A refresher on why we still fight.
[Video][Website]
[6.67]
Abby Waysdorf: Yes, it’s a drag queen with a beard and a silly name. But it’s a drag queen with a beard and a silly name who can sing, with a roaring James Bond theme tune to show that off. Wurst’s voice is the driving factor, and fits nicely with the visual persona: androgynous and glamorous, with just a slightest bit of edge. It’s very much a classic diva ballad and that’s what makes it work. The horns give it some extra drama and oomph, compared to the other ballads on the night, and even the lyrics are interesting.
[8]
Madeleine Lee: Sung by the hero, it’s an expression of enduring hope and will, a promise of victory echoed by the major chord landing on “reborn”; sung by the villain, it’s terrifying, as the person you thought was defeated rides the key change to come back even stronger than she was before. Either way, it’s a showstopper.
[9]
Edward Okulicz: It doesn’t have the blunt-force power of Hungary’s song, or the understated beauty of the Dutch runner-up, but on stage, its twofold bravery became obvious, and enabled me to appreciate the recorded version more. Firstly, it’s brave to send a man in a dress to a contest which has admitted more conservative voters than in the past. Secondly, and more importantly, it’s brave to do this and then sing the song completely straight down the line. The chorus is a smart use of two climaxes on the titular phrase, and the performance is one that both conveys the hurt relatably and then, generously, offers the listener the prospect of vicarious rebirth. Whether people were laughing at the beard, giving two fingers to Russia, or merely revelling in an old-fashioned, pulpy tale of redemption and revenge, Wurst gave Europe enough reasons to unite around her.
[7]
Anthony Easton: Disregarding all of the gender and sexual politics, and even Wurst’s full femme glamour, I think I mostly love this because it reminds of an otherworld Shirley Bassey in a distaff Bond rip-off, which you know makes me happy.
[9]
Scott Mildenhall: Certainly one of the best entries at Eurovision this year. It unfurls so gracefully, in both word and music. The lyrics are particularly elegant — “seeking rather than vengeance, retribution” is incredible in its subtlety and poise — and its theme is expressed clearly and poetically, and all to an unhurried dance in and around the power of the orchestral. It’s delicacy finely woven through bombast, delivered with conviction.
[8]
Katherine St Asaph: Eurovision 2014, in quick genre trends: holdover faux-Celtic, obvious rips of songs with guitars (“I Will Wait,” “Every Breath You Take,” something by the Killers), lulzgaze, malegaze and, as usual, big, dramatic ballads. Conchita’s was the night’s best, evoking simultaneously a Bond theme, a Frank Wildhorn ballad and — this might just be the Austria association — something off Tanz der Vampire. (That is, by Jim Steinman.) Obviously the extramusical context makes the song work, and for once we can actually quantify this. One of the writers of “Rise Like a Phoenix,” Charlie Mason, coincidentally once wrote a not-dissimilar song for Sweden’s 2014 entrant, Sanna Nielsen; it’s so much worse, because it doesn’t feel earned. “Rise Like a Phoenix” isn’t perfect — it’s missing a high note, it could simmer a bit more — but it does.
[7]
Alfred Soto: The low end that understands how to handle polysyllables reminded me of Alison Moyet, but the rest of this mawk, from exercise tape horns to rhyming-dictionary bits, is showbiz hysterics, and if it was a Eurovision eighth-place finalist it would still sound fake and horrible.
[3]
Thomas Inskeep: Adam Lambert must be livid that no one pitched this song to him, because it sounds precisely like an American Idol coronation. If the singer weren’t openly gay and a bearded genderfuck artist, no one would care.
[4]
Jer Fairall: So this is the bullshit that’s been clogging up my music discussion outlets for the last week? This is stiflingly anemic bombast, the vocals even more colourless than the faux-John Barry horns which, I assume, are at least supposed to sound like that.
[2]
Mallory O’Donnell: Before last week, I expected this to qualify, do fairly well and be quickly forgotten. Not for reasons of controversy — more because it seemed too conservative a tune to register with the audience. If Conchita had turned up with a bosh anthem about dressing up and going out it might have all seemed a bit too obvious. But there are no gimmicks here, beyond a couple of fairly trenchant lyrics. Instead: a stately torch song, well-orchestrated, with flourishes in all the right places, full of drama and emotion and thoroughly devastated live by a killer voice. Really, this is what the Eurovision is all about.
[8]
Brad Shoup: I’d never pegged Adam Lambert as a Bond theme candidate until now. As usual for the winners, this little torch song has had the juice squeezed right out of it… the text is amazing, but the performance has its eyes on you the whole time. Wurst’s got a similar fierce proficiency as Lambert, but I’d trust the latter to sell the crap out of this, and not himself.
[5]
Rebecca Toennessen: For the ugly ducks and the losers, the ones who knew the more they tried to fit in, the more they’d stick out. For those misfits desperately searching more than tolerance but pure love. For those who folded into themselves like an origami crane, twisting themselves to meet awkward angles. For those who knew inside they couldn’t possibly be the only one feeling this alone. You are beautiful. You are important. You are loved. You are not alone. You will rise like a phoenix, out of the ashes – seeking rather than vengeance, retribution.
[10]