Disappear (No Angels song)

"Disappear" is a song recorded by all-female German pop group No Angels, taken from Destiny Reloaded (2008), the reissue of their fourth studio album Destiny (2007). It was written by Norwegian singer-songwriter Hanne Sørvaag along with Danish musicians Remee and Thomas Troelsen, the latter of which also handled production on the track. A mid-paced pop song that is built on a ticking clock sample, the song is influenced by elements of Europop and synthpop. Its instrumentation consists essentially of synthesizers and keyboards. Lyrically, it finds the protagonist thinking deeply over her relationship with her love interest from whom she parted; however, she still pines for him and feels self-conscious for doing so.

"Disappear"
Single by No Angels
from the album Destiny Reloaded
Released29 February 2008
Recorded22 December 2007;[1]
Gutleutstudios
(Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
GenrePop
Length3:19 (single version)
3:00 (ESC edit)
LabelPolydor, Universal
Songwriter(s)Remee, Hanne Sørvaag, Thomas Troelsen
Producer(s)Remee, Thomas Troelsen
No Angels singles chronology
"Amaze Me" / "Teardrops"
(2007)		 "Disappear"
(2008)		 "One Life"
(2009)
Eurovision Song Contest 2008 entry
Country
Artist(s)
As
No Angels
Language
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Finals performance
Final result
23rd
Final points
14
Entry chronology
◄ "Frauen regier'n die Welt" (2007)   
"Miss Kiss Kiss Bang" (2009) ►

A shortened version of the song served as Germany's entry for the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, having earned tight 50.5% of the audience vote over solo singer Carolin Fortenbacher at the national pre-selection show, Grand Prix Vorentscheid, in March 2008. In the final show of the ESC, on 24 May 2008, the song finished 23rd (out of 25) in the final voting, having earned a total of fourteen points only.[2] Released as a single on 29 February 2008 in German-speaking Europe, the song reached number 4 on the German Singles Chart, where it became the band's biggest-selling single since their reformation in fall 2006.[3][4] "Disappear" also reached the top 30 of the Hungarian Airplay Chart, the top 40 of the Ö3 Austria Top 40 and peaked at number 21 on the composite Eurochart Hot 100 Singles chart.[5]

A music video for the single, directed and produced by Daniel Lwowski, was filmed inside a castle in Potsdam in January 2008 and stars German actor Oliver Mommsen in a supporting role. It depicts the band as ghost-like entities, who are awakened when a foreigner visits heir home. Throughout the video, each of them tries to approach him in different ways. "Disappear" was performed on several television such as Willkommen bei Carmen Nebel, Unsere Besten and Music Idol. It was later featured on their compilation albums, Very Best of No Angels (2008).

Writing and recording

"Disappear" was written by Norwegian singer–songwriter Hanne Sørvaag along with Danish musicians Remee and Thomas Troelsen, while production was handled by Remee and Troelsen.[6] It was mixed by Will Simms and engineered by Savvas Iossifidis.[6] Vocal editing was handled by Nicolaj Rasted.[6] First drafts of a melody for "Disappear" were already in existence in 2005, with Troelsen, who also wrote the vocal melody, intensifying work on the track in January 2006.[7] However, it took until 5 November 2007 for the song to be fully produced and provided with its final lyrics, which chronicle the aftermath of an unforgettable love affair.[8] A Sørvaag-sung demo version of the song was recorded at the Delta Lab Recording Studios in Copenhagen and leaked through her MySpace account on 10 March 2008.[7]

Sørvaag's demo recording was eventually presented to A&R manager Niklas Hafemann and the No Angels.[7] One of several songs proposed for recording, "Disappear" was eventually accepted as the band's competition song for the German national finalGrand Prix Vorentscheid 2008.[7] The vocals for their version were recorded at the Gutleutstudios in Frankfurt am Main on 22 December 2007.[1] Nadja Benaissa has described the song as an earworm with international ambition: "[It's] an emotional, very sentimental [song]. With music, that's raising your spirits and carries away."[9] The song premiered during an official press conference on 29 January 2008; the same day a thirty-seconds clip of the song was previewed on the band's official fansite. A day later the song was officially serviced to European radio.[8] On 21 February 2008 an edited version of "Disappear" premiered on the website of daily newspaper Bild-Zeitung, which was shortened to meet the three-minutes or less ESC conditions in length.[10]

