🇹🇷 Eurovision Throwback: Kenan Doğulu– Shake It Up Şekerim

After years of mediocre results, Turkey finally began to find their identity at Eurovision. Throughout their history, the nation won just once, back in 2003. From that point on, Turkey became a Eurovision powerhouse. Performing in the peak of their successful years was Kenan Doğulu singing the upbeat entry, Shake It Up Şekerim. The track finished in 4^th place in the final, but was it justified?

Shake It Up Şekerim is one of the more memorable Turkish entries from recent history, however it was never among my favourites. In the context of 2007, however, it is easy to see why it found success. The song features a catchy melody and still holds a strong cultural identity. The track follows the successful formula Turkey finally stumbled on in the early 2000’s – Cultural pop with strong choreography and stage performance.

As for the live performance, Kenan Doğulu manages to both over and under perform. At times, his performance felt obnoxiously extra, and at other times, his vocals were underwhelming. Regardless, he manages to maintain a high level of energy which ultimately would have engaged the arena audience as well as television viewers. This translated to votes. Turkey received no less than 6 sets of douze points in the semi-final, and five in the final. This, plus the generous handful of additional, smaller points, was enough to put the nation in 4^th place.

This track will never be my go-to Turkish Eurovision entry, but I can see why it would appeal to viewers. It’s a 6/10 for me!