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Eurovision Insight Podcast: Juke Box Jury #6 Written by on April 22, 2014 | 27 Comments

Ben Morris and David Elder join Ewan Spence once more for Juke Box Jury, as five songs from the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 are ready to be judged as hits, misses, or maybes.

As always, the opinions are varied and clash frequently, so let us know what you think in the comments.

Eurovision Insight Podcast: Juke Box Jury #6
with Ben Morris and David Elder

The Netherlands: Calm Before The Storm, by The Common Linnets.
Albania:
One Night’s Anger, by Hersi.
Israel:
Same Heart, by Mei Feingold.
Moldova:
Wild Soul, by Christina Scarlat.
Romania: 
Miracle, by Paula Seling & Ovi.

Don’t miss an episode of the Eurovision Insight podcast by subscribing to the RSS feed dedicated to the podcasts. iTunes users can find us in the iTunes Store and get the show automatically downloaded to your computer.

About The Author: Ewan Spence

British Academy (BAFTA) nominated broadcaster and writer Ewan Spence is the voice behind The Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast and one of the driving forces behind ESC Insight. Having had an online presence since 1994, he is a noted commentator around the intersection of the media, internet, technology, mobility and how it affects us all. Based in Edinburgh, Scotland, his work has appeared on the BBC, The Stage, STV, and The Times. You can follow Ewan on Twitter (@ewan) and Facebook (facebook.com/ewanspence).

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Have Your Say

27 responses to “Eurovision Insight Podcast: Juke Box Jury #6”

  1. Harriet Krohn says:

    The Netherlands – it’s a personal hit for me, but it took quite a long time before I actually started to notice this song at all. That and the fact that the Netherlands don’t have guaranteed point-givers makes me think they won’t get to perform on the Saturday.

    Albania – I love it! I don’t know the original version (and I don’t care about it either, because this one is what matters), and I have listened to it a lot without tiring of it. But I don’t think it has mass appeal and it won’t get to the final either. Sadly.

    Israel – someone tell me exactly how this is indie rock? All I hear is a dance pop song with an angry woman’s voice. I don’t like it much, because it’s not my kind of music at all – and I really like indie rock. It will easily get to the final though, and it might do quite well there too. But winning … I don’t think so. Or at least I don’t hope so.

    Moldova – hmmm, maybe. I don’t really like it, but I don’t hate it either. I’m totally clueless about how this will do, but I wouldn’t miss it in the final at all. Very uninteresting entry.

    Romania – I totally hate it. It’s cheap, it’s calculated, it’s hectic, it’s just … ugh! But it’s Romania, and it’ll do well because they do well with whatever crap they sent.

  2. Kevin says:

    Unlike what you think Ilse is just as big as (maybe even bigger than) Anouk in the Netherlands. The song isn’t as instant as I’d hoped, but I really love it now and they are brilliant performers so I think we can make it. The De Wereld Draait Door performance was bad, but it isn’t a Jools Holland type program. They shouldn’t have presented it there like that.

  3. Rob says:

    Watch this performance from the common linnets:
    https://youtu.be/MDA8UckKBWM

    And I agree with Kevin, Ilse is in the Netherlands more populair then Anouk is! Ilse is more in the publicity here in the netherlands! Where Ilse is a loverble media person Anouk is mostly a bitch when it comes to media:)

    About the performance on stage…we know they will do anything to make it look very intimate, they have a well thought plan about that. And because they never performed in that setting, I think you would be suprised on the effects from the result off that.

    This year is rather weak…with less fresh original songs, there are songs way overraded this year, even swedens Sanna with Undo is not shouting winner. Danmark send a song that could be a song from Bruno Mars. I think this year will have a few suprises comming up.

  4. matt stevens says:

    I’m sorry but israel has fanwank flop written all over it in capital letters…

  5. matt stevens says:

    i completely agree with elder about miracle being like cascada I’ve been saying that all along

  6. Stephen Colville says:

    Can’t seem to download or stream it. Anyone else having problems or just me?

  7. Harriet Krohn says:

    I had problems last night, had to play it in a new window to hear it. The player on this page gave me ten seconds of sounds and then lots of silence. 😉

  8. Stephen Colville says:

    My problem is that it is downloading at dialup speeds and seems to be not streaming at all. Downloads and streaming work fine on every other site for me. I’ve tried a load of stuff, so It doesn’t seem to be a problem on my end.

    Any suggestions would be appreciated, really want to hear the podcast, especially for Israel review.

  9. hannah says:

    Nope, Stephen, it’s not just you. I can’t get it to work either… downloads at dialup speed and won’t stream. :\

  10. Stephen Colville says:

    Ignore previous comment, already have an answer.

