Eurovision 2019 spotlight: Armenia's Srbuk with "Walking Out"...
Last year the first semi-finals was called by some Eurovision superfans as the "semi of death", with so many strong songs that many bettors favorites as well as countries consistently making the end of the competition suddenly not qualifying. Such were the case of former Soviet Republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan, with the former failing to make it for the second time, and the latter not qualifying for the first time since they've entered the contest. Their fates were notable, since both the countries have a combative past with each other, which I would guess the majority of Americans have absolutely no clue about. So this year each has something to prove, which is difficult enough since both countries sent in worthy entries last year that simply were drowned out. In Armenia's case, it was hunky singer Sevak Khanagyan, who brought ethnic realness to his grand power-ballad "Qami" ("Wind") last year. It was the first song done solely in Armenian, and a lot of non-English songs got left behind. Well this year bring back English, with a powerful woman singer. Will that win juries and audiences back?
Armenia - "Walking Out" from Srbuk
Srbuk Sargsyan (boy, that sounds like a character in Game of Thrones) hails from the capital city of Yerevan. She's been on both The X Factor Armenia and The Voice of Ukraine, both making the finals. She was one of the first singers revealed to be entering Eurovision back in November of 2018, but at that time the song was put up to a submission contest. Written by Lost Capitol and producer tokionine along with Armenian host Garik Papoyan, "Walking Out" is a radio-friendly electronica/pop nugget about a woman who was been mistreated in love getting the courage to be on her own...
It's telling that both countries (you'll see later with Azerbaijan) took their losses with a sense of shame perhaps, sending two really "safe" songs this year to make sure they qualify. As for Srbuk, she's got a worthy voice that really takes off in the final minute off the song, but the build-up seems like two minutes of an Alessia Cara album track. The studio version is way slick, and the horde of hunky dancers makes the music video pop, but that won't be an option in the live show. She'll be able to rely on points from Russia and the Netherlands, but Ukraine is off the table and Georgia is in the other final. And with this not-upbeat song beginning the show that night, while I wouldn't be upset if she qualified, I wouldn't be surprised if she missed it due to the amount of competition in this one. (Rating 6.5/10)
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Armenia has been competiting in Eurovision since 2006, and in their first five tries reached the finals top ten. Their best showing so far has been fourth place, which they have done twice. First in 2008 singer Sirusho did the trick was "Qélé, Qélé" ("Come On, Come On")...
Again in 2014 the country reached fourth with "Not Alone" with singer/comedian Aram MP3...
As for my personal favorite, I have to admit that in 2017 I was rooting for Artsvik to go all the way to the top with "Fly With Me", only to have her finish in 18th place....
And as for notable entries, as with many of the other former Soviet states, Armenia stirred a little controversy in 2015 when Genealogy, made up of six singers from each of the continents of Armenian heritage to symbolize the diaspora, entered with "Face The Shadow", which was originally titled "Don't Deny" to be a direct reference of the Armenian Holocaust by the Turks of the Ottoman Empire during World War I. In the end the song placed 16th...
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