Let's revisit Iveta Mukuchyan's entry for Armenia, "LoveWave", as the Eurovision final draws closer.
Country: Armenia
Song Title: "LoveWave"
Artist: Iveta Mukuchyan
First Semi-Final: Position 7
Last year's entry: "Face the Shadow" - Genealogy (16th Place)
With a few exceptions (like last year's entry and the year they didn't participate because of the tensions with Azerbaijan when they hosted), Armenia tends to do well in the Eurovision song contest. They also tend to be one of the more forward thinking nations - Aram MP3's "Not Alone" brought dubstep elements into the contest, and was a long-time favorite leading up to the final competition in 2014. Is their entry this year, Iveta Mukuchyan's "LoveWave" of the same standard?
There's been no modification to this entry since it was first introduced, although I'm not sure any modification is really necessary on this. Like "Not Alone", this feels like it's bringing in some modern pop elements to what could otherwise be a standard ballad. I like that it feels like this has a non-traditional song structure, even if I find the song itself a little bland. It's not my favorite entry this year, but I also feel that's likely my own personal taste rather than that of the populace as a whole. Iveta's singing is great in the recorded version, but after Armenia pulled out of Eurovision in Concert, I have no live clips to compare against to verify this can sound just as good on an actual stage.
In their semifinal, Armenia is slotted between The Netherlands and San Marino, giving a bit of a whiplash as the first semifinal ping-pongs from genre to genre. This feels like a weird pairing, but I place that mostly on San Marino's last-minute disco boogie switch-up - that's got to be hard to place alongside any pair of entries in the competition. I think the difference of styles could help both the Netherlands and Iveta here, as they're not competing with similar songs to their direct neighbors. Iveta also benefits from not being in the second semi-final, which is rife with female soloists with similarly-tempoed songs. This one's definitely on the positive edge of the bubble for me, but stands a strong chance of making it through to the final if the live performance is good.