Earlier this morning the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — headed to Kraków to visit St. Mary’s Basilica, the beautiful 14th-century structure y’all obviously know as the Church of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven. Afterwards we stood on the street eating cheesy zapiekanka, before reviewing Monika Kuszynska‘s Eurovision 2015 song “In the Name of Love”. Were we moved by her song and her touching backstory? Read on to find out…
Poland’s Eurovision 2015 song
Reviews: Monika Kuzsynska with ‘In the Name of Love’
William: To say that Monika’s wheelchair is a gimmick is deeply offensive: Being paraplegic is part of her life and she can’t exactly avoid it. I applaud her for choosing a song that speaks to her personal story — overcoming a tragic car accident — and for giving perseverance and hope a beat that many will sway to. That said, the song itself is somewhat dull and forgettable. Monika is my girl, but “In the Name of Love” is not.
Score: 3.5/10
Robyn: So, this is about as far removed as you can get from Poland’s boobilicious Slavic girls of 2014. As mild-mannered as this rock ballad is, it’s not without its merits. As long as the staging lets audiences connect with Monika, it should work well and will probably qualify. Amid all the drama and spectacle of 2015, there’s just something quite appealing about a nice lady singing an uplifting song.
Score: 5/10
Bogdan: A very pleasant tune, performed by a wonderful lady. I know, I could say this about a dozen entries this year. That is also Monika’s problem – how to set herself and her song apart from the pack. (I am very curious about the staging, by the way.) As much as I want to give it a high score, because I loved it at first, now I find it flat. The lyrics are very generic, too. So sad they didn’t go with the Polish version, it sounds a lot more melodious.
Score: 6.5/10
Padraig: Positives first – the sentiments behind “In The Name of Love” are wonderful, and kudos to Monika for trying to become a role model for others. Sadly, good intentions aren’t enough at Eurovision. The song is about as exciting as soggy cardboard and goes nowhere. Some have speculated that this could be catnip for jurors, but will they be able to digest all the syrupy sweetness?
Score: 2/10
Angus: “In The Name Of Love” resonated live in Riga a lot more than it does in the studio version. It’s unfortunate that Poland joins the large number of songs this year that gambles everything on the bridge to succeed and that could hurt Monika on stage. The draw should help her clear the semi-final though.
Score: 5/10
Chris: Just so forgettable. Every time this song comes on when I’m playing the official album, I have to take a moment or two to remember just which song this is. Monika has a strong voice, but there’s nothing about this song that, as a listener or viewer, would make me want to vote for it. One wonders if Poland are hoping for a strong spread of jury votes to pull them through, along with a casual viewer supporting Monika for her “story”, if that comes across in her performance.
Score: 3/10
Deban: This year’s ESC theme of “building bridges” takes residency in the Polish entry. Kuszynska’s disability may score sympathy votes. However, her well-crafted composition does not rely on that. “In The Name Of Love” is the offspring of a collaboration with her musical companion and husband, Jacob Raczynski. Tender, and yet full of meaning, their efforts should resonate with listeners during the live performance.
Score: 5.5/10
Marek: The first time I heard that my country will be represented by a paraplegic, I thought it was a joke, like a Polish Conchita. But then I listened to the song, and now I think her voice is amazing, that the video is beautiful, and that lyrics are just flawless. Our song is perfect, even if only a few people will see it. Monika is fighting for the win, and I know it will be either one of the greatest wins or one of the most spectacular losses.
Score: 10/10
Max: They rejected Edyta Gorniak for this? Really? Was there some sort of mix up that meant the invitation got sent to the wrong person? If I was suffering from insomnia then I’d use for song as a sleeping pill. It’s dull, totally unremarkable and cheesy. Poland should be embarrassed and they’ve really got lucky with being last in their semi finals running order. Monika has been through a lot, we cannot deny that but I just really wish she’d entered a song that put across her message whilst giving Poland a chance of victory.
Score: 1.5/10
Sopon: Poland has gone from one end of the spectrum to the other in switching from softcore folk/hip-hop porn to pure white curtains and dresses and ballads. Monika’s voice is very pleasant to me, and that’s the winning aspect of the song. She isn’t striving for high notes that she can’t reach or chirping like a baby chick. She’s a true alto and works that to her full advantage with pleasant, full lower notes, and that is a stark contrast to many of the other girls trying to belt out octaves that aren’t humane to the ears. In summary, Poland’s song needs some improvement to stand out, but Monika’s voice is enough for me to be in love with it.
Score: 9.5/10
Our jury consists of 29 people, but we only have room for 10 written reviews. Here are the remaining 19 scores.
Anthony: 7.5/10
Denise: 6/10
Francheska: 9/10
Josh: 5/10
Judit: 5.5/10
Kristin: 5/10
Liam: 4.5/10
Luis: 5/10
Mario: 2.5/10
Mike: 10/10
Mikhail: 5/10
Patrick: 4/10
Ramadan: 5/10
Renske: 7/10
Rezo: 7.5/10
Sami: 2/10
Sinan: 7/10
William C: 2/10
Zach: 9/10
To reduce potential bias, we drop the highest and lowest scores prior to calculating the average. We removed a low of 1.5 and a high of 10.
