Preface: As the
new accepted name for FYR Macedonia is North Macedonia, that is how this post
will refer to the country. All sources from before this name change will be
cited as FYR Macedonia. Also this post is a continuation of the previous blog posts and will not make sense without them. Lastly, watch the videos in the reference list before reading.
Eurovision is
the most watched song competition on earth. It is an arena to show off one’s
country to the whole world and has become almost political as competitors must
be careful as to not enter a song that another country or group will take with
strong political offense. A result of this is that one can look at a country’s
Eurovision entries and examine what kind of image the country is trying to
output; this post aims to do just that with the Macedonian performance from
2016, “Dona”, and 2017, “Dance Alone”. Both the performances themselves and
what each performance says about North Macedonia’s attitudes towards diversity
will be analyzed starting with “Dona”.
Examining the
translation of the Macedonian lyrics, “Dona” is a piece about some role model
or figure which Kaliopi wants to smile upon her, meaning to be proud or to give
good wishes (2016, FYR Macedonia). In an interview, she reveals that “Dona” is
referring to the Virgin Mary of Christianity and is a prayer to the Virgin
hoping that Kaliopi is living a good life, and that the Virgin smiles when she
looks down on Kaliopi (personal communication, April 3, 2016). Though Kaliopi
said that she believes everyone has their own “Dona” they think of when they
hear the song (personal communication, April 3, 2016), the song has an intended
religious undertone. While most watchers of Eurovision cannot recognize the
Macedonian lyrics, they will recognize the Italian name for the Virgin Mary:
Dona; this gives away the religious connection to most viewers.
The visuals of
the performance consist of Kaliopi standing in the middle of the stage, moving
her arms as she sings, and lights surrounding her (2016, FYR Macedonia).
Throughout the performance, there are lights shining down on Kaliopi from
above, which give white light all around her (2016, FYR Macedonia). Knowing the
meaning of the song, this leaves a prepared audience with an impression a
higher power looking down at Kaliopi from above during her prayer. Furthermore,
the LED screen behind Kaliopi shows a large yellow drop of water falling during
the last line before the chorus. During the chorus, the drop “splashes” into
the LED screen below her, showing vibrant golden ripples of slow-moving water
(2016, FYR Macedonia). This visual combined with the passionate crescendo
Kaliopi lets out while calling for “Dona” creates a warm feeling in the
audience during the chorus. This effect is extended to the LED screen behind
Kaliopi during the second chorus, emphasizing a growth in her prayer and her
emotion during the piece (2016, FYR Macedonia). Additionally, as yellow is the
color of warmth and smiles, the color choice during the chorus could be showing
the Virgin Mary smiling down on Kaliopi, and that her prayer is being answered.
This song shows
an obvious connect to ethnic Macedonians, whom are normally Orthodox Christian.
It is sung in Macedonian and is centered around the Christian faith. This
excludes the minorities who mostly are Muslim and do not speak Macedonian.
While entries in Eurovision are not always intentional political statements,
they can come off that way to certain groups that are watching. Albanians
living within Macedonia would probably have felt excluded and frustrated after
watching the performance simply because their culture is not referenced once
throughout. Though it may not be intentional, this piece shows an adversity to
inclusion of Albanians in the Macedonian way of life. However, this is not a
constant trend in all Macedonian entries.
Jana Burčeska’s
“Dance Alone” came out following the 2016 election where the liberal Social
Democrats overturned the majority that the conservative Nationalist party held
in the parliament, Macedonia’s government changed to the one it has today. The
Social Democrats formed a coalition with the larger Albanian party which formed
a government that has since added Albanian as an official language and changed
the name of Macedonia to North Macedonia. With this new change has come a
change in the Eurovision performances. Over the past 15 years, the majority of
Macedonian entries have been sung in Macedonian, but as the acceptance of
Albanians has increased in recent years, more English songs have been
performed. This shows both a transition from the isolationist ways of the
countries path into a future EU and NATO member. Furthermore, as discussed
before, songs in Macedonian could be seen as exclusionary of Albanians, so a
song in a more partial language – English – would be seen as a middle ground,
allowing for mutual enjoyment of all citizens of North Macedonia.
