In Dusseldorf 2011, Dino Merlin performed at the Eurovision stage with his song “Love in Rewind”. He placed sixth overall in the Eurovision finale, this was the country's second highest score since Bosnia and Herzegovina were placed third in 2006. Prior to competing independently, Bosnia and Herzegovinia participated as part of Yugoslavia. Dino Merlin, born Edin Dervishalidovic, is a native Bosnian and has competed in Eurovision twice, 1993 and 2011.
Considering Dino Merlin was also the lyricist for “Love in Rewind” we can take meaning to the specific words he chose and analyze the deeper meaning and his use of figurative language. His song is about the life story of a middle-aged person. The song starts off by saying how his children are healthy and off at school. He says “My daughter's in love, my son loves too”. This indicates his children have grown up and matured and are now in love, putting him in his 40’-50’s. In starting the chorus, Dino says “If you take this life from me today, tear it up and bury me away”. This dark lyric said with contrasting happy smiles and upbeat tune creates an interesting juxtaposition for his view on life. While he is well aware that life can be taken away at any moment, he accepts this idea because he has lived a full life. In the next set of lyrics, he says “You'll just find two, three songs of mine, hundred worries of mine”. We can infer that his life has a few spots of happiness and beauty- his songs- and many moments of worry and stress. In the main part of the chorus, naming the song, Dino says “Your love, your love in rewind”. We can derive meaning from this using the lyrics around it. That looking back on his life, he has always been loved, by presumably a woman. Dino Merlin, or Edin Dervishalidovi, is married to a woman, Amela Dervišhalidović. We can assume in his lyrics he is also performing as a straight man. After his chorus, the lyrics switch to a simple “Sito, oh” repeated. Here, Dino is introducing the native language of his country, Bosnian. Many surrounding countries such as Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia also have populations that speak Bosnian because of proximity to the country. This may help with the voting process to receive a higher score if the bordering countries can understand the language other than English being spoken. Seeing that the majority of the song is spoken in English, this will certainly help the popularity of the performance due to a wider population being able to understand English. Other countries and fans will be more likely to vote for a song they understand. In the second verse of the song Dino states, “It's less about me, it's less about you. We keep on running from certainty, but don't know where to run from reality”. We can extrapolate that Dino comprehends that everyone is eventually going to die and the reality is that no one can change that or run away from it. Throughout the song he repeatedly states “Tear it up and bury me away” reinforcing that he acknowledges the idea of death, and since his children are grown-up and have lived a full life, he is okay with it.
The music style is another component of the analysis of “Love in Rewind”. Considering this song was performed in 2011, the genre of pop was very popular. This could have been a strategic move by Dino Merlin. Having his song be a fun and uplifting pop song would make it memorable to a younger audience and increase the amount of votes it received. The instruments, which were not played on stage, included a guitar, keyboard, bass, trumpet, tambourine, and
mandolin. This created a latin-pop type of song. It created a steady beat for the crowd and performers to clap and stomp along to. This was a smart choice to get the audience engaged and remember the performance. Another way that Dino Merlin got the crowd engaged was the choreography. While the main performers were mainly playing their instruments, the trumpet player was going from each side of the stage to try and get the crowd to make noise and clap along to the beat. This small act helped get the audience to interact with the performance, therefore making it memorable and more likely to be voted for. At the end of the performance, all the performers on stage began waving side to side trying to get the crow to mirror them. This easy catchy interaction between the singer and audience makes it more memorable for audience members and home viewers. Pyrotechnics were also used towards the end of the show. While this is a common trope with Eurovision songs, it stands true that having glitzy and glamorous special effects will make the performance unforgettable.
The staging was another aspect of analysis that I examined. The costumes between the singer and performers matched in pattern and color palette. They were dressed in maily reds and blacks. This creates a sense of unity within the group. Since the song depicts the story of a middle aged man looking at his life’s story, the other musicons in matching fabrics would represent his family that was also mentioned in the song. The red fabric choice also relates to the title of the song “Love in Rewind” as the color that is most commonly associated with love is red. This is consistent with the colors of the instruments and background too. The guitar Dino has is also a deep red color symbolizing love. The background screens show a red silk fabric until the end of the performance. Then, it changes to a carousel overlay with LED hearts on top. The hearts refer back to the idea of love but the carousel imagery ties into the tune of the song. It has an upbeat and funky beat creating a circus-type sound with which the carousel imagery fits.
