Hero - Charlotte Perrelli

MaksonMakson Posts: 30,450
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Can someone explain how this fabulous song flopped so much in Belgrade?
If there was ever a song that was tailor-made for eurovision, this was it! It had all the ingredients. I'm baffled as to how it bombed so much:confused:

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  • WeeblesWobbleWeeblesWobble Posts: 1,255
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    1. Her voice wasn't at its best, sounded a bit strained.
    2. She was upstaged by other female soloists who had better draws - Ukraine and Greece. Not to mention Armenia also had a strong female soloist. They all split the vote and with Ukraine, Greece and Armenia finishing 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively, its only natural that one of them suffered in the points - Charlotte being the one.
    3. Her styling was awful, she looked plain scary. This coming from a fan, I really like her but I'm being honest when I say it would've put many viewers off and detracted from the song and performance.
  • phill363phill363 Posts: 24,311
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    Makson wrote: »
    Can someone explain how this fabulous song flopped so much in Belgrade?
    If there was ever a song that was tailor-made for eurovision, this was it! It had all the ingredients. I'm baffled as to how it bombed so much:confused:

    Probably because Charlotte didn't give a good performance and she also looked like an alien at the beginning when the plastic surgery and the lighting effects were combined and she looked scary.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 96
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    Good analysis Weebles!
    Congrats on your 1000th post! :D
  • steeleuro_wolfsteeleuro_wolf Posts: 13,336
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    Probably because she looked like an alien, especially at the beginning. Whoever thought that black and white colour scheme was a good idea should never be let near a stage again.
  • big bro geekbig bro geek Posts: 18,268
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    She just looked so bloody awful that I think it put people off.

    I remember Wogans words were something along the lines of, "I think you'll like this one but at the same time be rather scared":D
  • MaksonMakson Posts: 30,450
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    I think Charlotte, Malena and Kati Wolf must have all used the same awful stylist:(
    All amazing songs let down by horrible styling and staging.
  • penguinpersonpenguinperson Posts: 16,886
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    Dated schlager entered in an era where the public were fed up of them
  • SaturnSaturn Posts: 18,971
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    Her face put people off :(
  • MaksonMakson Posts: 30,450
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    Dated schlager entered in an era where the public were fed up of them

    Harsh:(
    I actually think it is more in the league of classic schlager. It sounds timeless to me:)
  • DamienSDamienS Posts: 12,364
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    This has been in my head all day after reading this
  • SaturnSaturn Posts: 18,971
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    Dated schlager entered in an era where the public were fed up of them

    I wouldn't say Ani's song was a world away genre wise and that came 2nd. It was definitely the plastic surgery that hit her votes.
  • phill363phill363 Posts: 24,311
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    DamienS wrote: »
    This has been in my head all day after reading this

    Snap, its actually a good song just ruined by the alien, no wonder Wogan didn't recognise her from 9 years previous with all the work she had done. she's another singer with Sieneke syndrome but hers is self inflicted as she was only about 33 then.
  • penguinpersonpenguinperson Posts: 16,886
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    Saturn wrote: »
    I wouldn't say Ani's song was a world away genre wise and that came 2nd. It was definitely the plastic surgery that hit her votes.

    Hero was way over producded for it's own good. With Shady Lady they stopped at the right point and went no further.
  • starrystarry Posts: 12,434
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    Her look was bad. Ironically I think it was a far better song than the one she did so well with (won even?) at the end of the 90s. Also the performance was better in the Swedish semi perhaps, and I liked the funny upside-down camera at one point and the fact that all the women were blond then as well as it looked better.

    And I wouldn't call it schlager (at least not by my definition of that), it was simply a pop-disco song which you get all the time in Eurovision. So not out of date in this context or in a Euro-pop context even I think..
  • steeleuro_wolfsteeleuro_wolf Posts: 13,336
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    starry wrote: »
    And I wouldn't call it schlager (at least not by my definition of that), it was simply a pop-disco song which you get all the time in Eurovision. So not out of date in this context or in a Euro-pop context even I think..

    It's a very narrow definition of schlager that doesn't include Hero :eek:
  • starrystarry Posts: 12,434
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    When I think schlager I think German schlager (which started around the 70s or earlier), that's the original definition as far as I am aware of. Hero is basically a euro pop disco style, and definitely not a trashy version of that either. In fact I don't think there is even that big a jump between this type of disco and stuff that is thought more hip now like Lady Gaga.
  • 21stCenturyBoy21stCenturyBoy Posts: 44,493
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    Hero is classic Schlager!

