Today, International quirk-pop queen Netta debuted her new song “Cuckoo” on the Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light TV special (she won the show in 2018). The TV Special aired in 46 countries around the world and also on the Eurovision YouTube Channel.
A noticeable departure from the off-the-wall, hyper-pop that has led Netta to millions of streams across the globe (see: “Toy” and “Ricki Lake“), “Cuckoo” is an unexpectedly haunting ballad full of chill-inducing highs. Billboard called the song “a standout moment” of the TV special that had “just the right amount of gentle melancholy to fit the times we’re going through without ever devolving into histrionics.”
Two versions have been released: the melancholic video version that aired as part of the Eurovision broadcast that features Netta performing with nothing more than a custom-made music box; and the official studio version which is a synth-R&B interpretation of the song.
Whether over heartbreak or feeling emotionally disconnected during this current pandemic, the choral refrain is melancholic brilliance: “I’m like a bird in a cage and I’m going cuckoo”.
Listen to Netta on Switched On Pop HERE discussing her personal journey as an artist and what it takes to make the perfect Eurovision song. She also recently was spotlighted by BUST who called her the “soulful singer creating escapist videos you didn’t know you needed” and Hey Alma who praised her as a “role model”.
This week she was featured on Facebook’s “Artist Of The Day” and later this week she will do a special Twitter Q&A and Reddit AMA.
Check out Netta’s on-the-spot ingenuity in this recent video for iHeartRadio where she covers hits by Eiffel 65, Flo Rida, and Soulja Boy’Tell Em.
Listen to “Cuckoo” (Studio Version) below.