Ireland – Lesley Roy – Maps
There’s a particular art to giving your song a one-word title. In general, if you’re going to do that, it wants to be the most memorable word of your entire song. Think in terms of I’m not your TOY you stupid boy, think in terms of yeah yeah FUEGO, think in terms of HALLELUJAH sing a song.
Don’t think in terms of our most recent champion OH-OH-OH-OH, which won back in 1837 and has left the Netherlands trying to stage some form of festival ever since, because Duncan never downloaded my exclusive Name Your Songs The NickD Way eBook, and he only barely got away with it.
I’m not certain that Lesley Roy’s song naming compass was pointing north, either. I’m not saying that the word MAPS doesn’t turn up in the song (though strictly speaking it doesn’t), but it’s not a completely ridiculous choice. Perhaps All The Wrong Places (See That, Belgium, Not Just One Wrong Place, All Of Them. ALL OF THE WRONG PLACES. HAH!) might have worked better.
Still, Maps it is.
If it gets picked up in a subtle staging concept where Lesley wears a dress made out of MAPS while singing on a giant MAP floor in front of a backdrop of a MAP while holding a MAP then perhaps all will yet be well. That kind of almost subliminal visual signalling can work a treat.
But I am worried. I think it’s a strong enough song to be competitive even in a tough semifinal, and Lesley gives the impression that she may well have some entertaining twinkle about her, but it’s going to have trouble standing out enough to get that wretched Mr Olafssen to shout THAT ONE! The one with all the maps! That’s the one I’ll be voting for!
I’m thinking this is one of the 16 that doesn’t quite fit into 10 envelopes, sadly.
Nick’s Score: 6/10
[…] no mistake this is a song. It shares the same driving back-beat that 'Story of my life' had, but as Nick has said, Mr Olafsson in Trondheim isn’t going to care how it got here, just that it's […]