Wiwi Jury Romania: Aurelian Temisan feat. Alexa with “Chica Latina”

In the run-up to Selectia Nationala, Romania’s selection for Eurovision 2015, the Wiwi Jury — our in-house team of music unprofessionals — is rating all the songs. First up are Aurelian Temisan ft. Alexa with their song “Chica Latina”. Did we enjoy the Latin flavor? Or did we want to send this back to Spain? Read on to find out.

David: This has a nice catchy beat with a hint of Cuban influence. You do want to move with it, but it doesn’t take you anywhere. After a bit it starts to feel repetitive. I actually found myself dozing off in the middle and that’s not a good sign! The success of this song is very dependent on the staging. But even with good staging, unlikely to make it out of the semi.

Score: 7/10

Deban: It wafts like a track you’ve heard on holiday somewhere before. It’s familiar, but not quite nostalgic. Sounds like Mandinga on atomoxetine, this chica is soooooo chola! But guess what? I’m not in Bogotá, so I ain’t budging.

Score: 3/10

Francheska: Did Romania learn nothing from the hot mess that was Moldova 2006? Ten years later and Romania is poised to repeat its mistake. It’s no Mandinga, and is just terrible. The “la la la”s in the background are annoying, and this has no creativity whatsoever. That said, its danceable, maybe.

Score: 3/10

Íñaki: Can a Latino song be boring? Aurelian Temisan and Alexa have the answer. Absolutely yes. Haven’t they heard “Mandinga”? That was real fun. Come on, Latinos have more rhythm than this! Where is your “sangre caliente”, honey? Tedious song that reminds me of the worst era of Gloria Estefan.

Score: 3/10

Josh: This song doesn’t scream “summer” to me as much as it screams dated. This song has zero originality and reminds me a lot of Mandinga, without the fun. Romania, you’ve been here and done that. Plz stahp.

Score: 3/10

Kristin: 1998 called and wants their summer hit back! And what is it with Romania and the love for Latin music? Not that there is anything wrong with Latin music, not at all, but this is just so dated! Granted, I feel like shaking mah booty and drinking Sangria on the beach, but like my beloved Sangria, this gives me a headache after a while.

Score: 5.5/10

Louis: When I think of Romania in Eurovision, I think of songs like this. But I’m not sure how I feel about the constant changing of languages within sentences and the repetitiveness. It makes me want to dance for 3 minutes and sing along though, so that’s not too bad?

Score: 7.5/10

Luis: Spanish radio stuff infecting Romania’s selection, wonderful! We don’t need a 2002 summer hit in Vienna. I do like Aurelian’s voice, though, but the whole package sounds quite bad. Besides that, verses like “ven, siéntate aquí para siempre” (come, sit down here forever) hurt. Oh, they hurt, really hurt. In the middle of the night and in the light of the day. Sigh…

Score: 3/10

Max: Chica Latina isn’t really the sort of song I want to take part in Eurovision. It reminds me of the early 2000 contests for some reason – it just seems to lack any sort of power. The Spanish influences are obvious in the title and instrumental of the song but it just kind of sounds cheap and trashy. The rap part makes me want to pour acid down my ears. I wouldn’t recommend Romania choose this unless they want to stay in the semis.

Score: 3/10

Patrick: I’m not feeling good while listening to this. The effect of the beach/party music they want to make doesn’t hit me at all. Mandinga did a great job in that genre but this is boring and not really catchy. I don’t think that it will get the majority of votes let alone the judges’ points! Not my favourite at all.

Score: 2/10

Robyn: This is all a bit cheesy but also a lot of fun. I’m most interested to see what this will be like live. Aurelian doesn’t sound like he has the sexy Latin lover spirit that the song requires, but I buy Alexa as a chica Latina.

Score: 6/10

Sami: It’s very Romanian and brought summer back in my mind. The chorus is little boring, but it still makes me move. I need to see if they can make it work live before saying if they should go to Vienna. 

Score: 6/10

Sopon: Mandinga brought a Spanish-English mashup three years ago, and that’s exactly what Aurelian and Alexa bring with “Chica Latina”. But the difference here is that Mandinga was high-energy, catchy, and fun all around. “Chica Latina” is lazy and dated, and is far below Romania’s standard.

Score: 2/10

The highest and lowest scores have been removed before calculating the final scores to avoid bias. We have removed a high of 7.5 and a low of 2.

The Wiwi Jury Verdict: 4/10

You can 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.

You can read all of our reviews and rankings for Selectia Nationala 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.