National Final Throwback: Ben Ivory – The Righteous Ones

Looking back at the German national final for 2013, I’ve remembered so many great songs, including the subject of today’s National Final Throwback. Today we’ll be looking at The Righteous Ones by Ben Ivory. The national final was won unsurprisingly by international star Cascada, however if she wasn’t a part of the national final, Germany could have had a bit of trouble choosing an act, with a few hidden gems in the final. Ben Ivory ended up in 7^th place in the national final, but is that a position he deserved?

The studio version of The Righteous Ones is still a song I occasionally listen to now, and I often forget this was a Eurovision national final son. The song is strong, modern, catchy and edgy. In the context of 2013, I think this would have actually been more modern than what was offered, ahead of its time you might say. In the national final performance, the use of the laser lights was super super cool, and I can just imagine the vibe that would have given on the Eurovision stage.

I really do love the studio version of the song, however I do think something got lost between the studio version and the live version. It wasn’t as intense, whether that was his stage presence, or vocals, or even the backing music. It’s a song that needs to be intense, but also flamboyant, and as much as I think the live stage show was really great, it just needed to be taken to the next level. Ben was playing with his earpiece and microphone pack at the start of the performance, so perhaps there were sound issues he was competing with, but it certainly wasn’t a bad performance.

Considering Cascada still didn’t receive as high as what was expected, it’s hard to know what would have brought Germany success in 2013. I think, if this song could be entered into the 2017 contest (this is obviously hypothetical, considering the Eurovision rules) and had a special team to tweak the stage performance, this is definitely modern enough to really make an impact. It’s a song that hasn’t dated since 2013, and that’s a sign of a good song.

Overall, I really enjoy this German entry. I definitely think it deserved higher than 7^th place in the national final, and I think it’s a song that is unique enough to make it stand out, while also being mainstream enough to be liked by a lot of people. With all that said, I’m going to give this 8/10.