After a little teasing, Georgian rocker Tornike Kipiani has finally released his song for Eurovision 2021. “You” was given its premiere on Georgian television this afternoon. On the show, the song was revealed for the first time to Georgia and to Eurovision fans.
Tornike wrote and composed “You” himself. The Georgian star then arranged the song in the Bravo Records studio alongside Aleko Berdzenishvili. In addition to Tornike’s vocals, the recording brings together the voices of the Gori Girls’ Choir, Aleko Berdzenishvili, Marian Shengelia and Mariko Lezhava.
The song is in English and the lyrics discuss the universal topic of love. Musically this plays among the genres of rock, pop-rock and blues-rock.
The music video takes us on a journey through beautiful Georgian scenery from mountain to sea as Tornike pines away for his love. Nature becomes a metaphor for all he misses about that special someone: “Ocean, I wanna hear you, Mountain, I wanna feel you.”
Tornike Kipiani – “You” (Music video)
The noted ballet dancer Mariam Aleksidze choreographed a dance especially for the music video and her troupe will feature. The celebrated fashion designer Keti Chkhikvadze dreamed up the costumes.
Tornike’s stage performance at Eurovision 2021 will be directed by Emilia Sandquist – she was previously set to be the stage director for Tornike last year as well. Emilia is an international creative who has created successful performances in the past for Swedish artists at Melodifestivalen. She is also a member of the Jean Baptiste Group.
Who is Tornike Kipiani?
Tornike is a 32-year-old musician and the father of three children. He originally earned the right to represent Georgia at Eurovision in 2020 after winning Georgian Idol 2019. Tornike would have performed the song “Take Me As I Am”, however the contest was later cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This was not Tornike’s first victory in a reality singing competition. He previously won the 2014 edition of X Factor Georgia. Tornike’s mentor on the show was Cyprus’ Eurovision 2019 star Tamta.
What do you think of “You? How should it be staged in Rotterdam? Tell us your thoughts below!
It’s disappointing, just disappointing. Not the song itself, but his recent comments. Georgia had little chance to qualify this year and even that small opportunity is gone now.
After those Facebook comments he sure lost the support from Eurovision fans. No chance of qualifying anymore, kinda sad since I felt sorry for him getting bad reviews for his song.
I think my advice would be to not be quite such a petulant child when trying to promote my rather-iffy song internationally. It might not go well.
We can’t always choose the platforms and the access we can get, but we can choose to either make the best of them, or try something else.
I disliked the song, but even more now, after Tornike’s stupid comments about Eurovision. Bye Georgia
Can’t stop thinking of Ant Middleton
As with other entries in recent history, Georgia sends the most musically daring song to the contest. Bravo. That very slow beat with the irregular timings immediately drew me in. It’s a wonderful song, but sadly I can see it falling flat at Eurovision. On the other hand, there was Norway 1995, so anything is possible! 😀
In this year’s contest; not generally.
I guess it features the concrete cubes in port of porti. Needed to search a lot to find that. It looks really cool.
The lyrics are not great.
That was unexpected. I think I like it.
He’s such a good artist and an example of the power of singing-songwriting. Everything fits with him and there’s nothing inauthentic or forced about it. It has more potential than it really should.
Maybe im wrong but i relate the lyrics to the whole pandemia and isolation, i liked diving into the slow tempo and be raised by the voice and instrumental ay the end. I like the feeling of sorrow at the start and the hope at the end. This Will be my underdog song that i wish that it wins no matter what… In other words, a Georgian song, thank you so much for this Georgia!!!
When I heard the snippet, I was a bit let down because I liked his song last year so much. But wow has this surprised me! I really like this actually, kuddo’s to a man who can sing two totally different styles and make me like both! He does need a very vibe-y staging to make it work, much like North Macedonia and Belgium.
Here is my TOP 39!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdCmfAbuXso
this is actually…..really nice. reminds me of Ireland 2018, just pleasant
Interesting how he decided to go quiet this time, while most of the acts went louder.
Here is my final Top 39! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTl4V5Pe7B8
In a sea of wannabe bops and dance songs, this is so peaceful. I really love it, specially because after over a year of being unable to leave my city apartment, I also wanna feel the sunshine and the ocean 🙁
With the right staging, this could qualify. Good luck, Georgia!
Such a boring song for such a great voice of him
i agree with héctor: this might be pleasant in a night of mostly louder and faster songs. also, tornike really upped his game compared to last year. now to the bad news: this still isn’t going to qualify. ‘you’ is too easygoing, while it doesn’t feel intimate. if carousel’s ‘that night’ couldn’t make it to the grand final, this won’t either.
It is a bit cardigan-Taylor meets John Bon Jovi
Taylor and Bon Jovi are calling their lawyers.
together with vasil the most boring song in this years line-up
Georgian remake of Big Little Lies
I kinda like it. It’s good to have something true and quiet among a lot of plastic and pretentious entries. Maybe that amateurish and underproduced vibe is what makes it special. It is also what could make it stand out in May. Don’t really see it qualifying at all bu t definetily I’m glad to have it and would like it to qualify.
I find the song really good… I like it a lot… it reminds me of some songs from the band Pulp.
The song is good, but not my usual type. I can appreciate it for what it is though and can see why others would like it.
I will say though, Tornike is a very handsome guy. That picture of him in the thumbnail I was like phrwoarrr #Smouldering.
Anyway, best of luck Georgia.
This is so minimalist. It’s very soothing, it feels like the music is disappearing into the environment. Ironically, at the same time it made me anxious, because I kept waiting something to happen, something that would surprise me and hook a casual viewer. It never goes there though. This is a hard one to pull off in Eurovision, but I respect how Georgia is never playing the easy game.
Wow i didnt expect a song like this.
