This week Käärijä is represening Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest with Cha Cha Cha. Here’s his performance at the Uuden musiikin kilpailu (New Music Competition) where the song was chosen.
Käärijä – Cha Cha Cha | Finland | National Final Performance | Eurovision 2023 by Eurovision Song Contest via YouTube
Here’s a link to the Finnish lyrics. I’ve tried my hand at translating them into English in a way that fits the rhythm and rhymes of the song:
What a week it’s been, the days behind have just been crawling.
Pina coladas and the open road are now calling.
The night is young, so listen, it’s time to get plastered.
This frozen shell around me has got to get shattered.
Grab my drink with both hands and get loaded, I’m like
cha cha cha, cha cha, cha cha!
Blow off tomorrow, just go out and get totaled, I’m like
cha cha cha, cha cha, cha cha!
I wanna lose my mind, forget all my cares, I’m like
cha cha cha, cha cha, cha cha!
And I’ll keep going til I’m out of my chair, I’m like
A couple pina coladas are down already.
Still my face is like a mask, unmoving and steady.
The night is young, so listen, it’s time to get plastered.
This frozen shell around me has got to get shattered.
The floor is calling me, my inhibitions need numbing.
I’m like cha cha cha, watch out, I’m coming!
Grab my drink with both hands and get loaded, I’m like
cha cha cha, cha cha, cha cha!
Blow off tomorrow, just go out and get totaled, I’m like
cha cha cha, cha cha, cha cha!
I wanna lose my mind, forget all my cares, I’m like
cha cha cha, cha cha, cha cha!
And I’ll keep going til I’m out of my chair, I’m like, woah.
And now I’m dancing free,
I’m like cha cha cha,
and I’m not afraid of this world, you see,
I’m like cha cha cha,
when I pour champagne all over me.
Cha cha cha, and it’s getting hard to see,
and now I slur my speech when I hand the keys to this other me.
Cha cha cha, and you know that I’m not like this usually,
oh no, but I am today, but I am today.
And now I’m dancing free,
I’m like cha cha cha,
and I’m not afraid of this world, you see,
I’m like cha cha cha,
when I pour champagne all over me.
I’m like cha cha cha,
cha cha cha, cha cha, cha cha-ah-ah
I’m like cha cha cha,
cha cha cha, cha cha, cha cha,
cha cha cha, cha cha, cha cha.
Here’s hoping we’ll see Käärijä go all the way to the final!
An occasional feature on music and sound-related notions.
Have you ever asked yourself: “I wonder what it would be like if there were a Eurovision-style song contest in Azeroth?” No? Just us? Well, okay then.
If you’re not familiar with the Eurovision Song Contest, it’s an annual competition in which countries around Europe (and a few beyond) present songs in a wide variety of styles and genres. It’s good for inventive songs, wild stage shows, and good-spirited competition among nations. What if we had the same thing in the lands of World of Warcraft? Here are our ideas of what songs might represent the various realms and lands of the Shadowlands.
Oribos – La Forza by Elina Nechayeva (Estonia, 2018)
An ethereal, soaring, operatic melody from Estonia in 2018 befitting the mystical city surrounded by The Inbetween. (Probably helps if you like opera.)
In English, the Italian lyrics start something like “You know in the night for me / There is a star / It lights up my way / For eternity / It is my guide / In the immensity / That never leaves me” (someone else’s translation). Very apt!
Bastion – Visionary Dream by Sopho Khalvashi (Georgia, 2007)
Georgia’s Eurovision contribution from 2007 is a hypnotic song. Among its lyrics: “I will fly away / To reach the heights I’ve ever dreamed / Beneath the sun / No sense of time and space.” Sounds like Bastion to us.
Maldraxxus – Hard Rock Hallelujah by Lordi (Finland, 2006)
Finland won in 2006 with this hard rock song. It’s got monsters, pyrotechnics, and a head-banging beat. What else could you hope for from the Necrolords of Maldraxxus?
Ardenweald – Spirit in the Sky by KEiiNO (Norway, 2019)
Norway’s song from 2019 has a magical fairy-tale feel and features a yoik performance evoking the spirits of the northern lights. It feels like something the Night Fae of Ardenweald would be into.
Revendreth – It’s My Life by Cezar (Romania, 2013)
In 2013, Romania blessed us with this levitating falsetto vampire drama king. If that’s not right for the Venthyr of Revendreth, I don’t know what could be.
The Maw – Hatrið mun sigra by Hatari (Iceland, 2019)
Content note: The Icelandic group Hatari is described on the official Eurovision site as “Award-winning, anti-capitalist, BDSM, techno-dystopian, performance art collective”. The music pretty much matches that description—in English, the song name apparently translates “hate will prevail”. Be warned.
The lyrics start with “The revelry was unrestrained / The hangover is endless / Life is meaningless / The void will get us all” (someone else’s translation), and the stage show includes chains and spikes. Yep; as bleak as playing through The Maw.
Torghast – Warrior by Nina Sublatti (Georgia, 2015)
Representing Georgia for the 2015 contest we find another Eurovision song where the lyrics and stage show seem to fit WoW uncannily well (Sublatti’s outfit certainly does!) and certainly suit the desolation of Torghast.
Korthia – Higher Ground by Rasmussen (Denmark, 2018)
The Belgian entry from 2003 is sung in an imaginary language and also has a bit of an otherworldly quality to it, making it the perfect song for Zereth Mortis.
Finally, as an honorable mention, if there is a Eurovision song for the Shadowlands expansion as a whole, it’s Sweden’s Heroes from 2015.
Shadowlands – Heroes by Måns Zelmerlöw (Sweden, 2015)
Any favorites among these or other Eurovision songs, or suggestions for additional WoW zone pairings? Do share!
P.S. The 2022 Eurovision Song Contest semifinals are finished, and the final is held this Saturday, May 14, in Turin, Italy, should you want to follow along.
Of Dice and Dragons is an occasional feature about games and gaming.
As winter takes hold around here, we turn our thoughts to the far north, to lands of snow, reindeer, and northern lights. We’ll leave you with a couple of examples of yoik, a distinctive Sámi musical tradition. Songs featuring yoik have twice made it to the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest. The first was the Norwegian song “Sámiid ædnan” from 1980, performed by Sverre Kjelsberg and Mattis Hætta.
Sámiid ædnan – Norway 1980 – Eurovision songs with live orchestra via escLIVEmusic1
The next one was “Spirit in the Sky,” also from Norway, performed by KEiiNO in 2019.
KEiiNO – Spirit In The Sky – Norway – National Final Performance – Eurovision 2019 via Eurovision Song Contest
We’re vacationing for the rest of the year. See you in 2020. Happy New Year!
An occasional feature on music and sound-related notions.
Co-Geeking 