Tornike Kipiani was due to represent Georgia at Eurovision 2020 with his song “Take Me As I Am”. He earned the right to represent the country at Eurovision 2020 after winning Georgian Idol 2019.
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Georgia in Eurovision 2020: Tornike Kipiani “Take Me As I Am”
Tornike is a 32-year-old musician and the father of three children.
He has a good track record in reality singing competitions, as he also won the 2014 edition of X Factor Georgia. Tornike’s mentor on the show was Cyprus’ Eurovision 2018 star Tamta.
Tornike previously tried to represent Georgia at Eurovision in 2017. He competed in the country’s national final with the industrial techno song “You Are My Sunshine”.
What do the “Take Me As I Am” lyrics mean?
“Take Me As I Am” is a mix of classic rock, electro and dubstep. There are also some orchestral flourishes for good measure.
Tornike wrote the song himself, while Aleko Berdzenishvili helped him with the arrangement.
The track examines the pressures that Tornike feels to model himself on others. Someone in his life wants him to “talk like an Englishman”, “dress like an Italian”, “dance like a Spanish guy”, “smell like a French homme” and “play like a German”.
But it’s not only about a love story between two people who can’t connect. That story ends sadly because one can’t accept the other as he or she is.
However, “Take Me As I Am” also examines the relationship between countries.
Tornike is effectively asking why Georgia (and other nations) needs to constantly focus on other countries. Why must its people pretend to be the same as other nations that simply can’t accept them as they really are?
While it may not be as economically prosperous as other European countries, Georgia and its people are unique, exceptional and special in their own way.
But despite the pressure, Tornike is determined to stay true to himself. He asserts that he wants people to “take me as I am” — ultimately a positive message.
The song also gets bilingual, with “I love you” expressed in the languages of the previously mentioned European nations.
Even if Tornike can’t find happiness with the subject of his song, the track is bound to please fans of heavier, rock-style Eurovision entries.
“Take Me As I Am” lyrics – Tornike Kipiani (Georgia ESC 2020)
Written and composed by: Tornike Kipiani
Text
How do you want me to talk, like an English man?
Where do you want me to dress like an Italian?
Now, do you want me to dance like a Spanish guy?
I guess you don’t love me .
No, you don’t love me.
I love you
Ti amo
Tue quiero
Take Me As I Am
But you don’t love me,
Why don’t you love me ?
So tell me, why do you want me to smell like a French homme?
Or tell me, why do you want me to play like a German?
Why don’t you want me to be, just the way I am?
I guess you don’t love me,
Why don’t you love me?
Je t’aime
Ich liebe dich
But you dont love me,
Why you dont love me?
I Love you, I Love you
Do Tornike’s lyrics speak to you? Do you think the message of the song comes through clearly? Sound off in the comments below.
He is singing about Big Five!! He maybe want to make Georgia a big five country too?
For me, the best moment in the music video is when he belts out “why don’t you love me?” in that deep voice, and then immediately smiles. Too cute!
I have a massive problem with these lyrics. “Take me as I am” is a sentence with a positive meaning. All right, very cool. But he should have built his message by saying “I am like this [insert variable attributes] and you should take me like this”. This is inclusion. But he says “You should take me as I am, why do you want me to talk like Englishmen, play like Germans etc.”, which makes the message feel shady against the other nations and very uncomfortable. This feels like exclusion. I understand the interpretations related to Georgia as a country,… Read more »
Thank you for articulating much better than I why I don’t like these lyrics. I understand that he values his own identity, that’s perfectly natural and fine, but why does he have to speak against other identities, and also speak against them in a very stereotypical way. It just feels wrong to me, and completely detracts against a song I might have otherwise liked.
You didn’t guess message he says because Georgia has it’s own stile, culture and geat history it’s not shady for another countrys because he is sending love by saying I love you different languages he said take me as I am not what you want to be but as I am because all country has it’s own sharm and don’t need to be same
One of the best messages this year, and one of the reasons this amazing song is my 2d.
I hope Tornike can take me as I am….
These are by far the worst lyrics of the competition.
“Why do you want me to mince like a gay person?”
“Why do you want me to run fast like a black person?”
Truly horrible, I despise everything about these lyrics.
And has anybody actually come up with an explanation of what he means by “play like a German”.
I think he’s referring to the Germans’ skill in football competitions.
So it should have been Brazilian?
Or maybe “play like a West German,” seeing as though East Germans haven’t won that many football tournaments?
Well, since it’s Eurovision, he probably didn’t want to cross European borders (of existing states in 2020) 😛 We should come up for an alternative for Germans anyway, it’d be funny.
I agree, Kosey, the lyrics are quite lackluster. At first, I thought they were being edgy, but I wouldn’t even call them that. While I don’t find anything explicitly harmful in the stereotypes presented, I find them somewhat lazy.
He is the hottest guy of 2020 artists