Wiwi Jury Swiss Edition: Licia Chery with “Fly”

Another day and another journey for our Wiwi Jury, our in-house team of music un-professionals. After some mingling with the locals in Geneva, they wondered whether it was time to “Fly” along with Licia Chery as they reviewed her entry for Die Grosse Entscheidunggshow. Did they clear her for take off or did Licia crash and burn? Read on to find out…

Robyn: This is one of the stronger songs in the Swiss final. I like the gospel style, and Licia is a talented, expressive singer. But the song does sometimes sound like the sort of twee tune that gets used in a quirky ad for life insurance. I am encouraged, though, by the cute, lively performance at the Expert Check stage – it has great potential for fab staging.

Score: 7/10

Sopon: Ditto, Robyn! With lots of soul, a great live performance, strong backing vocals, and just overall charm, I love this one more and more each time. I hope there have been no drastic changes in staging since the Expert Check, since this eye-grabbing number would totally make me vote! (If only I had a Swiss cell phone…)

Score: 8/10

Angus: The video for this is horribly cheesy. Ignore that, though, and the song is a lot of fun. Anna Rossinelli must be wishing she’d been given a song like this for 2011 instead of ‘In Love For A While’. The song easily draws you into hand-clapping along and the country vibes are just fabulous. Before 2014 you’d have written this off because of the well-known maxim: Country and the Eurovision Song Contest don’t mix. After the Netherlands coming second and Sebalter fiddling his way up the scoreboard last year though Licia might be onto a good thing here.

Score: 8.5/10

Ramadan: The one thing that stands out is Licia’s amazing attitude and boy can she sing! The song is full of energy and makes me want to shake ma booty. Though, I do find the mixture of genres a bit over the top. Overall, the song is very catchy, performed well and I wouldn’t mind seeing this in Vienna.

Score: 6/10

Anthony: Combined with her backing vocalists, Licia and “Fly” sounds very much like something out of the film Sister Act. It certainly has that gospel energy and stage presence, which adds that uplifting happiness to it. Whether that’ll be enough remains to be seen, but there’ll be stiff competition for Licia.

Score: 6/10

Sami: First of all, I want to say that I love Licia as a person. She’s bubbly, has the attitude and seems to be sweet overall. Her song, however, I dislike. It feels very empty and I can’t really remember any of it even after few listens. The performance is great and professional, but I’m here to rate the song. Sorry Licia.

Score: 1/10

Zach: I love this song! It’s catchy, it’s feel-good, it’s sung well, it mixes genres amazingly, and it just screams HAPPY! Licia’s vocals are so soulful, vibrant, and most of all, extremely well polished. Positive and upbeat energy radiates throughout the song, and I can imagine very interesting and effective staging on a big scale if it’s sent to Vienna. I’m rooting for this one hard, and already have it on my iPhone!!

Score: 10/10

Renske: Licia is a good singer and I like the styling, but the whole package of the song together is just too much. The dancers disturb the song a bit, because they are totally uptempo, while this song is midtempo and totally not suitable for dancers. To be honest I think the backing vocalist gives Licia’s song more power. I would love to see Licia do well, but sometimes less is just better.

Score: 5.5/10

Deban: Licia radiates a generous bundle of infectious energy as she bounces on stage with her crew to this feel-good number. “Fly” is a toe-tapping, sing-along pop-wonder that brings colour, and positivity to the Swiss national selection. Whether this advances to Vienna or not, this track deserves a residency on most radio stations continent-wide.

Score: 8.5/10

Patrick: Boy can she sing! Licia is a stunning artist, with great vocals and a lot of power. Sadly her song is not my cup of tea. “Fly” is charming, but it’s too jazzy and also a bit dated for me. I mean Licia is a lovely person and she has a great look, but the song is not made for Eurovision and it would get probably forgotten. Nice try!

Score: 4.5/10

Chris: Licia Chery has an amazing attitude, as evidenced by her interview with us and the accompanying cheeky video message she sent in. “Fly” has lots of soul and Licia sells the song brilliantly in her performance. She is definitely taking me to church here – and I’m all but converted. My concerns would only lie in the fact that I don’t know if all this energy would be lost on the big stage in Vienna, were she to make it. But for now, I’ll take her word for it and leave my troubles aside…

Score: 8.5/10

William: Licia Chery is obviously the happiest woman in Switzerland. I love her voice. I love her spirit. And I’d love to hear her sing live. Unfortunately, I don’t want to hear her sing this song live. It’s a bit too sugary sweet for my liking, and I find the mix of country, soul and gospel a bit too much. But well done with the styling and congratulations on all that serotonin!

Score: 6.5/10

Josh: Firstly, I kind of fell in love with her when she sent her message to wiwibloggs! She seems super cute. I really like her song. It’s catchy and it’s a little gospel. She’s got a voice for the gods! And ‘Fly’ definitely gets stuck in my head. Hallelu!

Score: 7/10

The highest and lowest scores have been removed before calculating the final scores to avoid bias. We have removed a high of 10 and a low of 1.

The Wiwi Jury Verdict: 6.9/10

You can read all of our reviews and rankings for Die Grosse Entscheidungsshow by clicking here. You can also keep up with the latest Eurovision news and gossip by following the team from wiwibloggs.com on Twitter @wiwibloggs and by liking our Facebook page.

Photos courtesy of Licia Chery and Arnaud Pedersen