Change (Hotel FM song)

"Change" is a song recorded by Romanian group Hotel FM, released as a CD single in 2011 by Romanian Television (TVR). It was written by Alexandra Ivan and Gabriel Băruţă, while production was solely handled by the latter. An uptempo pop ballad containing drums, piano and violins in its instrumentation, the lyrics talk about making a positive change in the world and one's life. A reviewer compared "Change" to the music of English group Take That and singer Sean Maguire.

"Change"
Single by Hotel FM
Released2011
GenrePop
Length3:04[1]
LabelTVR
Songwriter(s)
  • Alexandra Ivan
  • Gabriel Băruță
Producer(s)Băruță
Eurovision Song Contest 2011 entry
Country
Artist(s)
  • Gabriel Băruţă
  • David Bryan
  • Alex Szűz
As
Languages
English
Composer(s)
Gabriel Băruţă
Lyricist(s)
  • Băruță
  • Alexandra Ivan
Finals performance
Semi-final result
4th
Semi-final points
111
Final result
17th
Final points
77
Entry chronology
◄ "Playing with Fire" (2010)   
"Zaleliah" (2012) ►

The track represented Romania in the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest in Düsseldorf, Germany after winning the pre-selection show Selecția Națională. Hotel FM eventually came 17th in the contest's Grand Final, gathering a total of 77 points. During their performance, the group was joined by two female background dancers, while the LED screen showed pulsating circles and ovals. Music critics gave mixed reviews of "Change", praising its instrumentation, but criticising the song as "unspectacular" and "cheesy". The track was promoted by endeavours in several European countries, as well as by the release of an accompanying music video produced by TVR and Schneider Production. Uploaded onto YouTube on 18 March 2011, the visual features shots of various Romanian tourist attractions.

Background and composition

Hotel FM is a Romanian group consisting of British expatriate David Bryan, who provides lead vocals, as well as of Gabriel Băruţă on piano and Alex Szűz on drums.[2] Their song "Change" was written by Alexandra Ivan and Băruţă, while production was solely handled by the latter.[3] It was composed in November 2010 after Băruţa came up with a melody one morning and played it on the piano. He also wrote the beginnings of the song's chorus. According to Bryan, he asked what the verses should discuss on, to which Băruţa responded: "Well, you have time... figure something out!"; Bryan came up with the line: "You think you’ve got the time to figure it out" and the rest of "Change" was written in a "very natural flow" in about 30 minutes.[4] An enhanced CD of the song was released in Romania in 2011 by Romanian Television (TVR), containing "Change", its instrumental version and music video, along with the tracks "The Gathering" and "Come as One". The latter served as Hotel FM's entry for the 2010 Romanian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. The CD contains images photographed by Ioana Chiriță, Aurel Baboi and Edy Schneider, while graphic design and editing were handled by Bristenea Marin and Mariana Rusen, respectively.[3]

A "tranquil" and "romantic" uptempo pop ballad,[2][5][6] the instrumentation of "Change" lacks electronic effects and consists of "natural" instruments such as drums, piano and violins.[7] Stuart Heritage of The Guardian likened the track to "Shine" (2007) by Take That and "Today's the Day" (1997) by Sean Maguire,[8] whereas Băruţă said the song had a British sound.[9] During the track's lyrics, Bryan states that he "can't change the world alone" and that "a smile can change it all".[2] The singer elaborated on the message of "Change" in an interview with Wiwibloggs: "The title itself says it all. We are always hearing that we have our whole life in front of us and then we wake up to see that we accomplished nothing during our lives. So, our message to Europe is: Stop dreaming of it, take a step that's gonna make a difference and change your world."[4]

Reception

"Change" was one of the favourites to win the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in betting odds.[5] An author of PureMédias gave a positive review of the song, writing: "Rhythmed and lively, the Romanians interpret a seductive title".[5] Marc Gehring of German website Prinz.de described "Change" as "nice but unspectacular mainstream",[6] with Daily Mail's Hannah-Louise Dunne similarly calling it "cheesy".[10] In a 2016 poll on Wiwibloggs called "What is your favourite Eurovision song from Romania?", the track finished in 11th place with over 100 votes.[11] Commercially, "Change" received minor airplay on Romanian radio and television stations.[12]

