EUROVISION 2019 REVIEW: MOLDOVA - Anna Odobescu - Stay

Welcome back!

Today, we head to Moldova. I didn't watch O Melodie Pentru Europa this year, but did catch the ICONIC audition rounds that one morning. All I can say is why were Lume not shortlisted?! A tragedy, truly. Anyways, Moldova went for 'Stay' by Anna Odobescu in the end, a song that slipped my mind when I watched the auditions, which says a lot really. Anyway...

Here are my thoughts:

What I Like: Okay, so there are no denying Anna's vocal power is there, in both the studio cut and live that has to be respected, and I would definitely love to see Anna perform a song that is more current. I was also pleasantly surprised by the visuals they have gave us in the music video, which adds a touch of class to the entry and feels very cinematic.

What I Don't Like: Let's address the elephant in the room (shoutout to Alexandra Burke xo), this song is DATED. It's always a huge shame to see a great singer and representative for your country wasted on such a flat entry (see Ari Olafsson), and sadly this is one of those entries unfortunately. The song has a lot of rise and fall which feels like its been intentionally slotted in for as much dramatic effect as they can possibly give, which is evident in Anna's OTT facial expressions whenever she performs the song. Coming from someone who loves when people perform and convey emotion through performance, it's all too much and I can't believe nobody's telling them to tone it down!

Prediction: Let's keep this short and sweet: Moldova are staying in SF2 this year.

Final Score: 3/10

Summary: Powerful vocal and song that is sadly stuck in another era. I'm almost surprised that Moldova went for this because there is no gimmicks involved at all in this, which in some ways is a positive but when the song is not interesting enough on its own, this becomes a negative. Unfortunately, I can't see how they are going to bring this to life through staging because it's such a bland product.

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