Fiamma Boccia JESC 2016 Italy Junior Eurovision

Today the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — travelled to Rome and ate our body weight in spaghetti bolognese outside The Colosseum. Before we slipped into a food coma, we reviewed Italy’s entry for Junior Eurovision 2016. Did Fiamma Boccia‘s “Cara Mamma” (Dear Mom) warm our cold hearts? Read on to find out…

Italy’s Junior Eurovision 2016 song

“Cara Mamma (Dear Mom)” reviews – Fiamma Boccia

Bernardo: Sweet, powerful, emotional and lyrically amazing — Fiamma’s “Cara Mamma” is my favourite entry of Junior Eurovision 2016. This has the smoothest transition from the native language to English of any entry. “Dear Mom, these are my words, they have no border, they have no prison.”  Yaass! Fiamma’s voice is so compelling and suits the tender message of the song (and the well-constructed instrumental) perfectly. A strong contender for victory. Brava!

Score: 9.5/10

Jason: Italian is such a gorgeously lyrical language that Fiamma could be singing that she hates her mother and I wouldn’t bat an eyelid. “Carra Mamma” is in fact an ode to her dear mother, and it is beautiful. Simplicity is key here, and I am not complaining. Could this be another victory for Italy?

Score: 8.5/10

Renske: Fiamma’s song is one of the sweetest of the year and it’s even dedicated to her mom — adorbs! She sings every note so clearly with her beautiful, angelic voice. It’s so passionate that I nearly cried. Fiamma teaches us to spread love freely and without judgment, which is such an important message.

Score: 10/10

 

Robyn: This is like a junior version of the sort of song that Italy does well with at Eurovision — bold, dramatic and oh-so-Italian, tempered by Fiamma’s sweet voice and the heartwarming sentiment of the song. There’s just so much about it that works.

Score: 9.5/10

William: Fiamma means flame and this girl is ready to set Junior Eurovision on fire! With “Cara Mamma” Fiamma manages to exude power while also remaining sweet and tender. The Italian lyrics sound so smooth and fluent and Fiamma looks angelic and calm despite unleashing the force of a thousand airplanes with her voice. The first time I heard this I thought it could be the winner — and I still do.

Score: 9.5/10

Deban: Fiamma serves a beautiful ode to her mother. Despite the song sounding somewhat old-fashioned and plodding a predictable tempo, “Carra Mamma” still retains a universal appeal. Little Miss Boccia has the voice of an angel, and when she sings, I am touched by her message.

Score: 6.5/10

fiamma-boccia-jesc-2016-italy-junior-eurovision-2Josh: Miss Fiamma is tugging at my heartstrings, y’all. The concept of a big Italian ballad may be the most unoriginal idea ever at Eurovision, but Fiamma takes it to a whole new level with great power, maturity and great diction in her English verse at the end of the song. It’s emotional, sweet and inspired. Perhaps Italy and Malta are taking turns winning JESC?

Score: 9/10

Luis: As an Italian music lover, I’ve heard it all before. But “Cara Mamma” works so well. Yes, we’ve heard this message millions of times before, and we’ve seen amazing young singers like Fiamma in the past and even in this same edition. But the whole idea feels so appropriate. I’m not someone who’s easily moved by songs, but the Italian entry certainly touched me. This young lady blends passion and tenderness and the result is a delight for the ears. Brava Fiamma!

Score: 8.5/10

Matt: This ballad is lovely and elegant in its simplicity, and Fiamma imbues it with major power. She essentially sings a love letter to her mother — and one that should sign, seal and deliver a fantastic result. If she can come out of her shell a bit more and properly go for it, then she’s a dark horse in this competition.

Score: 7/10

Chris: Fiamma is a wonderful singer, which is all that you can really take away from this song. Unfortunately, to me at least, it is completely wrong for Junior Eurovision. Yes, play it at an Italian Mothers Day concert. It would be fitting in that context. Outside of that, however, I find it far too predictable and almost — to a point — tacky. I don’t get emotion from this. Fiamma deserves better…though clearly I am in the minority with my thinking!

