Eurovision 2013 Edition

An enjoyable way to learn a language is through music. When a song is catchy, you'll want to listen to it more than once which enables repetition for learning. If you learn the lyrics and sing along, then you'll again be repeating correct grammar and structures which help you practice the language. But finding music, let alone good music, can be difficult, especially if you're new to learning the language.

For those who want to learn a European language (or the language of a country that is close to Europe), the 58th edition of the annual Eurovision competition can be a good place to find music in multiple languages. Well, to a degree I suppose. Since countries aren't allowed to vote for themselves in the competition, there is the tendency for the music to be in English so that it appeals to the largest audience possible. In the last twenty years, the winning song has been entirely in English sixteen times. Still, each year plenty of songs enter the competition in other languages. In fact, my first exposure to Eurovision was when I was learning Hebrew in college and we learned the words to the 1979 winner, the incredibly catchy and upbeat הללויה (Hallelujah). Here is a list of all of this years' entries that are not in English, including links to lyrics to help with your language learning. If you click on the artist's name and profile, you'll get sent to their official link which includes the lyrics in the original language, English, and sometimes French. 

Didn't qualify for the final

Country: Croatia, Language: Croatian
Artist: Klapa s Mora, Song: Mižerja (Misery)

Country: Montenegro, Language: Montenegrin
Artist: Who See, Song: Игранка (Igranka, The Party)

Country: Cyprus, Language: Greek
Artist: Despina Olympiou, Song: Aν με θυμάσαι (An me thimasai, If You Remember Me)

Country: Serbia, Language: Serbian
Artist: Moje 3, Song: Љубав је свуда (Ljubav je svuda, Love is everywhere)

Country: San Marino, Language: Italian
Artist: Valentina Monetta, Song: Crisalide (Vola), (Chrysalis (Fly))

Valentina Monetta also represented San Marino in last year's contest where she sang a ridiculous song about Facebook. In fact, whenever someone mentions Facebook, I sing a little bit of the chorus to myself as a joke that only I get. This year, she's back with far more serious fare. I kind of liked this song, so I'm a little disappointed that it didn't go through to the final.

Country: Macedonia, Language: Macedonian, Romani
Artist: Esma and Lozano, Song: Пред да се раздени (Pred da se razdeni, Before the Sunrise)

Country: Bulgaria, Language: Bulgarian
Artist: Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankulov, Song: Само шампиони (Samo shampioni, Only Champions)

Here's another one I'm disappointed didn't qualify for the final. I like the combination of heavy percussion and Bulgarian folk music (including bagpipes) mixed with modern pop/rock.


Country: Israel, Language: Hebrew
Artist: Moran Mozar, Song: רק בשבילו (Rak bishvilo, Only for him)

Country: Albania, Language: Albanian
Artist: Adrian Lulgjuraj and Bledar Sejko, Song: Identitet (Identity)

Qualified for Final

Country: Estonia, Language: Estonian
Artist: Birgit, Song: Et uus saaks alguse (So there can be a new beginning)

Country: Moldova, Language: Romanian
Artist: Aliona Moon, Song: O mie (A thousand)

Country: Iceland, Language: Icelandic
Artist: Eythor Ingi, Song: Ég á líf (I am alive)

Country: Greece, Language: Greek
Artist: Koza Mostra feat. Agathon Iakovidis, Song: Alcohol is Free

This is a somewhat odd combination of traditional rebetiko music and essentially ska. I think it kind of works though.

Country: Hungary, Language: Hungarian
Artist: ByeAlex, Song: Kedvesem (My darling)

From the little bit I've followed this in the Hungarian press, it seems like Hungarians are proud to have a song in the final, but disappointed that it's sung by someone they see as a hipster dufus. I actually like this song quite well. It's very simple and sweet, and I love when the timpani kicks in during the chorus.

Country: France, Language: French
Artist: Amandine Bourgeois, Song: L'enfer et moi

I like the thundering beat of the chorus and the video filled with memento mori, but is there anyway she can keep her dress straps up? It seems like in every shot of this video they're falling down to the point where it just seems comical.


Country: Spain, Language: Spanish
Artist: ESDM, Song: Contigo hasta el final (With you until the end)

If this is from Spain, why does it sound like it's from Ireland? Also, once the white horse appears it just makes me think of the Father Ted parody of Eurovision titled "My lovely horse." I guess this means this song didn't do much for me, since all I could think of the entire time were jokes.

Country: Italy, Language: Italian
Artist: Marco Mengoni, Song: L'essenziale (The essential)

Of course, as I already mentioned, this post only includes those entries that are not in English. There are nine other songs (all in English) that will be competing in the final. Personally, I put my money on either Malta's entry for just how cheerful it is (and because the guy is a full-time doctor, part-time singer. How cool is that?) or on Norway's I Feed You My Love, but that's probably because I'm a sucker for European electropop. You all should be able to tune in to find out for yourselves. The final airs starting at 9pm Central European Standard Time this Saturday and can be streamed online at Eurovision's website.