During 2011, trials for previous war crimes continued to be tried on central and local levels. The Human Rights Watch said “On July 11, 2010, the remains of 775 victims of the Srebrenica massacre were buried in the Potocari area, at a ceremony marking the 15th anniversary of the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.” Coming on the heels of such a series and devastating event for Bosnia and Herzegovinia, the performance of “Love in Rewind” was an uplifting tune to lighten the somber mood. According to the Human Rights Watch “In June a bomb exploded at a police station in the town of Bugojno, killing one police officer and injuring six others. One of seven men subsequently arrested confessed to planting explosives...”. On the grounds of all the death in the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the song depicts a man who is not afraid of the inevitable, he recognizes that it could happen at any moment. Acts of terrorism, like the bombing in the police station, are completely random and can happen at any time. The song makes a point to say that death should not be feared, but accepted. With the song being performed at Eurovision, the relationship that Bosnia and Herzegovina have with Europe and the EU is important. In 2011, “The combined Office of the High Representative/European Union Special Representative, backed by the United States and the Peace Implementation Council
continue to focus on assisting the country to overcome the protracted political stalemate and forge closer integration with the EU” (Human Rights Watch). Becoming closer aligned with the EU gives Bosnia and Herzegovina gives them a chance for talent and business to move easier across borders. This would give them an advantage over non-EU participating countries.
Key aspects of Bosnian and Herzegovinian nation identity are religion, language, and contention with surrounding countries. The primary religion practiced in Bosnia and Herzegovinia is Islam. Muslim’s make up roughtly 51% of the populartion. Following Islam, Orthodoxy adn then Roman Catholicism are the most practided regions. Since the surrounding countries of Serbia and Croatia have a majority that practice a religion other than Islam, this is a point of nation identity for Bosnia and Herzegovinia and creates a sense of unity adn togetherness. A second aspect of national identity for Bosnia and Herzegovina is language. Bosnia and Herzegovinia follow the Roman alphabet while the bordering country of Serbia follows the Cyrillic. When Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Croatia were all a part of Yugoslavia, they shared a common language. Once broken up, they all split into their own separate languages. This is a point of national identity because the majority of people within Bosnia and Herzegovina all speak the same language while it being different from neighboring countries. Another key aspect of national identity is contention with bordering countries. Border issues between countries have caused tensions to be high since the fall of Yugoslavia. This common enemy or tension brings the Bosnian and herzegovinian people together for an atmosphere of solidarity. While this performance was not religious based nor brought up political issues, as Eurovision is a safe space for these issues, it does mention language. Using their national language, Dino Merlin brings to light the unity of the Bosnian and Herzegovian people by using a language they all understand and speak that is different from the majority in the surrounding nations.
Not many explanatory frameworks were of this performance. It neither focuses on belittling on Asian countries or traditions, orientalism, or emphasizing one country's ideal at the expense of another, essentialism. It does not depict something that has never happened, a simulation, or culturally appropriate. There is no political agenda behind the song or performance, and there is no single community that is free from attachment, cosmopolitanism. In light of the singer benign a straight man and referencing a woman in his song there is no pinkwashing or homonationalism. Considering the genre being pop, and the song being mainly in English, the performance is Western Europe oriented. This was mainly to get votes and raise the popularity of the song and in the end, get a better score.
References
Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Eurovision song contest. Wikipedia,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosnia_and_Herzegovina_in_the_Eurovision_Song_Contest
Dino Merlin biography. IMDb, h ttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm1489365/bio Love in rewind. Eurovision song contest wiki,
https://eurosong-contest.fandom.com/wiki/Love_in_Rewind
World report 2011: Bosnia and Herzegovina. Human rights watch. https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2011/country-chapters/bosnia-and-herzegovina
