Ukraine

Shady Lady Ani Lorak

Some newcomers are much quicker off the mark when it comes to Eurovision than others, getting the point of it or figuring it out with a speed that contradicts how green around the competition gills they are. While some countries have started well and faded and others are yet to make it out of the blocks on their umpteenth attempt, one has exhibited noteworthy nous in picking a formula that relies less on a winning song and more on a winning performance: Ukraine. Apart from their misfiring debut - which was about ten years and several shades of eyeshadow wide of the mark - and the political inevitability of their 2005 entry, each of the country's top ten results, while musically disconnected, has been delivered by a confident female (or female impersonator) you are no more able to take your eyes off than the stage act going on around them.

This bodes well for Ani Lorak and Shady Lady, the Ukrainian entry in Belgrade, as she cements the tradition started by Ruslana in 2004 and continued by Tina Karol two years later of sexy women with mighty lungs belting out catchy if not especially challenging songs. The advantage Ms Lorak has is that she will arguably be presenting a catchier number than either of her predecessors, so it will be interesting to see whether she is able to fill her three minutes to capacity and provide as visually engrossing a performance as Wild Dances or Show Me Your Love. If experience is anything to go by it is guaranteed to be slick and professional, but whether it has that certain something (apart from the performer herself and her ample attributes) that keeps the audience glued to their screens remains, quite literally, to be seen.

Whether the televoters take to what they hear is a matter of taste, but anyone with an appreciation of how a good arrangement works will recognise that the song boasts a clever one from composer Philip Kirkorov - proving he can produce decent music rather than just endless covers of other people's Eurovision songs. Its build and energy is relentless, peaking in the crescendo of the last 30 seconds of the song and having undergone about half a dozen inconspicuous key changes in between. The bass, meanwhile, bubbles away throughout the song, both shadowing and eclipsing the main lines in the music in a neat nod to the theme of Karen 'five former Soviet states down, very few left to go'* Kavaleryan's lyrics, which suit the song perfectly and are very easy to latch on to.

Given it checks off every item on the shopping list of successful Eurovision entries, and that Ukraine has a solid track record with such songs, it is no surprise that Shady Lady will be going into the contest touted as a potential winner. I see it as a cast-iron qualifier from the second semi-final, and not merely because I like it: despite coming so soon after Iceland and Sweden, it pretty much stands alone among the 19 songs on offer, unlikely to be matched for vocal strength and pure glamness by anyone - apart, perhaps, from Charlotte Perrelli. The Ukrainian and Swedish entries may both qualify, but from where I'm standing Shady Lady knocks Hero into a cocked hat, and unlike its closest rival I feel it is assured of a top ten finish in the final (if not higher) whatever its starting position.

*What are the odds on a Kirkorov/Kavaleryan concoction representing Azerbaijan in 2009?