In just two weeks from now, Australians will be waking either with either a) much excitement to see who’s become the winner of Eurovision 2013 or b) staying away from all media in case they find out the winner before SBS broadcasts the final on the Sunday night (May 19).
Entrants from 39 countries across the continent will take to the stage throughout the competition in the hope of taking out the most coveted yearly prize in music – the Eurovision Song Contest trophy.
As always, the competition is split into three finals; the two semi finals (to be held on May 14 and 16) and the grand final (on May 18), in which the victorious countries from the two semi-finals will line up alongside the host nation Sweden and the “big five” of the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
In part 31 of our Countdown To Eurovision series for 2013, we’re off to Macedonia.
EZMA & LOZANO : Pred Da Se Razdeni
Macedonian singer Vlatko Lozanoski is another who’s no stranger to Eurovision competition, having attempted to move forward and represent his country twice before. But in another case of ‘third time lucky’, Vlatko is off to the second semi final, taking along 69 year old Esma Redžepova who, from what we can ascertain, is virtually a national treasure having released a swathe of singles throughout her career, as well as acting in a number of movies. Both will perform the single ‘Pred Da Se Razdeni’ (‘Before The Sunrise’) in the second of the semi finals. In this live clip (below), they look to have stolen the set fro ‘Dancing With The Stars’, but there’s an English language version of it (along with a proper clip) entitled ‘If I Could Change The World’. Check it HERE. Vlatko’s vocals are pretty amazing, but it’s Esma’s freestyle seemingly tuneless warbling that’s grating on us. Trois points.
Australia's first stop for pop!