    In fact, it was her failure that prompted MelFest to go through a few years of abandoning Schlager all together (G:Son only had 1 song in MelFest 2010!)
  • starrystarry Posts: 12,434
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    Here's what has been traditionally called schlager, with the kind of folk melody often associated with such music. It tends towards easy listening music and not energetic dance music.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0Keu0247Wk

    I much prefer their euro disco style, though some people here probably call that shlager too I guess. I wouldn't though. :D If we did we'd end up having to call most of disco schlager, including people like Giorgio Moroder.
  • youngswedeyoungswede Posts: 2,294
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    "Schlager" is a term used incorrectly by many ESC fans often for just any song with a key change or europop etc. I don't know why. Theres more to it than that! :D

    Swedes give the general term 'schlager' to any song to do with Eurovision or Melodifestivalen. Even if musically it isn't. The name just stuck from the 1960s-1970s when classical schlager was nearly always used and was very famous in Sweden and some other european countries. It doesn't really exist nowadays at all in Sweden. Lotta and Christer's "Don't let me down" from last year is the closest to classical schlager there has been in years at MF.

    Take a look at this 'Schlager' compilation CD for example, Its obvious that some of these songs are no where near what a ESC or MF fan would class as schlager songs, like Snälla Snälla, Night of Passion, Kärleken Är etc. They are on the CD as they are labelled as Schlager due to being in MF. This is why they are labelled as Schlager even though they are not musically.
    http://cdon.eu/music/absolute_music/absolute_schlager_%283cd%29-7860848

    It can be difficult to class this sort of song sometimes, but Hero is not a classical Schlager song by any means musically, although i guess you could say it is a type of Europop which has evolved from Schlager, though i don't know what one would call it, but it needs a different name, otherwise we would be called apes and not humans!
  • youngswedeyoungswede Posts: 2,294
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    In fact, it was her failure that prompted MelFest to go through a few years of abandoning Schlager all together (G:Son only had 1 song in MelFest 2010!)

    Are you sure?

    Its just that in the year after Hero, MF was still Europop friendly. There were at least 6-8 songs one could put in a similar category as Hero, quite a few of which got to the final. :) but like you say, only 1-2 in 2010.

    But to answer the OP's original question, I just don't think it was original enough, plus like others have said, her appearance, even though i personally think she looked great :o
  • rosetta12rosetta12 Posts: 4,010
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    youngswede wrote: »
    "Schlager" is a term used incorrectly by many ESC fans often for just any song with a key change or europop etc. I don't know why. Theres more to it than that! :D

    Swedes give the general term 'schlager' to any song to do with Eurovision or Melodifestivalen. Even if musically it isn't. The name just stuck from the 1960s-1970s when classical schlager was nearly always used and was very famous in Sweden and some other european countries.
    Funny, but here in Finland this kind of music is actually called "schlager" ("it's the closest translation to "iskelmä" that I know of): :D

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1tjCaE94RE

    (Couldn't be more different from e.g. all the disco-type MF songs... ;))
  • vauxhall1964vauxhall1964 Posts: 10,334
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    ooh i love a good old "What is Schlager?" debate...

    meanwhile back to Hero. I think her styling made her look too old, made her look like a plastic surgery disaster, and made her look like a drag queen. A triple whammy. The song itself is rather old school Euro pop (with a clunky key change), for which there's no real appetite in Eastern Europe.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 8,681
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    There was such a difference between the MF performance and the ESC performance.

    At Eurovision, everything seemed off; the singing, choreography, camera work, lighting, outfit and hair. Even the backing track sounded different compared to the version used at MF. It was a mess.
  • cnbcwatchercnbcwatcher Posts: 56,681
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    starry wrote: »
    Here's what has been traditionally called schlager, with the kind of folk melody often associated with such music. It tends towards easy listening music and not energetic dance music.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0Keu0247Wk

    I much prefer their euro disco style, though some people here probably call that shlager too I guess. I wouldn't though. :D If we did we'd end up having to call most of disco schlager, including people like Giorgio Moroder.

    I've seen that sort of stuff on German TV whenever I've been over there. At first I couldn't think there was anything more naff than the likes of Cliff Richard, but it turns out I was wrong :eek: Do people actually enjoy watching that kind of stuff?
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