Sebastien Tellier - 'Divine'
Can you imagine for a second what would happen if the people who put the UK entries together for the Eurovision Song Contest put their weight behind a tune as singular and strange as this one? A song which abandons terrible third-rate pop, ditches the heart-curdling balladry, and leaves behind the over-explosive dynamics and super-ooper-duper sugary-sweet cheesiness (I know, even the metaphor sounds disgusting) in favour of a low-key, home-made electro Beach Boys vibe.
And yet, this is exactly what the French panel of Eurovision judges have decided to do. Rather than dig up whatever the gallic equivalent of Scooch may be, they're playing to their strengths. Without meaning to stereotype the musical output of an entire nation, the French do this kind of lightweight, charismatic, effortless music better than anyone at the moment. It's in the tradition of Air, with a light coating of the kind of sonic gloss that you get on some of the best Daft Punk tracks. Only in this case, it's robots wearing human masks, rather than the other way around.
The only musical equivalent I can think of from over her is someone like Jim Noir, who makes very recognisable pop records in his own way, but not pop records which are going to bother the compilers of the Top 5, unless he scores an amazing advert.
The French putting a song as quietly charming as this into Eurovision - a contest which is all about people screaming "LOOK AT ME! I AM ENTERTAINMENT! HELLO YOU CRAZY DUTCH-FOLK! WATCH ME MOVE, FINLAND!" - is on a par with Jim Noir winning A Song For Europe with 'My Patch'.
It's a decision which has met with some controversy in France too, it's fair to say, but only because the song's lyrics are in the , and not because it's not a very Eurovision-y kind of song. Maybe in a contest like this, it's better to put something in which you can feel proud of, and then if it doesn't win, you can just shrug and say you tried.
It's certainly a hell of a lot better than trying to come up with a Eurovision-Winning Song, based on a formula which contains far too much sugar, and then getting someone who was nearly famous five years ago to sing it. Where's the dignity in that?
Oh hang on, it's Eurovision. Looking for dignity there is like looking for peas in a trifle, and just as messy.
Released: June 2nd
(Fraser McAlpine)
PS: Quite where the Guardian gets off making 'surrender' jokes in is beyond me. It's a song, it's a nice song. Sebastien seems to be a nice man. He's changing the lyrics. Why bring that barbed wit to the table? Need I remind you about Scooch AGAIN? They win! We lose! FOR EVER!
Comment number 1.
At 24th May 2008, -RachelS- wrote:The video is hilarious - I love the throwing the microphone thing... and does he remind anyone else of Ringo Starr?!?
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