The Xtra Files: We Review Azerbaijan’s ‘Skeletons’ by Dihaj!

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 Azerbaijan.

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 Azeri entry, ‘Skeletons’ by Dihaj, to be reviewed by Dimitris, Matteo, Nathan, Nick, Ryan, and Wivian. Let’s get started!

The Reviews

Dimitris

Azerbaijan sends something different this year and it’s amazing; it’s not a pop anthem or a cheesy ballad. Skeletons is something we haven’t really heard in the contest before, it’s something authentic from Azerbaijan despite being written by Swedes again. I have high expectations from Diana’s live performance.

Matteo

It still sounds extremely Swedish and safe. They had an interesting alternative singer and gave her a quite bland song, with a nice sound just to make it feel different from last year’s.

Nathan

Well, this is quite something. I don’t understand many of the words but I love the sound of the track and the feel of the rhythm. It sticks with me, it’s memorable and it’s also just got the most intriguing title. All of these add up to create something that should stick with the voting public at home.

Nick

I guess Sia had a song to spare? Look, this entry is cool, Dihaj is a change from Azerbaijan’s normal course, but they’ve somehow made it a same old same old entry. It’s once again written by Swedes, but it is a step up from the last few Azeri entries. A good effort, we’re almost there Azerbaijan!

Ryan

Many people have criticised Azerbaijan for importing Swedish songs for several years now, something I have no personal problem with. Nevertheless, Skeletons is one of their most authentic sounding entries where Dihaj is able to stick to her own style of music. The mix of 80s synths and a Sia-esque chorus is a great mix and I hope staging will allow the song to reach its full potential.

Wivian

I lovelovelove Skeletons! After last year’s entry, I wasn’t too optimistic, but Azerbaijan really delivers! To me, this song has just about everything; a cool beat, great instrumentation, a quirky voice and a great performer. The lyrics do leave quite a bit to be desired, but that’s not enough to remove it from the top of my list. I can’t wait to see the performance, and I hope Dihaj can deliver live. (I wish I could take all the points I’ve deducted from the other entries and give them to Skeletons… “afewhundredandsixtypoints” seems about right for this masterpiece)

Scores

When we remove the top score of 10 and the lowest score of 5, the average score for Azerbaijan is 8.00.
(Removing the top score and the lowest score helps to make the average score more reliable and less affected by outliers.)

Leaderboard

Azerbaijan reaches 2nd place in our leaderboard with a score of 8.00.

1. France – 9.04
2. Azerbaijan – 8.00
3. Sweden – 7.77
4. Belarus – 7.75
5. Iceland – 7.46
6. Australia – 7.25
7. Israel – 7.21
8. Serbia – 7.08
9. Estonia – 7.07
10. Switzerland – 6.96
11. Denmark – 6.83
12. Armenia – 6.80
13. Portugal – 6.79
14. Hungary – 6.79
15. Germany – 6.59
16. Austria – 6.58
17. Moldova – 6.58
18. Greece – 6.54
19. Norway – 6.33
20. Latvia – 6.25
21. Czech Republic – 6.25
22. United Kingdom – 6.00
23. Ireland – 5.54
24. The Netherlands – 5.33
25. Albania – 5.21
26. Ukraine – 5.13
27. Malta – 4.25
28. San Marino – 3.92
29. Georgia – 3.91
30. Montenegro – 3.33
31. Croatia – 2.71
32. Slovenia – 2.13

Tomorrow, we will review Italy.
Do you agree with our reviews of the Azerbaijan? What are your thoughts on Dihaj’s ‘Skeletons’? Let us know in the comments!