Norway: Wiwi Jury reviews Makeda with “Stand Up”

This week the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — is looking north! That’s because we are busy reviewing the 10 songs that will compete in the final of Melodi Grand Prix 2016, Norway’s selection for Eurovision. Today we turn to Makeda who will sing “Stand Up”. Did she get us off our feet? Read on to find out…

Makeda – “Stand Up”

“Stand Up” reviews

William: Songs that hark back to the late 1950s / early 1960s always end up sounding the same and make me think of that Whoopi Goldberg movie Corrina, Corrina. This plays well within its genre, but it’s still repetitive and lacks a shape and a proper climax. It just feels so Junior Eurovision (do you remember Femke from Belgium?!). Stand up? How about I sit down because this is boring.

Score: 4/10

Chris: It’s very easy to compare this to other songs in the Eurovision sphere, and it comes off unfavourably against all of them. I prefer Destiny’s “Not My Soul” and Laura Tesoro’s “What’s the Pressure”. It’s going for that Motown, “throwback” feel and right now, it’s not quite doing it for me. But it’s an enjoyable three minutes and if Makeda can give us the right amount of sass live, I could see it in the superfinal – but no further than that for me.

Score: 6.5/10

Robyn: “Stand Up” is tapping so directly into the 1960s Motown girl-group sound that it’s completely bypassing the obvious comparisons with Meghan Trainor or Malta’s Destiny. Makeda has a great voice – she sounds sassy and cheeky, while “Stand Up” is a decent modern take on that classic pop sound.

Score: 7/10

Edd: The only thing I love more than 60s beats is the the saxophone, so it’s understandable that I love this. We’ve already seen Meghan Trainor imitators this year in Malta and Hungary – however this is the first one that properly hits the spot. A very well-written song, a clean production — and a key-change just to top it off! If she goes all out with the 60s vibes then this 100% could go Top 5 at Eurovision.

Score: 9.5/10

Antranig: I heard the first note and all I could think of was Polina Gagarina’s Hotel Transylvania 2 theme song. “Stand Up” keeps me interested for about a minute before fading into mediocrity. It never becomes boring but there’s never a moment in which I feel as though I haven’t heard this all before.

Score: 6/10

Luis: This is a very nice attempt in such a trite genre. And it’s not that Meghan Trainor invented it, but after her success, the comparison is necessary. Still, I must say that “Stand Up” is enjoyable and easy to listen to, and the lyrics are quite smart. My only fear is that this might pass as a song on a soundtrack to a movie, like the background music in those typical road bars run by a woman called Stacy in American films.

Score: 7.5/10

Renske: “All About The Bass” is the new cool in Eurovision national finals and Norway could of course not miss this trend. Makeda has a nice voice, but the song is just no from me. The monotonous tone of the song makes three minutes seem like a very long time and after it has finished, I can’t remember anything besides “stand up”.

Score: 6/10

Bernardo: It got me hooked in the first 90 seconds and then I completely forgot the song was playing. Makeda knows how to work her voice and make the most of it, but I’m not getting the wow factor I should be. Probably will be lost among stronger entries.

Score: 5.5/10

Deban: Drawing comparisons with a 20-year-old girl from Nantucket is ludicrous! Makeda holds her own on this pop number, and draws heavily from her gospel background. Although vintage in tone, “Stand Up” is a modern pop record with sass that’s hard to beat. It’s anyone’s game in Norway, and Makeda is a strong contender.

Score: 8/10

Sami: “Stand Up” is a nice, feel-good song, but like many of us already mentioned, it’s not very original. The chorus is repetitive, making the song catchy but also very annoying. The other songs in the selection are so much stronger. This doesn’t have any chance of winning — or even reaching the superfinal.

Score: 4/10

In the Norwegian Wiwi Jury we have 25 jurors but only have room for 10 reviews. The remaining 15 scores are below!

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 4 and a high of 9.5.

WIWI JURY SCORE: 6.54/10

FOR OUR LIST OF NORWAY 2016 RANKINGS, CLICK HERE

FOR MORE NORWAY EUROVISION NEWS, CLICK HERE