Firstly,
the postcard of “Dance Alone” starts with sweet music in a freeze-frame of Jana
Burčeska’s life before this performance (2017). She is looking back on her
experiences touring Kiev, and soft piano music is playing in the background (Burčeska,
J., 2017). The video cuts to her looking at baby clothes, and her getting an
ultrasound, revealing her pregnancy to the public for the first time (Burčeska,
J., 2017). The video leaves the audience in a sentimental mood after sharing
such an intimate moment in the singer’s life.
Throughout
the actual performance, she is the only person on stage; and while she does not
move much around the stage, she dances to fill the visual attention of the
audience (2017, FYR Macedonia). Jana Burčeska dances while rubbing her hands
slowly over her body and almost every move has a hip movement in it which comes
across as provocative (2017, FYR Macedonia). This is a sharp contrast to the
feeling emitted by her postcard as the viewer’s perception of Jana Burčeska
shifts from expecting mother, to a young person at a club dancing by herself,
making the audience uncomfortable in the process. She was advised by the
producers of the event to change some of this dancing, but as seen by the exact
same moves appearing in her rehearsal videos and final performance, it is
evident the routine was not changed.
In addition to a
dance routine, the camera angles are also a vital part of a solo Eurovision
act. The camera often captures the entire stage in zoomed out shots (2017, FYR
Macedonia). This could be done to emphasize the fact the she is dancing alone,
to include the audience in the shot to make the audience feel like this was a
concert setting, or for endless other reasons. However, these camera shots
emphasize that she is alone on the stage to the point where the stage feels strangely
empty.
The
promo video of a Eurovision entry is where the artist and producers have a much
better control of the staging and pace of the performance and can better show
the message they want to get across with the performance. The promo video of
“Dance Alone” tells the story of an old Jana Burčeska who relives her younger
life with dancing with her partner and having a wonderful time, even though she
is alone in the present (2017). This paints the song’s meaning to be about joy
of old memories regardless of how alone one is currently. Similarly to the
postcard, this contrasts strongly with the message of the performance during
the Semi-Final, as that performance does not hold a single element from the
promo video. One wonders if the producers originally aimed to give the live
performance the same message as the promo video but were simply unable to. Overall,
the song sends out conflicting messages, and this detracts from its perception,
and is likely a large reason the performance failed in Eurovision.
Overall, North Macedonia’s
performances point to a transition from isolationism to integration into the
world’s culture. This is shown by a transition into performances of “West” like
pop songs in recent years, starting with “Dance Alone”. As with all
transitions, it will come to full fruition over time, North Macedonia is
currently taking a step towards accepting diversity in society. Hopefully,
these trends will continue in future years as North Macedonia becomes more
united with Europe and the world as a whole.
Word Count pre-sources: 1304
Reference List
Burčeska, J. (2017). Dance Alone (FYR Macedonia). Eurovision Song Contest 2017 Kiev. Retrieved from: https://www.eurovision.de/videos/2017/Mazedonien-Jana-Bureska-Dance-Alone,mazedonien416.html
Burčeska, J. [EuroVision Song Contest] (2017). Dance Alone (F.Y.R. Macedonia) Eurovision 2017 - Official Music Video [Video
File]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=Ddo8n_8pKrQ
Burčeska, J. [EuroVision Song Contest] (2017). Postcard from F.Y.R. Macedonia [Video File]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_CUkbW-XDs
Kaliopi. (2016). Dona (FYR Macedonia). Eurovision Song Contest 2016 Stockholm. Retrieved from: http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/eurovision-2016/eurovision-2016-semifinal-2-macedonia-kaliopi-defiende-tema-dona/3606645/
Note: Though interviews are not
supposed to be on the reference list, here is the url to verify the
information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX9a5J9ym3s
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