„Someone on Facebook said we are using Malta’s strategy and really seems like it. Kaliopi looks like a singer that represented Malta in the past, although her song, composed by her former husband, sounds much better and has a catchy chorus.“
What makes us get so worked up about the Eurovision Song Contest? Could it be that universal appetite for victory? Can it be the fact that we are convinced we have the best rhythm and music in the region (a story told in years says that if you want to hear a song go to Bosnia, if you want to see a dance go to Serbia, and if you want a song and a dance go to Macedonia). Is it, maybe, the lack of victory in any important international arena with extensive media coverage? I’d say it’s a bit of everything, with, in our case, the last two reasons being stronger than the desire to win. How did I come to this conclusion? Well, every year the average Macedonian is really worried about who is going to represent our country at the contest, how will it all go, will friendly countries vote for us, will northern countries exchange votes although they don’t deserve them… We’ve done our best, used all our ammo… Nothing worked… Let’s start from the very beginning. Vlado Janevski ended up pretty badly with his ironed suit and serious looks. The XXL girls, who were announced as the latest attraction, went down completely out of tune. Karolina was our representative twice, then it was Toshe’s turn, then Martin the drummer boy, the wild-haired boys from Next Time, pretty Vlatko and his Russian girl, and now… it’s Kaliopi – the goddess mother. Someone on Facebook said we are using Malta’s strategy and really seems like it. Kaliopi looks like a singer that represented Malta in the past, although her song, composed by her former husband, sounds much better and has a catchy chorus. It’s as catchy as XXL’s song but more artistic.
For all our readers outside Macedonia I need to point out the fact that Kaliopi has always made excellent songs with a great melody and catchy refrains, such as Bato, Leo, Colour me etc. They have always stood out compared to other songs on top of the charts. (Karolina’s songs for example, people forget immediately.) It’s the same with this one. I’d say it’s good, better than any other we’ve sent before. It’s got a great refrain, it’s impressive and she sings it beautifully. Kaliopi has a big voice, wonderful and unusual. She is a big star not only in Macedonia, but in all the countries of formerYugoslavia. I think this year’s selection, since there wasn’t any, went well. The atmosphere was relaxed, not at all pompous, and without putting too much effort in it. Unlike the festivals in the past when we would do our absolute best to prove everybody that our music is deep and different from their metallic, soulless songs. Yes, that’s what we think about it, and after each failure we wonder why we were misunderstood again, and how could such a great song go that badly. Each year our media are full of reports of how well we are doing on the internet charts. They claim everybody is very interested in our delegation, and predict the song will move up in the standings being among the first two, or even higher… Then, after the failure or partial failure, we start making up the wildest of scenarios about the reasons that brought us there. And it all happens just because we were idealistic from the very beginning. 
So, let’s be realistic about it. We are hoping for the impossible. We expect to win or at least be among the top two, three or five… like our basketball players and handball players did. We expect not to be defeated by Luxembourg, the way they beat those guys who kick a ball around a pitch. Some people call them football players but I’m not sure they deserve it…
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