george-michaelides-jesc-junior-eurovision-2016-cyprus

Today the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — travelled to Nicosia and bathed in the glorious Mediterranean sun. Whilst we tried to remove the sand from places sand shouldn’t be, we got together and reviewed Cyprus’ Junior Eurovision 2016 entry “Dance Floor” by George Michaelides. Did we want to join George on the dance floor, or were we rushing for the exit? Read on to find out…

CYPRUS’ JUNIOR EUROVISION 2016 SONG

“DANCE FLOOR” REVIEWS – GEORGE MICHAELIDES

William: In a sea of power ballads that tend to blend together, George brings a refreshing and rebellious dose of house. The clanging, the banging, the heavy electro-beat — Junior Eurovision has never welcomed a song so riotous and mature. And while it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea — teen queens tend to hang at the ice cream parlor, not ‘da club — George serves this with attitude and pizzaz (and without a teddy bear or message of peace). He owns the dance floor and I like it.

Score: 8/10

Mario: Anthemic and moody, “Dance Floor” demonstrates George’s call to be both a singer and dancer — and slay at both. Standing out from the bunch for its club sound, this takes no prisoners, avoids JESC clichés and remains true to itself. It’s a song that will require a massive stage performance, so it’ll be interesting to see what CyBc, known for its simple staging, has in store for us this year.

Score: 9/10

Bernardo: George Michaelides may be a kid, but he is killing it with those dance moves. I welcome Cyprus to JESC this year with a standing ovation. Among all the ballads, they bring fun and dance and, dare I say it, sun. With no televote this year, it’s unclear how George will do. But with a strong stage show, George can walk way from this experience very proud.

Score: 6.5/10

Jason: Cyprus is likely to stand out this year with George and his very grown-up club banger. This isn’t junior in any respect! I am not sure if this will be a jury hit, but it should pick up some points for being polished and original. The only negative for me is that the lyrics should be sung with more conviction. We need some more oomph!

Score: 7/10

Chris: After the joyous innocence of “Not My Soul”, there’s the potential that the song is simply too adult for JESC. Not only that, but last year we saw “Oluja” fall apart during a similarly prolonged instrumental break. I have faith in George as a performer to be more entertaining, however, as he’s clearly the best part of the track.

Score: 6/10

Deban: “Dance Floor” transitions seamlessly from the playground to clubland. George Michaelides brings welcome energy to a track that harks back to the glory days of Aiya Napa. Teens of all ages will relate to this, as well as adults who celebrate juvenile escapism.

Score: 6/10

George Michaelides

Jordi: It seems that Cyprus have come back to the contest with another high energy entry. Despite its ability to stand out from the ballads this year, the song does fall short slightly for me. George’s powerful song makes me want to stand up and dance, but it really failed to grab my attention. The opening is incredibly strong but the chorus fails to match it. However, powerful staging and creative choreography could pull votes Cyprus’ way.

Score: 5.5/10

Josh: Cyprus is delivering another big dance track following their efforts at JESC 2014. George Michaelides should be commended. Although the track doesn’t showcase his vocals as much as other songs in the competition do, he absolutely destroys the performance aspect of this song. He gets it. He’s a handsome kid with great charisma and potential, and with some backing dancers and an awesome light show, “Dance Floor” could stand out for all the right reasons.

Score: 6/10

george-michaelides-cyprus-junior-eurovision-2016

 

Renske: I love how Cyprus went for a contemporary song. Although “Dance Floor” might not be the next club hit or a jury favourite, it is a good effort. The use of many instrumental parts can be a huge risk when it comes to a stage performance, but if George can deliver an energetic performance, this might surprise us all.

Score: 6/10

Robyn: This is such an unusual choice of song for a Eurovision entry — Junior or regular. A dance track with long instrumental sections and a barely there chorus doesn’t seem like a good mix for a song competition. But George is a cute and confident performer and is totally working it in the video. I suspect he will genuinely appeal to younger audience members, who will enjoy seeing a cool, confident performer deliver a song with swag.

Score: 6/10

Our jury for 2016 consists of twenty-one jurors, but we only have room for ten reviews. The remaining eleven scores are listed below.