It’s so beautiful. Well done Georgia
This builds so slowly. In theory, I should be bored to death, but I find this instrumental so gentle and soothing. I’m not sure why Tornike still looks so stoic, though. This entry will highly depend on the atmosphere and viewers being able to emerge in it.
I couldn’t listen to the full 3 minutes… What a bore. Loved the energy and the message of his song last year, but it’s all gone in this one. Too bad.
This is surprisingly good! It has a sort of indie vibe I really love. Definitely among my favourites this year
I loved his entry last year, this one not so much. It’s the kind of song you listen to to unwind and relax, not necessarily a song for a big ESC stage. But good luck!
I really like this but I know not everyone will. But with the atmospheric feel in the song Georgia can come up with some interesting staging and it might be a hit with the juries. So I would rule Georgia out of the final just yet
This song is not really my cup of tea, but kudos to Georgia for choosing something that stands out among the many factory produced Swedish type entries this year.
I know it doesn’t have much going on and that it likely won’t qualify. But it’s not a bad song? It’s still pleasant, and also it calmed my puppy down a little listening to it lol. That counts for something in my book.
I wasn’t the fan of his last year’s entry, but I’ll take that over this any day. As much as I didn’t like Take me as I am, it was at least different, it was original, there was nothing like it last year. This on the other hand is do predictable and boring. It has zero originality. It’s a big fat nothing. It can improve with good staging, but I don’t see this high on my list. I’ll give Georgia a credit, they are taking risks, they try something different every year, and I have to respect that.
Belarus tried to “prove” they’re better than rest of Europe with that “song”. They will just say that ESC tries to censore “the truth” or something like that. Disqualification works even better for them.
Now that every song is released on the second semi, my ranking is as listed below:
1)Switzerland
2)Greece
3)San Marino
4)Serbia
5)Iceland
6)Latvia
7)Bulgaria
8)Albania
9)Finland
10)Moldova
11)Czech Republic
12)Denmark
13)Estonia
14)Georgia
15)Austia
16)Poland
17)Portugal
And you know what? I believe that every song in my top 10 of this semi is most likely reaching the final.
Replace Albania with Austria and you have my prediction.
That’s actually a close call. Let’s see who will bring it better in Rotterdam
Portugal is far from being the worst song in this semi final!
In my opinion is that Portugal will be loved by over 60-years old blues fans. For the others this is the toilet break
As if younger people can’t appreciate this song. Oh by the way I’m 23.
i haven’t listened to all of them yet (i know, i know, my bad!), but there’s one prediction i’m pretty confident of: czech republic isn’t going to exit in the semi-final.
also, i think finland will qualify quite comfortably.
Honestly, I liked the song but I don’t think it is a contender for the crown. I felt like I am driving my car, leaving the city and heading to an unknown far.
Wow, this is worse than I thought. Artistic but boring. I thpught that it actually passed one hour hearing his song
There is something about this guy. The song is actually much better than I thought after the first listen. I was first slightly disturbed by the simple lyrics, but after a couple of listens they started become abstract. I started to pay more attention how pleasantly and naturally song builds up. The melody and harmonies are really unique and beautiful. This is becoming one of my favorites!
It’s very nice. I like it. Nothing groundbreaking but don’t seem to feel forced. He has lovely voice.
I seem to be one of the few Eurovision fans who actually likes slow songs, so I am always reluctant to use the word “snoozefest”. However I admit that even I dozed off here. OK it picks up a bit towards the end, and he has a terrific voice, but there’s way too little happening in this song to keep me interested. The lyrics are really terrible too.
It’s very harmonic. Not exactly my cup of tea, but the lyrics are A LOT better than last year and this makes me happy at least 🙂
Weren’t they saying it’s gonna be a rock song before?
They said blues rock. I was thinking it’d be like one of Malta’s 90s entries, something like This Time or Keep Me in Mind.
Can someone explain to me why the quality has reached rock bottom this year? 2011 now seems like a strong year.
If you don’t think Italy, Finland, Lithuania, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Australia have high quality songs then I really wonder what is your quality music taste?
*Reads Australia*
*Rolls on the floor laughing*
He has a fantastic voice, but the song seems a bit amateurish compared to all the other over-cooked productions (especially in semi 2). I wish someone had put him in a songwriting camp with the usual suspects: Thomas G:Son, Borislav Milanov, Laurel Barker…etc. They could have come up with something spectacular because his vocal range allows endless possibilities. I want him to qualify, but realistically, he is toast.
G:son and Laurell Barker something spectacular? Two of the most cliché Eurovision composers ever, they would sink this guy even deeper.
“This guy” writes his own songs anyway, and he could have used bit of guidance from experienced composers. And I honestly do not understand all the negativity and the shade. G:Son composed “Euphoria” the most celebrated winner ever. Barker co-wrote “She got me” which was in top 5. I wonder how many songs the people who disliked my comment composed.
I’d maybe give you G:Son because of the improvements he made to already good songs from Georgia such as 2015 and 2016.
Don’t know why you’d let anyone like Milanov or Barker near this though.
I was prepared to be utterly bored, but I… wasn’t? I even… like it? Huh – what a twist.
I don’t expect it to do that well, though.
I think this could be better live, so who knows if this qualifies?
One thing that Georgia excels at in Eurovision is sending original entries that are very original – better than predictable or safe. They’re not afraid to take risks.
What’s the point to spent so much money and send song that obviously won’t qualify? Lol
i love this so much. tornike is the best vocalist this year and every time i hear him i get chills… georgia is always so underrated and is one of my favorite countries at esc.
top 5:
1. bulgaria
2. GEORGIA
3. italy
4. moldova
5. san marino
yooo wtf
go watch his x factor performances youll change your mind
I love the song and tornike’s voice however the song I feel like does not fit his voice