Turkey

Deli Mor Ve Ötesi

As a musical arena, Eurovision is not a place where many countries do different for the sake of it. When they do pop up among the schlager and the ballads and the ethno pop it usually coincides with an injection of artistic integrity and a leap of faith on the part of broadcasters or their viewers that a square peg has just as much of a place in a round hole. The odds are often worth the gamble: Finland decimated the field in 2006 with Hard Rock Hallelujah; Moldova made an impressive debut in 2005 with Boonika Bate Doba; and Russia earned themselves a hard-fought podium finish in 2003 with Не Верь, Не Бойся. One of the most unexpected detours from the norm though came in the form of the infectious ska of the Turkish entry For Real, which brought the country a respectable fourth place on home soil in 2004. That success is something Turkey will be hoping to repeat this year, with TRT having once again employed lateral thinking in sending the alternative rock band Mor ve Ötesi to Belgrade with Deli.

Though its impact in testing the limits of the Eurovision format may have been diluted by the styles that have crept into the competition in recent years, the song is perfectly placed to stand out in the second semi-final, preceded and followed by two of the 2008 edition's biggest favourites, which are largely in competition with one another more than anyone else and represent a more standard pop genre. Bar the faded denim rock of the Belarusian entry, Mor ve Ötesi will also stand alone on the Thursday night in musical terms, and given the right production values I can't see how it will fail to impress. No one seems to be doubting the abilities of the boys from the band to deliver live, so unless they introduce something very odd to their performance it should be a very solid one. It's the kind of song where they only really have to stand there, sing and play their instruments, after all.

Which is not to insinuate that the song is in any way simplistic or unimaginative. On the contrary, it boasts an arrangement that cleverly reflects the story that unfolds in its lyrics - the bass and electric guitars and synths almost interpreting the turmoil spilling from the lips of disarmingly seductive lead singer Harun Tekin - and one of the most solid structures of any of the songs competing in this year's contest. The uncompromising quality of both is stark when compared to the paint-by-numbers approach of the Swedish entry, which the audience will hopefully be only mildly dazzled by before Turkey perform and reinforce for the audience that you can actually do a song for Europe without adhering to a very tired formula.

In a perfect televoting world this should be enough to see Turkey qualify, but Deli has two things working against it. One is the fact that half or more of the people who normally pick up their phones and dial the maximum 20 times for the country - which is to say Turkish expats - will be having to make do with Azerbaijan in the first semi-final, significantly reducing their chances of otherwise virtually assured qualification. (In the event that the massed viewers of Europe prove to be philistines where good music is concerned and the song fails to finish in the top nine of the semi-final, I place my faith in the back-up juries to see them through; nothing else really touches it in the second semi-final.*) The other is the language question, although I'm clinging to the hope that Molitva winning for Serbia in Helsinki is a sign that it's really not an issue.

As much as anything else, Deli stands out as one of very few songs in the second semi-final that doesn't make Eurovision seem preoccupied with sounding like it's from any other era than the present. *As you have probably gathered, however, it is one of my favourite 2008 entries, which means that maintaining any sense of objective composure in regard to it is more of a challenge. Still, I feel eschewing the path of least resistance is something it should be rewarded for, especially given the country we're dealing with. It may represent something of a square peg, but it is one of the most well-rounded songs in this year's contest.