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borisbubbles · 4 years

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21. BELGIUM

Hooverphonic - “Release me”

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Hmmmm girll i looooove the lack of energy, pls give me moar!

Hooverphonic’s song isn’t too bad for me. It’s sophisticated! It is refined! It is intelligent! It is also fucking miserable.

Song Analysis

Lol I totally reserve the right to be bitchy, eventhough I quite like the song. The chorus especially is lovely Besides, you know me, I’m all in for Weird Indie Women and Luca looks *exactly* like someone who would be inducted in the BorisBubbles hall of faves, alongside Blanche, Francesca Michielin and Zala Kralj.

So what went wrong? You see, I know what Hooverphonic were attempting to do and I like the ~concept~ of a “real song about personal hardship, with zero bullshit or fanfare”, but I find the execution lacking.

“Release me” is a dirge, plain and simple. Yes, it is literally and intentionally so because the subject is Alex’s dad’s death. However, it is also figuratively a dirge because as someone who experiences music intuitively, as opposed to an artificial system of checks and balances, I find it fucking anemic. I’m all for pure emotion, but “morose” and “sullen” are two not-fun emotions to be doused in ad nauseam.

The main core of the problem, at least how I see it, is the mismatch between Alex’s vision and well, Eurovision. Alex has good instincts, especially pertaining to the contest (which he refered to as a “circus”, YES, but so does everyone else in Belgium and hell even *I* fucking call it a fucking carnival all the time, all over the internet, so I fail to see what the problem was, exactly? Get off the high horses, eurofags), but this time his instincts have failed him. “Release me” doesn’t work for three reasons:

1) Luca’s energy matches the song too strongly. Luca possess a certain built-in melancholy that makes her instantly charismatic in most of the songs she performs. The issue is, “Release me” already possesses this quality in droves and it upset’s the song’s already fragile balance. Luca is best utilized with upbeat music, where her pathos adds a layer of relatable darkness. In a “Release me” she becomes whiny and anemic, which is something you wish to avoid 100% of the time.

2) "Release me” doesn’t have a bridge: this is a massive deterrent because the song itself is *already* so fucking monotonous to begin with. Yes, there’s a crescendo, but is too slow and the apotheosis hardly pays off. The song just repeats itself in only vaguely different states of nasal whine and then peters out.

3) Messages don’t matter until they do. It is very naive to assume that the vast contingent of Eurofans (most of which are either callow grindr gays or frumpy hausfrau casuals - two demographs that are unlikely to show empathy at first sight), would be willing to give “Release me” the patience and charity it would require in order to do well. “Release me” NEEDS the listener to think and allow themselves to be immersed in order to work and HELLO THIS IS THE FUCKING EUROVISION SONG CONTEST THE PROJECTED WINNERS WERE A BAND OF NINTENDO NERDS DOING A DERPY DORK DANCE.

Ultimately, I like the song. The score is particularly lovely. I wouldn’t skip this on my spotify. I would listen if I heard it on the radio. But my appreciation is mostly academic, not intuitive and intuitition >>>> whatever bs passes for “objectively” rating music (you can’t! give it up!). However, I feel like Hooverphonic, in their ambition to bring “quality music”, have ironically enough undersold their true potential.

Belgium 2020 vs Belgium 2021

You know how some entries just turn into self-fulfilling prophecies? Remember how Sennek (also Belgium!) echoed, echoed and fell? Hooverphonic soooo would have been released from their sad and losing game in a blistering 11th place in the semifinal.

Why do I think so? Well, I jotted Belgium down as BL at best (though my BL tier is massive in semi 1: Israel and Azerbaijan were also in it), and more on the lower end because the sadness of parental bereavement really isn’t a topic people *enjoy* tuning into against their will. (partially why mental health anthems are *always* such a hard sell).

Besides, my intincts when I first heard “Release me” amounted to “oh, is that it?” and that’s always a red flag: Hooverphonic *are* a big name, casuals will have heard of them and then would’ve been underwhelmed, like I was.

What disturbs me *even more* than Hooverphonic’s impending NQ is Alex having said that he had written a reported “uptempo ABBA Bop” but then ditched it in favour “Release me”.

. . .

Dude... 😒

The cancellation of Eurovision 2020 due to covid-19 was atrocious on all fronts, but Hooverphonic are the act who benefit the most from the current state of affairs. They were given a second chance and they fucking know it: The speed at which Alex DROPPED “Release me”, as if the song had never happened, is one of the most outstanding cases of retconning I’ve ever seen irl. “Song?😶 What song? 🙄 Ohhh *OUR 2021 EUROVISION SONG* Yes, I remember now... WE’LL BRING SOMETHING NEW, *everyone* will be bored with “Release me” in a year’s time 😏” a whole fucking week ahead of the “new songs only rule” ❤❤❤❤

FREAKY! FRIDAY! FACTOR!

