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Another week ends (albeit one with a lot of Eurovision news) and that means it’s time jsut before midnight, to bring you another Juke Box Jury.
Two returning judges this week, with Mr Minipop Ben Morris (www.minipopicons.com) and Ross Tillbrook (www.rosstillbrooktourguide.com) passing judgement on this week’s five songs. Will they be given a hit, a miss, or a maybe?
Eurovision Insight Podcast: Juke Box Jury #2
with Ross Tillbrook and Ben MorrisMalta: Tomorrow, by Gianluca.
Slovenia: Straight Into Love, by Hannah Mancini
Belgium: Love Kills, by Roberto Belarosa.
Latvia: Here We Go, by PeR.
Russia: What If…, by Dina Garipova.
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For me personally:
1. Russia
2. Malta
3. Slovenia
4. Belgium
5. Latvia
:DD
Malta: Hit – A simple, unpretentious melody with sweet lyrics in a similar vein to Switzerland 2011. Their success will depend on whether Gianluca can bring charisma to the stage and engage with the cameras like he did with the audience in the Maltese NF. They will most likely qualify to the final this year, and could well do better than Anna Rossinelli did.
Slovenia: Maybe – This could well benefit from the draw, but it won’t on it’s own merit. The song doesn’t build like a good dance song should, the chorus is underwhelming and the mix sounds tinny. This could narrowly qualify but I think that it is too anonymous to succeed.
Belgium: Maybe – I agree that “Reste toi” should have been chosen instead, as it’s clear that Roberto doesn’t have much of a command of the English language, but “Love Kills” is probably catchier and more instant. Taking into account once again the draw, I think that this is another one that could just slip through, but once again, not by merit.
Latvia: Miss – I was a huge fan of “Disco Superfly” in 2012, and “Sad Trumpet” also from 2013, and so I was hugely disappointed to see them finally get to Eurovision with their weakest song to date. “Here We Go” is a pleasantly goofy electro/hip-hop pastiche that should benefit at least from their great stage charisma. However I feel that this will simply get lost amongst the strong competition in semi-final two.
Russia: Hit – Only because it’s Russia. I personally hate this, and find it insincere and tooth-rottingly saccharine. I find the lyrics insulting, especially coming from a country with such a poor human-rights record. Some compare her to Adele, but I think Chiara is a much more apt comparison, and I think that if this were from any other country we would be predicting a total flop. But as it’s Russia, it will probably get top five.
I enjoyed listening to these reviews. I do not agree with most of what was said, because I tend to value songs not the show (thise pyro curtains, wind machines and key changes always work don’t they? LOL). I understand what the reviewers mean though. Russia 13 is just unbearable. Slovenia 13 is simply the best dance 2013 track, imo. Here’s how I rank these songs:
1. Malta
2. Latvia
3. Slovenia
4. Belgium
5. Russia (more of the same)
ESC is an amazing show!
Btw, I’m from Portugal and I am not picturing RTP sending a Portuguese version of ‘What if?’. Key changes do not matter much for them. Things would be different if one of the private channels had a say in the choice; all the MF related aspects would suddenly become the main priority, I think.
Portugal was the first country that jumped to my imnd, if it was scripted I could have thought it through, alas no!
Out of this group, I think my preference is:
1. Malta
2. Slovenia
3. Belgium
4. Russia
5. Latvia
I don’t particularly care for Latvia. Russia is too sickly-sweet and corny for my tastes, but it’s going to do really well.
My ranking :
1. Belgium
2. Latvia
3. Slovenia
4. Russia
5. Malta
None of the 5 songs are good, but Belgium is far better than the other 4.
In terms of hit, miss or maybe (including quali chances) :
Belgium – Maybe (if vocals are good, it has a chance)
Latvia – Miss (Opening the show is a good thing, but it still won’t make it)
Slovenia – Maybe (Only 1 of 2 up-tempo numbers in the first half, has a decent shot at making it)
Russia – Maybe (won’t do anywhere near as good as the juke box jury seem to think. No chance of a top 5 finish).
Malta – Miss (boring, lifeless and without worth. No chance of making it)
Malta: Like it, 21-26 final
Slovenia: Love it, 15-20 final
Belgium: Love the song, but I think he is a very poor performer. I don’t think it will qualify
Latvia: I hate it and I don’t expect it to qualify.
Russia: I hate it, but it will probably do really well, 6-10 final.
1. Malta
2. Belgium
3. Slovenia
4.Russia
5. Latvia
Malta is sweet, very catchy. Its a Hit for me.
Belgium is a very weak maybe. It has generally been ranked low in fan polls. The only reason it is at two for me is because what Ewan said, its inoffensive. There is nothing wrong with this song, and they have made the chorus much better in their remix. Probably won’t make it, but compared to the other three songs in this jury, its good.
Slovenia is a miss for me. I just don’t think they can make it through and this song is, well its dupstep minus minus. There is seriously nothing holding this song together. Though her new video does feature wet half naked men, so it might get a boost if they brought them on stage.
Russia, oh this probably is a hit, but I really don’t like this song. I have mixed feelings about “what if we always just would love each other more?” songs anyway (I feel similarly about Ireland). It works sometimes, like “There must be another way” in 2009, but when its Russia, it sits poorly with me.
Latvia reminds me of Aaron Carter’s “Aaron’s Party (Come Get It)”. This is not a good thing.
Russia – dark horse of the contest – Hit.
Belgium – big miss
Latvia – miss; no idea what the point is
Malta – maybe; maybe too sweet
Slovenia- Maybe; but its all noise