Anita: National finals can hold true musical gems, or on the other side of the scale, they can produce songs many of us would rather forget. So this week, we decided to look at one of the three contenders for France in 2014. Joanna is the singer, and the song is Ma Liberte, a strong ballad for a strong voice. Joanna lost out to Twin Twin, the energetic group who took their song ‘Moustache’ to Eurovision, however, was she the better choice for Eurovision?
Well I’m going to be bold and say that Joanna would have been a safer option to send to Eurovision. Her song is nice, again, nothing too special, but it would have potentially placed higher than what Twin Twin did. Personally, one of my favourites of Eurovision 2014 was Twin Twin (obviously Europe didn’t agree with me) but I wouldn’t have complained if Joanna had gotten the ticket instead. I don’t think it packs a huge punch, so it might have relied on a good draw in the final, but I’ll stop with the ‘what if’s’ and give my opinion on the song.
Live in the national final, overall, Joanna performed well. I don’t think her voice was as powerful as it was in the official film clip for the song, but I would argue that most songs aren’t performed as well as in the studio version, so it isn’t a huge deal breaker for me. The song plods along, but for a ballad, I have high standards, so I think it could have done with a bit more oomph. The song starts off a bit slow, but when it begins building, it’s really quite nice. And of course, the French language gains a few extra points from me!
Do you agree Seth?
Seth: Well, if France sent Joanna to Eurovision, they would have ended up better than TwinTwin. But still, being dead last with 2 points isn’t hard to beat, they would have even ended up better if they had sent that other act which I totally forgot about after they performed their song in the national selection.
Anyways, the song is quite nice and Joanna has an amazing voice, in my opinion! Too bad the song is a bit bland overall and has no real Wow-moment in it. It is a nice filler for three minutes, but I have heard better ballads. As for the language being used, which is, of course, French, it fits the song very well this time. I’m not the biggest supporter of singing in the native language, but this time the song sounds better in French.
Anita: Any final thoughts? What do you rate the song?
Seth: Not bad, but also not good, I’m going to give it a 6.5/10
Anita: I’m going to give this song a 6/10.
Total score out of 20: 12.5/20
Song Profile
Year: 2014
Country: France
Artist: Joanna
Song: Ma Liberte