The nation on stage
The Nation on Stage
Eurovision song contest comprises of live musical acts and performances by many nations. This contest roughly attracts more than 200 million viewers across the globe. Participating countries include countries from all over Europe, and a few from outside Europe. This contest gives a chance to the participating countries to showcase their identity as a nation. This blog post will visually analyze two consecutive Eurovision performances from Russia and how they are presenting their songs to the world.
The first song “A Million Voices” by Polina Gagarina was Russia’s Eurovision 2015 entry. The composition is written by an international team including, Gabriel Alares, Joakim Bjornberg, Katrina Noorbergen, Leonid Gutkin and Vladimir Matetsky. Polina Gagarina was internally selected by Russian national broadcaster Channel One. The song secured second position after Sweden with 303 points. (“TOP 10: Entries from Russia”, 2017).
In an interview with Channel One, Polina Gagarina describes her song as, “a song of the world. It is a song of everyone: children, elder people, pregnant women. This song is just about love. Love is the only thing that you should live, breathe, keep working for – this is the only sense of life. And a million voices are talking about it.” (“Russia,” 2015). We can see that she is using this platform to advocate the importance of joining hands and hearts, through the lyrics, “We are the world’s people. Different yet we’re the same.” Such lines could possibly interpret that she is seeking to distance herself from the controversies Russia is involved in with other nations. Rather than complaining about all that is wrong with her country, she is encouraging the audience to unite and be ‘one.’ By incorporating messages such as “I hope we can start again” is indicating that the idea of ‘uniting as one’ is worth trying. It can also be looked upon as a promise that Russia is trying to make with the world. Furthermore, with the constant use of the words “We will”, might also suggest that Russia is trying to create space for something new to emerge.
The song is a power ballad, where “emotions are ecstatic and immediate” – in this case Russia’s emotional song is clearly focused on the idea of diversity and unity. (“Metzer, 2012”). It could also act as an abstract idea for renewal and inspiration. The song starts with a slow tempo resembling acoustic songs but picks up with the help of its full orchestra, the singers’ immense emotions, heavy drums, and the guitarists. The heaviness in the song builds up as the drums and electric guitar integrate into the song. With her white ethereal gown glowing with scattered twinkling of lights, Polina Gagarina dominates the stage. She is accompanied by a team of backup singers, guitarist and drummist, all dressed in white as this color also represents unity in a lot of European nations. Thus, the color white is being used a metaphor for unity and oneness. Her vocally demanding singing suggests that she is overwhelmed with emotions and hopes that her song spreads love and should not get affected by anything else. The enchanting performance was supported by bright background lights, sharp projections, and captivating graphics, which in turn show that Russia invested a lot of money towards spreading the idea of diversity, and unity throughout the performance. The song ends with a powerful moment when a graphic representation of the world emerges on the screen referencing a worldwide cultural feeling of belonging and unity. Through this song one can interpret that Russia is trying to cultivate a diverse and inclusive environment and is supporting the notion of diversity on stage.
The second song, “You Are The Only One” was the Russian entry for Eurovision 2016. Like Polina Gagarina, Sergey Lazarev was also selected internally by public broadcaster RTR. Russia finished in third place, coming first in the televote. For many, he was the sure winner of the contest, but it did not work out like that. Although he won the public telephone vote, he received a disappointing jury result, which made him finish in third place. (“TOP 10: Entries from Russia”, 2017) With over 3.5 million Instagram followers, Sergey Lazarev is a major pop star in his home country of Russia. His Eurovision song “You Are The Only One” was composed by Philip Kirkorov and Dimitris Kontopoulos, the duo has been involved in composing and producing various other Eurovision song contest entries in the past (“Russia: “You Are The Only One” presented”, 2017). The lyrics of this song were written by John Ballard and Ralph Charlie Fahel. Even for this song, we see Russia’s diversity, as the above team consists of people from different places.
“You Are The Only One” is a generic dance-pop song that uses common musical instruments and appeals to a diverse range of listeners. This song could also relate to people who have been in love or aspire to be in love, it will likely get you through that roller-coaster ride of feeling down and rising right back up to find “the only one.” This idea is suggested through the lyrics – “won’t ever give up cause you’re / Still somewhere out there/…You're the only one - my only one…” (“Russia 2016”). Pathos can be seen by the appeal to the emotion of ‘love’ and how that makes us feel. Furthermore, to be more dramatic, words such as, “thunder and lightning” are being used which “lights up the skyline to show where you are” – thus, using such words as a metaphor for love. But, through the course of the song it is unclear who the ‘one’ in the song is, it could be a person, a place, a feeling, an emotion, and so on.
The structure and delivery of the song has an energetic tempo as it transitions fluidly back and forth between the artist, his movements, the four dancers, the camera, and the constant change of graphics that accompany the performance. The pictorial imagery moving in response with the movements of the artist narrate the story with a sense of anticipation that grows an emotional response. The song uses a medium pace which in turn allows the audience to grasp the meaning of the lyrics. The dynamic graphics - from creating projections of a storm, the tilting and rotation of the backdrop screen, to the appearance of fire and ice - forces the viewers to focus more on the visuals than the vocals. By incorporating what appears to be moving Perspex steps built into a computer-generated imagery backdrop in a performance charged with special effects, sheds light on the creative process as well as it shows Russia’s diverse relationship to music, technology and commerce
In both the performances Russia’s diversity is seen through the international team of writers, composers and producers from Sweden, Australia and Russia who came together to build the performances. And both the performances were in English which appeals to a larger audience. Through its over-the-top set design and lighting effects, Russia is orchestrating an enchanting experience for the world to see. Maybe the performances are an attempt to conceal the scars from the past and put on its best face to show the world that Russia celebrates diversity. One performance promotes unity and oneness, and the other supports love, these acts by Russia have a positive influence, which in turn are promoting the founding principle of Eurovision as a concert to bring nations together, despite their differences. Therefore, both performances embrace diversity.
References
Metzer, D. (2012). The power ballad. Popular Music, 31(3), 437-459. Retrieved from
doi:10.1017/S0261143012000347
Polina Gagarina. (2015). A Million Voices (Russia). Eurovision Song Contest 2015 Vienna.
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2gbKglCL5s
Russia: polina gagarina reveals “a million voices.” (2015, March 15). Retrieved February 26,
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Russia: "You Are The Only One" presented. (2017, April 09). Retrieved from
Sergey Lazarev Team. (2016). Sergey lazarev-"you are the only one" russian version. Retrieved
TOP 10: Entries from Russia. (2017, January 13). Retrieved from
"You Are The Only One" lyrics - Sergey Lazarev (Russia 2016). (2016, March 05). Retrieved
russia-2016/130361/
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