Interactive poll#5 - This sounds Greek to me!

Too classic rock... amid much more original sounds and arrangements.

Earta Kitt - very...vintage!!!

Vartinaa...: Finnish folk, pleasent. Music to Dance 

The Boy: the girl in the video with those big glasses and a serious looking depressed going looks like a loser. The music is beautiful but ... I don't know to what extent: candidate to podium?

 FFNN Chemarea is an amateur music, curious, jam-sound.

Charo ..... no no no

Nena.... oh what a commercial sound... anyway, played with the right grit.

thank you for the kind compliment!  

Top 4 now (in order of appearance)... Dimash! I knew him before but not this song. I've got to say I love his singing but I have mixed feelings about the way he is marketed and presents himself. Sometimes it feels the songs are just a vehicle to show what a great singer he is... but about this one, I love the composition, it has depth and originality. Still, the arrangement could be much better with a proper band knowing what they're doing. The electronic sound is cringeworthy at times, but song and voice are so good, you can't keep them down.

Connie Dover! Very beautiful, you have a knack for picking such things Snicolette!

Serge Gainsbourg - also another Logan picked song in my top selection. I wasn't sure about this one in the first run, in the second I thought, this is the best!

Värttinä - another one that didn't really shine that much in the first round, but infected me in the second one. Top live sound and fun performance (edged Wagakki, which I like for similar reasons).

OK, now how to make it three? I've got to say, Connie Dover is probably not for listening to four times in two days (which I did to decide), lost some freshness in the last listen, whereas  Värttinä and Gainsbourg are on an upward path... So Dimash, Gainsbourg and Värttinä it is.

Good to see some love for Rokia Traore. I saw her for the first time some six years ago on Jools Holland's Later show (I miss that in Italy) and was hooked on her from the very first note. Such stunning musicality, and it's pretty sophisticated, too! I have looked around for some more African music and found some good stuff, but nothing has beaten her yet.

Here are some other songs (was tempted to propose the Beautiful Africa track but it has some English in it.

She has lots of calmer material as well:

Dmitri - Muse comes to mind on this one.  Good voice and I enjoyed the orchestration.

The Bothy Band - Mostly about the vocals which of course I don't understand. 

Pino Daniele - sounds like Paul McCartney.  A bit of a disco taste to it.

Wagakkia Band - Interesting.  I like the flutes but otherwise kind of has a pop sound to it.

Heroes del Silencio -   pretty standard beat.  I liked the instrumental break in the middle of the song.  Sounds like a number of hard rock/metal bands that I have in my collection.

Connie Dover - nice voice.  Liked the Celtic sound to it.  

P-Model - sounds like a song that would be found under the avant category.  Kind of punky.

Nationalteatern - pretty standard rock beat.  Seems to build up and come to a dramatic conclusion.Maybe a little Blue Oyster Cult happening here.

Nena - my trolling suggestion.  I still like this song and i suppose familiarity helps.  Very 80's sounding pop but I like it.

Serge Gainsbourg - sounds like it could be a song with an interesting story.  Maybe a little Lou Reed taking a ride on the wild side.   Another song with a nice build up to a dramatic ending.

Eartha Kitt -  a song from its time.  A 1950's jazz piece.  

Varttina - brought to mind a Christmas carol for some reason or another.  

The Boy & Despoinis Trixromi:  it is all Greek to me.  

Cat Stevens - I think that the cat has his tongue and is hiding it in the cradle.  I like the Spanish guitars though.

FFN - This was another fun rock and roll song.  Kind of Zeppelin-ish sounding.

Charo - The only other song aside from the Nena song that I suggested that I had ever heard before.  

All that I can say is that I made the effort and did listen to each of these songs.  I hate to be that guy, but I don't find much enjoyment in listening to songs in a language that I don't understand...although have the time I don't understand the lyrics that are being sung in English songs so to a point I don't know why it is that big of a problem.  For me, music is about communicating a message and when that message isn't understandable it kind of falls on deaf ears.  Most of the songs that were provided were pretty good but I think I would have enjoyed more if I understood them.  That being said I will add my three votes to the list:

1. Rokia Traore.

2. FFN

3. Nena  

ie.. listening.. not watching

then last night I actually watched that and thought to myself.. well f**k me.. that is ONE singer.. not two

and immediately locked up the 2nd vote.

the 3rd came down to the Rokia and Dover songs and to quote a classic..

the Dover song just hit more of a nerve...

Just cast my three votes. Here they are:

1. Rokia Traoré - Love both the music and the singing. African music deserves to be known much better than it

    is.

2. Connie Dover - Lovely vocals and music, with a mystical quality.

3. Pino Daniele - Easy to forget how good he was in his heyday. He did also have a prog connection, having 

    been one of the bass players of JR/F band Napoli Centrale.

As a whole, this batch of songs was quite good. There were a few I was already familiar with: Cat Stevens, Eartha Kitt, Nena, Charo and The Bothy Band. On the whole, my favourite was my own song (as in the previous two editions of the Poll), but this time around there were a few strong contenders.