Promotion

Hotel FM began their promotion tour for "Change" in Bulgaria on 23 February 2011, performing as a guest on the country's national selection for Eurovision, held at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia. The performance involved technical issues with Bryan's microphone and headset. During the next day, the group gave an interview on BNT 1's morning show with Bulgarian Eurovision entrant Poli Genova, which was later also aired on Radio Bulgaria (BNR). On 25 February 2011, Hotel FM continued their tour in Chișinău, Moldova for television appearances on Noroc TV, Jurnal TV, Moldova 1 and Muz TV, as well as for a radio interview on Radio Moldova. The next day, the group performed "Change" at the final of the Moldovan Eurovision preselection, O melodie pentru Europa.[13][14] Their promotion tour on European television and radio stations continued in Athens, Greece, Rome, Italy, Budapest, Hungary, Bruxelles, Belgium and London, United Kingdom from April to May 2011.[14][15]

For further promotion, an accompanying music video for "Change" was uploaded onto the official YouTube channel of the Eurovision Song Contest on 18 March 2011.[16] It was shot in February 2011 and produced by Romanian Television and Schneider Production, containing footage of several Romanian tourist attractions including the Bran Castle in Brașov, an ice hotel and church at Bâlea Lake in Cârțișoara, Salina Turda, and Bran-Moieciu. The clip was meant to promote the tourism in Romania. Initially, it was planned to shoot scenes at Babele in the Southern Carpathians, but plans were scrapped after the aerial tramway there was out of function due to bad weather. On 14 March 2011, the music video was sent to several European television channels.[17][18]

At Eurovision

National selection
Main article: Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011
Hotel FM performed at the Esprit Arena in Germany during the Eurovision Song Contest 2011.

On 31 December 2010, the Selecția Națională was held in order to select the Romanian entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest. Subsequently, "Change" was chosen to represent Romania at the contest after the votes of a professional jury panel (12 points) and public televoting (ten points) were combined, resulting in 22 points.[19]

In Düsseldorf

The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 took place at the Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf, Germany and consisted of two semi-finals on 10 and 12 May, and the final on 14 May 2011. According to the Eurovision rules, all participating countries, except the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom), were required to qualify from one semi-final to compete for the final; the top ten countries from the respective semi-final progressed to the final.[20] Hotel FM sang 14th in the second semi-final following Slovenia and preceding Estonia, while they performed 17th in the Grand Final following Germany and preceding Austria.[20]

Romania's total budget for their Eurovision appearance amounted to €500,000.[21] Their performance used a remastered version of "Change", which Hotel FM elaborated on: "We weren't satisfied with the initial version, as it was made very fast. Now, the song sounds way better and is more dynamic and conveying".[22] All three band members were featured onstage during their show, along with two female background dancers wearing black suits and hats involved in a dance routine with trumpets. The background LED screen displayed flashing circles and ovals, "fitting the energetic song and performance well, just like the flickering lights on the stage floor".[23] The Guardian likened Bryan's appearance to British singer Cliff Richard and negatively commented on his outfit: "He wants to change the world, but he can't do it alone. Start small, David – change the trousers. Then the waistcoat."[24]

Points awarded to Romania

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Romania in the second semi-final and Grand Final of the contest. On the first occasion, the country finished in fourth place with a total of 111 points, including 12 from Italy and Moldova, 10 from Belgium, and 8 from Cyprus and France.[25] In the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest, Romania finished in 17th position, gathering a total of 77 points, including 12 awarded by Moldova and Italy, 10 by Belgium and 8 by Spain.[26]

Track listing
  1. "Change"
  2. "Change" (Instrumental)
  3. "Come as One"
  4. "The Gathering"
  5. "Change" (Music video)

Release history
Country Date Format Label
Romania[3] 2011 Enhanced CD TVR

Notes
  1. The lengths of the different tracks on the enhanced CD were not revealed.[3]
gollark: That's... basically the main reason to use one.
gollark: They're useful for when you want to embed an interpreter in things.
gollark: It also probably wouldn't cause too many problems for them to actually include some (written in Lua) libraries with the standard distribution.
gollark: * Lua programmers
gollark: It's an upside for embedders. It's a downside for programmers.

