In the run-up to each heat of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), Finland’s selection for Eurovision 2015, the Wiwi Jury — our in-house team of music unprofessionals — will rate the songs from that heat. The last song from the first heat to be reviewed is Satin Circus‘ entry “Crossroads“. Axel Kalland, Paul Uotila, Olli Halonen and Kristian Westerling formed the band back in 2010 and they have released one album since then. After listening to this, would we approve of a second album? Read on to find out…

Deban: Bragging about youth often alienates the elderly. This song is no exception. As Eurovision approaches its 60th year, it is refreshing to see bands like Satin Circus bring a burst of youthful energy to the stage and OWN it! Crossroads is a fresh,  catchy radio- friendly scandi-pop tune all- in-one.  It deserves to do well.

Score: 7.5/10

Josh: “Crossroads” is another strong contender to go to Vienna. A solid pop song that can stand on its own between the various ballads we are bound to see in May. I can see the crowd going nuts during the chorus of this song, and it’s easy to sing along to. Along with “Mustelmat”, this song regularly stuck in my head. I also have a bit of a soft spot for cute Finnish boys too. Don’t be hatin’.

Score: 9/10

William: The most current song in this year’s UMK. It builds nicely to a memorable chorus. It’s pop but it isn’t disposable. It’s mainstream yet original. I hear flashes of that One Direction song “Live While You’re Young“, but I definitely prefer this. They’re standing at the “Crossroads” and I hope they take the route to Eurovision!

Score: 9/10

Satin Circus Anton Sucksdorff UMK 2015
Photo: Anton Sucksdorff

Ramadan: “Crossroads” is increadibly catchy! The song is stuck in my head since I first heard it. They are also surprisingly decent live. I can see this song doing very well in Eurovision. It’s radio-friendly and modern pop at its best.

Score: 10/10

Robyn: This is soooo 2013 – the combination of Avicii-style electro-folk and lyrics about being “young” (see the international hits “We Are Young” and “Live While We’re Young” from 2012). To me it sounds like it was written by a hit-song-analysing computer, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing for the ESC. A song with a safe, familiar sound is likely to do well, even if it does nothing for me.

Score: 4/10

Sami: I just love this song. It’s super catchy, well produced and also very international. I’m a little gutted that their real lead singer Kristian isn’t singing this song, but I can live with it, as long as Paul sounds good live. They look great, they sound great and as I interviewed them in the press conference, they were also great guys. I think Finland is ready to send another boyband to Eurovision and hopefully place even better this time.

Score: 10/10

Sopon: The sound is hip and modern, maybe like a Finnish 1D (Hey, their music isn’t that bad!). I do find a bit of fault in the clichéd lyrics, since I’m sure I’ve heard “Tonight we can be young” in at least ten other songs before. I don’t really care if they win or not, but they won’t be at the top of my list if they do.

Score: 6/10

Satin Circus UMK 2015 Olli Tamminen Crossroads Eurovision
Photo: Olli Tamminen (wiwibloggs)

Patrick: One Direction is calling, they want their unofficial song back. This is so catchy. I have to admit that they have the biggest chance to win this but I actually don’t want to see them win for obvious reasons – I mean we already had Softengine last year. They have the best song in UMK and fangirls will collapse. Good luck guys, you don’t need it!

Score: 8/10

Mikhail: I don’t know what to say about this song. It is lovely, but I heard this a couple of years ago. I cannot listen to this too much, because it’s getting annoying, but anyway it’s nice and I’m sure that it will have a good result.

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 4.

The Wiwi Jury Verdict: 8.1/10

You can read all of our reviews and rankings for Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) 2015 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.

Photo: YLE

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yst
yst
9 years ago

Awesome 10/10, love it.Along with Goodbye to yesterday from Estonia and Sting from Sweden My top 3.Great, great songs, I’ve been listening to it all day long 🙂

ian from the philippines
ian from the philippines
9 years ago

the problem is, it’s a song that one directions would perform in 2011. it’s dated and done better by other artist. eurovision has a threshold of phenomenal and crazy but this is just dry as a paint.

Deven O'Kearney
Deven O'Kearney
9 years ago

On 24th May, I think that some of us will be taking to Hotels Combined for hotels in Helsinki and SAS Scandinavian Airlines/Finnair for flight deals to Helsinki if Satin Circus win UMK 2015 because Finland could win their 2nd Eurovision title in 9 years. (Which is a fairly short period to wait for another victory. Unless it’s Azerbaijan, which 9 years is a lifetime to wait.)

If Finland win Eurovision with Satin Circus, it will be as big a hit across Europe as “Euphoria” for Sweden 3 years ago. 😀 😀 😀

Jake
9 years ago

I will be happy what if “Mustelmat” or “Crossroads” win.
Finland is coming for the crown this year.
Helsinki 2016?

Alex
Alex
9 years ago

It’s a good song, but there are better ones in this selection and this is a tad overrated. I’d prefer “Mustelmat,” “Hold Your Colours,” or “No Voy A Llorar Por Ti.”

Drakula
Drakula
9 years ago

The “you-you-you-you-young” part reminds me of We R Who We R by Kesha. :))

jr esc nl
jr esc nl
9 years ago

isn’t it “live while we’re young”?
also i like the song but i don’t want it to win 8\10

a.
a.
9 years ago

their English is flawless. And there’s nothing worse than hearing a song in so called “Russian-English” (COUGH- Switzerland -COUGH)
Plus it’s super catchy, and just pleasant. I could listen to it all day without getting bored. An ideal song to play on maximum volume either while you are running or while going to sleep.

Deven O'Kearney
Deven O'Kearney
9 years ago

I wonder who the Finnish equivalent to Petra Mede is? Or the closest thing to Nikolaj Koppel (Since Jaana and Mikko from 2007 occupy a similar mold to Lise and Pilou.).

Or Mark Levengood from SVT would make a great presenter if Finland win. As he is Finnish.

Archeops
Archeops
9 years ago

I don’t like this song. 2/10

Deven O'Kearney
Deven O'Kearney
9 years ago

With a current jury score of 8.1 out of 10 for Satin Circus, imagine how high that score could be if this gets to Eurovision. Up to 8.65 out of 10 I would think. If this is anything to go by, Finland stands a very good chance of winning in Vienna, hence bringing the contest back to Scandinavia for 2016.

Are we going to Helsinki 10 years after their first ever victory? Who is to say?