We are getting close to Belarus’ national selection for Eurovision 2016, which takes place on January 22. In recent weeks the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of musical unprofessionals — has been listening to and reviewing all of the songs. Band THE EM asks us to make like judges on The Voice “Turn Around”, but would we? Read to find out!
THE EM — “TURN AROUND”
“TURN AROUND” REVIEWS
Mikhail: Oh… More wailing… Another boring craving for love… How original! Also I have a question: is that a love duet? Are they singing it to each other or are they crying for someone else? If it is the former, then there is no chemestry at all, zero! And if it is the latter, then why are they looking at each other without passion in their eyes? The song is bland, the artists do not work together, so it’s hard to like.
Score: 4/10
Denise: I can barely hear the lyrics. It sounds like mumbling. I don’t like their voices together and let’s not talk about the song itself….
Score: 3/10
William: Tone deaf, poorly styled, and unable to harmonise, they seem to be competing for the spotlight rather than singing a duet. They ask us to turn around, but I’ll do them one better and simply walk away.
Score: 3/10
Robyn: So, two guys singing a (boring) love song. Why? A Brandy & Monica kind of love rivalry? A bizarre love triangle? Has one of them just got his mate along to help out? Or are they singing to each other? But I’m giving it an extra point for that rather good middle-eight that suddenly makes the song cool and interesting — for a little while, at least.
Score: 3/10
Sami: The lyrics are so bad and cheesy — or at least what you can hear of them. They really need to work on their pronounciation. At times they also just shout over each other and it doesn’t sound nice at all. I, however, like that the song grows and doesn’t stay the same. Still you can’t remember much of the song after hearing it once.
Score: 3/10
Edd: Whilst the song isn’t very coherent, the chorus is actually not bad. It is, however, difficult to take it seriously when their English is so atrocious – and when they look like two hallucinating hairdressers. Certainly not a winner.
Score: 5.5/10
Luis: Turn around, bright eyes! Every now and then I fall asleep when I hear this. No voice, no rhythm, no nothing.
Score: 2/10
Cristian: Another case where there is neither appreciation nor contempt. I don’t think it’s that bad, I’m just not so keen on their voices and this type of composition. The harmonies there are totally wrong and a bit creepy. It’s a bad duo experiment.
Score: 4/10
Antranig: This is a terrible song and it has no business being here. I can’t connect with this at all and I’m bored about 20 seconds in. I consider them a genuine contender… for last place.
Score: 2/10
Bernardo: “Turn Around” and don’t come back. I just don’t like it. I hardly understand what they’re saying. Not memorable enough, my ears don’t like it. My musical taste is not even close to what this entry offers us. And the music suddenly ends when I’m not expecting it. While it’s only three minutes long, it feels like a very boring five minutes. I’m not digging it at all.
Score: 2/10
Anthony: After listening to it for the very first time, the EM initials must be screaming out “EuroFest Mess”. They won’t be mending any broken hearts with this woefully flat love song, and not a spark of chemistry between the duo on their live audition. Right, I’m going to “Turn Around” and leg it!
Score: 2/10
William C.: This is incredibly boring, and it drags on way too much for me. It does not fit in 2016, however this probably would have done well in the ’80s and ’90s, or even the ’00s. Their voices make me want to cringe, and I really hope Belarus does not send this.
Score: 4/10
The highest and lowest scores are removed before calculating the final score. We have dropped a low of 2 and a high of 5.5.
