Robbed but not forgotten: New music from Eurovision 2019 national final stars including MARUV, Aly Ryan and Gabriella

National final season can be painful any year. But 2019 saw many broken hearts among Eurovision fans, as a number of fan-favourite acts failed to win their respective competitions.

Whether any of these artists were necessarily ‘robbed’ is subjective and based on personal music tastes. Nonetheless, many of them have released some new music for us all to enjoy in the months after those fateful nights.

So here’s a roundup of the new songs from MARUV, Aly Ryan, Gabriella, Markus Riva, Ultimo, Tracy De Sá, Nek and Carlos Right.

MARUV & Mosimann – “Mon Amour”

The only artist in this roundup that actually won their national final, Ukraine’s MARUV ultimately still failed to make it to Eurovision. But the star has moved on and is now focused purely on her own musical career. For her latest track, she’s teamed up with Swiss DJ Mosimann on “Mon Amour”. Seductive, sexy and with a killer dance beat in the chorus, the new song is everything that fans have come to love MARUV for. The accompanying music video sees the “Siren Song” hit-maker on pointe (literally), as she and Mosimann take over some scaffolding with their respective female and male posses.

Aly Ryan – “Slow & Easy” and “Better”

After giving us a certified pop banger at Unser Lied für Israel with “Wear Your Love”, Aly Ryan’s latest solo track sees her slowing things down a bit. “Slow & Easy” is a pop ballad with strong production that shows off the German singer’s vocal capabilities. Lyrically, Aly is asking her lover to lay her down gently when they eventually go their separate ways: “Lay me down slow and easy / I don’t want to fight the feeling / But I don’t want to fade into the darkness that you call your love”.

The German singer has also recently teamed up with Los Angeles-based group TELYKast on “Better”. A synth-heavy track, Aly notes in the description of the official audio on YouTube that the song is about “entering back into an abusive relationship with a significant other when you know you shouldn’t. It is the thought that you should know ‘Better,’ and not give into the habit of returning, but the love remains and is powerful enough to convince otherwise. We wanted this song to spark a movement of self-love, self-esteem, and self-care for people who have gone through this”.

Gabriella – “Étrangère”

In between her battles to un-geoblock the music video for her Destination Eurovision 2019 entry “On cherche encore (Never Get Enough)”, Gabriella also found the time to drop her new single “Étrangère” (“Foreigner”). A catchy pop tune, the song sees the French singer discussing how she feels out of place in a certain location: “Strange, I feel foreign / I changed even though I do not look…I stay and I will stay there / I stay and I do not hate / I stay but do not settle down”. The lyric video sees Gabriella serving face, and showing off the fun and quirky personality many fans fell in love with during national final season.

Markus Riva – “Kamēr Vien Mēs Esam” and “Ты пьешь мою кровь”

Perennial Supernova contestant, it unfortunately wasn’t sixth times the charm for Markus Riva this year. But before he thinks about possibly preparing for his seventh attempt in 2020, the Latvian singer has released a couple of new tracks for us. The first is “Kamēr Vien Mēs Esam” (“While we are alone”), a duet with Dināra Rudāne. Markus told skaties.lv that he’s been sitting on the demo of this particular track for a number of years now, but decided it would finally work with Dināra: “I’ve known Dināra for a long time and we’ve been singing together for a long time. In several of my songs Dināra provides backing vocals. But I have long dreamed of an official song we could sing together”.

The singer’s latest solo effort is “Ты пьешь мою кровь” (“You drink my blood”). A pop-dance track, the song fits well with the rest of Markus’ discography. The lyrics see the singer telling his lover that their relationship is over, but this other person seems unable to move on and continues to keep ‘drinking his blood’. The track certainly would have livened up the Twilight movies had it been included in their soundtracks.

Ultimo – “Fateme Cantà”, “Rondini al Guinzaglio” and “Ipocondria”

Just missing out on the Sanremo trophy, Ultimo finished second at this year’s festival. After eventually getting over the disappointment, the Italian singer has since dropped a few new singles. The first of these, “Fateme Cantà” (“Let Me Sing”), is another emotional piano-driven ballad. The intensity particularly builds in the last minute and a half of the song as Ultimo lists off all the people he wishes to sing on behalf of: “Let me sing for that dude who doesn’t have a name anymore / He lives on the road and begs for a heart / For that father who shuts his eyes / In front of his son to protect his dreams”.

The “I Tuoi Particolari” singer released “Rondini al Guinzaglio” (“Swallows on a leash”) at the start of April. Replacing the piano for a guitar this time, the ballad sees Ultimo wanting to be taken away to another place where he and his lover can live in peace despite their past or future mistakes: “Take me with you / Where my luggage is not heavy / Where you love me even if I make mistakes / Where each swallow on a leash flies and stands up”.

Ultimo takes the tempo up a bit for his latest song “Ipocondria” (“Hypochondria”), which has a jazz quality to it as a result of the added trumpets. The accompanying music video sees the Italian singer in some form of care home. Unfortunately for the doctor that runs the institute, the residents soon begin to plan their escape in between all the sing-a-longs by the piano.

You can find all three tracks, plus Ultimo’s Sanremo 2019 entry, on his new album Colpa Delle Favole.

Tracy De Sá – “Temple” and “Rickshaw”

At Destination Eurovision 2019 she brought the whisky, cocktails and rum, rum, rum. And on International Women’s Day (8th March), Tracy De Sá dropped the new song “Temple”. The French artist notes in the music video’s description that the song is about encouraging women to be comfortable in their own bodies: “I wanted to start from the core, our bodies, our temples. Loving and appreciating our bodies is not always easy, letting the right people be around our bodies is extremely challenging but getting to know the details of what is going on inside us is just an eternal journey.”

Tracy’s latest single is “Rickshaw”, which sees her combining her hip-hop style with traditional Indian elements. Lyrically, the “Por Aquí” singer discusses the journey she’s made to discover herself, and her desire to return home now that she’s fit herself into the puzzle: “Now I fit into the jigsaw, I’m not alone / I’m about to ride a rickshaw, coming home”. This message translates into the music video, as Tracy returned to her home town in India to film it.

Both tracks, as well as her Destination Eurovision song, can be found on Tracy’s debut album Commotion.

Nek – “La Stroia Del Mondo”

After placing second at Sanremo 2015, and winning the OGAE Second Chance Contest that year, some fans had their eyes on Nek to get another podium finish upon his return to the festival in 2019. Unfortunately, the Italian singer could only manage 19th place. Nevertheless, the “Mi farò trovare pronto” singer still has some new music for us. “La Storia Del Mondo” (“The Story of the World”) was released at the end of April, and it’s full of the electric guitar and light-rock styling we’d expect from Nek. The lyrics discuss how, no matter who we are, we all have a part to play in the history of this Earth: “Musicians and love thieves / Prisoners, students and ladies / All of it is for us…We’re the history of the world”.

Check out more tracks from the Italian singer on his latest album Il mio gioco preferito (Parte prima).

Carlos Right – Atracción

He may have come last in the Operación Triunfo 2018 Eurovision Gala, but Carlos Right is the first of last year’s contestants to release a full album. Atracción (Attraction) contains ten songs, including a revamped version of Carlos’ national final entry “Se Te Nota” (“It Shows”). The revamp removes the flute sounds of the original and concentrates the instrumentation on acoustic guitar and light percussion. The rest of the LP is filled with further Latin-pop tracks, including a collaboration with acclaimed Spanish DJ Juan Magán on “So Lo Robó”.

What do you make of the new music offerings from Eurovision national final stars? Do you think any of these new tracks would have been good enough to win their national finals? Sound off in the comments below!

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