The Xtra Files: We Review Switzerland’s ‘Apollo’ by Timebelle!

Welcome to The Xtra Files, our new series which will give you an insight into what the team at escXtra think of your favourite entries into this year’s contest! Today, we review Switzerland.

Now that all the songs have been released, we are able to review each and every one of them. Our honest and brutal reviews will keep you entertained until the rehearsals start in May! We will also each give a score out of 10 for every entry, and create an escXtra leaderboard of the entries! You can see our preview reviews here.
Today, it is the turn of the Swiss entry, ‘Apollo’ by Timebelle, to be reviewed by Hlynur, Luke, Nathan, Nick, Simon, and Sophie. Let’s get started!

The Reviews

Hlynur

I think this one will do well and has a good chance of going to the final. But I feel something off with the song, maybe it’s the word “Apollo” which I strongly connect to a spaceship. But after looking it up I can understand the lyrics better when it means the Greek/Roman god Apollo.

Luke

My favourite ballad out of this year/an absolute sea of ballads. Miruna sings the song beautifully and with such power, so the song hits very hard. The revamped version has an unbelievably good build up to the last chorus, and I can see this being Switzerland’s best entry for a long time. At long last, well done, Switzerland!

Nathan

‘Apollo’ sounds much better following the revamp but there’s still absolutely no production on the chorus. Whilst the verse is enjoyable, the song is left lacking without any memorable instrumentation on the hook.

Nick

This is how you revamp a song. What happened to chanceless Switzerland? Two very deserved last places in a row made them select this. Guess you really need a slap in the face to realise what you need to do. Fantastic, best Swiss entry since 2005. Apollo is the Greek god of most oracle. And this oracle now says Switzerland will do pretty well for their standards, I hope.

Simon

A predictable snoozefest which should be given a start number suitable for a toilet break. Not unpleasant, but very bland.

Sophie

I have to admit that the more I listen to ”Apollo”, the more I’m getting into it, even though I don’t really want to. It’s actually pretty bland and there is the fake finger flicking again, which everybody wants to torture me with this year, it seems.

Scores

When we remove the top score of 10 and the lowest score of 1, the average score for Switzerland is 6.96.
(Removing the top score and the lowest score helps to make the average score more reliable and less affected by outliers.)

Leaderboard

Switzerland reaches 3rd place in our leaderboard with a score of 6.96.

1. Australia – 7.25
2. Serbia – 7.08
3. Switzerland – 6.96
4. Denmark – 6.83
5. Hungary – 6.79
6. Moldova – 6.58
7. Norway – 6.33
8. Latvia – 6.25
9. United Kingdom – 6.00
10. San Marino – 3.92

Tomorrow, we will review the Netherlands.
Do you agree with our reviews of Switzerland? What are your thoughts on ‘Apollo’? Let us know in the comments!