The Xtra Files: We Review France’s ‘Requiem’ by Alma!

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 France.

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 French entry, ‘Requiem’ by Alma, to be reviewed by Hlynur, Katarina, Nathan, Nick, Rodrigo, and Sophie. Let’s get started!

The Reviews

Hlynur

I find the French song adorable and cute. It’s probably in my top 10 this year. Bit weirded out by the music video though…what is up with that?

Katarina

I am so glad France is back to sending outstanding entries! I’ll be honest, I much preferred the 100% French version of Requiem, but the Eurovision one has also grown on me and is now one of my biggest favourites this year. I believe Alma can deliver live and make the French proud of their entry for the second year in a row.

Nathan

This is a song that I can truly say I love. Take this as a standalone three minute piece and forget the original version that you once heard, it is a dramatic instrumentation – particularly that final 75 seconds – and the lyrics tell a lovely story. The English is used sparingly enough to mean that it has an effect on communicating the message easily to the global audience. That final refrain featuring the “embrassez-moi, tell me that you love me” lines is outstanding

Nick

Oh those raging rants when France revamped Alma’s entry. I loved them, as I feel this has been lifted to another level. That final chorus. Just listen to that and appreciate it. If you can’t appreciate it, I will rest by shaking my head, giving this 10/10 and waving a French flag for the third year running.

Rodrigo

For the second year running, it would seem as though France has recovered a lost Euro-compass. The song is catchy, fresh, young. Alma has an intriguing voice and a refreshing look that’s almost too cute to be true. The rhythm is perfect and the new instrumental post revamp works perfectly. The biggest danger is the live performance, as Alma tends to sound rather flat when performing, but if they manage to sort that out the French are likely to have another good result.

Sophie

The French language suits this song just perfectly. That’s why I’m a little bothered about the English bits thrown in. Also, I find the transition from chorus to verse a little too rough. But anyway, the song is catchy and makes me wanna dance, so I still think that the French have done a good job once again.

Scores

Dimitris	10	Rodrigo	8.5
Hlynur	7	Ryan	9
Katarina	10	Sagheer	10
Luke	9	Simon	3
Matteo	10	Sophie	7
Nathan	9	Wivian	9
Nick	10	Yassia	10

When we remove the top score of 10 and the lowest score of 3, the average score for France is a massive 9.04!
(Removing the top score and the lowest score helps to make the average score more reliable and less affected by outliers.)

Leaderboard

France reaches 1st place in our leaderboard with a score of 9.04.

1. France – 9.04
2. Sweden – 7.77
3. Belarus – 7.75
4. Australia – 7.25
5. Serbia – 7.08
6. Estonia – 7.07
7. Switzerland – 6.96
8. Denmark – 6.83
9. Armenia – 6.80
10. Hungary – 6.79
11. Austria – 6.58
12. Moldova – 6.58
13. Greece – 6.54
14. Norway – 6.33
15. Latvia – 6.25
16. United Kingdom – 6.00
17. The Netherlands – 5.33
18. Albania – 5.21
19. Ukraine – 5.13
20. San Marino – 3.92

Tomorrow, we will review Germany.
Do you agree with our reviews of France? What are your thoughts on Alma’s ‘Requiem’? Let us know in the comments!