Georgia on the Eurovision stage- An analysis of “Echo” by Iru

 Georgia on the Eurovision stage- An analysis of “Echo” by Iru

Introduction

In the revision of my previous paper, I concluded what Georgia’s national identity is. Georgia is a country striving to be more democratic and increase its association with the West while maintaining its authenticity through their language, beliefs, and values. Georgia debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2007 and while they have never won in the main contest, they won 3 times in Eurovision Junior. One of these wins was with an 11-year-old Iru Khechanovi (Eurovision Song Contest, 2023).

In the most recent Eurovision (2023), the pop artist sang “Echo”, a power ballad (Mamsikashvili, 2023). Iru is known for her very powerful voice which fit well with the themes of the song. She wrote the song with the help of Giorgi Kukhiandize and Beni Kadagidze (Eurovision Song Contest, 2023). According to Iru, the song is about the struggle of love as well as her “inner voice and the manifestation of love and peace” (Mamsikashvili, 2023). Despite this, the interpretations of the song have varied. Some mention the confusing nature of the lyrics and how they don't make sense at all, others think it was only written in English to be a more understandable pop song and others simply think it’s a song without meaning but was created to portray the power of Iru’s voice. This paper will delve into the true meaning of the song through exploration of the artists, analysis of the lyrics, musical accompaniment, and the staging and Iru’s performance

Who is Iru?

Irina Khechanovi (Iru for short) is a 22-year-old artist, who participated in the most recent Eurovision Song Contest (2023). She was born in Georgia’s Capital city, Tbilisi, on December 3rd, 2000. She is of Armenian descent. Iru describes her early life as being “drowned in music” and this is what led to her passion for music (Eurovision Song Contest, 2023). This passion led her to participate in several music contests, like in Eurovision Junior where she won in 2011 with her girl group Candy. In The Voice Georgia, she performed a cover of Loreen’s Euphoria and her performance in Eurovision 2023 with “Echo” (Eurovision Song Contest, 2023).

The Lyrics

The lyrics of the song provide a clearer insight to what message Iru, Giorgi and Beni were trying to relay to the listener. According to Iru, the song is supposed to be about “love and listening to her inner voice” and the message is the “struggle of love” (Mamsikashvili, 2023). This prevents it from falling under the “This is not a love song” category which could lead it to be classified as a novelty song (Chalkley, 2017). The Nomenclature of the song, could relate to the “Echo”-ing of the verses and sentences. 

Overall, the song has a clear storyline of going from somewhere gloomy and cold to somewhere nice and warm. In the beginning of the song there is a clear ambiguous atmosphere portrayed. “I’ve got a big faith, My love is my crown” makes more sense when we switch the words “faith” and “crown” to “I’ve got a big crown, My love is my faith” (Kukhianidze, 2023). This reflects the cluttered nature of Iru’s mind. Throughout the song, the words “Chamgaraga- ga-chamgara" repeat in different tones (Kukhianidze, 2023). This phrase does not have a direct translation from Georgian to English or any language to English, because it does not mean anything. The writers put this nonsensical phrase into the song to add a dreamy feel to the song (Kukhianidze, 2023). Then near the end of the song we see the resolution of this confusion when she sings “Words getting worthless, Love is wordless” (Kukhianidze, 2023). Confirming that the lyrics prior did not make sense to portray how love cannot be portrayed in words but rather is a feeling that can be expressed in the power of Iru’s voice.

The lyrics don't align with Georgia’s national identity very much. One of the reasons is because all of the lyrics are in English. As I mentioned in my previous paper, the Georgian native language is a large aspect of its national identity. Additionally, the theme doesn’t align with the national identity either. Love, the theme, isn’t an exclusively Western or democratic concept, therefore, they are not trying to align themselves with the West or trying to be more democratic either. 

The Music

The musical accompaniment does a lot to showcase Iru’s vocals. Overall, it is quite upbeat but focuses on not very confusing sounds to add depth to her singing while not taking away from it. We begin with a deep drum, and this leads to a piano which maintains the melody for the remainder of the song (Eurovision Song Contest, 2023). 20 seconds into the song a clock ticking noise comes into focus (Eurovision Song Contest, 2023). This adds a sense of limbo when she begins the second verse. Giving the impression that time is passing quickly as she is in her own world singing. Whilst listening to the music only, I noticed that the nonsense language and breathing were also in the music and not something she was doing on stage. This is likely to make them more audible over all the other sounds of the crowd.

Due to the fact that there weren’t any audible traditional Georgian instruments, the music does not align much with Georgia’s national identity. It resembled more of a regular pop song which could be an attempt to associate themselves with the West, which is part of their national identity. Overall, the music alone connects with Georgia’s national identity slightly more than the lyrics but not very much.

