Time for the sixth 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 six of these series: We’ll have a look at Georgia and Cyprus!
Georgia: Lizi Pop – Happy Day
Alekas Supranavičius:
Georgia could probably be called a JESC powerhouse. This one is very anthemic and atmospheric. If she can pull of the cute card on the night, this could be another great result for Georgia. This song is quite challenging vocally too, I am hoping for a solid performance on the night as normally from Georgia.
Rating: 6/10
Rinor Nuhiu:
A beautiful song from Georgia this year. Lizi delivers a warm performance with a great message. The verses work nice and the chorus is very memorable, “It’s okay, happy day”. The choir element seems to work as well, making the song powerful. Even though I can’t predict a position for Georgia, I can see this doing very well.
Rating: 8/10
Nathan Waddell:
Well this is the single most classy entry the nation has sent since their brilliant début of “Odelia, Ranuni”. I’m interested to see how this scores on the night compared to the fairly non-sensical entries sent in recent years!
Rating: 7/10
Cyprus: Sophia Patsalides – I Pio Omorfi Mera
Dimitris Ioannou:
Although the song has lyrics of a typical pop song, it’s the type of pop song which I usually like and I loved it since the first listen. However, I think that the last part which is sung in English was unnecessary. Cyprus is my winner this year and not because it is my country, but because Sophia, who is just 14, is such a talented and beautiful girl. I hope she does well in the contest and bring a victory for the island.
Rating: 10/10
Simon Wells:
See: Netherlands. Although this time with ‘oh-eeh-oh’ and a slightly more mature sound both in production terms and Sophia’s vocal (in the studio version at least). Sophia’s songwriters have tackled the repetition conundrum with Eurovision-by-numbers chromatic key change, but it is actually rather well executed and gives the desired effect. This song will do pretty well by Cypriot standards.
Rating: 5/10
Nick van Lith:
We start off with a bit of Mea Culpa (Catarina Pereira) in the intro. The intro really works to get this song going. This and The Netherlands will probably fight for the same votes: the songs are rather comparable and my personal opinion is that Cyprus would just have that slight advantage. I really like a lot about the song. The big question for me is a live vocal. Can you expect a 15 year old to nail this song (especially the long note near the end) under pressure in a live show? I hope for Sophia and I’m sure there’s enough reason to trust her, but that note can make or break her result. Uptempo, dance, a nice sounding language (yeah, I’m a fan of the Greek language) – this can go anywhere on the scoreboard. Fans will probably love it, but will the children of Europe?
Rating: 9/10
Danny N:
Having not heard any of the songs until now, this was one that I continuously heard good reviews about. Listening to it for the first time now, I can already see why it has gained such popularity. Production wise, this is top notch and like Serbia, is something you could expect to hear in the adult contest. It doesnt waste any of its 3 minutes, kicking in almost instantly with the verse and into a big chorus. Like Russia, the final section of the song is sung in english which should just make this song even more memorable with the audiences.
Rating: 7/10
Stay tuned tomorrow when we review Croatia and Montenegro!
