Grab a drink, locate your earplugs and find that vile of painkillers! The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — are reviewing the ten finalists competing in Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2017. The next song comes from Günther & D’Sanz. Are we ready to join their self-love movement or does this turn us off? Let’s see what we think.
Günther & D’Sanz – “Love Yourself”
About Günther & D’Sanz
This duo is probably the most international act this year. Günther, a Swedish singer and model, took part in the Swedish Melodifestivalen back in 2006. Some of his earlier hits include “Ding Dong Song” and “Touch Me“, which features Samantha Fox. Born in Spain, D’Sanz — real name Daniel Sanz — now lives in Finland. He took part in Spain’s Operación triunfo in 2005 (the same season as Edurne!) and in 2016 he competed on The Voice of Finland.
“Love Yourself” reviews
Kristin: I feel super creeped out and strangely aroused at the same time. This is so delightfully cheesy! It’s like Pitbull got kicked out of the USA and decided to team up with a random Finnish musician and make one more sleazy dance track. And the message is clear(ish): One should truly love him/herself. The meaning behind that? Up to the listener, I guess. But I’m digging this from the bottom of my heart and I’m ready to love myself (no pun intended).
Score: 8.5/10
Robyn: Günther delivers his sleazy lounge lizard style, but it’s D’Sanz (aka Daniel Sanz) who really brings heart to the song. His sincere style makes the song as much about having positive self-esteem as it is about Günther’s favourite kind of self-love. We all need a little D’Sanz and Günther in our lives.
Score: 7/10
Sami: Without knowing Günther’s back catalogue and his knack for wordplay and eccentricity, you might find this very confusing. But when I was younger Günther had some big hits in Finland — and we listened to them even if we didn’t really understand what he was talking about. Sticking to his tried and tested formula, “Love Yourself” is full of slightly explicit lyrics and lots of sexual innuendo. For me D’Sanz is really the star as he brings energy to the song. If he did this solo, it would be my favourite song of the bunch.
Score: 6/10
William: From the pornstache to the aviator sunglasses to the saucy lyrics, Günther proves himself to be the master of the burgeoning gigolo discotheque genre. On the surface his song is a high-octane ode to hedonism and masturbation. But in instructing us to love ourselves and feel a little pleasure, he also suggests we should live each moment to the fullest and seize the day (if not the hot guy at the bar). Look past the sleaze and you’ll find an anthem of empowerment.
Score: 7/10
Josh: Unlike Knucklebone Oscar, Günther and D’Sanz actually manage to make me smile during their novelty act – but I can’t help but think that these guys are actually taking this competition 100% seriously. This appeals to the filthy-minded teenage boy I once was. Albeit sleazy, “Love Yourself” is fun, memorable and could actually win. After all, “loving yourself” every now and again is perfectly healthy, right?
Score: 6/10
Bernardo: From time to time, a song appears in the market and it’s so so trashy that you secretly download it and listen to it time and time again and don’t tell anyone. I’m not saying I downloaded this — God forbid. The thing is, “Love Yourself” accomplishes its goal. It won’t win but will for sure entertain us for three minutes — and for that I give Günther & D’Sanz credit.
Score: 5/10
Antranig: I’m sorry but after hearing this, I need to take three showers. This is quite disturbing and almost predatory. I’d be fine with all of that if it was catchy but if anything, it’s annoying. I need to remind myself that we are safe in the circle of light. I hoped that nothing bad will ever cross the line but I’m afraid they’re crossing every line on the map. Call the police, you’re disturbing my peace.
Score: 0/10
Patrick: “Baila el Chiki” mixed with Germany’s Guildo Horn and with a wannabe Danny Saucedo for the chorus. What a sad outcome though! If I heard only the chorus I might like this a bit. But even the chorus is a tad old fashioned and sounds a bit like a Takasa rip-off. It is Eurovision-y — but with a cheap melody, one okay singer, a grandpa and some creepy lyrics. It’s sad and funny at the same time. Lord help them.
