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 Georgia.
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 Georgian entry, ‘Keep The Faith’ by Tamara Gachechiladze, to be reviewed by Dimitris, Nathan, Nick, Rodrigo, Sagheer, and Sophie. Let’s get started!
The Reviews
Dimitris
Keep The Faith is a really powerful ballad with a message. But it’s just that, nothing else. I really like the song but I can’t say it’s one of my favorites. I have to admit though, Georgia seem to have put a lot of effort this year and their national selection was surprisingly not bad at all.
Nathan
A nation that goes from the sublime to the ridiculous, it seems. Georgia pushed the boundaries last year with some 90s britpop. This year, the only boundaries being pushed are those being provided by the video screens in the background. The song is almost as middle of the road as they come.
Nick
Vocals – check. Diva – check. Ballad – check. It has all the ingredients it needs to make me enjoy it, but it fails miserably. ‘Hold my hand and come along’ – No, Tamara, I won’t. This song unnecessarily provokes other nations in the contest and tries to tear open some wounds. Just don’t.
Rodrigo
James Bond meets Amnesty International. And if they were ballsy enough to keep the backdrop they used in their national final I would fully support this, but I see it as more unlikely than Alexander Rybak ever singing a full song in tune. The song itself is not very innovative but yet I find some sort of magnetism to it. And my oh my, Tamara can sing. Don’t think Georgia will be doing much danger to the scoreboard in the final, but also not a bad effort.
Sagheer
A fabulous song that oozes drama and could easily be played in a James Bond film. Tamara’s live performance can not be faulted and she truly brings the drama
Sophie
Yet another power ballad. It feels a little like this is trying to be ”Rise Like A Phoenix”, but trying too hard and failing miserably. Way too dramatic and repetitive for my taste.
Scores
| Dimitris | 7.5 | Rodrigo | 6.5 |
| Hlynur | 3 | Ryan | 6.5 |
| Katarina | 1 | Sagheer | 8 |
| Luke | 1.5 | Simon | 1 |
| Matteo | 4 | Sophie | 3 |
| Nathan | 4 | Wivian | 1 |
| Nick | 3 | Yassia | 6 |
When we remove the top score of 8 and the lowest score of 1, the average score for Georgia is 3.91.
(Removing the top score and the lowest score helps to make the average score more reliable and less affected by outliers.)
Leaderboard
Georgia reaches 24th place in our leaderboard with a score of 3.91.
- France – 9.04
- Sweden – 7.77
- Belarus – 7.75
- Australia – 7.25
- Israel – 7.21
- Serbia – 7.08
- Estonia – 7.07
- Switzerland – 6.96
- Denmark – 6.83
- Armenia – 6.80
- Portugal – 6.79
- Hungary – 6.79
- Germany – 6.59
- Austria – 6.58
- Moldova – 6.58
- Greece – 6.54
- Norway – 6.33
- Latvia – 6.25
- United Kingdom – 6.00
- The Netherlands – 5.33
- Albania – 5.21
- Ukraine – 5.13
- San Marino – 3.92
- Georgia – 3.91
Tomorrow, we will review Slovenia.
Do you agree with our reviews of Georgia? What are your thoughts on Tamara Gachechiladze’s ‘Keep The Faith’? Let us know in the comments!
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