Lithuania: Wiwi Jury reviews Alice Way with “Hero”

The Wiwi Jury – our in-house panel of music unprofessionals – is continuing its journey around Lithuania ahead of the first Eurovizija quarterfinal next Saturday. We’re just waking after Ruta Sciogolevaite’s “United”. Will Alice Way’s “Hero” save us from snoozeville? Read on to find out…

Alice Way “Hero”

REVIEWS: Alice Way with “Hero”

Antranig: I feel an urge to dedicate the entire review to her outfit, hair and make-up — perfection! But Alice Way also delivers a terrific song. She’s not serving some schlager like Charlotte Perrelli’s “Hero” but she does deliver a dazzling performance that is worthy of being considered a dark horse to win. Alice is taking me all the way to Wonderland!

Score: 8/10

Angus: “Hero” has so many elements you might end up overwhelmed, but somehow the dazzling mix of dubstep, balladry, power vocal, whispery bridge and catchy hook packs a real punch. Unfortunately, the package fails to give the sucker punch Alice needs to set herself apart from the pack.

Score: 5.5/10

Liam: “Hero” sounds like a filler track off a Sara Bareilles album. Alice only just escaped the first heat, and I don’t think she has much longer left in this race.

Score: 2.5/10

Bernardo: Alice is on point vocally. She keeps it simple and… forgettable. The song isn’t bad, but it’s not Eurovision material. It doesn’t have the much needed wow factor and there are more memorable efforts in the Lithuanian national final. The perfect example that a good singer is nothing without the perfect song.

Score: 5/10

Padraig: It all starts so promising. Alice looks every bit the sultry siren and she gives us melancholic realness by the bucket load. But heroes are meant to soar. This “Hero” simply flatlines. I keep waiting for a little drama but it never comes. There’s not even a saving flourish to finish, the song just comes to a halt. I want Batman, Alice is giving me Green Lantern.

Score: 6.5/10

Steinunn: I don’t really know what to say about “Hero”. It’s neither that good nor that bad, it’s just there. It reminds me of something, but I can’t really put my finger on it. There is something that doesn’t fit though. I feel like the song is a mix of three different tracks and the fourth element is the outfit, but nothing connects. The song baffles me. And now it has started to piss me off. Too-many-emotions-must-stop-listening!

Score: 3.5/10

Luis: It’s such a pity that this is so middle-of-the-road. Alice sounds amazingly on point, and I like her elegant delivery. The problem is that “Hero” is totally forgettable. Other than Alice’s savoir faire, it lacks anything to grab your attention. I see one big issue: the track doesn’t sound like a demo, so I can’t imagine much change if revamped. It deserves to stay in the semis, both in Vilnius and — if everyone in Lithuania goes crazy — Stockholm.

Score: 5/10

Anthony: Having avoided an early exit by the skin of her teeth, Alice Way will needs to somehow raise her game if she’s to emerge triumphant. She’s a pretty girl and her live performance was delivered with quirkiness and pizazz. The same cannot be said for her entry. “Hero” is simple and subtle, but the end product is severely lacking in impact. I fear Alice could soon be heading the wrong way.

Score: 5/10

Mikhail: It’s like two different songs and two different singers. The refrain and verses do not belong with each other. There is even a slight gap between them. The chorus is enjoyable though — Alice’s voice is pleasant. But her vocals really annoy me in the verses. The iiiii sounds are like a bat’s screech. I want to cover my ears and run.

Score: 4/10

Robyn: With a song called “Hero” that features lyrics about heroes, it’s almost impossible to not compare it with last year’s winner. And it’s definitely not as good as “Heroes”. But I kind of like Alice’s song. It’s a bit quirky and there’s a good sense of drama. The chorus does, however, start to feel a bit repetitive. Maybe it could be revamped into a better song, but I’m not going to review a imaginary remix that might not ever happen.

Score: 5.5/10

Our jury consists of 16 people, but we only have room for 10 written reviews. Here are the remaining 6 scores. 

Josh: 5/10

Patrick: 5.5/10

Sinan: 6.5/10

Denise: 2.5/10

Judit: 2/10

Edd: 6/10

To reduce potential bias, we drop the highest and lowest scores prior to calculating the average. We removed a low of 2 and a high of 8.

WIWI JURY AVERAGE: 4.86/10

SEE OUR CURRENT LITHUANIA 2016 REVIEWS AND RANKINGS.

Photos: Vytenio Radžiuno (LRT.lt)