I started out with the intention of reviewing three countries in one video. Then I cut it down to two. But in the end, I realized that Romania doesn’t share top billing with anyone.
Right now the video for “It’s My Life” only has 33,000 views. That will change. Watch out Psy!
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That Bulgaria song is truly wretched. Watch the whole video, if you dare:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Mz8EA_cpo4
I don’t even think Bulgaria was trying. I think they were playing an elaborate practical joke on the world.
What I like about Romania is that Cezar is actually GOOD at what he does. The SONG is pretty weak, but Cezar himself is the best contratenor I’ve ever heard. (DISCLAIMER: I’ve only heard Cezar and the Bulgaria guy.)
I definitely got the sense that English is not the first language of the songwriters given the very simple concepts and rhymes. But putting that aside for a moment, can we guess what “love is so so true, I can paint my world in blue” is supposed to mean? Does blue have different cultural associations in Europe? Or particularly Romania? If your love isn’t true, are you not allowed to/not capable of painting your world blue? Do you have to paint it violet or crimson instead?
I like to imagine that this song is an attempt to bring more spatial awareness and physical scale into romantic songs as in the classics River Deep Mountain High and Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.
My first instinct about the “blue” question is to make some snarky remark about how blue is the easiest color to reflect in the color/light spectrum, but I’m not scientifically minded enough to do so, so I’ll just leave it at that. Just imagine some brilliant quip here.