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Last year little San Marino continued their quest to qualify
with a very odd song indeed. Initially entitled Facebook (Uh Oh Oh Oh) the
bouncy paean to procrastination fell foul of the rules on product placement and
lost some of its impact when it was genericised as The Social Network Song.
Fair play to Valentina for singing it all with a straight face for everybody
knew it was doomed. It’s almost as if Valentina has now come back – for it is
indeed she again having a second crack for San Marino – just to prove she’s
actually a highly accomplished singer. She’s teamed up with Mr Eurovision Ralph
Siegel again, a pairing that after last year’s fiasco could have been
ill-advised were it not for the fact that this is surprisingly good. Singing in
Italian, which lends a natural confidence to her vocals over her reticent
English, Valentina plays a blinder. The song has a both a classy and classical
feel to it and builds nicely for the first couple of minutes and then – what’s
this? – it ratchets up a gear or two to add a beat for the last third.
Initially this is quite disarming as it’s the kind of tempo change you
anticipate earlier (although a late switch worked well for Lithuania’s Donny
Montell last year). However it’s actually quite a fitting style given the link
to the titular chrysalis and evokes the emerging butterfly sonically and
lyrically. It’s a risk, as it may go way over many viewers’ heads, but there’s
a competence to this which I have to admire Uncle Ralph for and which comes
from many years honing your craft. It feels like he’s found the right vehicle
for Valentina this time round and I suspect this will easily be San Marino’s
best result to date and their first appearance in the final.
Monty x
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