Armenia are hands down one of the most consistent nations at Eurovision, with a handful of Top 10 finishes in their relatively short history at the contest. Their best result to date is 4th which was achieved by both Sirusho in 2008, and Aram Mp3 in 2014, and this year, it’s up to Sevak Khanagyan to bring Armenia their best result yet, or perhaps even a win?
The Armenian act this year was chosen through a revised selection format of Depi Evratesil, where the artists performed their own songs, rather than using the selection solely to choose the artist. With the fan favourite Tamar Kaprelian failing to reach the final, the competition seemed wide open, and it was Sevak Khanagyan who was chosen with his entry Qami – was this the right choice?
Overall, we weren’t overly enthusiastic about the Armenian selection, but out of what felt like a fairly average field, Sevak was the best choice on the night. On first listen, the song was quite simply a nice ballad with potential. It took a few listens, but each time I listened to this track, the more and more I fell in love with the charm of this song.
This is one of the best ballads of the year and features elements which will be sure to capture the Eurovision audiences. Can we hear a hallelujah because we finally get an Armenian entry completely in Armenian language, and quite frankly, we don’t know what took them this long to choose something in national language. It adds such character and identity to the song, and although the actual music isn’t full on ethno ballad, it still features subtle ethnic elements which actually add something incredibly valuable to this entry.
One of the real highlights of this song is the way that it builds into that last minute. In a sense, it follow quite a similar structure to Aram Mp3’s entry Not Alone, where it begins in quite a restrained way, but builds into something punchy and memorable. Saying that, I think Qami could have had more oomph in the final minute, as that is the ‘winning’ moment of the song.
Another positive about this song is the potential for it to be staged in a way that could really blow the viewers minds. It’s the type of song that just lends itself for an epic staging, maybe think the darkness of Kristian Kostov’s staging, but mixed with the eye-catching staging of both Iveta Mukuchyan and Artsvik. This could be really epic, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with!
All Aboard… the Qami train!
This song gives me goosebumps, and I think this is currently one of the more underrated entries of the year. I see potential for this to be the Jamala of 2018, where the song will emerge on the night as one of the favourites depending on an incredible vocal and stage performance.
Our rating: 9/10
If you support Armenia at Eurovision, make sure to vote for Sevak in our Eurovision 2018 poll! Watch his official video below, and check out our Eurovision 2018 playlist on Spotify.
