Montaigne brings ‘Technicolour’ to the Eurovision stage
Since Australia joined Eurovision back in 2015, they have never missed the final and only once finished outside of the top 10. Last year, they selected Montaigne and her dramatic pop song ‘Don’t Break Me’ in a national final. Although there were already plans to host another national selection in 2021, the Australian broadcaster changed their mind after the 2020 contest got cancelled. They decided to give Montaigne another shot and let her select her song internally. And so she did with the track ‘Technicolour’.
Montaigne wrote ‘Technicolour’ together with producer Dave Hammer, specifically with Eurovision in mind. The song is all about the courage to be vulnerable and daring to ask for help, as Montaigne believes we are stronger in solidarity. With that message, one might expect a somewhat cheesy midtempo pop number, but that is not at all what ‘Technicolour’ is. Montaigne serves a bonkers, bouncing, heavily electronic pop banger. The production reminds me of early days La Roux while her expressive vocals echo Marina (and the Diamonds). Both vocally and in terms of production, it is all over the place in the best way.
All productional and vocal quirks aside, ‘Technicolour’ does have an undeniable chorus. Yes, it is a bit repetitive at times, but that key change in the last time it comes around makes you forget all about that. The lyrics are a bit predictable and slightly cheesy at times (“If we stand together, we can do whatever”), but also serves quite unexpected moments (“We got style and lasers, yeah, time to take off your cloaks”). Even lyrically it is all over the place. You can count on Montaigne to at least keep things interesting.
‘Technicolour’ live on the Eurovision stage is something I will be eagerly looking forward to from this day on. I have to admit Montaigne’s ‘Don’t Break Me’ was in my top 5 of Eurovision 2020 songs, but I wasn’t a fan of the live performance both vocally and in terms of staging. ‘Technicolour’ has the potential to turn out even messier on stage, but if she gets it right, this could also be all kinds of brilliant. Either way, I’ll be bopping to this with my life.
MORE EUROVISION 2021 REVIEWS: BELGIUM – CYPRUS – CZECH REPUBLIC – FRANCE – ISRAEL – LITHUANIA – THE NETHERLANDS – ROMANIA
