2016 Reviews – San Marino – Serhat – I Didn’t Know

I think you all know where this review is going – and I haven’t even started yet. What a mess this whole situation is, am I right?

So, Serhat was chosen as the singer for San Marino, despite not being from San Marino. There’s no rules to say he has to be from San Marino, but anyway. Irrelevant, I know. The song he and his team chose to present to the Eurovision world is titled I Didn’t Know, and it’s safe to say that I didn’t know that it was possible to produce such a dud of a song.

The original version produced for Eurovision had the most spectacularly horrific but also kinda amazing video clip. The song was described to me as a ‘grandfather singing you to sleep’ and I 100% agreed with that. It was slow, deep, and didn’t really have much substance. After a couple of weeks, and endless criticisms, they ended up choosing to submit the disco version for Eurovision instead.

First of all, the video clip I’m slightly confident isn’t even the clip for the song – I think he’s singing a different song? Only slightly unprofessional in my eyes *sarcasm*. Over to the song. The song hasn’t lost that slowness, deepness or dullness, even with a disco beat. His voice for me personally is infuriating to listen to. It’s more like he’s speaking the song, rather than singing. After listening to another of his most ‘popular’ songs, I very quickly realised that it’s not the song I dislike as much, it’s his voice (sorry, Serhat, it’s just not for me).

I read that the stage performance was decided on with the assumption that it was the original version being sung at Eurovision, and now they’ve changed the song, I would have thought they would change the staging to suit the more up-tempo version of the song, however I read that the staging will remain the same. Safe to say it’s going to require a hat and possibly some sort of ridiculous fashion accessory, i.e. a monocle.

Jokes aside, there’s a reason this seems to be on the bottom of everyone’s rankings and I’m no exception. This is going to be in semi-final 1 which is incredibly tough because of the amount of great quality, modern songs. This has nothing on them.

I’m generously giving this a 2/10, more as a pity score if anything. Bring back Valentina, San Marino. Please.

Guest Reviewer: Curtis

Ladies and Gentlemen, meet the worst entry from Eurovision not just in this years contest but in the last decade! Serhat makes Electro Velvet sound sensational and that is saying something. The quirkiness of the song I admire though, despite it being absolutely pathetic there is something unique and uplifting about it. This shouldn’t qualify. But something tells me people might actually like and vote for it!

The whole population of San Marino is in the official video for ‘’I didn’t know’’ which bizarrely was filmed in Turkey. Maybe San Marino should of stuck with Valentina Monetta for the 300th time. There is something weird about the backing vocalists that is strangely satisfying to listen to I would say that is the only highlight of such a terrible excuse for a ‘song.’

I dread to see how this is going to look on stage in Stockholm, but it may add a little bit of uniqueness in what can sometimes can be a long and boring semi-final show.

Could Eurovision even fit into San Marino? Something tells me they wont have to worry about that for 2017.

1/10: for the quirkiness and having the guts to send such a humiliating song to the world biggest singing contest. (There is always next year.)

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