2016 Reviews – Montenegro – Highway – The Real Thing

After 2 years of final qualification in a row. Montenegro are looking to continue the successful run with the band Highway, who are taking their out-there song titled The Real Thing. This is a song that has completely divided the Eurovision fan bubble, with some people hating it, and some loving it. As a result, it is one of the songs picked to end up in last place – but I am not one of those people.

I really, really like this song. Montenegro has absolutely nailed the Balkan Ballad in the last 2 years, and I loved both of those entries, but this, this is completely different. I think this is a modern song, however I will agree that this song isn’t to everyone’s taste. I think for me personally, what I enjoy about this song is the simplicity of the lyrics. Yes, it is quite repetitive but the melody really sticks in my head.

The music of the song seems quite chaotic but for some strange reason I find this song to be really calming. The song has good high and low points, but doesn’t lose its intensity. To me, this keeps me wanting to listen to the song. His voice, along with the intense backing music makes for an interesting experience for 3 minutes – whether it is interesting in a good or bad way is up to the viewer.

I think this song deserves an intense light show, and the darkness of the music video suits the song, and brings a certain mysteriousness to the song.  A light show similar to Finland 2014 would suit the style and intensity of this song very well – so it will be interesting to see what they come up with on the night.

The song is in semi-final 1, and it’s pretty safe to say this won’t be qualifying to the final. I think it’s a real shame, because this song is really quite good, just not that good for Eurovision. What I do admire is their bravery to enter a song like this into the contest. I think at least for this, they should be admired for entering something that represents them as a band.

Definitely one of the most underrated songs of this year, however I can see how people would dislike this song. As I said, I’m not one of those people, and I’m going to give this an 8/10.

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