Features

Throwback Thursday: Slovenia’s neon dream

Tinkerbell hits the club

Whenever the clock hits midnight on a Wednesday, we enter the new (well not really) dimension of our weekly feature, the Throwback Thursday. This week we decided to go all out and say “Vrag Naj Vzame” to all the “Heavy Weather” we’ve been experiencing and just move to the most northern Balkan country, Slovenia.
Despite having hard time picking a song to go through and share our thoughts on, the fairly catchy and neon colored performance Rebeka Dremelj put in Belgrade is the ultimate definition of how (not) to stage a song!

The song, the stage show, the color scheme!

A catchy tune sung in a native language. Many had high hopes of Slovenia achieving its best result and winning over the hearts of Europe with “Vrag Naj Vzame”. Looking back at things and how the contest has evolved, this is the textbook definition of how to ruin any chance of a qualification.
The entire stage show felt bizarre and not in tune with the vibe of the song. The bright colors, the neon cage and the fact that Rebeka was dragging her backing dancers on stage truly made this one of the most memorable car crash moment of that year.
However, looking on the bright side of things ….. This is one of the more memorable performances of the year and it certainly did resonate enough with fans, putting her 11th our of 19 competing acts in the semi.
To sum things up, the song definitely did not age like wine, the stage show was appalling but the overall impression was – lighthearted and catchy!

Throwback guest

Luke Fisher:

There’s a bit of an unknown story about this performance. No, not the awful clothes or the terrible English version that they thankfully didn’t perform in Belgrade. But about Rebeka herself, who was so furious at not qualifying that she got straight back in her car and drove back to Ljubljana – allegedly without getting changed out of the green either!
A poor entry, and literally no idea what they were thinking about with the staging.
What the others had to say:

Simon

This was the year that Slovenia decided the world needed silver paperchains, men in heelys and something resembling a lime green tanning machine. I will never know how Rebeka almost qualified. Schoolgirl choreography, barely passable vocals, cheap and nasty outfits, basic production… But it is catchy…
Nick
When I first followed Eurovision, Rebeka Dremelj was my favourite to win. Deluded as I was back then, I was convinced we’d be going to Ljubljana in 2009. It still is a great tune, but my thought of this being a qualifier, let alone a winner, couldn’t have been more wrong. The performance was one big introduction to how over the top Eurovision could be. Mind you, I thought this was the most shocking performance. In a year with Kreisiraadio and Dustin the Turkey…
Lisa
My favourite Slovenian entry! A turbo-folk banger with men on leashes and OD-ing on tin foil and technicolour, what more can you ask for? The drunk dancing like when your favourite 90s anthem comes on in the club was just the icing on the cake! It shows how wild 2008 was that this didn’t win the Barbara Dex Award that year. I miss the trashy entries like these in modern ESC.
Emanuel
Honestly I didn’t listen to this song for a very long time. I remember that some years ago this was a guilty pleasure for me and I was listening it over and over. It seems that after all this year’s my opinion has changed and I don’t get the appeal of the song anymore. It would still be a qualifier for me but just because 2008 was a terrible year on what it comes to the songs. I have of course to point out how bad the outfits were. And the overall performance wasn’t any better. As we would say in Portugal, too much “olive oil”. Coming after a great year for Slovenia like 2007 this song was a bit underwhelming. I need to check the lyrics of the song. Maybe that circus on the stage was there for a reason.
What do you think of the song? Did you like Rebeka’s performance in 2008?
Let us know in the comments section below and on all social media platforms at @ESCXTRA!

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button