na: kate ryan

totally and utterly relevant, we promise.

As you may know by now, I try to hit our target demographic at eMusic as hard as I can with the stuff they love: minimal techno, 450 pound Hawaiians covering “What a Wonderful World,” Scottish folk and rock: whatever it takes, I’m there.

One of my pet obsessions has always been the Eurovision song contest (ever since some colleagues (and “Father Ted”) introduced me to its ridiculousness a few years ago). Today sees the arrival from one of my favorite tracks from 2006’s competition, “Je T’Adore” by Kate Ryan.

In what was one of the more shocking decisions of the last few years, the song didn’t make it out of the semifinal stages, even though it had been picked by many to win it all. I hate to cry foul, but it’s been proven that voting (which is done by each country’s public) tends to skew along neighborly lines (the Eastern Europeans love another’s tracks, no matter how terrible they are). But, then again, maybe Europeans are just getting tired of cheesy pop music. Somehow, I doubt it.

Anyway, this song certainly won’t appeal to eMusic’s core audience. But if you like things like ABBA and the art of pop songwriting, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better example of modern day versions of either. Bombastic chorus, a great bridge that even sneaks in a pre-chorus and lyrics that are just dumb enough to be profound. You can’t ask for much else.

Bonus!
My favorite Eurovision entry ever: Iceland’s Silvia Night, who had this NSFW breakdown after her song wasn’t chosen for the finals in 2006. Needless to say, Kate was slightly more composed about the whole thing. The best part is the reporter’s response…”Ohh. This is not good.”