After a disastrous year off from Depi Evratesil (2019 was an internal selection instead and didn’t work out well for them!), Armenia is back with the contest. The 2020 edition is a one-time event (rather than a multi-round series) and features 12 songs to choose from.
This is my first Armenian qualifier, and I set the alarm for 4:55am Sydney time to watch on 1tv.am live! The whole thing is presented in Armenian - although all 12 songs are sung in English - so I’m feeling my way here!!
It’s a studio event with a tried and tested format - short video postcard and then each song.
Song 1 - Agop with ‘Butterflies’ is a strange little pop song with a dreadful little dance break in the middle of the song. Entirely one dimensional and the busy video wall and bubbles blowing around the all male gang of singer + dancers doesn’t help.
Straight into Song 2 - Karina Evn with Why? - A shaved headed artist in a fabulous/dreadful basque/trouser set, her vocal is pretty weak but the song has a dance beat making it slightly more lively than Song 1.
Song 3 - Hayk Music - "What it is to be in love" - starting softly, this ballad is soft and gentle - solo singer on a stool in a white jacket - very sweet but entirely forgettable.
Song 4 - ERNA - "LIFE FACES" - A solo female artist dressed in yellow with pyrotechnics early on (always a bad sign!) Highly repetitive with no hook or big moments. Another poor option.
Song 5 - No Love by Eva Ride - starts dark, with a soft guitar solo, into a decent singer who can hold the tune. Slightly edgy pop song about pain and struggle - the most promise so far.
6 - Chains on you by Athena Manoukian - a Greek singer songwriter - much more interesting start, it’s the first to have a bit of an ‘armenian’ kick to it, whilst also trying to be - I don’t know - an RnB track from 2015? The vocal isn’t bad and with some production could probably be interesting, but there’s no climax or variance. She is ‘Eleni’- styled (yawn!)
Song 7 - It’s Your Turn Gabriel Jeeg - pop with a bit of a jazz feel - this is pure cruise ship singing. We even go into a bit of a Spanish holiday break at one point - dreadful, although he can sing.
Song 8 - Sergey & Nikolay Harutyunov - "Ha, Take a Step" - a father/son duo (I think) - son is trying to be most earnest but looking (and sounding) a bit stupid. Dad gets involved for the last minute of repetitive yearning, and I’m glad when it’s over.
Song 9 - Miriam Baghdassarian with Run Away - the FABULOUS red dress and moody start hook me in. When we do eventually get to the chorus, it’s just ‘run away’ sung repetitively- albeit with a strong vocal. The chorus plays back well in the recap video so it may place well.
Song 10 - Vladimir Arzumanyan with What’s going on Mama - it’s a good job Vlad is vaguely pretty, cos he can’t sing.
Song 11 - ARTHUR ALEQ - "HEAVEN" - there is mention of Billie Eilish during the postcard. I’m interested! Then the song starts. Sadly, the Billie Eilish mention was a red herring...
Song 12 - Tokionine, Save Me - an upbeat poppy song which is well sung; probably the most cohesive as a track. The staging has Chingiz 2019 vibes. I’m expecting this to win (and after a quick glance on wiwibloggs during the video recaps, so does their poll).
Less than an hour all up! The next hour includes:
- a run down of all the voting rules, we’re off with 15 mins to vote.
- some dreadful footage from a child in a ridiculous dress at Junior Eurovision
- the same child singing live in a slightly less stupid dress. To be fair, probably one of the best performances of the evening
- an interview with last year’s contestant Srbuk, which lasts longer than her time at the contest.
- a well- produced live medley of songs by Iveta Mukuchyan (of Love Wave, 2016 Fame, Armenia’s 3rd best placing of their Eurovision history)
- the 12 hopefuls singing Arcade live, which is the best any of them have sung all night - it’s actually super good.
- a video recap of all Armenian entries (I’d forgotten Aram in 2014, quite good!) Love Wave really was their best I think. And Qami, my fave!
Voting starts and I get confused, as there are three rounds of votes, not the usual two. Song 6 - Chains - wins all three rounds convincingly, totalling 168 points.
I certainly don’t think Armenia should be bothering us in the finals after those performances - the winning song will get some Greek points of course, and she’s clearly styled herself on Eleni - although does anyone else feel like that’s getting a bit old now...? All in all a run-of-the-mill selection show which filled 2hr15mins more interestingly than sleeping on a Sunday morning!