References
  1. Eurovision Song Contest Düsseldorf 2011 (Liner notes/ CD booklet). European Broadcasting Union. Europe. (Barcode: 5099909705623): CMC Entertainment. 2011.CS1 maint: others (link) CS1 maint: location (link)
  2. Batlle, Patricia. "Rumänien: Hotel FM" [Romania: Hotel FM] (in German). Eurovision.de. ARD. Archived from the original on August 25, 2017. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  3. Change (CD single). Hotel FM. TVR (Matrix: 10579487). 2011.CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. Lee Adams, William (May 2, 2011). "Hotel FM Interview: Romania's David Bryan Speaks with Wiwi!". Wiwibloggs. Archived from the original on May 25, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  5. "Voici les dix favoris de l'Eurovision 2011" [Here the ten favorites at Eurovision 2011] (in French). PureMédias. May 13, 2011. Archived from the original on October 16, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  6. Gehring, Marc (November 19, 2012). "Future Winners (6): Rumänien – ein aufgehender Stern am Pop-Himmel?" [Future Winners (6): Romania – a rising star on the pop sky?] (in German). Prinz.de. Archived from the original on March 23, 2013. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  7. "Trupa Hotel FM: conferinta de presa cu live report pe Facebook" [Hotel FM: press conference with live report on Facebook] (in Romanian). eComunicate. January 31, 2011. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  8. Heritage, Stuart (May 13, 2011). "Eurovision 2011: the second semi-final". The Guardian. Archived from the original on September 30, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  9. "Trupa orădeană Hotel FM își va promova melodia "Change" în toată Europa" [Hotel FM, the group from Oradea, promote their song "Change" in Europe] (in Romanian). January 3, 2011. Archived from the original on May 25, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  10. Dunne, Hannah-Louise (May 12, 2011). "The Battle of Europe – Your guide to Jedward's 18 rivals tonight". Daily Mail. ProQuest 866015616. (subscription required)
  11. Honciuc, Bogdan (April 24, 2016). "Poll: What is your favourite Eurovision song from Romania?". Wiwibloggs. Archived from the original on July 4, 2017. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  12. "Care au fost cele mai proaste dar si cele mai bune momente ale noastre la Eurovision" [Which were our best and worst moments at Eurovision] (in Romanian). Realitatea TV. May 10, 2018. Archived from the original on May 15, 2018. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  13. "Hotel FM a promovat melodia "Change" în Bulgaria și Moldova" [Hotel FM promoted their song "Change" in Bulgaria and Moldova]. Adevărul (in Romanian). March 1, 2011. Archived from the original on May 25, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  14. "Hotel FM promovează piesa "Change" astăzi, în Republica Moldova" [Hotel FM promotes the song "Change" in Moldova today]. Adevărul (in Romanian). February 26, 2011. Archived from the original on May 25, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  15. "Hotel FM, in turneu de promovare prin Europa" [Hotel FM in a European promotion tour] (in Romanian). Caraș Online. March 9, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  16. "Hotel FM – Change (Romania)". YouTube. March 18, 2018. Archived from the original on October 16, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  17. "Eurovision 2011 Videoclip: Hotel FM – "Change"" (in Romanian). Star Gossip Magazine. March 18, 2018. Archived from the original on May 25, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  18. "Hotel FM promovează brandul de țară prin videoclipul piesei "Change"" [Hotel FM promote Romania's brand through their music video for "Change"]. Adevărul (in Romanian). February 4, 2011. Archived from the original on May 25, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  19. Selecția Națională 2010. December 31, 2010.
  20. Eurovision Song Contest 2011. Düsseldorf, Germany. May 10–14, 2011.
  21. "Orădenii de la Hotel FM au încredere că piesa "Change" îi va duce între primii 10" [Hotel FM believe that "Change" could bring them in the top 10]. Adevărul (in Romanian). February 1, 2011. Archived from the original on May 25, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  22. "Orchestraţie nouă pentru piesa "Change"" [New arrangement for the song "Change"]. Adevărul (in Romanian). January 27, 2011. Archived from the original on May 25, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  23. "Romania: Pop and pulsating circles". European Broadcasting Union. May 8, 2011. Archived from the original on May 13, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  24. "Eurovision 2011: the final – live blog". The Guardian. May 14, 2011. Archived from the original on October 19, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  25. "Düsseldorf 2011 – Second Semi-Final – Scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  26. "Düsseldorf 2011 – Grand Final – Scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved April 18, 2019.

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