We are getting close to Belarus’ national selection for Eurovision 2017, which takes place on January 20. In recent weeks the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of musical unprofessionals — has been listening to and reviewing all of the songs. Somebody has to do it, right? Next up is Napoli with “Let’s Come Together”, bringing us the African energy (and continuing the towel joke from Stockholm). Are we willing to grab it, though? Read on and find out!

Napoli – “Let’s Come Together”

“LET’S COME TOGETHER” REVIEWS

Kristin: I could make a Petra Mede joke about the title, but that would be too painfully predictable. Kind of like this fine song. I literally had to stop midway through, because I could not bear any more of the endless “Ay ay oh” things. The tribal sound is getting tired. Please stop it, please! So, pardon me while I go and fold my laundry. That is a lot more exciting than this outdated tune. Next!

Score: 3/10

Antranig: Someone took “Rainmaker” and threw it in a washing machine. Once it had shrunk in the wash, it was perfect for a Belarus national final. While I love the tribal sounds, I think this song would do poorly at Eurovision. Having said that, this is my guilty pleasure. Napoli takes me to heaven and back, with a quick detour in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Score: 9.5/10

Luis: Well, we already came together last year in Stockholm. And Napoli does not make me want to do it again. Why would anyone think that a disposable and cheap Emmelie de Forest rip-off would be a song for Eurovision 2017?  This is inoffensive and demure, and it does not make me want to move any part of my body, which is a very bad sign if you’re singing an upbeat song.

Score: 3.5/10

William: If Anya Nissan’s “Never Alone” could mate with Emmelie de Forrest’s “Rainmaker”, the song would sound something like this. Uplifting, spirited and slightly tropical, this is a decent effort at riding global trends while making them your own. Napoli, whose name always makes me think of a pizza, handles the tune well and I can’t help but smile. Yes, it’s smothered in cheese, but she adds enough toppings to whet my appetite.

Score: 7/10

Robyn: Did Napoli think that “Love Love Peace Peace” was an instructional video? “Let’s Come Together” sounds like such a cynical attempt at writing a “Eurovision song” that it’s almost as much of a parody as the 2016 halftime show. Napoli have talent, but I’d rather see them use it to create something original instead of mimicking the Eurovision of yesteryear.

Score: 6/10

Mikhail: I get it, African realness is very cool and I love that vibe, but seriously, tell me, would you listen to “Let’s Come Together” (the title of which is so original and has no connection to a recent Eurovision slogan), when you have “Waka Waka” or “Kizunguzungu” out there? I doubt it. Moreover, I should add that those painfully annoying high notes (toniiiiiight) do not help.

Score: 6/10

Sami: Even after trying a few times before, Napoli still maintains their standard. Again I have nothing remarkably bad to say about their entry, it just doesn’t have anything that exciting in it. “Let’s Come Together” is not that much different from “My Universe” and I really can’t see the band doing any better than they did last year. I hope this year they don’t bother to send it to the Polish selection as well like they did with “My Universe”.

Score: 5/10

Chris: At this point, it might be worth just sending Napoli to get it over with. On the other hand, I have a morbid curiosity as to what they’d rip off next. Last year’s “My Universe” riffed off 2013’s “Gravity”, now we’ve got “Let’s Come Together” as a clone of 2014’s “Rainmaker”. I can’t wait to see next year’s NF entry, which I’ll just assume will be Napoli’s version of “Warrior”. They can decide which one. Once again, vocals are fine, but it all just feels too schmaltzy.

Score: 5.5/10

In the Belarus Wiwi Jury, we have 17 jurors but only room for 8 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:

Bernardo: 6/10

Dayana: 6/10

Edd: 8.5/10

Jason: 5/10

Patrick: 5.5/10

Rezo: 2/10

Sinan: 6.5/10

Steinunn: 4/10

Zakaria: 6/10

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before calculating the average score, the highest and lowest scores are dropped. This is to remove outliers and reduce potential bias. We have removed a low of 2 and a high of 9.5.

WIWI JURY VERDICT: 5.57/10

SEE OUR LIST OF BELARUS 2017 RANKINGS HERE

FOLLOW ALL OF OUR BELARUS EUROVISION NEWS HERE

12 Comments
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Pollaski
Pollaski
7 years ago

This sounds like something that would try to be a song for some athletic competition, but isn’t worthy of being the World Cup or Olympics. Or the Belarussian 3rd Tier Soccer League Championship game. Bland, Generic, and not at all inspiring.

mawnck
mawnck
7 years ago

Catchy tune, that. Gets it about 65% right. Don’t care for all the eh-oh-oh-oh’s, though, and the live performance is not promising – she goes sharp a lot. And I can’t help but notice that one of the backing singers (who is a much stronger singer) is doing the eh-oh-oh-oh’s. Why not put her in front instead? Not real impressed by everyone whining about the formulaic nature of the song though. Where the hell were you people last year, when we had 30 of the **exact same song** in the actual contest? Guess being unoriginal only matters if it’s a… Read more »

Official Månsters Association
Official Månsters Association
7 years ago

@ Robyn Gallagher
I agree, I had the same thought as you when I saw her during the video, and her clothing was obviously an attempt to try to replicate African clothing. It’s quite provocative and insulting to different groups of Africans who may (or may not) probably wear similar things to what Napoli wore. I bet that If she were at Eurovision, the whole staging would probably look like the savannah. 🙂

AngieP
AngieP
7 years ago

It could be the song for ESC 2016 “Come together”. It has this happy feeling. Though I’m not a fan. It gets repetive at some point and it doesn’t stand out.

Polegend Godgarina
7 years ago

Robyn, I don’t see any POC references in that performance… As for the votes, low scores for a forgettable song, unsurprising.

Roelof Meesters
Roelof Meesters
7 years ago

My favorite in the NF so far. This is cheap, but really catchy. If she would win the NF, and if Kiev would sing along, with the right staging this might qualify. They would only geth a few points and come last 🙁

8/10

Vladimir Putin a.k.a. the ULTIMATE thug of the Universe
Vladimir Putin a.k.a. the ULTIMATE thug of the Universe
7 years ago

I hate her style and don’t like the song.

cheesecake
cheesecake
7 years ago

It’s not bad, but just boring and bland.

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
7 years ago

Definitely dated. Probably plagarised.
I know the sound quality of the Belarus live auditions is poor but even still, the live vocal is pretty horrible.

an esc fan
an esc fan
7 years ago

Maybe she was trying to impersonate an African person, or maybe she only wanted to copy Shakira in one way or another, but I think she meant no offence.
Still I understand that might be inappropriate, so the only conclusion is : each and everyone of us must be natural, just as nature created us.

an esc fan
an esc fan
7 years ago

Waka, Waka
This time for Africa

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

This song is so generic and predictable it hurts. Not bad, just nothing special. This woman has a good voice, yet she decides to keep wasting it on middle-of-the-road entries.

6/10