  11. Kate H. says:

    Personally, I think that Israel rocks it, and I think she looks fab and fierce in her video. Yes, she is clearly pulling a Beyonce, but she does it well. I admit, I love the podcast, but I am a bit tired of body criticism, especially someone like Mia Feingold who in no sense of the word is overweight or unhealthy. I wish you would bring in some more of your women writers (Sam, Charlene, Elaine) and I hope to hear a lot more from them in Copenhagen. It has been feeling a bit, well, male gaze heavy as of late.

  12. Ewan Spence says:

    Kate, thanks for the comments. I’m very conscious of the balance (ask the rest of the team) but circumstances so far this year are conspiring. As Elaine will attest her diary made it almost impossible to get in a recording session this year, Sam and Sharleen are six and eleven time zones away, and Karina’s done her knee in and can’t travel. In any case thanks for the critique, and rest assumed Sam will keep the balance in Copenhagen (along with Emma and Wivian). By all means ask the same question of us at the end of the season.

  13. Peter says:

    Netherlands – Miss. I do like the song (despite agreeing with Ewan that it’s not unique or special), but I don’t believe for a second that the voting majority are ready to embrace Country in Eurovision, and this song lacks the spark needed to change people’s mind.

    Albania – Hit. I don’t care what the jury think, I love the song (even with the ESC sanitisation) and think it will do well, even if I have to do an “Azerbaijan” and start buying up foreign sim cards to vote for it.

    Israel – Hit. I think this is one of those songs that, with the right staging, has the potential to be top 5.

    Moldova – Maybe. Again, depends on the staging, as it could look really striking and memorable, or could easily leave people cold.

    Romania – Miss. Awful song, they had much better choices before the producers fixed the result, and I totally agree with Harriet, above. Hopefully Eurovision fans will also agree and give them the bad result they deserve.

  14. Hey, Kate!

    Like Ewan was saying, because of the geographical spread of our crew when we’re not all gathered in the press room or a preview event, it’s often tough to get the standard cast of female characters on the podcasts. (The JBJ last year with Emma and me was one of the rare occasions that we were together and had access to a professional-level mic, so we were able to make that work.) But I promise, you’ll be hearing plenty of me (and Viv, and Emma, etc.) once we’ve settled in Denmark.

    (And I’ve been holding my tongue on the JBJ comments so I’ve got ammo for the podcasts in Copenhagen, but I’ll leave you with the review my friends (mixed male/female, gay/straight, ESC fan/rookie, Macalester/non-Mac 😉 )gave of Mei during my preview party: “she’s Beyoncé Benatar”. No comments on body type, just her pure badass attitude and vocals.)

  15. Kate H. says:

    Thanks Ewan and Sam! I know you guys all work hard, and, yeah, the time zone thing is very hard. Thanks for being so receptive to criticism, and keep up the awesome work. Looking forward to hearing from you all in Copenhagen. And deep apologies for spelling Sharleen’s name wrong, oops! Also, Beyonce Benatar is a perfect name for Mia!

    In other thoughts, Romania is indeed a hot mess, Moldova’s singer said they would not have samurai at the main performance which makes me sad, and I of course love Albania this year, but they are actually one of my favorite countries in the contest every year. In terms of the Netherlands, I am afraid I cannot judge that one, as I just seriously dislike the genre. As a huge metal fan, liking country just seems anathema to me 🙂

  16. matt stevens says:

    please stop with all this support for this nothing special israeli entry, your just going to make it hurt more for yourselfs when it fails to qualify. its exactly like crisaled from valentina last year, all this hype and then dosent even qualify…

  17. Peter says:

    @matt: To me, they’re completely different cases.
    Chrisalide was a poor song that sounded like it was only written just to keep the OGAE fans entertained in the EuroClub – it never stood a chance of qualifying in the real world .

    Same Heart, on the other hand, is a well-written dance track from a strong performer which I can easily imagine doing well in the charts. Obviously not everyone likes it, which is perfectly normal, but to me it deserves any positive hype it gets.

  18. PurpleK says:

    Haha, are you still butthurt about Denmark winning last year? They were top, again TOP of both jury and televote ranking, so your “winning by being average” theory is one big fail.

    Anyway…

    Netherlands: How can you say that they failed to build on their work with Anouk last year, when Ilse is a very successful singer in the Netherlands in her own right? In regards to the song, I think it’s very lovely, but I fear that it’ll be underrated in the result 🙁

    Albania: Nice song but I realise that it’ll go nowhere

    Israel: I’m an Indie Kid myself, and this is not indie rock! It’s a dancepop song with some guitars in it. I like it and Mei seems a fab performer, but I fear it’ll be another fanwank flop.

    Moldova: Concept is interesting, but the execution leaves me cold, I wish I could like it more than I actually do…

    Romania: Just like you said, for any current/former ESC entrant that could be reading this – NEVER GO BACK TO EUROVISION.

