There are 37 acts in this year’s Eurovision, and not all of them are for everyone.
And you know what? VÆB, from Iceland, have brought a song this year that is not for me:
It’s called RÓA, and it’s about rowing and spending one’s life on the seas. Coming from Iceland, an island that has traditionally relied on a fishing industry, I can understand the impetus behind this song, especially as it weaves in what sounds like a bit of a folk influence with the violin.
But the whole song seems slightly secondary to the branding experience of VÆB being VÆB. Dressed in their trademark silver clothing and sunglasses, the duo seem like they’d be more comfortable piloting a drone than manually rowing a boat. They’re full of energy and jumping around on stage and generally seem to exist outside of their song, which is a vehicle which allows them to do more things on social media.
Maybe I’m just cynical about RÓA because I’ve already seen what it’s like what VÆB connects fully with a song as a performance, rather than a platform. They entered Songvakeppnin last year with the entry Biomynd, a song about the thin line between real life and the movies:
It’s a song which feels funnier and more natural to their own experience than a song about rowing a boat. And I kind of wish that we had this VÆB, with their energy channelled in a realized staging, rather than the chaotic duo that have to remind people they aren’t Jedward.
dudepoints.fun 