When I said, “Yes we sen”, I didn’t mean “Yes, we Sennek”. Christalmighty, Belgium.

Score: 2 Senhits out of 5.

#Eurovision #Eurovision 2020 #Eurovision Song Contest #Belgium #Hooverphonic #Release me

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smajli88 · 4 years

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The story of Belgium at Eurovision as of late

What’s the deal with you, Belgium? You can’t send Mother one year and Rhythm Inside the next, transformation takes time. I’m not complaining, though, it’s just a mere observation, please, we *don’t* need another Mother at Eurovision.

Sorry, I got distracted there for a second. Back to the topic at hand. Let’s start with 2010, when Belgium decided to send Me and My Guitar performed by the lovely Tom Dice. I absolutely love this one, my gosh, such an unassuming performance, carried by Tom’s gentle vocals. Love. I am not mad about the songs Belgium sent in 2011 and 2012, though I will say, I do prefer 2011 for some reason. Next, we have another one of my faves, Roberto Bellarosa’s Love Kills coupled with some dazzling handography. This quickly crept its way into my pop heart. Whenever he sings “over and over”, I do the dramatic finger twirl. Yes, love, love, love.

You know how I feel about their 2014 entry, so I’ll just elegantly skip to 2015. This was officially the start of the Belgian renaissance at Eurovision and part of the amazing trio (more on that later). I knew I would love Rhythm Inside after hearing the opening lines. Loïc is the full package, he can dance, he can most certainly sing, and he’s got charisma. The choreography was excellent (hey SuRie), the “ra-pa-pap” bit is an earworm and I loved the whole black/white aesthetic. (insert Petra Mede’s voice): La Belgique, douze points. Next up, it’s the disco queen, Miss Laura Tesoro with What’s the Pressure. No pressure here for the Golden Girl, no, no. Oh, this performance brought the much needed fun, Laura owned every bit of that choreo and that outfit, it’s a ‘yes’ from me. Next stop, 2017. At the time, I wasn’t really into City Lights, but what a difference a year makes, it’s now one of my favourites from 2017. This song is just cool, it comes from the future, yet it fits the present perfectly. I could listen to this on loop all day. Blanche has such a soothing voice, and it suits the song. I love how this was staged, with all the light beams around Blanche. Well done.

Now we go to 2018 and 2019. I grouped A Matter of Time and Wake Up together because my feelings towards both are the same. I enjoy them, I don’t skip them when they’re on, but I’m not massively attached to them. The songs are quality, nevertheless, and continue Belgium’s streak of sending quality to Eurovision. Finally, we have their 2020 entry that was not to be due to the c***** v**** situation. Now, I will put the band’s controversial behaviour to the side (it pains me that Luca’s not part of the band anymore), and judge the song merely on its merits. I love this one. Luca’s voice is beautiful and it is paired beautifully with the instrumental. I love the pace of the song and how it slowly builds. I had listened to Hooverphonic’s songs prior to the *release* of Release Me, and this song truly is another great addition to their catalogue. Alex Callier just understands music. How would the song have done at the contest? I don’t know. Since no one can prove me wrong, I say it would’ve come top 15 in the final. There we go. I am excited to listen to their 2021 entry and I’m cautiously hopeful. Fingers crossed.

Finally, I’d just like to give another shout-out to the Loïc-Laura-Blanche trio. Wow. Just wow. Two 4th place finishes (Loïc and Blanche) and one 10th place finish (Laura) were just what the doctor ordered for Belgium. Though they didn’t qualify in 2018 and 2019, which was down to poor staging, not the songs themselves, the 2015-2017 streak of excellent results gives me hope that we’ll see Belgium on top of the Eurovision podium, really, really soon. I’ve come to expect a lot from them, so don’t let me down, Belgium. Sending so much love your way, keep up the good work, sweetie.

#Eurovision

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starstaiined-archived-blog · 6 years

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💕Favorite ship for the muse? (for each or all muses)

meme! || ALWAYS ACCEPTING!!

oh nonnie................oh nonnie this is....a lot. okay hang on this is gonna get........long.

okay so the following people are mentioned Pucca: @bcckmarkedDromio: @amourfugitifPluto: @brokenheartstmEm: @chrmiingother Emma: @luthordivergentJJ: @brokenisimsMonie: @heartsledEdy: @bornefairHannah: @prfctisms

Abigail

BROTP: THE ADAMS SIBS (with pucca & dromio!)OTP: RILEY MILLS (with pluto)

Adrien

BROTP: nino & alya!OTP: MARINETTE / LADYBUG!! (love me some love square)

Alexia

BROTP: myles o’hare (w/ dromio, love me some wondersquad!!)OTP: chris kingdon (w/ pucca. these two are a hot mess.)

ALLYSON

BROTP: carlos de vil (w/ monie in particular, love those two nerds) and also rachel berry ( w/ hannah)OTP: carly sun (w/ pucca, the ultimate otp for ever and ever)

Ariana