Release and reception

Released on 29 February 2008 in German-speaking Europe, both the official CD single and the digital download single include three remixes by the Mozart & Friends team of music producers.[11] The atmospheric Yin Yang remix is based on a piano performance by Australian producer Alf Tuohey and was refined by Marc Mozart with "trip-hop-esque" drumloops.[11] Alexander Hahn contributed a trancy housemix of "Disappear," which was performed at his Chartlab Studio based in the center of Hamburg, Germany.[11] The Soundbomb House remix has been declared "the heavier of the two house-mixes with plenty of traditional German techno elements;" the basic tracks were programmed by Manuel Loyo and Alexander Gernert, while Mozart added synthesisers.[11]

Upon its release, "Disappear" debuted at number 12 on the German Singles Chart based on composite digital singles and CD singles sales. Following the band's participation and subsequent winning of the Grand Prix Vorentscheid it rose eight places to number 4 in its second week, making it both the biggest-moving single of the week and the No Angels' first top 10 entry (twelfth in total) since their 2007 comeback single "Goodbye to Yesterday" which peaked at the same position. The single eventually spent 14 weeks on that particular chart, also making it their longest-charting single since 2002's "Still in Love with You."[12] On Media Control's component charts "Disappear" reached number 2 on the German download chart as well as number 16 on the official airplay charts, according to Nielsen Music Control.[13] It was ranked seventy-eighth on the German year-end chart.[14]

In Austria, the single opened at number 63 on the Ö3 Austria Top 40 chart.[12] As on the German Singles Chart, sales were pushed by the Grand Prix Vorentscheid results and thus, it rose twenty-six places to number 37 in its second week of release, the group's highest peak since "Goodbye to Yesterday." The song remained another two weeks on the chart, but re-entered the top 100 at number 74 two weeks after the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.[15] In Switzerland, the track became the group's first top 100 entry since "Goodbye to Yesterday" after the commercial failure of "Maybe" and "Amaze Me"/"Teardrops" the previous year, debuting and peaking at number 96.[12] On a composite Eurochart Hot 100 Singles the song debuted at number 46 in the week of 22 March 2008, before jumping to number 21 the following week. Benefiting from strong airplay on foreign music markets, the single also peaked at number 22 on the Hungarian Mahasz Radio Chart, the band's first entry since "Still in Love with You" (2002).[5]

Music video
Lucy Diakovska at a balcony on the Potsdam set of "Disappear" (Germany; January 2008).

An accompanying music video for "Disappear", directed and produced by Daniel Lwowski for Katapult Film, was filmed on 23 January 2008 at Schloss Marquardt in the same-titled Potsdam district, near Berlin, Germany.[16][17] Shooting lasted until 2:00am GMT of the 24th due to operating delays.[18] German actor Oliver Mommsen was approached to play a supporting role in the clip immediately after meeting band members Lucy Diakovska and Jessica Wahls at German talk show Die Tietjen und Dibaba.[16]

The video opens with a scene of Mommsen discovering a remote mansion in a seemingly deserted rural region, following the breakdown of his car, a BMW 2000.[19] Deciding to search for help, he enters the empty antiquated building, which is occupied by four ghost-like entities (played by the No Angels), whose interest he awakes. Throughout the video, each of them tries to approach him in different ways, without touching him or being seen by him. However, every time he feels their presence and is tempted to catch a view of the beings, they disappear.

The clip world premiered on 5 February 2008 on German music network Viva's show Viva Live.[4] On 21 February 2008 bild.de, the official website of the daily Bild-Zeitung, released a shortened version of video, which has served as the official version for the ESC version of "Disappear."[20] The fully animated clip features previously unreleased pictures and short videos of the band.[20] A making-of-clip of the video was released on a digital video disc on the album's re-release edition, Destiny Reloaded (2008).

