Over the past two weeks the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of musical unprofessionals — has been reviewing each of the five national finalists in Georgia. We may not have a Georgian passport, but we certainly had strong opinions. Our 11 jurors hail from Australia, Austria, Finland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S., so we’re totally international. Below you can see the average score that each act received out of 10. If you click on their name you can read an interview or watch a video message. If you click on their song you can read our reviews in full. Do you agree with our result? Or are you hoping that someone other than Nina Sublatti wins?
You can watch the Georgian final live on eurovison.tv from 14:00 CET on Wednesday, 14 January.
1. Nina Sublatti with “Warrior” (7.77)
The Positive: “If I ran into this Gothic diva in a dark alley, I’d give her all my money as long as she promised to sing to me. She’s got soulful vocals that work well with this song about female empowerment. Part Janis Joplin and part Elvira, she had me hooked within minutes. At the moment the bridge is pure filler — she sounds like a cat giving birth — but with some clever editing this could do very well at ESC.”
The Negative: “She needs to hire a new hairdresser, a new designer and probably a new make-up artist, but other than that, this is the best choice for Georgia.”
2. Eteri Beriashvili with “If Someone” (7.09)
The Positive: “This song is cheesy and overwrought, but there’s something strangely appealing about it. It has such a comforting, old fashioned sound, like a classic Eurovision style. It’s pleasing to know that somewhere there’ll be a lady warbling about helping the children. And how many pop songs have the lyrics “please manifest yourself”? Bonus points for Eteri’s Liza Minelli look.”
The Negative: “Looks like we have the Georgian Severus Snape, just get that wig off and we got it! Eteri is a good singer, but the song is generic and shouty….Unfortunately, after listening the song, I honestly can’t remember anything.”
3. Edvard Meison with “We Are Freeeee” (5.64)
The Positive: “I don’t know what’s the meaning behind those 5 E’s in the song title, but ignoring that – I really like this song! It makes me dance, it makes me feel good and I would really like to see this in Vienna. I also like the small break between the verses and the chorus (although it sounded weird on first listen). He could be also a real contender in our race to win Eurovision’s Next Top Male Model.”
The Negative: “It ticks every box for Europop but delivers nothing refreshing or new. This could have appeared at any of the last few contests and doesn’t have a lot to commend. The appropriation of the “We Are Free” message is one of the biggest crimes – it is such an insincere song title and completely superficial. The spoken section through the bridge is the final nail in the coffin here.”
4. Misha Sulukhia with “One&Only” (3.91)
The Positive: “I like my ballads in two flavors: overly dramatic, and simple. And this does an excellent job at the simple variety. Misha relies on his voice instead of badly concocted instrumentals, and I tip my hat to him. However, I recommend that he invest in some better audio equipment: it will surely be his downfall.”
The Negative: “Every year there’s a song that takes inspiration from the previous year’s winner…but soundalikes never win. “One and Only” owes a creative debt to “Rise Like a Phoenix”, with its Bond-theme dramatics, but it’s nowhere near as good and Misha ain’t no Conchita.”
5. Niuton Band with “Run Away” (2.23)
The Positive: “The perfect mix of a 90’s jazz song found on the radio at midnight, and a hipster anthem, “Run Away” seems to be packaged quite well. The bluesy singer entices me into the song. However, after the unfortunate result last year, I feel Georgia should not send an avant-garde entry, and should play it safe. “Three Minutes to Earth” was fairly high on my list, and this appears to be the same song (minus yodeling, plus synthesizer and bells). I like it, but it’s certainly not everyone’s cup of tea.”
The Negative: “WHAT THE FUNK? The “new tone” I hear is one of discord. And I’m pretty sure that there isn’t a chorus. The lead singer should really enter the Eurovision Dance Contest and compete with some urban dance, because that is all I can remember from the video.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEcJNMzA1_I
Who is YOUR favourite? Let us know below! You can also listen to our commentary on this year’s five finalists in the Wiwi Round Up. It starts from 2:34.
ninaaaaaaa amazing <3
Nina !!!
Rooting for Eteri here.
georgia always sends weird songs….so this is no different.. but i guess it is better than the usual for this country.
If there’s any justice Nina will walk this NF and represent Georgia in Vienna.
Eteri song is beautiful 🙂 But I like Warrior <3
they just have to pick her the only other contestant that could work out a bit is eteri the other 2 are just cringe worthy
She would probably take the televote regardless of how she performed, but the juries could pick an entirely different act
i have a feeling that georgia will not choose nina and go for an act that will not take them to the final