Wiwi Jury: Austria’s Zoë with “Loin d’ici”

The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — is travelling around Austria in the lead up to Wer singt für Österreich 2016 on February 12. Today, we visited the birthplace of Mozart in the city of Salzburg and examined some of the Austrian legend’s prized possessions, before continuing our search for Austria’s next superstar by listening to the next song — Zoë with “Loin d’ici (Far From Here)”. Is Zoë the next big thing to come out of Austria — or did we want to run far away from her? Read on to find out…

ZOË – “LOIN D’ICI”

“LOIN D’ICI” REVIEWS

Robyn: At last year’s national final, Zoë brought us “Quel filou”, the very French song that turned up at the WSFÖ final with English lyrics. Zoë is singing en français again, but this time I think the song would work with either French or English lyrics (but not both together). “Loin d’ici” is cute and spirited and the WSFÖ remix gives a more contemporary feeling than the album version. It’s the best in this year’s NF, but I’m not sure if would fare as well in Stockholm.

Score: 7.5/10

Antranig: Quite frankly, I don’t understand the hype surrounding this song. “Quel filou” — Zoë’s entry last year — was much better. “Loin d’ici” has non-qualification written all over it. The album version was great but the best part of the song has been removed for this three-minute remix which is a huge disappointment. My gut tells me this is going to win and keep Austria firmly in the semis.

Score: 6.5/10

Bernardo: French, YAS! “Loin d’ici” rhymes with a smile on my face. I’m digging it! Zoë’s voice fits the tune perfectly and the instrumental is channeling violin realness combined with some dance beats, which I love. I’m already imagining an awkward but flawless live performance for this. Not my favorite, but probably the winner.

Score: 7.5/10

Chris: Oh, Zoë. “Quel Filou” was clearly the better option last year when compared with The Makemakes – but unlike when Austria tried to right the wrong they made with Trackshittaz and Conchita, they haven’t got the same formula down here. “Loin d’ici” is a good song for the first minute and a half and then just completely nosedives. Zoë is a great performer, but she’s going to need to use all of her quirks and personality if this one is going to do well at Eurovision. Probably the winner in Austria, but that’s not really saying much.

Score: 6.5/10

Luis: I hate it when songs begin promising and then they are a complete bluff, and that’s what happens with “Loin d’ici”. An approximation to what it would have been like if Amélie Poulain had sung at Eurovision, Zoë’s attempt this year is light and playful, but it feels too decaffeinated. Lost in a quest for the perfect Eurovision sound, Zoë has lost all the charme that “Quel filou” had last year, and has replaced it with a song with no personality other than its lyrics being in French.

Score: 5/10

Mikhail: This is my jam! Zoë has brought us an incredibly amazing composition. All those instruments perfectly communicate with each other and let the melody fly. Those strings are simply amazing. You can hear all the epicness in this song, which brings you back to the great times of magnificent Austrian composers. This is unique and this is flawless. It’s playful, it’s joyful, it’s pure happiness! Je l’adore!

Score: 10/10

Patrick: I’m one of those who don’t get the hype around this song nor the artist at all. I have quite a problem with singers who send French songs in a country where the people don’t speak the language. The fact that her dad is quite famous in Austria might help Zoë, but this is just a bland song that brings us nowhere but the toilet — because this is a toilet break in Eurovision. If Austria sends her, it’s doomed to stay in the semi. Au revoir!

Score: 3/10

Sami: This obviously is the big fan favourite and I can see why. For me, however, the song isn’t that special. It’s sweet and I would love to hear more French in the contest, but I think this song is quite boring after the first minute. I also find Zoë’s high-pitched voice slightly annoying.

Score: 5/10

William: In a country far from here, Zöe is searching for paradise and singing. And you know what? I’m happy to sing along. Her sweet and playful voice fits the fun and playful lyrics and she manages to be breathy and strong at the same time. The song is repetitive, sans doute. But it’s also uplifting and cheery. In a lacklustre field with few gems, this really stands out.

Score: 8.5/10

In the Austrian Wiwi Jury we have 15 jurors, but only have room for 9 reviews. The remaining 6 scores are below.

Denise: 7.5/10

Edd: 9/10

Josh: 7/10

Judit: 7.5/10

Sinan: 6.5/10

Steinunn: 6.5/10

The highest and lowest scores are dropped prior to calculating the average score. This is to remove outliers and reduce potential bias. We have removed a low of 3 and a high of 10.

WIWI JURY SCORE: 6.96/10

For our list of Austria 2016 rankings, click here

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