Tere Estonia! Eesti Laul 2015 — Estonia’s national selection for Eurovision — begins on February 7 with the first semi-final. So the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of musical unprofessionals — is busy reviewing the ten acts that will compete in that heat. Up next it’s the last entry of the first semi-final, Bluestocking with their song “Kordumatu”.
Reviews: Bluestocking’s “Kordumatu”
Angus: Eurovision is a battlefield and only the heavyweights survive. Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind and the kindest thing to do would be to knock this out of the semi-final outright.
Score: 3.5/10
Anthony: Amongst a year which falls heavily on the soft rock side, Bluestocking stands out as sweet as candy with her endearing vocals on this infectiously positive feel-good song. And it’s certainly one of this year’s entries that bring a smile to my face once in a while.
Score: 6/10
Chris: This is really twee and sweet, but that’s all that I can really say about it. By about halfway through the song, I was bored and the singer’s voice was actually beginning to grate on me a bit. It’s like someone tried to do an Estonian version of Miss Li and turned the pitch up.
Score: 4/10
Josh: ‘Kordumatu’ is the billionth acoustic sounding song in this semi final. And there is nothing about this song that makes it sound out. The singers voice is pretty average. The music is average. Forgettable at best.
Score: 2/10
Patrick: “Kordumatu” is lovely and fancy but not a standout, not a big ballad. It’s more a song from the last century mixed up with tunes of the 70s! But it’s kinda lovely and has a nice title.
Score: 3/10
Ramadan: I don’t have much to say about this song. Half-way through it was nice, but all of a sudden it became boring and I didn’t enjoy it at all. Not only that, it’s so forgettable. Maybe the song would have been better if it was in English.
Score: 2/10
Robyn: This song is so cute. The harmonies are lovely and the vocals work really well with the Estonian lyrics (though sometimes it sounds a bit rushed). It actually reminds me a bit of the late great Kirsty MacColl, with the combo of 1960s pop and 1980s new wave style.
Score: 7/10
Sami: It’s a quite cute song and her voice is adorable, but she brings out the worst in the Estonian language. It’s radio-friendly and also pretty catchy, but it really needs a great performance to do well in Eesti Laul.
Score: 5/10
Sopon: This song is so sweet that I might go into diabetic shock. I’m trying to think of the last time that a girl with a sweet, quiet voice did well in Eurovision. Sanna Nielsen? Emmelie de Forest? Zlata? Loreen? None of the above. We want some gurl power! Grow some lungs and use ’em!
Score: 2/10
