#Melfest Andra Chansen: Wiwi Jury reviews Albin & Mattias with “Rik”

The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — making its way through the songs battling it out in Melodifestivalen’s andra chansen round, vying for the four final places in the grand final. Next is Albin & Mattias and their song “Rik”. Did we feel like showering them with kronor? Read on to find out…

Albin & Mattias with “Rik”

“Rik” reviews

Angus: This I love! Mattias’s vocals are just dreamy and his “ooooohs” signal instant fun. Albin’s rapping is also delivered at such speed that it’s almost hypnotic. Rap is hard genre to sell at Eurovision but this pulls it off with suitable aplomb. It will be a shame if such a fun entry is sacrificed in a duel against Samir & Viktor.

Score: 7/10

Anthony: “Rik” doesn’t seem to be the most eye-catching of names, and neither is the song itself. I appreciate Albin & Mattias singing entirely in Swedish, but there’s an awful lot of quick-fire rapping going on. This makes it hard to understand. I’m still getting flashbacks of Sean Banan at Melfest 2013. How this duo survived at the expense of Mimi Werner I simply do not know.

Score: 5/10

Chris: It’s sad this this isn’t even Mattias’ best Melfest duet. But “Rik” is what it is, I suppose. There’s nothing offensively bad about it and I actually seem to recall quite liking it when I first heard it. On second listen though, you realise that it’s actually quite forgettable. There’s just no hook and in the end, it just feels like Albin & Mattias are just rapping/singing at us, rather than drawing you in. Not to mention Albin’s dancing is almost as bad as Barei’s. Competent, but unspectacular.

Score: 6/10

Deban: Much of this sounds like gibberish to me. However, it’s fair to say that I don’t speak Swedish.  When one spits lyrics at such speed in a foreign language, throwing urban swag, and occasionally shouting into the mic, it doesn’t impress me. The chorus is catchy though. Unfortunately, it reads like an afterthought.

Score: 4/10

Josh: “Rik” is another one of those songs that I just don’t like because of its genre. I’m not a hip-hop or rap fan, and because it’s not in English I struggle to connect with any emotion in the song. Albin & Mattias are great entertainers and they make a great pair, but I can’t connect to the song.

Score: 4/10

Padraig: The studio version of “Rik” is fine. But in a contest as fierce as Melfest, fine simply doesn’t cut it. Especially when the stage show is so poor. Despite the choreographed jumping, the performance lacks energy. But perhaps the worst flaw is that Albin & Mattias fail miserably to convey the basic emotion behind the song. I don’t speak Swedish yet at least with “Bada Nakna” or “Faller” I was able to get the gist. Background research tells me that “Rik” is about materialism, but based on what I saw it could just as easily be about a gay love affair.

Score: 4.5/10

Robyn: Hip hop is heavily based on lyrics, and because of that, it doesn’t cross linguistic borders the way that more melodious music does. So for me as an English speaker who only knows beginner’s Swedish, it’s really hard to connect with “Rik”. But even aside from the lyrics, it just doesn’t come across as a compelling performance. It’s missing the energy and spirit that made “Din soldat” such a hit. Where’s Kristin Amparo when you need her?

Score: 6/10

Ron: I really liked Mattias Andréasson’s song “Förlåt Mig” back in 2012 and he should have gone to the final back then (what a shame, Sweden). This time with Albin it’s not as good. It’s a great song for radio etc, but not so special as one of the entries in Melodifestivalen. The message in this song is really nice – being rich is not just money and materialism. Mattias is pretty handsome and a good singer, Albin is doing his thing, the lights are nice, but it’s really not worth the final. Sorry.

Score: 6/10

Tobias: I’ve put this song on repeat and repeat trying to like it as much as I can but I just can’t. I really do like the part where Mattias sings, but honestly, the rap part just doesn’t work. It’s just pointless and annoying. If that part could be thrown away, this would be a much better song. I don’t see this qualifying to the final. Sorry, guys.

Score: 4/10

William: Mattias has star quality. Albin does not. When the former sings I’m able to look past the uninspiring melody and forgettable staging. When the later raps I’m plunged into my own personal hell, where bland and insipid rule. Music aside, the staging needs a major revamp. At the moment they appear to be singing to one another and it’s a bromance I can definitely live without.

Score: 3/10

In the Swedish Wiwi Jury we have 26 jurors but only have room for 10 reviews. The remaining 16 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 2 and a high of 7.5.

WIWI JURY SCORE: 5.14/10

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