  19. Martin Phillips says:

    I posted Hearts Collide on my Facebook page a few days ago because it is so fabulous. Ben – you are right, “It’s a Miracle” is a complete shambles and so very annoying, and all the more so because the contest in Bucharest stitched it up for Paula and Ovi, when Hearts Collide could have gone all they way to win the final in Copenhagen.

  20. matt stevens says:

    peter, non of you said that be4 she failed to qualify, its easy saying, and when same heart dosent qualify you will be the same again. i have noticed that israel have pretty much no haters, which is a concern because only really good songs (armenia,sweden) have haters, where as i haven’t seen one negative comment towards israel, that is a concern,

  21. Ewan Spence says:

    Peter, Matt, cool heads please… discussion is fine, but let’s not overstep any boundaries in the Insight house please.

  22. Ewan Spence says:

    Kylie, I am yes. The point of average is not in the final score, but how the scores happen. With the jury fully ranking all songs, a negative vote / down vote is possible. I do not think Lordi would win under the current scoring system as many jurors would vote it bottom of (say) 26 songs scoring it an effective -16 (if you assume 1st is ten points, then nine, eight, seven, etc)… In previous years ‘not middle of the road’ songs with champions would still score well. The current system rewards songs that do not upset anyone, as opposed to creating strong emotion in a few.
    So the *average* song does better than a strong yet divisive song. It’s my opinion, but I prefer the latter in my music, media, entertainment, and life.

  23. matt stevens says:

    and also i feel that israel is overrated mainly because everyone feels sorry that they haven’t qualified in 3 odd years, and remember israel in 2010 was a fanwank swell *Second in the OGAE* and that wouldn’t have qualified on the tele vote, plus i don’t see this israeli entry getting the same love from the jurys that milim got, plus the running order dosent help it

  24. Sharleen says:

    Unfortunately I cant be at Eurovision this year due to other commitments, but rest assured that Ewan will grab a load of girls (and Terry will too!) for podcasts and the like in Copenhagen to keep some balance.
    I also agree with Ewans statement about Denmark being an average song.
    It didnt deliver hit any of the charts in Europe beyond Denmark and Sweden a week after the contest finished, and ask anyone who isnt a mad fan to name last years winner and they would be scratching their head for a song name or artist. Likewise, Azerbaijans win in 2011.
    I am seeing the potential for another winner like it this year.
    Televote and juries might both agree on a winning song, but that doesnt make it a standout winner.

    Last little piece… if anyone is awaiting some possible negative viewpoints on Israel, not too long to wait – guidebook should be up online soon enough.

  25. Shai says:

    The Netherlands – It’s good but not for Eurovision.Somewhere between MAYBE and a MISS

    Albania-Not sure what it want to be – MISS

    Moldova- Messy very messy-MISS

    Romania – Dreadful and boring – MISS

    Israel – Its popularity in polls is beginning to concern me.I like song and think it’s quite a strong song. I will be happy if it qualify.-HIT
    About her performance she will sing alone and will be accompanied with 2 female dancers.That’s it. If I understand correctly, the video is an inspiration source but the not how it will look on stage.

  26. The Netherlands – MISS. It is a very nice C&W song but it has absolutely no impact for a one-off listen and so it will be quickly forgotten by all televoters. Its only hope is if it is top with the juries – if it is, it MIGHT reach the Final. If they do get there, they will be near the bottom of the scoreboard.

    Albania – MISS. When I saw the NF, I loved this – Hersi has an amazing voice and it sounded brilliant in its native tongue. In English this is now awful. Hersi struggles to fit all the words in and sounding like Shakira makes everything difficult to listen to. This has NO chance of reaching the Final…

    Israel – MAYBE. For me, ‘Be Proud’ was a far better Eurovision choice and would have fitted Mei’s ‘aggressive rock chick’ far better. She sings this okay live but I could see this being the surprise non-qualifier of 2014. It should get to the Final but her live performance in front of the public is key.

    Moldova – MISS. If this was a song for the latest Disney movie where they needed a moody atmospheric track, this would work well. In Eurovision terms, this sounds odd and I don’t think that juries or public will like the song at all. It might be remembered for the staging but is that enough to get it through? I don’t think so…

    Romania – HIT. Not sure it deserves the mantle of one of the favourites this year but it is well sung and there is good chemistry between Ovi and Paula. It will easily get to the Final and I think it will be a Top 10.

    Oh, and didn’t Johnny Logan buck the trend of not going back – he won twice, didn’t he? Or did he have to ascend to the heavens when winning in 1987? lol

  27. Ewan Spence says:

    Martin, have you forgotten Terminal 3? or How Does It Feel?

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