Eurovision Throwback: Marija Šerifović – Molitva

Here’s our first winning song of this series, and we’ve picked our most recent completely non-English winner, that being Molitva by Marija Šerifović. The language was Serbian, and proved to be a fresh change from the long run of English winners. Let’s get straight into the review!

This song is a ballad of sorts, but a powerful one at that. I’m not the biggest fan of ballads, but Marija has it right. Serbia knows how to present a good ethnic ballad, as shown by the numerous submissions by Zeljko Joksimovic, and Molitva is definitely up there with their previous entries, both as Serbia & Montenegro and as Serbia alone. The song builds perfectly from my perspective, and by the end you can’t help but sing ‘MOOOOOOLLLLIIIIITTTVAAA!’

The backing music is wonderful, and I can’t help but think about how well this would have sounded with a live orchestra. It’s a shame she didn’t get that opportunity. Even though this song isn’t in English, I still find myself singing along quite easily, and I definitely enjoy it a lot more than I enjoy the winners from previous years. The 2000’s was a dark time, and Molitva started a run of more deserving winners.

As for the staging, it’s relatively simple, which lets the song and her voice shine. I think the backing singers do add something to the performance, especially towards the end as the song builds. I think this song proves that you don’t need gimmicks to win the contest.

I love this song, and I think it’s timeless. For those reasons, and the reasons I’ve stated above, I’m going to give this song a 10/10.