"Nemaš sutra, nemaš danas, lako je, kad ti pjesma srce nađe..."For an institution more than half a century old, Eurovision is not especially sentimental. Ever since televoting was introduced it has sought to unite Europe in a night (then two) (now three) of harmless entertainment whose values perhaps reflect a more innocent bygone era, but televoting itself has only served to further politicise the event. Some countries - including several in this 1st semi-final - may return to points in their own lives in the contest, but few entries overall have spoken directly to the audience's nostalgia for the way things used to be. (At least not since the 1970s, when Monaco jacked it in and took such la-la reminiscing with them.) One country will be bucking this trend in Moscow: Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose entry Bistra Voda speaks to both the politics and yearning of potentially a great many of the contest's viewers.
Needless to say, this frontline starts somewhere east of Switzerland and extends more or less to the border of Kazakhstan, where anybody with an ability to influence the result will be in REM sleep long before Regina get the chance to ensnare them with their brilliantly constructed propaganda. I'll admit that the red flag-waving importance of Bistra Voda has been overplayed, but there's no denying that the style and substance of the song will appeal to a certain Eurovision demographic more than it will another. It won't hurt the song's chances that it's being performed down the road from the Kremlin, the historical heart of a doctrine whose passing an inordinate number of people still mourn. I suppose it's the ideals at the heart of the song that make it attractive, rather than the ideology it is perhaps unjustly associated with. Well, that and the fact it's a little triumph.
Whoever wrote Bistra Voda, they know how to produce a song in about 47 different parts and put it together so that it works as a cogent whole. Anyone with an appreciation of multi-layered composition (if not politics) should immerse themselves in these three minutes and listen to them over and over again, counting off the number of new elements they discover each time. A masterclass in acoustics and percussion, it is one of the most rewarding songs Eurovision has given us in a long time, with its arrangement reflecting both the clear waters of the title and the deeper meaning of its lyrics. Juries who know their music should love it, even if the viewers on the side of the continent the song is less likely to mean anything to don't.
Along with Armenia, Turkey and Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina is virtually assured a place among the qualifiers from the 1st semi, and in Regina's case at least I'd say it was completely deserved. Whatever its underlying message might be and regardless of whose sense of nostalgia it addresses, it is simply one of the best songs of the year. It may be hampered slightly by the fact that it takes you some time to realise this, but with juries involved in the final I certainly can't see it doing any worse than 2007 and 2008's Rijeka Bez Imena and Pokušaj. It may not recapture the glory days of 2006 and Lejla's podium finish, but every sentiment I have is telling me that in Bistra Voda we have our first sure-fire top 10 entry of 2009.
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