Time for the second part of the review series we started yesterday. As you know, nine of our editors have taken a look at all entries. Tonight we present you part twoof these series: We’ll have a look at The Netherlands and Sweden tonight!
The Netherlands: Julia – Around
Simon Wells:
A typical Euro-pop offering from Julia, complete with ‘eh-eh-eh-eh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh’ syncopations that have been compulsory for a couple of years too many now. It’s a lively song and she can evidently sing, but it doesn’t progress or evolve through the song, so the Netherlands will have to rely on some cunning stage presentation to lift the song out of the doldrums.
Rating: 4/10
Nick van Lith:
With these verses, you suddenly realise why it’s a good idea to sing the chorus in English. Somehow Dutch sounds harsh (and yes, that’s coming from a Dutchman). Not surprisingly, the chorus works better, it gets stuck in your head, even if you don’t like the song. The formula simply works: get a talented girl, get a few boys to dance around her, make sure Europe understands what you’re singing about and just go for it. It’s a good uptempo attempt, but these verses have let me down a bit. It sort of lets my attention fade away. Nevertheless, another OK attempt at Junior Eurovision from my own country.
Rating: 7.5/10
Peter Dunwoody:
And people slammed ‘Glorious’ for being a ‘Euphoria’ rip-off?! This is basically the same song except without any of the drama, the light and shade, or indeed the catchiness, and years too late. It does have one hook, but it’s repeated to the point of tedium by the two-minute mark. Thankfully, Julia is a fairly accomplished performer, so she’ll hopefully help The Netherlands stop short of complete humiliation, but despite the repetition this is likely to be forgotten by most minutes after being performed.
Rating: 5/10
Sweden: Julia Kedhammar – Du Är Inte Ensam
Alekas Supranavičius:
This is somehow funny and I am not sure in which way. The track seems to be well-produced, but it is trying so hard to be a hit-song. Could probably fare better with a stronger vocal from Julia. Ms. Kedhammar is absolutely adorable though!
Rating: 7/10
Nathan Waddell:
This doesn’t work. It’s trying to be a grown up modern pop song, but it just doesn’t translate into that with the staging (at the presentation of the entry) and quite simply the lyrics don’t fit the music, in my opinion. There’s no denying this is carried by a very competent singer waving the flag of a pop rich nation, this one just misses the mark however.
Rating: 5/10
Rinor Nuhiu:
A decent pop and well-mastered song from Sweden this year. I think Julia is a great performer with a potent voice. However, I think the chorus should have been a little bit more energetic, because there isn’t really a breakthrough moment throughout the song.
Rating: 8/10
That means we gave Sweden a rating of 6.7/10, whereas The Netherlands score 5.5/10. Stay tuned tomorrow, when we review Belarus and Ukraine!
