Top 50- 23: I was the life of that nation

Monica Naranjo- Europa

Monica is the most fabulous diva of our time I think.The Tarántula album is one of my favourites of last year,and I've recently been getting into it again bigtime.It's so varied,from the chilled out El Descanso,to the hyper Kambalaya to the shouty but wonderful second single Amor y Lujo- all of the songs are great.But none more so than Europa- Monica's first single for a few years.I really think it's a modern day masterpiece.Wonderfully dramatic and slightly operatic at the beginning,going into turning into a funky modern dance beat after a few minutes- it shouldn't work but it really does.Monica has such an interesting,versatile voice too,it's hard to imagine anyone else singing this song.

I had the glory,I had your devotion and I felt loved

Just a quick diversion from all the Eurovision talk to mention one of the most amazing bits of music I've heard for ages.None of the youtube videos will let me embed it,but you can see it here Apparantly Monica Naranjo is really popular in Spain (shows how much I know about Spanish music...),and this song,Europa,has been number 1 over there for quite a while.It's a pretty bizarre song really,fusing some rather unlikely styles (you'll see,especially after the first 2 and a half minutes),but it really works.The video is strange but wonderful too,and the lyrics make lots of pictures in your mind...I haven't heard much else of Monica's stuff yet,but I shall definitely be on the lookout for more.