – gasp! – Sweden). Again, this could all be totally random, but I dunno.
I highly doubt it, cause it seems just so… random. Why would you open a semi-final with a slow quiet song, and put an upbeat number in the second spot? What seems more interesting to me is the English title of Georgian song – are they doing the same thing as last year?
Slovenia is ambient, but not slow. This would look like SF1-13 with Austria opening and Lithuania second.
Being in English would definitely make that song at least a hint more appealing to the folks at home. A little closer to Higher Ground, or something like that, but it’s not hooky enough.
With chances of these being true, SF1 is in favor of Serbia, Australia, Greece, and Czech Republic, while in danger are Hungary, Estonia, Portugal, and Belgium. I can’t find the SF2, it seems to be changed shortly, but it looked so random that I can’t really take it as true.
I have doubts that it’s the actual order – the final’s also shuffled pretty randomly, save for Israel of course – but you never know. It’s weird to not default to listing them in alphabetical order.
The app still has them in alphabetical order my semifinal.
There is no way Bjorkman would allow Sweden to perform second. You don’t want to make angry the boss lol
That’s not the running oder lmao
I can see NM as the Slovenia or Serbia of this year: the less-successful country in the semi full of powerhouses that leapfrogs over more obvious candidates (Ireland and Albania might also be able to pull it off, maybe Latvia if the juries like them enough).
Oh, and of course Switzerland. The real question is who isn’t gonna make it through? Very strong songs in semi two this year.
actually the short sign is not NM but MK. Please remember only to the name is added North so it is North Macedonia, everything else is Macedonian as a language, person, song, singer. the codes are MKD, MK… If you are talking about North Macedonia but you want to use a sign, u use MK, example “Tamara Todevska – Proud – North Macedonia MK – Official Music Video – Eurovision 2019” as in the title of the official video
This is more suited to a serious tv campaign or documentary. I hate the video I’m afraid. Just zero entertainment factor.
Is Salvador Sobral an ‘entertainer’? I doubt it.
Not enough men in it for you?
What’s wrong with men?
I love love it! Such a great song, Tamara must qualify 🙂
It’s spelt Tamra
Name tamra doesn’t exist in balkans. It’s tamara and you pronounce every a: tah-mah-rah (accent is on the first a). We aren’t english
I really hope they qualify this year!
Beautiful voice and great song. Well done North Macedonia!
It’s such agreat song, i really hope it qualifies to the final
Does Wiwi have a reaction video for Ireland yet? I was looking but I couldn’t find it.
Why the downvoting?? I only asked a question geez
I really enjoy this year’s Macedonian entry. Musically very elegant, and Tamara can actually sing. She is a professionnaly trained musician (has a degree from State’s Music Academy just like her sister Tijana). They just have to get through this time. In my personal Top 10 this year.
I hope she qualifies! I love the song so much and North Macedonia deserves to qualify with this quality entry. You can feel the emotion and the power behind her voice!