We’ve listened to and reviewed half the songs that have qualified for the semi-finals of Moldova‘s national selection. It’s time to move on to the next four more acts, and this time we are judging one female singer, another female singer with an invisible band, one lautar, and a trio. Could one of these acts win O melodie pentru Europa 2016? Let’s find out what Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of musical unprofessionals — thinks!
13. Viola – “In The Name Of Love”
Edd: An unintelligible voice slopped all over a painfully slow jazz beat is not my idea of Eurovision heaven. I played the song at double speed and it was almost listenable, but at this tempo she has no hope. Not even lifts would play music this boring.
Score: 0.5/10
Mikhail: This song carries on in one direction the whole time. You can easily predict what the next note will be. Viola was vowing and vowing and vowing. I understand that the inspiration is probably taken from Amy Winehouse, but it doesn’t stand close, not even by 1,000 miles. Amy could deliver everything — emotions, energy, all the worries, adding some spice with her remarkable voice, but here you can see nothing of the kind.
Score: 2/10
Robyn: This song takes 23 seconds to get going. By comparison, at that point in “Heroes”, Måns was making room for his little friend, Polina was believing in her dream, and Gianluca from Il Volo was sexxing the camera. Viola, though, is conveying the musical equivalent of an opiate slumber. It ain’t goin’ nowhere.
Score: 3/10
Kristin: Broody Monday blues from Moldova? Why not? Seems that practically anything goes in this year’s O melodie pentru Europa. But what a long winded song! It felt way longer than three minutes, and I foresee in horror a snakelike stage performance to underline the imagined seduction in the lyrics. Nope, not buying it!
Score: 4/10
Bogdan: Blues is a welcome change to an otherwise mostly bland selection, but unfortunately instead of being stirring, this song has a soporific effect on me. I appreciate the fact that Viola wrote it, and it’s not bad, but she needs to work on her rendition. It’s void of any emotion, which, for a song called “In the Name of Love”, is not ideal.
Score: 5.5/10
In the Moldovan Wiwi Jury we have 14 Jurors, but only space for 5 reviews. The remaining scores are below:
Anthony: 3/10
Deban: 3/10
Denise: 2/10
Cristian: 2/10
Luis: 3/10
Bernardo: 2.5/10
Patrick: 0.5/10
Antranig: 3/10
William: 3/10
The highest and lowest scores are removed before calculating the final score. We have dropped a low of 0.5 and a high of 5.5.
WIWI JURY SCORE: 2.58/10
14. Cristina Pintilie & Alex Calancea Band – “Picture of Love”
Edd: I’m really impressed that her live vocals match the pretty vocals in the studio version. It’s not amazingly written, nor is it amazingly produced – but it’s certainly pleasant enough, and will be much more powerful on a proper stage (and with a wind machine!).
Score: 6/10
Mikhail: This song got so boring that right at the beginning of it I opened my Instagram and was listening to our William lip syncing to “Busy Doing Nothing”. His cat is a perfect picture of me listening to this song. This is not a picture of love, this is a sad grey picture of nothing.
Score: 2/10
Robyn: It took me a while to realise this song was being performed in English, a combination of Cristina’s accent and her particular singing style. The song takes a while to get going but the chorus is decent. It’s just that for a song with a message, it doesn’t work when the message itself isn’t especially clear.
Score: 4/10
Kristin: The beat in the song reminds me of a slower version of Carly Simon’s “Let the River Run”. A really cheap version but I’m actually not despising this. It’s rather nice, really. It might help if the singer was a little bit stronger on the high notes though. But I’ll let that one slide… for now. Not horrible. I’d actually listen to it again sometime.
Score: 6/10
Bogdan: It’s an interesting song, but it’s far from what I would normally listen to. It reminds me of a soundtrack to a fantasy TV show. Cristina is a competent singer and she soars in the second half of the song after a timid take off, but she fails to convince me to “open my heart and open my soul”. This could be vastly improved by brilliant staging, but I am not sold for now.
Score: 5/10
In the Moldovan Wiwi Jury we have 14 Jurors, but only space for 5 reviews. The remaining scores are below:
Anthony: 6/10
Deban: 2.5/10
Denise: 4/10
Cristian: 5/10
Luis: 5/10
Bernardo: 6/10
Patrick: 5/10
Antranig: 9/10
William: 3/10
The highest and lowest scores are removed before calculating the final score. We have dropped a low of 2 and a high of 9.
