Imagine sticking old Eurovision songs in with the Bangles and Bananarama, maybe Queen and say “Make it heavy metal.”
The title sounds like a couple words from the superior “Venus” by Bananarama.
I can’t force myself to watch the entire video, so I won’t comment on the entire performance. The lyrics don’t really make sense, they seem like three different songs mashed together. The words are English, but what is the point of the song?
We see the commentators, angry that influencers would promote Malta. Malta had a better song, and Romanians aren’t meant to vote for their own song. But considering that half of Romania is in a diaspora, I guess they have a point. Spain wasn’t voting, that might have helped Romania win. As it was, Romania got 10 points from Italy, as Romanians are the biggest immigrant group, we don’t have to use our imagination to see who was voting to be choked.
Commentators are also angry that the Moldovan jury betrayed them (they used words like betray, treason).
Romania’s not the only country to complain about a lack of reciprocity. One Albanian fan complained, in a comment, that Albania gave Italy 12 points and got none in return. Aren’t you supposed to vote for your favorite act, and not the one who voted for you? I mean, if Balcani vote for Balcani, why even have the show? Why not just have a vote?
But, Romania did get a very high vote that wasn’t reciprocal. From Luxembourg.
Luxembourg? Well, supposedly it doesn’t have a Romanian diaspora. But, yeah, Romanians in Belgian might have had a second sim card, so they could vote twice, on both sides of the border. Such a small population, it isn’t hard to get one.
The graffiti in Luxembourg was pretty nice last time I was there. I don’t know if they understand music, though. I can’t think up any Luxembourgish bands, composers, or even folk tunes.
The expression on Capitănu’s face, like she needs the toilet, might have gotten some people to vote for her.
It wasn’t the worst in the competition, you say. Huh? Maybe not. I could name a few that didn’t get to the second round which were better.
Sure, it’s cheesy, but at least “Too Epic To be True” sounds like a song, and not an AI-generated mash up. Albania, Croatia, even Malta had songs that sounded better.
The way Romanians support their own no matter what, like Israelis do, is kind of endearing. It’s much better than the Dutch habit of disliking any fellow Dutchman who succeeds. It does, however, raise the question whether it is a good idea to do business in Cluj. As a foreigner, you are likely to get cheated if you are not Romanian, Moldovan, or one of their favorite people.
One wonders if your banker expects a role in your film for her niece, if your accountant won’t do your taxes until you give her granddaughter a better grade, if your lawyer might be slow to file your papers when her husband didn’t get promoted at your restaurant.
Then again, maybe of these same people don’t even know the meaning of the statues being put up or taken down. They seem to see Americans and Brits as a source of authority when it comes to news or books, prefering some obscure American author to do an analysis of anything from filmmaking to politics than one of their own geniuses.
You see them hold up a book in English, and then say why Romania is no good, and their evidence is “I read a book in English.” And they pay too much to see foreign self-help authors and gurus on the stage. While they support each other in competition, there is almost no support for Romanian intellectuals, thinkers, innovators, or true artists.
It is a shame, really.
There is a similar contradiction when it comes to how foreigners here are treated. If you are a celebrity, and built your success somewhere else, you’ll be thanked for showing the country. If you move here, to work your way up within the country, you might be resented. The great Romanians walk west, almost no one walks east without gathering suspicion.