Eurovision Song Contest

National final
Wahls, Diakovska, Benaissa and Mölling during their performance at the national final on 6 March 2008 in Hamburg.

In January 2008, it was announced that the group and "Disappear" had qualified for the Grand Prix Vorentscheid, the German national pre-selection of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, organised and broadcast by Das Erste and the NDR.[3] Having refused previous offers to participate in the pre-selection, it was the second time the band was asked to submit a song for the contest since their reunion in early 2007.[3] Following several weeks of promotional appearances, the No Angels entered the competition on 6 March 2008 at the Deutsche Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, competing against all-male groups Marquess ("La histeria") and Cinema Bizarre ("Forever or Never"), and solo singers Tommy Reeve ("Just One Woman") and Carolin Fortenbacher ("Hinterm Ozean"). Dressed in white color, the No Angels hit the stage as the fifth entry of the evening, opening via lifting platform. During their performance however, their outfits transformed, with silken capes in orange, pink, purple, and blue coming from their dresses. Four wind machine were specially-installed on-stage for their performance.[2]

After the five songs had been performed, televoters decided about the top two songs in the superfinal which were then voted on again. Widely considered as early favourites by the media[3] the band eventually finished first, having earned tight 50.5% of the audience vote over Fortenbacher in the second and final election round, while the other three participants were ranked joint third.[2] Following the win of the pre-selection, controversy occurred when several news sources reported that the writers of the track were alleged to have plagiarised several elements (both motifs and melodies) from SSDSDSSWEMUGABRTLAD contestant Steffi List's recording "Breaking the Silence" without giving credit or compensation.[7] However, while investigators verified similarities in rhythm and phrasing, the NDR eventually denied any existing evidence proving this argument as "Disappear" was written and recorded prior to List's song.[7][21]

ESC final
The No Angels during their performance at the Eurovision Song Contest finals on May 24, 2008, in Belgrad, Serbia.

With Germany being one of the biggest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union, the No Angels - alongside their competing entries from France, Spain, the United Kingdom and hosting country Serbia - were allowed to skip the contest's semi-finals and automatically qualified for competition with 24 other countries in the finals of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. Thus, on Saturday 24 May 2008, the band started at number four during the show, following Albania's entry Olta Boka with her ballad "Zemrën e lamë peng" and preceding Armenia's Sirusho with "Qele Qele." Having decided to rework parts of their show for the final, the group performance differed from the Grand Prix Vorentscheid: While their stage clothes had been changed into two blue and two purple dresses with two capes each, a new choreography was added; the LED projections in the back of the stage showed flying feathers on a blue ground and moreover, pyrotechnics were included.[22]

An estimated 100 million fans watched the final contest, and viewers from all 43 participating nations voted for their favourite performers via text message and telephone.[23] While generally never considered a pre-contest favourite (online betting firms such as Paddy Power previously put Germany's chances of winning at 100 to 1, in the lowest third of competitors),[24] the No Angels eventually ranked 23rd place out of the 25 countries that participated with a total of 14 points – taking 12 points from Bulgaria, band member Lucy Diakovska's native country, and 2 points from Switzerland only. In fact, only Poland and the United Kingdom placed below the four-member female band.[23][24]

It was succeeded as German representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 by Alex Swings Oscar Sings (Alex C. and Oscar Loya) with "Miss Kiss Kiss Bang".

Track listings
CD Maxi single
No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."Disappear" (Single Version)
  • Remee
  • Troelsen
3:19
2."Disappear" (Yin Yang Remix)
4:13
3."Disappear" (Chartlab House Remix)
  • Remee
  • Troelsen
  • Alexander Hahn[A]
5:22
4."Disappear" (Soundbomb House Remix)
  • Remee
  • Troelsen
  • Alexander Gernert[A]
  • Manuel Loyo[A]
  • Mozart[A]
5:01
5."Disappear" (Music Video) 3:35
Digital single
No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."Disappear" (Single Version)
  • Remee
  • Troelsen
3:19
2."Disappear" (Yin Yang Remix)
  • Remee
  • Troelsen
  • Tuohey[A]
  • Mozart[A]
4:13
3."Disappear" (Chartlab House Remix)
  • Remee
  • Troelsen
  • Hahn[A]
5:22
4."Disappear" (Soundbomb House Remix)
5:01