Staging and Iru’s performance

The staging and Iru’s performance contribute a lot to the way the song is perceived by the viewer. Iru’s stage presence is limited as she does not move much during her performance from the small central podium (Eurovision Song Contest, 2023). Despite this, the camera anglesshift often from zoomed-in shots of Iru to wide-angle further shots to show how small she is in comparison to the rest of the stage. The performance starts off with dim lighting and Iru in the center of the stage as the camera slowly zooms in slightly from a further wide-angle shot (Eurovision Song Contest, 2023). Behind her are LED screens with lights depicting a dark stormy scape with blue-black smoke floating around them. As she starts singing, ghostly hands appear on the LED screens and provide an ominous atmosphere as she sings (Eurovision Song Contest, 2023). During the breathy section of the song, the smaller lights at the bottom of the podium she stands on synch up with the inhaling and exhaling sounds. As this happens she begins to crouch down and the camera moves closer creating a sort of intimate moment for the viewer. Toward the end of the song, when she does her power notes, the background LEDs begin to emit pink smoke from the bottom and a wind machine makes her cape flow beautifully behind her. This contrast from the original cold tones portrays a shift in tone in the song. As her cape billows in the wind, it’s as if her voice is so powerful it is moving her cape behind her. The song then ends with a pan out of the camera back to a wide angle to display the LED screens have changed to only show warm colors (Eurovision Song Contest, 2023).

Throughout her performance, Iru does not do much in terms of dancing and creating a show. She allows her voice to be the main focal point of the performance. She occasionally moves her arms expressively but not in a dancing manner, more so just to allow her body to move with the music. However, during the gibberish section of the song she is crouched down and moving a little bit more on her knees but this could hardly be considered dancing. Once again, she is more so just allowing her body to move to the music and get herself “in the zone”. It can be observed that she is highly trained and knows how to control her voice with incredible precision. It is also clear that she knows to do this she must remain more or less still with her spine straight allowing her body to store and release the right amounts of air to produce the tones and melodies with the power that she is able to. Her outfit is a top and flowy translucent trousers with an extensive cape. Her makeup, while extravagant, is not flashy. A glamorous red lip stands out as her hair is swept back with embellishments which also seem to trickle down to parts of her face (Eurovision Song Contest, 2023). This adds to her professional look as this all looks intentional. The make is designed to be seen from far away and the cape of her outfit is used in the performance as mentioned earlier.

In short, the performance was flashy and eye-catching. This is very normal for Eurovision and while her outfit was not traditional, it was not overly Western either. It was simply a fashionable piece that her stylists picked out for her and it suited the performance. The backing LED was also very normal for Eurovision and didn’t do anything to overtly or covertly conform to Georgia’s national identity.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Eurovision stage serves as a platform for artists like Iru Khechanovi to express themselves and occasionally their countries’ national identity through music and performance. Iru's performance of "Echo" at the 2023 contest, with its powerful vocals and confusing lyrics explores themes of love and self-discovery. While the song's English lyrics may diverge from Georgia's linguistic roots, its essence resonates with universal human experiences,transcending linguistic barriers. Furthermore, the staging and musical accompaniment, though not distinctly Georgian, reflect a globalized artistic sensibility, indicative of Georgia's engagement with the broader international community. 

References:

Chalkley, E. (2017, May 2). Gimmicks, Glitter and Glam: Eurovisions’ Novelty Song Contest. Retrieved February 2024, from ESC Insight: https://escinsight.com/2017/05/02/eurovision-song-contest- novelty-songs/

Eurovision Song Contest. (2023, March). Iru. Retrieved Februrary 2024, from Eurovision.tv: https://eurovision.tv/participant/iru-2023

Kukhianidze, G. (2023, March 16). Echo. Retrieved February 2024, from Genius: https://genius.com/Iru- echo-lyrics

Mamsikashvili, R. (2023, March 16). Last but not least: Georgia’s Iru unveils her Eurovision 2023 song “Echo”. Retrieved February 2024, from Wiwibloggs: https://wiwibloggs.com/2023/03/16/georgias-iru-releases-eurovision-2023-song-echo/276359/

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Trejo, I., Pons, M., & Menéndez, H. C. (2023, May 24). Who is Iru Khechanovi? Meet the Eurovision 2023 representative from Georgia. Retrieved February 2024, from ESCplus International: https://www.esc-plus.com/who-is-iru-khechanovi-meet-the-eurovision-2023-representative- from-georgia/

Songtell. (2023, June 2). Meaning of Echo by Iru. Retrieved Februrary 2024, from Songtell: https://www.songtell.com/iru/echo?skipCountdown=true