Score: 4.5/10

Our jury for 2016 consists of 21 jurors, but we only have room for ten reviews. The remaining 11 scores are listed below.

fiamma-boccia-jesc-2016-italy-junior-eurovision-4Andy: 5.5/10

Antony: 9/10

Antranig: 4.5/10

Dayana: 5.5/10

Edd: 9/10

Jordi: 9.5/10

Marek: 10/10

Mario: 9/10

Rezo: 9/10

Stanislav: 6/10

Zakaria: 8/10

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 4.5 and a high of 10.

Wiwi Jury score: 8.05/10

READ ALL OF OUR JESC 2016 RANKINGS AND REVIEWS

FOLLOW OUR JUNIOR EUROVISION COVERAGE

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Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
7 years ago

I won’t be biased even though I’m Italian, but whew, this song is a masterpiece indeed. Super emotional, maybe a bit predictable, but it’s perfect for a young girl like Fiamma. My 2nd favorite after Poland.

Ryan Crean
Ryan Crean
7 years ago

It is an amazing song with a brilliant young singer,she has a big future ahead of her,hopefully seeing her participate in ESC or atleast Sanremo
The problem is that there are a lot more stronger entries,and I feel this sweet song may get drowned out,especially if it gets a bad running order spot

Score // 8.5
Rank // 10/17

Eva M.
Eva M.
7 years ago

I have mixed feelings about this song-may be because I have heard too many Italian songs already to be taken my the musicality of the language and the emotional singing. That said, I like Fiamma, the song has parts which are very beautiful and her voice does them justice. Like with the rest of the entries, a lot will depend on the singer’s ability to own the stage and stand out from the rest in the live performances. I can see a scenario when Fiamma delivers a very powerful emotional performance and finishes top 5. This song shares 6th or… Read more »

Erin
Erin
7 years ago

I absolutely adore this song. It plays on all the strings of my heart and soul and makes me willfully surrender to Fiamma’s warm and expressive voice served in this beautifully rich and luscious ballad. She reminds me of a young Laura Pausini full of promise and unassuming talent. She is absolutely radiant and her voice is enchanting and crystal clear/ 10/10

Ananas
Ananas
7 years ago

So since I’ve heard this song for the first I completely fell in love in it! It’s nostalgic, delicate yet strong. Her voice is amazing and I can really see it winning. It is clearly my winner this year, so… at least can we have Rome/Florence 2017?

My rank: 10/10
Place: 1st/17

Roelof Meesters
Roelof Meesters
7 years ago

Israels song is out, so from now on i’m doing out of 17

This song is magical, and very sweet 🙂 Her voice is very tender and the song very well written, with the right instruments, and a great switch to English. My only complaint is that with my first listen i almost instantly forgot it 🙁

9/10
Rank: 8/17

SpirK
SpirK
7 years ago

Excellent song! Really Italian, it carries you away and it is really smooth. The English lyrics gives it more diversity and they really work! Great message also, it can touch anyone. The last lyrics “Dear Mom this are my words, they have no border, they have no prison” conclude fantastically what has been a great song sung by a great performer. I can absolutely see this winning; it’s simplicity and universal message may just sail it to victory just as Italy did in 2014. 9/10 and my 2nd.

DenizNL
DenizNL
7 years ago

8,5/10

One of the songs that is growing on me.

oooops
oooops
7 years ago

Ukraine is becoming Romania 2.0 in this years JESC, they have a huge debt right now….

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

“Perhaps Italy and Malta are taking turns winning JESC?” LOL, maybe, who knows? 😀 Anyway, this song is just great. So emotional and it carries such a beautiful and important message. Maybe it sounds like the typical Italian entry but I love it and I think it’s the best Italy has ever offered us in JESC. At first, I found the final minute of the song messy but now I don’t mind it. My only concern is that it sounds like they used too much auto-tune here… I hope Fiamma can perform it well live. 🙂 Italy has just surpassed… Read more »