Notes

  • ^[A] denotes additional producer

Credits and personnel

Credits taken from Destiny Reloaded liner notes.[6]

Charts

See also

References
  1. "Weihnachtszeit (Blog)." Official Nadja Benaissa MySpace. Retrieved on 2007-12-27
  2. uq/dpa (March 6, 2008). "No Angels singen für Deutschland". Focus Online. Retrieved March 6, 2008.
  3. Pittelkau, Mark (March 6, 2008). "Grand-Prix-Kandidaten 2008". Bild-Zeitung. Archived from the original on January 11, 2008. Retrieved January 10, 2008.
  4. "No Angels für Deutschland?". Official website. Retrieved January 10, 2008.
  5. "Hungarian Radio Chart". Mahasz. Archived from the original on May 29, 2009. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
  6. Destiny Reloaded (liner notes). No Angels. Universal Music. 2008.CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. Schmitt, Peter-Philipp (March 11, 2008). "Keine Engel – aber auch keine Plagiatoren". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Retrieved March 15, 2008.
  8. "Vier Engel für Deutschland". Official Fansite. January 10, 2008. Retrieved January 10, 2008.
  9. dpa (March 3, 2003). "No Angels peilen Grand-Prix-Sieg an". Welt Online. Retrieved March 3, 2008.
  10. "Grand Prix-Version von 'Disappear'". Official fansite. February 27, 2008. Retrieved February 27, 2008.
  11. "No Angels single 'Disappear' features three remixes by Mozart & Friends". Mozart & Friends Website. March 6, 2008. Retrieved February 17, 2008.
  12. "Chart Performance". aCharts. Retrieved March 20, 2008.
  13. "Airplay Charts Deutschland". Surfmusik. Retrieved April 2, 2008.
  14. "Jahrescharts - Singles 2008". MTV News. Archived from the original on December 27, 2008. Retrieved December 29, 2008.
  15. "NO ANGELS - DISAPPEAR (SONG)". Austriancharts. Retrieved June 6, 2008.
  16. "News". Katapult-Film.com. February 7, 2008. Retrieved February 7, 2008.
  17. ddp (January 10, 2008). "Zum Feiern ist es jetzt noch zu früh". Ad-Hoc-News. Retrieved January 10, 2008.
  18. "Videodreh, fotoshooting und proben.... (Blog)." Official Nadja Benaissa MySpace. Retrieved on 2008-01-26
  19. "Disappear". Crew-United. Retrieved June 1, 2008.
  20. "'Grand-Prix-Version' von 'Disappear'". Bild-Zeitung. Official Fansite. Retrieved February 21, 2008.
  21. dpa/The Local (March 10, 2008). "Eurovision contestants No Angels accused of plagiarism". The Local. Retrieved May 24, 2008.
  22. Schacht, Andreas (May 17, 2008). "Germany's No Angels on the way to heaven?". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved May 25, 2008.
  23. ddp/The Local (May 25, 2008). "Germany's No Angels tank at Eurovision". The Local. Retrieved May 25, 2008.
  24. "Germans fret no one likes them after Eurovision dud". Reuters. May 25, 2008. Retrieved May 25, 2008.
  25. "Austriancharts.at – No Angels – Disappear" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
  26. "No Angels – Chart Search" Billboard European Hot 100 Singles for No Angels. Retrieved May 26, 2011. (subscription required)
  27. "Offiziellecharts.de – No Angels – Disappear". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  28. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
  29. "Swisscharts.com – No Angels – Disappear". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
  30. "Top 100 Singles-Jahrescharts (2008)". Offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  31. "Rádiós Top 100 - hallgatottsági adatok alapján - 2008". Mahasz. Retrieved April 28, 2020.

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