North Macedonia has added its entry to the growing number of songs being released for Eurovision 2021. Vasil will sing his song “Here I Stand” in the first semi-final!
You can listen to the North Macedonian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 here:
Vasil was internally selected by Macedonian broadcaster MRT in late January. We had received little hints towards the release of the song in the run up to the 11th of March. This was mostly through little snippets of the song, suggesting a gospel-style song. In the opening of the clip, Vasil notes that after Eurovision 2020 was cancelled, he had taken out his piano and started playing what ended up being the opening notes of his Eurovision 2021 entry.
Our thoughts
So, what do we make of “Here I Stand”?
Jazzi – I don’t see this doing much at Eurovision, it’s a pretty standard ballad, it will likely be sung very well but I can see it in the bottom 3 of the semi! Juries may give this some love but Televoters won’t! The song feels longer than 3 minutes as well which is never a good thing at Eurovision.
Rory – This is an incredibly strong year and of course, some countries aren’t going to match the standards that others have set. And as much as I would love to see North Macedonia make it back into the final with a top 10 position, I highly doubt if that will happen. Vasil has a fantastic voice and the song fits him a lot more than “You” did. However, in a strong semi-final like Semi 1, I doubt this is going to make the cut.
Rosie – Vasil’s voice is fantastic, and he gets much more of an opportunity to show it off with Here I Stand than with You. I appreciate that the song feels true to him and how that emotion came through in the music video. Unfortunately, I can’t see this qualifying. At a time when we feel overwhelmed by song releases, it didn’t stand out enough, and I can’t imagine it doing so during the contest either. It’s horrible to say, because Vasil is a hugely talented artist. It just could have been so much better.
So, this is what we think, but what do you think? Do you think Vasil’s song this year is better than last year? Will North Macedonia qualify for the final this year? Where does “Here I Stand” fall in your rankings? As always, please do tell us what you think by commenting below! You can also get in touch by following our social media channels!