Wow this is so far removed from last year’s Polish entry!
Love the song from a beautiful lady with an amazing voice!
Am am sure the staging will be spectacular and I wish it great success
this song is certainly better than the one with big-breasted women churning the butter, but it is still common, run-of-the-mill and nothing special to write home about…
She didn’t sound good at Eurovision in Concert, but I haven’t checked out the Riga performance yet. This is actually one of my favorite songs this year. Not sure if it’s in my top 10 anymore, but it’s definitely around 10th-13th place for me.
She is beautiful and deserves to qualify regardless, but if we’re being cynical, I hope she steals the “pity points” from Finland come the grand final, assuming they both qualify.
People saying that the conditions of the Polish and Finnish representatives are manipulative gimmiks should be disgusted with themselves.
About Poland, it’s one of my favourite ballads of the year, but the live performances so far have been really bad, way out of tune. I hope she improves on that.
@Chris – I agree, I’d appreciate it if William could explain that sudden drop in the Polish song rating.
@ William Lee Adams
Hi, William. Am I misleading something or your score for Poland is different in the video and in the written review. You gave Monica 6 points in the first review and 3,5 in the second one. Correct me if I’m wrong. Greetings!
Some people really should think before they will write something before.
Monika Kuszynska is normal person, like we all! No matter what.
Her membrane works another that when artisti is standing, and all professional musicans know it. She needs to use more power to sing while she is sitting…
There’s nothing wrong with the song, but there’s very little that stands out either. Probably on the upper end of the middling songs this year, and with the pimp spot it’s should qualify, but I can’t see it setting the scoreboard alight.
6.5/10
Marek is polish? I had always though she was Israeli for some reason, Must have confused her with another Wiwi blogger 🙂
I love this song so much! My 3rd place at the moment!
One of the prettiest ballads ever. 7.5/10.
William, you said Finland was awful, but you still gave it a higher score than Poland, whose song isn’t horrendous at all, and has a story as well. Defend?
One of my personal Top 10 songs, wonderful. Kocham cie, Polsku!
Not bad at all song…But unfortunately i do not really like it…It is ok enough song but not strong enough to attract me…It is pleasant enough to have a listen to but its not from the songs that i would wanna hear again & again..
My personal grade 4 Poland’s * In The Name Of (Gay) Love * is the same with one WiWi jury’s from the 29 and that is William’s 🙂
3,5 /10
My 32nd most liked among the 40..
My 15th most liked among the 17 on the 2nd SF..
Some days ago I said both Finland and Poland had manipulative entries. I didn’t mean their artist’s conditions were gimmicks, but they can behave like one at the end of the day if they succeed in winning the public’s sympathy for a reason that has nothing to do with the quality of their songs. I also think -and maintein- that somebody in these countries’ delegations had to think about this in terms of increasing their chances, maybe not the artist themselves. I don’t want to be offensive, I’m just asking t be a little critical with this issue.
5/10
The backstory of Monika Kuszy?ska is one of the most interesting this year. But the song just doesn’t quite match that. It would have been forgettable if she was positioned to perform anywhere other than last in the second semi-final. It’s still forgettable compared to other songs and certainly against other ballads (there are only a few worth remembering). The song is decent and it has a beautiful composition, but it isn’t a standout.
One of my favourite songs this year. Nothing unpleasant about it, nice to listen to and a lot of emotion behind. It does not try to do too much in terms of lyrics or compositions and just allows Monika to go out and tug at the heart strings. I really hope it qualifies after the travesty that was the Polish entry last year.
9.5/10
@Allen: Except she’s not normal, they sent her so as to get those symphaty votes. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a fine han being but calling her normal is a lie and we all know it. If I was in a wheelchair I also wouldn’t like to be treated like a normal person. I would like to be pampered and given social services.
Strategically, this was one of the best thing any country did this year. Poland didn’t participate for 5 year and came back with a huge hit from their country and got a lot of attention last year with Slavic Girls. Honestly, they deserved even a better result, but being 5th on televote is a good award for itself. This year a totally different story and that’s a big plus from me: they sent a nice, “normal” lady with a “normal” song, no drama, no scandals – just song. But, her story will affect the votes, I’m totally sure. People will… Read more »
6,3/10
It is a good ballad, but it doesn’t sound as good live.
One of my favorite ballads this year, it’s a beautiful song
8.5/10 and my overall rank #9
ultimate haters
I dont like this song, it just feels dated and bland and Monika sings like a robot. Kudos to her for her bravery and her touching story, she is an inspiration, but in a song contest, she doesn’t have a good song. But this is Eurovision, no doubt she will qualify and reach top 10 for other aspects and reasons, just like a certain Nordic country this year. 5/10 simply for inspirational story and Monika herself.
It’s a beautiful song TBH. Good luck Monika <3