Switzerland Entry: Takasa - You And Me

May 22, 2013 Critic Jonni 0 Comments

Takasa, are a six piece band. They were originally called Heilsarmee, but due to the Eurovision rules  that forbid political and religious content, Heilsarmee had to change it's name to Takasa since Heilsarmee is German for 'Salvation Army'. The name Takasa is a Swahili verb meaning 'to purify', but it has also come to attention that Takasa is an acronym for The Artists Known As Salvation Army, which is amazingly clever. They consist of Sarah Breiter, Jonas Gygax, Katharina Hauri, Christoph Jakob, Emil Ramsauer and Michel Sterckx. Their age difference is surprising, Sarah Breiter is just 22 years old whereas Emil Ramsauer is 95 years old, making him the oldest musician to perform in the Eurovision Song Contest.

"You And Me" was written by Georg Schlunegger, Roman Camenzind and Fred Herrmann. The song is about love and endearment, and I really thought this was going to make it through to the final. It makes me feel happy and I just want to play it again as soon as I hear it. Takasa (known as Heilsarmee back then) competed in the Swiss national selection show called Die Grosse Entscheidungs Show, where they won with this song. I just cannot believe they didn't get through to the final.

Switzerland took part in the second Semi Final. They came a respectable 13th out of 17 countries, beating one of my favourites PeR whose song was "Here We Go" for Latvia. Takasa gained 41 points. They got 6 points from Finland, 2 points from Malta, 1 point from Bulgaria, 5 points from Iceland, 3 points from Greece, 2 points from Armenia, 6 points from Hungary, 3 points from Norway, 2 points from Albania, 10 points from France and 1 point from Germany.

This music video has little to it, but I can't help but laugh at some of the things that is going on. Emil Ramsauer is picked up on the way, he's posing as a hitch-hiker, hoping to get to Malmö, Sweden, where the Eurovision Song Contest was held this year. They manage to fit him in the car, and even put his double bass on the back of the car.

I like how it shows they go on a journey to get to Malmö, Sweden. And surely they've already done that competing in the national selection. But this is a journey in a compact car that seems to have only five seats... How does six people safely drive in a five seater car? Maybe someone's in the boot?

The various scenes out of the car include picking Emil Ramsauer up, going the wrong way, having to push the car, singing and playing their instruments on the ferry, passing people on the street, as well as the men standing on the side, surely they're not doing what we all think they are... It's against the law in England and Wales, deemed under the Public Order Act 1986. But it still makes me laugh, especially when they leave one of them behind, reminding me of Tim Berg's (Avicii's) "Seek Bromance".

Overall it's a perfect song, one that makes me want to sing every time I hear it, one I want to give to people to make them happy as well, this band is in such a good mood, and I don't think they'll ever stop being happy. The music video includes their happiness a lot. I like the use of the journey, who knows how long it took them, but even I would have found it difficult to keep happy after that, yet this band manages just fine. They use green screen during the scenes inside the car, but it's so good to watch you don't even realise. The song is about togetherness, and although it is portrayed between a relationship, it can be seen in a friendship kind of way.

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