Finland has, in my opinion, one of the most entertaining national finals, and I always enjoy at least a couple of the songs enough to want to put them on my playlist. I personally thought 2014 was a relatively strong year, with Softengine, Mikko Pohjola, Hukka Ja Mama and Clarissa and Josh Standing. What wasn’t strong was this song.
Upon listening to this song again, I can see just how dated and cheesy it really is. It uses so many lyrical clichés and the backing music sounds like Fireflies by Owl City – oh but this is not about fireflies, it’s about little honey bees! It feels as if there is absolutely no creativity, and nothing ground breaking. As such, it’s the type of song you forget instantly after you’ve listened to it, and that’s exactly the opposite of what you want for a Eurovision song.
His vocals aren’t that bad, but that’s probably the only positive thing I can really say about it. Saying that, I don’t think his style of vocal suits this upbeat cutesy pop song, rather, I think that his voice would match well with a powerful ballad.
The staging is nothing new, and points to the backing band for being enthusiastic. If it had somehow made it to Eurovision, this would have flopped, and Finland wouldn’t have seen the light of the final. It definitely wouldn’t have been strong enough to beat Softengine’s ranking in the final, and I think I would struggle to find someone to disagree with that sentiment.
I’m going to be brutal and give this song a 2/10, and I still think I’m being generous. I just can’t find many likeable things about this song – thanks to Finland for choosing something better…
Song Profile
Year: 2014
Country: Finland
Artist: Dennis Fagerström
Song: My Little Honey Bee