Lithuania: Wiwi Jury reviews Ieva Zasimauskaite with “Life (Not That Beautiful)”

The Wiwi Jury – our in-house panel of music unprofessionals – is continuing its journey around Lithuania ahead of the fifth Eurovizija show on Saturday. Yesterday, Neringa Šiaudikyte’s ballad “Never Knew Love” failed to impress us. There’s more balladry in store for us now with Ieva Zasimauskaite’s “Life (Not That Beautiful)”. Will Ieva get to know our love? Read on to find out…

Ieva Zasimauskaite “Life (Not That Beautiful)”

Reviews: Ieva Zasimauskaite with “Life (Not That Beautiful)”

Liam: In a contest full of empowering ballads, perhaps a melancholic anthem is what we need. This is beautiful and challenges Donny Montell as my favourite in Lithuania.

Score: 10/10

Bernardo: Ieva most definitely has the voice. But the song is a bit too melancholic and there’s no climax — it seems empty. I feel sorry for Ieva, the tune does not fit her rich vocals. Maybe next year.

Score: 4.5/10

Steinunn: I love Ieva’s voice, and I kind of like the song. The lyrics are melancholic, maybe even a little depressing. But at the same time they give out some “hey it’s ok if life sucks, I just have to power through and be positive” vibes. The song itself is rather comforting, without any unnecessary fireworks or overly dramatic theatrical elements. Just a girl singing about life. It probably won’t win if it makes it to Stockholm, but I wouldn’t mind it being part of the programme.

Score: 7/10

Robyn: I like the slightly melancholic undertones to the cheesy lyrics and I like the harmonies from the backing singers. But that’s about all I like. It’s another case of a decent singer being paired with an underwhelming song. It’s a serious indictment on this “singers without songs” part of the competition. I would like to suggest that if a singer can’t manage to find a good song for the national final, they’re not ready for Eurovision.

Score: 3/10

Anthony: If it’s something simple and subtle you’re after, look no further than this. Ieva’s a talented vocalist and the song brings out her elegant vocals beautifully, whilst the strings add a haunting depth. Not the worst entry in the competition, but it would get lost in Stockholm.

Score: 6/10

Antranig: Whoever was responsible for matching this incredible singer with this mediocre song needs to seriously re-evaluate their life choices. Ieva manages to sell an underwhelming song so well that she could sell ice to an eskimo. There’s considerable talent here, but if she’s going to Eurovision, it needs to be with another song.

Score: 6.5/10

Mikhail: Life is not that beautiful when you have an enormous amount of moany ballads to deal with. Life is beautiful! Start enjoying it. Start to see the positive things. Stop crying over everything. And most importantly, stop hurting my ears.

Score: 3.5/10

Luis: This is dull. Ieva is a talented singer, but “Life (Not That Beautiful) doesn’t do her justice. Her voice is sweet and cosy. It’s a perfect theme for a Christmas movie. The family reunite and sing carols. While they eat turkey, you’re fast asleep on the other side of the screen. I might be harsh, but this is not good enough to represent a country at Eurovision. As I always say, we need atomic bombs, not petards.

Score: 4/10

Angus: How many mournful ballads can there be in one national selection? The strings are sad, the vocal is sad and the song is sadder. There’s something frustratingly near-Bond-theme about the “not that beautiful” refrain, but the rest of the song doesn’t match up and unfortunately the potential there is squandered.

Score: 2/10

Padraig: Ieva’s rich vocals just about save this from slipping into monotony. She possesses a gritty warmth that’s absent with so many of the other performers in Lithuania. Sadly, “Life (Not That Beautiful)” just isn’t up to scratch. It’s structurally uninteresting, and the climax feels just a little too predictable.

Score: 6/10

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

Josh: 3/10

Patrick: 7/10

Sinan: 5.5/10

Denise: 6/10

Judit: 5/10

Edd: 6/10

WIWI JURY AVERAGE: 5.21/10

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 10.

SEE OUR CURRENT LITHUANIA 2016 REVIEWS AND RANKINGS.

Photos: Vytenio Radžiuno (LRT.lt)