The Xtra Files 2018: We Review Armenia’s ‘Qami’ by Sevak Khanagyan!

Welcome to The Xtra Files, our 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 Armenia.

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 on 30 April! We will also each give a score out of 10 for every entry, and create an ESCXTRA leaderboard of the entries!
Today we have reviews of the Armenian entry, ‘Qami’ by Sevak Khanagyan, from Lisa, Luke, Riccardo, Tim, Wiv and Yassia. Let’s get started!

The Reviews

Lisa

RIP ‘You & I’ and ‘Puerto Rico’. *Sigh* One of a few countries this year that went out of their way to rage against fast food music and send a traditional, native language ballad. If you like a ‘Game of Thrones’ extra grizzling Qami on a loop for 3 minutes, then this is the dirge, I mean, song for you. The revamp adds a guitar solo to the final minute, but I’ve already lost interest long before then. For me I need all singing, all dancing, ethnic bangers from Armenia.

Luke

Perhaps a more suitable name for this song would be “Light Breeze That You Barely Feel”. Unless he’s singing about having trapped wind…in which case the song still doesn’t even do that feeling justice. Bye bye Armenia, this sucks. It just ended and already I can’t remember how it goes, I’m just thinking about Kamil Show instead – not a good sign.

Riccardo

In recent years Armenia has gained the crown of being my favorite Eurovision country. Trend continues this year? Nope! It takes too long for the song to get somewhere and the last minute feels like a desperate attempt to cover the mediocre first 2 minutes. I still think it will qualify and it may grow on me as Armenia usually does.

Tim

As for this one, I liked the simplicity in the first half of the song, but I think they left it a tad too late to captivate everyone when the beat dropped near to the end. It’s been done before, and it ended up as a DNQ. The song itself aint bad, he can sing very well. I’m awaiting to be impressed on stage.

Wiv

I really liked this when I first heard it, but the next time I found it kinda meh. His voice is beautiful, and I love that it’s Armenian, both language and style. I should love this, but I don’t. And I can’t explain why. It’s nice and all that, but there is something lacking. And I can’t explain what.

Yassia

Ehhh…how deep! What a pity I don’t get this song…not because of the language obviously, but just because I’m totally indifferent to it. I tried to listen to it several times, but it didn’t help. Still don’t get it. Qamiiiiii, sorry, you are not my cup of tea.

Scores

 
Therefore, the average score for Armenia is 4.29.

Leaderboard

Armenia reaches 12th place with a score of 4.29.

1. Finland – 7.66
2. Bulgaria – 7.63
3. Germany – 6.95
4. Ukraine – 6.92
   
5. Australia – 6.76
6. Lithuania – 6.50
7. Latvia – 5.61
8. Albania – 5.50
9. Belarus – 4.97
10. Moldova – 4.92
11. Montenegro – 4.71
12. Armenia – 4.29
13. Georgia – 4.18
14. Iceland – 4.18
15. San Marino – 4.03

Tomorrow, it will be the turn of France to be reviewed.
Do you agree with our reviews of Armenia? What are your thoughts on Qami?

Let us know in the comments below and on social media @ESCXTRA!