Andy: 8/10

Antony: 7/10

Antranig: 10/10

Dayana: 8.5/10

Edd: 6.5/10

Luis: 6/10

Marek: 4/10

Matt: 7/10

Rezo: 8/10

Stanislav: 8/10

Zakaria: 6/10

The highest and lowest scores are not counted prior to calculating the average score. This is to remove outliers and potential bias. We have removed a low of 4 and a high of 10.

WIWI JURY SCORE: 6.89/10

Review all our Junior Eurovision 2016 rankings and reviews

Follow our Junior Eurovision coverage

18 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Eva M.
Eva M.
7 years ago

I really like George-as a singer and dancer and I am disappointed with the choice of the song. The song allows George to show some great moves, but does it take a full advantage of the good fortune of finding a top male performer in a competition traditionally domineered by girls? Sadly, the answer is no. Last year thr three boys in JESC took the very respectable 2nd, 4th and 6th places. I would argue that a female version of these songs would have performed much worse. With the right song Cuprus should have scored easily in too ten, possibly… Read more »

Onthefloor
Onthefloor
7 years ago

I would love to hear more songs like this one at JESC. The kids that i know are not listening to kids’ songs. They like “mainstream-hits”, like Lady Gaga, Chainsmokers, Sia, Fifth Harmony and etc. This is more like a song that could be playing on radio, than those similiar powerballads.

Erin
Erin
7 years ago

The song starts like Jesse Matador’s Allez-Ole-Ole in Zouk style and then it really evolves into all kinds of everything: a bit of Sakis’ ‘This is our night’ in the verses and the instrumental part bares resonance to Elitza and Stoyan’s ‘Water’. It feels like it’s all over the place and yet it’s genuine in bringing George’s world to the forefront in terms of how singing and dancing are his passion. I think we’ll see a lot of showmanship and attitude, but it’s unclear if he can pull it off with so much multitasking going on, especially when the singing… Read more »

Ryan
Ryan
7 years ago

My last place,vocals aren’t good,song is a basic uptempo song,the only thing I can give Cyprus props for is their dance moves 🙁

3.5

esconly
esconly
7 years ago

4/10 …a mediocare song with an ok voice

Mimimi
Mimimi
7 years ago

I’ve always liked it since the music video came out. This will stand out for sure! 🙂

jesperhjellnes
jesperhjellnes
7 years ago

Not a fan of it! 13th in my top.

Z24
Z24
7 years ago

It’s a mix of Sakis and Scooter. The chorus and the bridge will make or break live, we can’t judge it clearly by the studio. I enjoy the instruments and the verses, can’t wait to see it live

8/10

Ben Rafter
Ben Rafter
7 years ago

With some good choreography it might do decently. At the moment it is alright, the music is good but his singing not so much.

Poli(na) Genova
Poli(na) Genova
7 years ago

It’s kinda weird to me that Wiwibloggers like the song.

I love it, but I didn’t think that Wiwi jurors like it.

It’s amazing tho!

Jp
Jp
7 years ago

The main problem: the contest is a song contest which should be primarily about singing, not dancing. And this song has a chorus without any real singing at all… But I like the idea that there is this sort of music JESC too, just bring more singing with it next time..

beccaboo1212
7 years ago

“Dance Floor” sounded a bit weird when I first listened to it. Nowadays though, I’m actually starting to like it! 🙂

6.5/10

(J)ESC Fanatic
(J)ESC Fanatic
7 years ago

I like the verses but not the long instrumental sections. It sounds too amateurish to me. I don’t think Cyprus will do particularly well.

Score: 4.5/10
Rank: 14th/15 so far

Laburnum
Laburnum
7 years ago

I like this song, but it needs a different singer. His voice does not seem fitting at all. 3/10

KennyESC
KennyESC
7 years ago

2.5/10 because I like a bit the instrumental. It’s last in my top.

DenizNL
DenizNL
7 years ago

Not bad. 6,5/10

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
7 years ago

His looks are on fleek, but the song is a 2.5/10 to be generous, ngl.

Roelof Meesters
Roelof Meesters
7 years ago

This song was awfull for me when i first listened to it, now i like it 🙂 With a good stage performance this might score, but i don’t see this as a top 5 entry. His English is horrendous tho…

7.5/10