Wednesday 24 January 2018

United Kingdom 2018 - Asanda - Legends


We've been sitting on this one for an age, but we didn't want to spoil any of the fun for you. But do you know what, we think we might finally be onto something here. In a year where everyone's slabbing out the Despacito flava, the Sheeran clones, and the missed-the-point-dismally pop jazz trudge throughs, we've long held the opinion that a decent bouncy pop tune could bring home a respectable bag of points for us on the big night. And do you know what, we might just have dug one of those out of the depths.

We first heard a slightly illicit copy of the demo on somebody's phone in a noisy Italian restaurant in a provincial British city. Even in those inauspicious surroundings it was clear that this song saw a marked left-hand turn in the UK's pop sensibilities, and while it was no instant world beater, it sounded as thought it would be a bright and most welcome addition to our Eurovision canon. All it needed was the right singer. We hoped for someone the likes of Nadia Rose - bright, breezy, current and a little bit cheeky - but feared we'd get someone from Central Casting who looked like a bit like Amelia Lily. But thankfully we got Asanda, who is considerably closer to our hopes and my fears.

Those with decent memories and home-based Saturday nights may remember her as a perky 11-year-old on Britain's Got Talent, but she's had a wealth of TV and theatre experience since her telly debut. Yep she's young, and still something of an unknown quality in the wider pop firmament, but she certainly holds much promise.

But keeping one foot on the ground for a moment, she's probably not going to win the whole thing. For a start, Feli in Romania is ploughing this furrow with just a tad more sass and moxy, and if she gets through her heats it could cause this song some bother. But good heavens, a little bit of happy-go-lucky tropical pop will certainly do us the world of good after all these years of being not-too-bad-but-nothing-special. One suspects that this is the anointed one at the BBC too. Fingers crossed that she gets through the first bit...

And oh my days, those farty trumpets!

2 comments:

  1. It is our favourite in our household. It's actually current and believably radio and chart-worthy. I'm okay with Astronaut (as long as he pulls off those vocals as it's a super difficult song to sing) and Crazy (if it gets tweaked a bit, as it's too generic at this point). The rest weren't my bag and I absolutely hated You. I thought it is oversung, self-indulgent, old-fashioned and more fitting of a soul club performance.

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  2. My favourite of the UK 6 but then again, isn't it most fans, judging by the numerous polls on every news site?

    This should be the winner, assuming that live vocals match studio ones and that the staging is top notch - having said that, I could see Jaz with "You" taking an unexpected win, purely because his will be easy to stage and he WILL nail his vocals...

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