Just as there is more to Eurovision these days than the songs themselves, there is much more to Europe and its population than the nations represented in the contest. For a few years now - roughly since the time 100% televoting was introduced and the influence expats could have on the outcome became apparent -I have wondered why some countries haven't looked to activate the continent's residents from other corners of the globe to vote for them. (Something along the lines of Basement Jaxx's Romeo for the UK, aimed at the Indian population of Europe. That kind of thing.) In an age when a diaspora armed with mobile phones and willing to text for their country can make a big impact, it seems like a sensible thing to do. And whether or not that was the intent, it looks like the country that may benefit most from such an approach in Belgrade is The Netherlands. I suspect that NOS selecting Hind was not, in fact, a cunning move to unite the Moroccans of Europe, but it may yet have that effect.The Netherlands has long brandished its melting pot credentials at Eurovision, giving us the contest's first black artist in 1966, but has never really reflected its cultural diversity in one of its entries. Your Heart Belongs To Me redresses the balance a little: a song in which the ethnic influences of the performer's father('s)land are layered atop the traditionally solid foundations of Dutch pop. The combination works, too. It could very easily have come across as a Turkish attempt to not be very Turkish, but the diverse elements of the arrangement are neatly interwoven, and although it sometimes sounds as if the instruments are speaking different languages, it is always with the sense that they are saying the same thing.
The fact that they labour the point is the song's biggest stumbling block. As one of the most uptempo entries in the 2008 contest it eats up airtime at an astonishing rate and feels like it should be over long before it is - an attribute it shares with Amambanda, the ill-fated Dutch entry in Athens, despite being a much more rounded song. In this sense it is also comparable to the entry that will immediately precede it in Belgrade, Qele Qele (more so than for any reasons of musical similarity, which are striking for their absence). Both songs tend to see my interest wavering, but it may be Your Heart Belongs To Me that comes off worse: regardless of whether it is a more deserving three minutes of music or how dependable a performer Hind is, the Armenian entry has something about it that suggests they will be able to offset the drag more spectacularly and therefore, in a contest that is now as much visual as it is aural, more effectively.
Hence my nomination of The Netherlands as one of the countries hardest done by in the draw for the running order of the semi-final back in my introductory post. My concern is that preceded by the textbook ethno pop of Sirusho and with Teräsbetoni rocking up for Finland straight after her, Hind will have to put in a performance that is vocally flawless and yet still eye-catching and entertaining to stand much of a chance of qualifying. It will be interesting to see whether the Moroccans of Europe - or at least those in the countries with Tuesday night voting rights - do throw their support behind her, although even with it my gut feeling is that they won't be given a second opportunity to do so.
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I feel for Hind: with the same draw in the second semi, I'd be inclined to pencil her in for the final straight away. As it is, what are the chances of 5 songs out of the last 6 making it through from Semi 1? I suppose I could take comfort in the fact that statistically there's as much chance of that happening as anything else, but her misfortunes don't end there. She comes straight after her biggest and most direct rival in terms of genre, who all things being equal in the performance stakes looks like knocking her into a cocked hat... She comes directly ahead of Finland's attention-grabbing hoo-hah heavy metal combo ... And to cap it all, there's a home run of almost surefire qualifiers to contend with.
If she fails to qualify though, it won't all be down to circumstances beyond her control. Hind is a lovely lass and a truly talented singer: given the right material she can shine with a sweet serenity that seems made for Eurovision. But as I see it, she needs that special match with the material to make her mark and I just don't see it here. In some ways she would be more at home singing the Polish or the Hungarian entry or even the Portuguese one, given her love of fado. I can see why she went with this song: it does have an infectiously catchy ring to it and on the surface it has the air of something that's Eurovision friendly without resorting to cheap tricks or lapsing into cliché.
Yet in the end it isn't really a song that leaves an immediate impression. It has become one of my favourites but every time I hear it, I can't help but think that quite a few opportunities were missed production-wise. Hind's vocals remain fairly low-pitched throughout but the relentless pace doesn't give her a chance to generate much in the way of warmth or feeling. I think it was U2 who once said that higher pitches work better live, it's just a fact of life. And that's one more reason why Sirusho looks like sailing through while Hind's fate hangs very much in the balance.
Another shortcoming is the lack of a decent climax. The bridge builds beautifully and generates a big ball of tension just begging to be released. Instead, all we get is a rerun of what's gone before overlaid with a distant echo of Amina. I hope for Hind's sake, and for the Netherlands' Eurovision morale in general, that I'm wrong but all this may well conspire to keep the Dutch out of the final yet again this year, despite a worthy enough effort...
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