The Xtra Files: We Review The Netherlands’ ‘Lights and Shadows’ by O’G3NE!

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 the Netherlands.

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 Dutch entry, ‘Lights and Shadows’ by O’G3NE, to be reviewed by Dimitris, Luke, Nick, Rodrigo, Sagheer, and Yassia. Let’s get started!

The Reviews

Dimitris

Although the lyrics might be a little cheesy, I love this song. Each one’s voice is great as an individual and they can harmonize almost perfectly.

Luke

The song begins by telling me to “cry no more”. If they really wanted this, then they would end the song right there. Their harmonies are absolutely perfect, although they seem like they’re relying far too much on them, probably in a feeble attempt to make up for the mediocre song. It’s far too cheesy, and the song doesn’t do anything for me.

Nick

You know how a pony only has one trick? Well then, I present you the O’P3NY. Yes, they can sing and they look good. But good grief, they really take too much advantage of those harmonies they have. A true one trick pony. The song is complicated and has no real hook, which also makes it interesting. This is decent enough in my eyes. But to hold a three day songwriting session to end up with a song by your dad is a bit of a farce…

Rodrigo

Lyrics that are a beautiful collection of clichés and common places and voices that, while beautiful, sometimes seem to be singing against each other rather than with each other. This is the poorest Dutch effort for a while now and I expected much more given the last few years when all their entries had been exceptionally good. This really does nothing for me, although I couldn’t quite say it’s a bad song.

Sagheer

I’ve been a fan of O’G3NE ever since they won the Dutch version of ‘The Voice’. They have the most beautiful vocals and their harmonies are second to none. I wanted a song that would showcase their amazing vocals and ‘Lights and Shadows’ certainly delivers. It’s the power ballad of the year and the key change at the end is to die for.

Yassia

I like how the girls sound. I like this harmony. At first, it seems there is nothing special about this song, but you end up liking it, because it’s so sweet and appealing.

Scores

When we remove the top score of 10 and the lowest score of 0, the average score for the Netherlands is 5.33.
(Removing the top score and the lowest score helps to make the average score more reliable and less affected by outliers.)

Leaderboard

The Netherlands reaches 10th place in our leaderboard with a score of 5.33.

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. The Netherlands – 5.33
11. San Marino – 3.92

Tomorrow, we will review Albania.
Do you agree with our reviews of the Netherlands? What are your thoughts on O’G3NE’s ‘Lights and Shadows’? Let us know in the comments!