Serbia has achieved some strong results at Eurovision over the years, with a win on their independent debut at the contest, and some strong Top 10 finishes. Hoping to achieve another Top 10 finish is the group Hurricane, who are back to represent the nation with their upbeat number, Loco Loco.
Anita (Eurovision Union)
Song and Vocals
The group Hurricane features a couple of familiar faces, with Sanja Vučić and Ksenija Knežević both featured in previous Eurovision performances, Sanja represented Serbia at Eurovision back in 2016 with the song Goodbye (Shelter), and Ksenija is the daughter of Montenegrin representative, Knez, and she featured as one of his backing singers. Joined by Ivana Nikolić, the group is bursting with energy, strength and attitude.
Last year’s Serbian entry was Hasta La Vista, and stylistically it is similar to Loco Loco. Both of the entries are fast paced, strong pop songs. Despite both songs sharing certain traits, Loco Loco feels much more refined than Hasta La Vista. The beat is strong, and the pace of the lyrics in the melody isn’t as fast as last year. The chorus is catchy, especially after a few listens, and there’s no doubt that it will get people up and dancing. The fact that the song is in Serbian language differentiates the song from the other upbeat songs of the night, and for me, certainly gives it more appeal.
As for live vocals, the girls are certainly talented. They have given a lot of performances in the lead up to Eurovision, but few are actually performed live. The ones that are live, prove that they are able to deliver this time. Individually, their voices are strong, and their harmonies are fairly strong. Sanja certainly dominates the song, but she also seems the most confident to deliver the more powerful notes.
Performance and Act
We’ve seen from every video and performance of the trio, they bring a certain level of fierceness to the performance. That will certainly be carried through to the Eurovision performance. I do hope that they steer away from the aesthetic of the music video, however, as I found it to be a bit tacky. Better outfits and tighter choreography will really help to lift this song
Conclusions
I do see Serbia qualifying this year, as I think it will have enough appeal to televoters, and hopefully enough appeal for the jury as well. Loco Loco is a fun, catchy song that will bring a whole new level of energy to the semi-final. As for the final, Sanja may end up right about where she ended up last time she participated!
Rating
8/10
Dennis (ESCDaily)
Song and Vocals
In an acoustic session I could hear that the women of Hurricane are three gifted singers. They are professional vocalists and that will help them a lot this year. Singing this upbeat song in the right harmony is not easy to do, and therefore the song might do better with juries than people expect.
Performance and Act
It depends on how Hurricane presents themselves and how they are dressed. If they make it too sexual, it might hurt their chances with the jury. The act can be sensual and seductive, which would suit the song right, but if they take it too far, the televote might still be good but jurors could rank them very low.
Conclusions
Serbia sends in a risky song but at Eurovision sometime it’s best to not send something grey and middle of the road. Yes, they can swing and miss and end up very low. Or everything comes together and it’s a stunning show in the field of 2021. For me it can still go both ways.
Rating
6/10
Additional Scores from Eurovision Union and ESCDaily editors:
Steef:: 4/10
Joshua: 6/10
Selim: 4/10
Heath: 4/10
Kaitlin: 7.5/10
Average Score: 5.6/10
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