In its quest to bring you international opinion on every ESC 2012 contestant, the Wiwi Jury grabbed its earplugs and sat down to review Slovenia’s Eva Boto this morning. Did we leave humming “Verjamem”? Or did we leave in search of painkillers? Read on to find out…

Wiwi: The first time I saw the word “verjamem” I thought that was Slovene for “vermin.” And then I watched the video and thought the crazy lady with the white headpiece was a rat catcher. But after consulting the lyrics on Wiwi’s contestants page, I realize that “verjamem” means “I believe.” Judging from said crazy lady, Eva believes that it’s OK to let a back-up singer steal the spotlight. Although Eva has a fantastic voice, the only thing I remember is the moaning back-up vocalist who eventually joins a chorus line of four howling bridesmaids. Remember what happened to Slovakia’s Kristina—the sexy wood nymph with her own operatic sidekick—back in 2009? That’s right. She crashed out in the semis. I’m afraid the same might happen here.

Score: 3/10

Vebooboo:  The song isn’t anything to write home about, but we have yet another powerful singer in this year’s competition.  Just wish we could fast forward to 2:00, when the song gets really good. Until that point it just sort of hums along. The entry’s stylist must have been a guest at Prince William and Kate’s wedding last year, because they sure put some crazy hats on those back-up singers. Are they wearing shower accessories?

Score: 5/10

Meows: This performance confuses me as I felt like I was watching some avant garde bridal runway show. Maybe the song was about runaway brides? The woman with the big white net on her head was way too distracting, and then there were four of them by the end of the song when one was clearly enough! The song itself was poorly arranged, slow and dull for the first minute and only really picked up pace in the last 30 seconds with some powerful vocals and emotional hand thrusting gestures from Eva Boto. Too little, too late.

Score: 4/10

Deban: On hearing  “Verjamem,” my prayer was that it shouldn’t air just ahead of the Icelandic entry, or directly after it. It could end up morphing into one long song. Sounding like a Slovenian operatic mix of one of Enya’s classics, this song manages to set a familiar tone. I was humming along to it even though I’d never heard the song before. Is that a good thing? Only votes can tell.

Nonetheless, I like this song. It’s a soaring ballad that builds up to a good finish. The vocals and the instrumentation are powerful, but not overdone. Eva Boto brings youthful grace to her movements on stage. Sadly, this poise is somewhat dampened by her backing choir. They look like stranded lunching ladies who somehow found themselves on a music platform. Why those silly hats?? Totally inappropriate! Were they thinking they’d been booked as the interval act for the Royal Ascot?

It is my hope that Slovenia tidies up the production elements. The country’s best position thus far is 7th place with “Energy” by Nusa Derenda in 2001. “Verjamem” is a much stronger song individually and comparatively. Re-working the stage presentation would help in securing a well-deserved higher placement.

Score: 7/10

The Wiwi Jury Verdict: 4.75/10

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Photo courtesy of Eurovision.TV

21 Comments
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Christian
11 years ago

I am going to tell you another secret. Deban will one this one.Just wait and see.When I heard it on cd it was a fave of mine.Wow

Anthony
Anthony
11 years ago

Since I support my beloved Slovenia, I think the lot of you (except Deban) are being a tad harsh on our Eva Boto. She was virtually unknown before she entered the Misija Evrovizija show, made it all the way to Misija EMA 2012 and pipped the Prusnik twins to take the honour of representing Slovenia. What’s even more impressive, she’s only 16 years old, yes 16! I’d rather see Eva Boto’s “Verjamem” representing Slovenia (Sorry Lidija!) than the Prusnik twins’ “Konichiwa”. Had the Prusniks won, we’d absolutely get trounced by Ireland’s Jedward! Richard, Eva Boto may not have the powerful… Read more »

Leelaj
Leelaj
11 years ago

VerjameN? Seriously?

OMG, check the info. before publishing something. It’s VerjameM.

francisco
francisco
11 years ago

The vocal accompaniment is really good, when she does that “ah-ah-ah” bit, she sounds as if she was singing Rachmaninov’s “Vocalise”. The rest of the song is the common, run-of the mill variety one has come to expect, nothing memorable, but not unpleasant

Zolan
Zolan
11 years ago

People who are predisposed to like this kind of song probably hear it as they imagine it should be at its best. I am not generallly a fan unless some extra detail persuades me, and this doesn’t. I’ve probably listened to this more than any other entry trying to figure out whether I’m missing something, and all I’ve discovered is that it seems like it should be more effective that it is. After several unsuccessful attempts to diagnose the problem, the closest I’ve come is the possibility that Eva’s voice just isn’t as clear or strong as it needs to… Read more »

Nathan
Nathan
11 years ago

Ugh, yet another ballad!?

@ Christian: definitely a catwalk would be entertaining!

Frank Joan
Frank Joan
12 years ago

The song i find boring and the costume horrible, no in my top 10 sure

Deban
Deban
12 years ago

@ The Adorable Richard; 7 songs later, the Slovenian tune still haunts me. It’s far from being forgettable.

Richard
12 years ago

It’s all very nice but totally forgettable. Put another song after you’ve listened to this and then see if you can remember it 3 minutes later.

Most of these Balkan ballads all start to sound the same after a while. May well get into the final but won’t be challenging for the left side of the leaderboard

4/10

Neil
Neil
12 years ago

Putting visuals aside, the vocals are good especially as it builds up to the end.

chae
chae
12 years ago

I really agree about the backing vocalists stealing the spotlight. One thing, too: the ah-ah-ah thing is what I remember most from the song and it’s a bad sign for me.

Christian
12 years ago

I am going to tell you a secret! If she does a powerful triumph of a catwalk out in the audience she will do very well with this song. I know from experience that it will grab some of the attenders. No one mentioned no one forgotten

Nirgal
Nirgal
12 years ago

I prefered “A si sanjal me”, it was really more powerful, but if you consider the alternative was the McDonalds Twins with “Konichiwa”, I’m pretty glad with this entry.

But still, it’s a ballad in a contest with too many ballads, and it lacks the “it” factor that could lead it to a win (even thought everybody would have said the same exact thing about Molitva).

MrHäggkvist
MrHäggkvist
12 years ago

Verjamem is a great song and i don’t understand why you always give this bad oppinion about songs that really are good, this is not about the backing singers or the dress, is about the song and how Eva perform, i just think it’s so unfair all you say about this…

Lidija
Lidija
12 years ago

Why are all so much talkin about their clothes. This fail style was just for the Misija Evrovizija show, we’re not so stupid to send her like that on Eurosong.
I’m dissapointed that you didn’t wrote anything about our entry when we pick her..you wrote abour everyone else the second they were chosen.
Plus you all wrote so much about the dresses in this post that I don’t know if you like the song or not… I don’t 🙂