esctoday.com recently caught up with Andrej Babic, the song writer of the Portugese entry in this years Eurovision Song Contest, Senhora do Mar. Nina Pinto spoke with the self-confessed fan and songwriter about his 2008 entry and the Eurovision Song Contest in general.
Hi Andrej! Thank you for giving Esctoday.com the oportunity to interview you.
"Hi Thank you for giving me a chance to present my work in general, and especially Senhora do mar".
You have a long background concerning Eurovision. You wrote several songs that took part in national finals including last's years song that represented Slovenia in Helsinki. So this year you're doing it again but this time for a country that has been taking part for esc in many years and never won, and a country from which fans are waiting for a victory for so long. How do you feel about ithat?
"I feel great! First, it's my big professional success, to represent 4 different countries in only 6 years, and also it's big responsibility to represent a country with sucha huge traditional music background. Many people asked me about the song, and about the big "portuguese touch" in it. I come from a town on the Adriatic coast, and although Croatia and Portugal don't share same musical history, living by the sea obviously made me conected to Portugal more than I thought. Especially if we talk about people and theireveryday lives. The story is about a woman who is waiting for her sailor, andis one of the most common stories in my surroundings. Carlos Coelho heard the song which was written in Croatian, and the minute I told him whatthe lyrics were about, he knew -there's aconnection. The rest is history."
The song Senhora do mar (lady of the sea) talks abouta lostlovewho was taken by the sea. A song full of dramatism, both in the lyrics and the music. Tell us about it!
Thisstory crops upanywhere by the coast. Livingby the seacreates so many stories… Unfortunatly, many of them are sad… That's where the sadness came from, and drama came as a result… Anger, fighting against destiny…
As you may be aware of several polls wich in general put Portugal in final and also with a possible good result. What do i feel about it?
Great! At the same time, it gives nice feeling, and alsogives sense of responsibility, because people have expectations of this song. I know polls and odds usually don't make too many mistakes, but surprisesdo happen. From my experience I can only say- those 3 minutes count!
After last's years Portugese result when Sabrina almost qualified, there are some expectations about getting a good result in Belgrade. Do u think that factor willbenefitPortugal or do u feel pressured somehow?
Both. I feel like people noticed Portugal this year because ofthe song, and that is good. But of course, none of this counts if no one votes for Portugal. It's hard to be recognised by such different countries (in musical terms).
I assume you have listen to this year'sentries or at least some of them. There is a big diversity of songs, ballads, pop, songs with traditional elements, songs with irony. Do you think this year will be very competitive? And which are the key elememts that can make a difference, the strongest elements of your song that can lead you to a good result in Belgrade?
I say it again – it's very hard to be recognized by all 43 countries. Even in last few years there were cases when the winner got1, or even 0 pointsfrom some countries… I'm not sure if new system (2 semis) will eliminate diaspora voting, but politics and diaspora will probably still be very present in the voting procedure. If Iknewthe "secret key" don't you think I would have used it already, and won the ESCby now?As you can see, after my 3 uptempo songs, this year I'm in "ballad mode"… and I also prefer some of thenice ballads this year from Serbia, Norway, Poland, Albania, Romania…Concerning to the presentation in Belgrade, It is known that the song will be sung in Portuguese.
Will there be any changes on the presentation? Choreography, Vania and the back singers' presentation on stage or any changes in the music? Can we expect any surprise, new elements in the presentation in Belgrade?
Surprises are always nice, but if I would tell you right now, it wouldn't be a surprise anymore…. but,in general,the stage presentation will be very similar to the one in Festival da Canção.
It is known you are a fan of eurovision yourself. How would you define the contest?
These days, or the one we all rememberbecause of many, manyexcellent songs? The one where more than 50% singers sing in english, or the one where everyone had to sing in native language?The one where backing track is played on player, or the one where everything was performed live with a big orchestra?The one wherethe score is aresult ofpromotion tour, language versions, constant playing before the show, or the one where the songs in national finals were choosen on the first hearing?And finally -the one where the winner is decided by televoting, or the one when it was on juries?If I could onlyturn back the time, and try to tastethe"old Eurovision"…..
Is there any messageyou would like to send to our readers and to Eurovision fans?
I would like to thank all those nice people who are being sooooo supportive from my first entry in 2003, untill today…Also, once again, Ithank esctoday.com forgiving me a chance to speak about my work.
Andrej, once again thank you very much for your interview and good luck to Belgrade!
Thank you!
