Yesterday, the Georgian national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 took place. Tako Gachechiladze won the contest with her song “Keep The Faith”. This will be the song she’ll be singing in Kyiv in May.
The winner was decided on a 60% jury vote and a 40% televote. This gave Tako Gachechiladze 122 points, a whole 15 points ahead of second place Nutsa Buzaladze who sang “White Horses Run”.
The song is a strong power ballad, that Tako Gachechiladze builds and builds, hitting every note as the song gets bigger. She looked gorgeous in a golden mermaid dress that is reminiscent of what Conchita Wurst wore when she won in 2014
Not short of making a statement, the performance had various images displaying behind her. Suggestions of war, footage of 9/11, as well as a controversial news headline. The song is about believing in yourself and keeping the faith, no matter what else is going on in the world.
Watch Tako Gachechiladze’s Performance Of Soon-To-Be Eurovision Song “Keep The Faith” Here:
This isn’t the first time Tako Gachechiladze has won something. In 2013, she won the Georgian version of Your Face Sounds Familiar. She has also entered the Georgian national selection to Eurovision before.
In 2008, she took entered the national final twice, both singularly and as a group called 3G. She came tenth with her song “Me and My Funky”, and fourth as 3G with the song “I’m Free”. 3G then won the national final the following year in a duet with Stephane. However, the song was a breach of the Eurovision rules, and Georgia withdrew from the 2009 contest. The song in question had a political message within the lyrics. They refused to change the lyrics, which led them to withdraw from the contest, that year.
So, it looks like Tako Gachechiladze might come to Eurovision 2017 with some sort of drama, especially with the images that were displayed behind her during the national selection. Regardless the song is totally strong and could do quite well in Kyiv, Ukraine.
At the moment, the Eurovision 2017 line-up is set to be the most competitive yet. These are the acts that have been announced so far: Cyprus’ Hovig, the Netherlands’ O’G3NE, Belgium’s Blanche, Macedonia’s Jana Burceska, Azerbaijan’s Dihaj, Ireland’s Brendan Murray, Austria’s Nathan Trent, Albania’s Lindita, Armenia’s Artsvik, Montenegro’s Slavko Kalezic, and Greece’s Demy.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 will take place in Kyiv, Ukraine after Jamala won last year’s contest. The semi-finals will take place on 9 May and 11 May, with the Grand Final taking place on 13 May 2017.
How do you think the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 is shaping up? What do you make of Georgia’s representative? How well do you think “Keep The Faith” will do? Tell us all your thoughts on Twitter @CelebMix.