San Marino has chosen Valentina Monetta as their Eurovision representative for the third year in a row. Will it finally pay off.
If you told me in 2012 that San Marino was going to send the same representative to the Eurovision Song Competition for two more years, I would have openly laughed in your face. Valentina Monetta? The same singer who seemed to be working their way phonetically through the execrable "The Social Network Song (Oh Oh, Uh Oh Oh)"? It hardly seemed to be a strategy for success. Last year, I was surprised at how much I loved their entry, "Crisalide (Vola)" - it's as though they realized it was best to work with the singer to find a song that worked with her voice. I was actively rooting for Valentina, and it was crushing to see her finish just outside of the top 10 with a song that was infinitely better than her first appearance. Will her third time representing San Marino finally be the charm?
San Marino seems to be going with the strategy that almost worked last year - a mid tempo ballad that picks up tempo at the end for a touch of drama. Since this almost got them to the final last year, it's not a bad idea to try things again. I think between "Maybe" and "Crisalide", the latter is a slightly stronger song, but the English lyrics and instrumentation of "Maybe" ((which, oddly enough, reminds me of the Eurythmics' "Here Comes the Rain Again" in places)) may give them just the extra push they need to finally make it to the final round of the competition.
No official performance has been released, just a promotional video, meaning that we have no clue about potential staging of the song pre-competition. Hopefully San Marino books a few performances pre-contest to drum up support. Maybe, with "Maybe", this is their year to break through to the finals of the contest.