WIWI JURY SCORE: 4.79/10
15. Valentin Uzun – “Mine”
Edd: This was possibly my favourite song in studio version: he keeps the rich Moldovan trumpets throughout, but constantly makes minor changes to the production to keep us entertained. Poor pronunciation and stupid lyrics only add to this kind of song. It sounds weak in the audition studio, but I’m hoping when we watch the national final it will be re-transformed into the rumpus-pumpus folk song I initially fell for.
Score: 9/10
Mikhail: Well, this song has some traditional instruments and interesting tunes, but the overall picture is not nice. I feel like I’m supposed to dance to it, but I have no desire to do so at all. Valentin won’t seduce anyone with his “Mine”. No energy, no charisma, nothing. Only trumpet, but not as magical as Pasha had.
Score: 3.5/10
Robyn: Well, isn’t Valentin a cheeky chappie? The song is good, a playful, danceable number about a one-night-only flirtation. But yet, it’s so tempting to compare it with the vastly superior “Lautar” (and in turn lament the absence of Pasha Parfeny’s involvement this year). But it will at least be fun to see “Mine” in the semi-finals.
Score: 6/10
Kristin: Bless the lautar! Finally I found an excuse to wiggle around while listening to a song from Moldova. It’s not as good as Pasha’s from 2012, but it’s a most welcome oasis in the desert that this national selection is. And Valentin seems like a charmer. Thank heavens, I was ready to declare O melodie pentru Europa 2016 D.O.A.
Score: 8/10
Bogdan: His English needs a bit of work, but it’s no denying that Valentin has what it takes to make the national final: a cute song, good looks, and the potential for a great show. I would skip the rap part though, which is out of place in a Romani song. But overall, I like this!
Score: 8/10
In the Moldovan Wiwi Jury we have 14 Jurors, but only space for 5 reviews. The remaining scores are below:
Anthony: 5/10
Deban: 5/10
Denise: 4/10
Cristian: 5/10
Luis: 6.5/10
Bernardo: 5/10
Patrick: 2/10
Antranig: 9/10
William: 5/10
The highest and lowest scores are removed before calculating the final score. We have dropped a low of 2 and a high of 9.
WIWI JURY SCORE: 5.83
16. DoReDoS – “FunnyFolk”
Edd: There are lots of loveable elements in the song, but it overall comes across as just a bit too cheap. The chorus just feels a bit flat after the strong build-up in the verses – and it would do a lot better if the chorus actually had a melody, rather than just shouting. But how could I dislike upbeat dance-pop?
Score: 6.5/10
Mikhail: The song is actually pretty funny and interesting, but the performers! Their vocals are as flat as my table! They are unable to entertain with their voices. Their presence on stage is comparable to girls at the disco shaking a bit close to the wall and waiting for someone to come and invite them somewhere.
Score: 4.5/10
Robyn: I love everything about this song. I love that it was accidentally called “FannyFolk” for a day. I love that it sounds like they’re singing “marijuana, feel the love” (I know, I know, it’s the girls’ name Mărioară). And I love that it’s a lively, fun track and that the three members of DoReDos all sound great, whether solo or harmonising together. I’d be very happy if this made it to Stockholm.
Score: 9/10
Kristin: This is something I can get behind on. A pumped-up, fun-filled ethnic dance-pop number is just what I need right now! I prefer the Moldovan version though — it’s much more authentic. I wouldn’t mind at all to see this in Stockholm in May. If Moldovans have any sense, they’ll give DoReDos a chance to represent them. Jolly good!
Score: 9/10
Bogdan: It’s a mistake to judge them on stage presence now. Last year, their live audition was laughable, but their performance in the actual show was great! Speaking of last year, I liked “Maricica” better, but this one’s not bad either. It has a lot of national flavour and it translates well. Good group harmony.
Score: 7.5/10
In the Moldovan Wiwi Jury we have 14 Jurors, but only space for 5 reviews. The remaining scores are below:
Anthony: 6/10
Deban: 4/10
Denise: 5/10
Cristian: 5.5/10
Luis: 6/10
Bernardo: 5.5/10
Patrick: 5/10
Antranig: 7.5/10
William: 7/10
The highest and lowest scores are removed before calculating the final score. We have dropped a low of 4 and a high of 9.
WIWI JURY SCORE: 6.25
Do you agree with Wiwi Jury? What do you think about these songs? Which one is your favourite? By the way, don’t forget you can still vote in our Moldova 2016 poll!
