Armenia is the favorite to win this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Will Aram Mp3's "Not Alone" deliver the country its first win?
Country: Armenia
Song Title: "Not Alone"
Artist: Aram mp3
Semi-Final: First, Position 1
Last year's entry: "Lonely Planet" - Dorians (18th Place)
Armenia opted for a fully internal selection this year, choosing singer/comedian Aram Mp3 as their representative. As was the case with Austria and the Netherlands, the announcement of the artist was made rather early in the Eurovision season with a song to follow close to the submission deadline. Usually when an artist is internally selected, I like to see if I can find videos of their other work to see what mad skillz the act brings to the table. After viewing Aram mp3's video for "If I Tried" (plus a few live performances), I knew that Armenia was not messing around—they want to win this year's Eurovision Song Contest. "Not Alone" may very well be the track that will give Armenia its first victory:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChkJpnOgIwQ
Since the song made its debut in early March, Armenia has sat atop the bookmakers' odds table. As it should: the story and stirring emotion of the song combined with the effective use of dubstep elements forces the audience to listen. The clever use of Aram Mp3's accented English to create rhymes with "kiss" and "trees" is nothing short of brilliant. There are also plenty of Eurovision elements—the military drums, the plaintive piano, high pyrotechnic potential—without creating a song that is "Eurovision-y." A tremendous amount of strategy went into this entry, and it shows.
What I find troubling is how much this entry has to fight to maintain its position as front-runner. Looking at the odds tables, it's bizarre to see the Scandinavian entries ranked as runners-up and even United Kingdom in the mix. Those entries are so drastically different from what Armenia is offering, I'm confused as to how they are getting that level of traction.
An unfortunate incident may also have an effect on the outcome. According to the Austrian Times, Aram Mp3 allegedly made some homophobic and transphobic remarks regarding Conchita Wurst.((The article doesn't fully reference the passage, so context and possible mistranslation could be at play.)) Although the two performers reconciled, that did not keep the audience from booing Aram mp3's performance at the Eurovision in Concert event, despite delivering a fantastic performance of "Not Alone."
Armenia will advance, that I am certain. The only challenge I can see to Aram Mp3 not taking home the win would be early placement in the Grand Final. With the producers selecting the running order, I am concerned they will try to neutralize this entry's dominance. If the other frontrunners get second half placement, the overall points could be significantly closer. Good luck, Armenia—if you win, you earned it.