The Xtra Files: We Review Greece’s ‘This Is Love’ by Demy!

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 Greece.

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 Greek entry, ‘This Is Love’ by Demy, to be reviewed by Dimitris, Luke, Nick, Ryan, Sagheer, and Sophie. Let’s get started!

The Reviews

Dimitris

When Demy was announced as the selected artist I was beyond excited. But when the songs were revealed I was kind of let down, as I was expecting something similar to Demy’s previous work. But I’m more than satisfied with “This Is Love”; I love its beat, and the way it builds up to the chorus.

Luke

After all the hype for the Greek entry…this is what we ended up with? I’m at least glad that they’ve changed the lyrics (Yes, well done, Demy, rain does indeed fall from above pats head), even if they still aren’t great. Despite this the song has a fantastic beat, and I particularly like the tension that builds after the first chorus. This’ll probably do well for Greece.

Nick

I am in two minds about this. The song isn’t half bad, Demy is really good. But this is far from what Demy can and should do. Greece do however win the award for worst lyrics of the year. ‘This is love, reaching out for the stars’ is only marginally better than ‘This is love, rain falls from above’. Zero thought into those lyrics. Ugh.

Ryan

While this isn’t the most expensive sounding song I’ve ever heard, I can’t resist a dance song with a Cascada-esque instrumental drop. While the mini-revamp gave this a bit of an extra boost it needed, it could still do with something a little bit more. However I expect Demy will sell this song amazingly in Kyiv.

Sagheer

An entry that starts of slow, making you think that it’s going to be another ballad and then surprises you with the biggest, catchiest pop song of Eurovision 2017. The chorus is one of the catchiest of the year and I have no doubt that the dream team of Dimitris and Fokas will put on an unforgettable stage show that will definitely bring Greece back to the Finals and in with a strong shot of making the Top 10.

Sophie

I’m really not a fan of songs starting as a ballad and then suddenly turning into some mashed electro pop. The uninspired lyrics and the bland music are making it even worse.

Scores

When we remove the top score of 10 and the lowest score of 2, the average score for Greece is 6.54.
(Removing the top score and the lowest score helps to make the average score more reliable and less affected by outliers.)

Leaderboard

Greece reaches 12th place in our leaderboard with a score of 6.54.

1. Sweden – 7.77
2. Belarus – 7.75
3. Australia – 7.25
4. Serbia – 7.08
5. Estonia – 7.07
6. Switzerland – 6.96
7. Denmark – 6.83
8. Armenia – 6.80
9. Hungary – 6.79
10. Austria – 6.58
11. Moldova – 6.58
12. Greece – 6.54
13. Norway – 6.33
14. Latvia – 6.25
15. United Kingdom – 6.00
16. The Netherlands – 5.33
17. Albania – 5.21
18. Ukraine – 5.13
19. San Marino – 3.92

Tomorrow, we will review France.
Do you agree with our reviews of Greece? What are your thoughts on Demy’s ‘This Is Love’? Let us know in the comments!