Score: 2/10
In the UMK Wiwi Jury, we have 19 jurors but only room for 8 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:
Anthony: 7.5/10
Chris: 4/10
Dayana: 4.5/10
Edd: 6.5/10
Forrest: 5/10
Jordi: 6/10
Jovana: 4/10
Luis: 8/10
Natalie: 4.5/10
Ramadan: 3/10
Rezo: 2/10
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 0 and a high of 8.5.
This song is surprisingly catchy but I don’t feel like their voices mix well? It’s especially noticeable in the MV when they are seen singing their separate parts. For the lyrics…they’re unsurprisingly cringeworthy; that’s Günther for you. If Finland wants to send a novelty act, don’t choose this one.
Don’t the lyrics and presentation of this song violate some countries’ broadcasting standards? I just thought I’d ask. There may be genuine grounds for disqualification from ESC if it wins UMK.
For what it’s supposed to be, actually I find the song to be a bit overly complicated, rythmically. Ravel’s “Bolero” had the right idea… more consistency required. Haha. 🙂
“the burgeoning gigolo discotheque genre”
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken us?
If they send this, I predict it will go over at least as well as “Woki Mit Deim Popo.” It’s **almost** as good.
I do not actually hate this! I would be surprised if it won but it is a lot better than most of the other songs in Finland. Catchy!
Simply, I don’t like this song. If they send this, the tradition of me not liking the finnish entry will continue. However, I can imagine the song at ESC, with all these funny, happy vibes, that will be THE show! They can do so many things on stage.
But, still bad song for me.
Come on guys this deserved more! Don’t be narrow-minded… ‘Love Yourself’ is catchy and funny. The lyrics are a bit sexual? Yes, but that’s not that bad. Obviously they won’t win, but will hit the Euroclub!
Yes, this is bad. Some of Günther’s stuff is so bad it’s good, but this is not one of those songs. It lacks an ‘oooh, you touch my tralala, my ding ding dong’ ROFLOL moment.
Bad bad bad…
1/10
Yes, this IS trash, but it’s a funny, epic trash! For a long time we didn’t have song this funny in ESC. Wouldn’t you be ‘meh’ if all 43 songs turn out to be playing safe. We need outliners, and if they are this eccentric, I would be all for it. This is definitely one of my picks for the win in Finland, maybe even my 1’st.
5.18, are you kidding? This is pure trash.
This song is vile. It’s a childish schlager masturbation anthem. And the video is equally as vile.
Winner xD
@WilliamLeeAdams
I’m sorry, i lost that part of the text. My mistake 😀
You’re super, keep up the good work 🙂
I think this is the first time I’ve ever agreed with Antranig. It’s garbage. How can we look past the sleaze when they layer it on with a trowel?
I HATE this.
@ (J)ESC Fanatic
I know about Finland, maybe this is why they are there this year, but Sweden is trying to break the record, Iceland tries to win at least once, hope that Finland will not be ”contaminated” by ambition and will be happy with one victory, if a second one will not be in their terms.
Gunther was huge back then with “Ding Dong Song” and “Teene Weeny String Bikini”. He also was on Melodifestivalen 2006 with his song “Like Fire Tonight”. You should mention that Wiwibloggers 😉
I hope that in the live performance they will look like the televangelists.
@an esc fan
Finland playing it safe? Never happens.
God, this is so cheap and dirty! The chorus is not bad, but overall I can’t enjoy it. D’Sanz is very hot, but that’s not enough to make me appreciate the song. I expect a super sleazy live performance, like the music video.
4/10
Loving yourself is after all germ free, so it is not the worst thing.
Also nobody else can be bothered, because nobody else is involved, but I think that a northern country will try to play safe and will not have the courage to send this.
Next year maybe Gunther will try another country.
Gunther has better songs tbh so this one is “okay” to me
Haven’t listen to the song yet but I’m pretty sure he’ll touch a lot of tralalas upon performing this live. hehe
I’m a long-time Günther fan and I think this song is super fan, but Emma remains the only possible choice for Finland imo.