The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — wraps up our reviews of the six songs that will compete in Switzerland’s upcoming national final ESC 2017 – Die Entscheidungsshow on 31 January. Last up is Timebelle, who have returned to the contest with “Apollo”. Is it time for this belle to make it to Eurovision? Read on to find out…
Timebelle – “Apollo”
About Timebelle
Timebelle is a Swiss-Romanian group from Berne, fronted by Miruna Manescu. They describe themselves as “a rocking, high-power pop group”, who have taken things down a notch for their 2017 entry “Apollo”. Timebelle previously competed in the Swiss national final in 2015, where their upbeat song “Singing About Love” finished in second place. Will 2017 be their time to shine?
“Apollo” Reviews
Bernardo: “Apollo” is by far my favourite entry in the Swiss national selection — maybe because it works with the usual Eurovision formula, but still sounds fresh. After Switzerland’s questionable I need to pee performance from last year, this would be a safe and competitive bet. Timebelle’s vocalist has a sweet and engaging voice, supported by three good backing vocals that lift the chorus to another level.
Score: 8.5/10
Chris: A rare return in the Swiss selection process, but a very welcome one. Whilst I ultimately preferred Melanie Rene to Timebelle in 2015, here they stand almost unmatched amongst their competitors. With both a strong studio version and Live Check performance, “Apollo” should easily make it to Kyiv. Admittedly the song isn’t a standout. But with charismatic lead singer Miruna at the lead, this would be just strong enough to finally drag Switzerland back to the Saturday final.
Score: 7.5/10
William: One of the most contemporary songs to make the Swiss final in ages, “Apollo” was actually considered by Azerbaijan for its internal selection in 2015. And for good reason: it’s got a light, breezy vibe with strong production that elicits tender feelings while making you want to bob your head. That Timebelle delivers it with charisma is a huge plus. But I’d like to see this more electro and less instrumental — the live piano made the audition seem more dated than it should have.
Score: 7.5/10
Robyn: Apollo the Greek god was a notorious mad shagger, with dozens of lovers, both female and male. And yet here he is turning up in this sweet love song about sticking with a difficult relationship. Go figure. “Apollo” is a strong and emotional song and it’s one of the best in the Swiss national final. But it’s just not engaging enough for Eurovision. It’s the sort of song that could easily get lost in a strong Eurovision semi-final line-up.
Score: 7/10
Jason: “Apollo” is one of the most polished of the potential Swiss entries, and it would certainly be a credible choice for Kyiv. However, although I can appreciate this entry, I have to admit that the chorus really bugs me. It gets quite repetitive and grates to the point that I can’t listen anymore. So for me, a revamp is certainly necessary.
Score: 4/10
Luis: The Swiss need a qualifier, and here it is. This has, by no means, the punch of “Hunter of Stars, but “Apollo” is a likeable composition which sounds solid and current. Plus, Miruna’s vocals flow from smoky to sweet very smoothly. The backing vocalists, however, need to polish their performance. Also, I’d make the final verses more daring. There the song just loops for 30 seconds and it gets slightly boring. If they can add some oomph to the last choruses, Timebelle will be an act to consider not just in the Swiss selection, but at Eurovision.
Score: 7/10
Josh: The best of a lacklustre bunch. I’m happy to see Timebelle have returned to compete in the Swiss national selection this year, and the song is definitely promising. The transitions of Miruna’s voice are smooth and controlled, and the structure of the song combined with a catchy chorus would make this a borderline qualifier if it were to go to Kyiv. It needs more lift and energy for me to be certain about its qualification, but a nice foundation for Switzerland.
Score: 7/10
Jovana: I’m not a fan of ballads at Eurovision: They need to be either exceptionally good or supported by an amazing performance to capture my attention. “Apollo” is not an impressive song, but with good staging it could do well. Timebelle has a beautiful voice and a great stage presence, which should guarantee success – at least in the NF. “Apollo” is not my winner and it’s not a Eurovision winner, but I wouldn’t mind hearing it again in Kiev.
Score: 7/10
In our Swiss Wiwi Jury, we have 19 jurors but only room for 8 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:
Anthony: 7/10
Antranig: 9/10
Cinan: 8.5/10
Dayana: 9/10
Edd: 6/10
Florian: 10/10
Forrest: 6/10
Jordi: 6.5/10
Matt: 2.5/10
Patrick: 7.5/10
Ramadan: 7/10
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 2.5 and a high of 10.
This is the kind of song that deserves to close their semifinal in Kiev. They are not the ultimate favourites, but also it is not fair to put them between 2 screaming divas. So, last to perform in their semifinal in Kiev it seems reasonable.
All they need is a half-naked male model on the stage pretending to be the Apollo, and it might qualify. 😀
Jokes about Greek Gods aside, the song and the group seem to suit each other well, and this has to be the favourite to win in Switzerland, surely?
(P.S. Better backing singers are required for the National Final. If you’re Swiss, have perfect pitch and can sing in tune, you’re hired. :D)
Considering all the songs of the NF, this is maybe the most decent. You can listen to it. But I think things are really difficult for Switzerland to qualify, no matter the song.
I kinda like it, but it sounds reallyyyy familiar. Any ideas?
I so agree with you and I wonder how couldn’t I find any thoughts about this before I found your comment! One part reminds me of James Arthur’s “Impossible” and then little after that there’s this: “I will never let you doooown” and I think there is some other song that has this same phrase but what is it??
Oh I meant “goooo”, not “doooown” ?
This song is a whole lot of nothing to me – which seems to be the theme this year in Switzerland, and in Swiss preselections in general. There’s something about the fact it was a reject from another country that rubs me the wrong way.
Id rather Ginta because I think they could do something with the staging to distract from the song whereas I think ‘apollo’ has less scope to do that.
And let’s not forget this was a reject from Azerbaijan’s selection 2 year ago (and the Azerbaijan’s selection itself is made of MelFest rejects…)
This may be the best of the Swiss selection, but it’s still weak… Depending on what the other countries will send, I see this placing bottom 5 in the semi-final, nothing more.
I love it but if they do make the final it will be a borderline qualifier.. probably the most underrated country in the contest (since Andorra left) and this isnt strong enough I think..
I always liked this song but it is definitely a grower! A winning Eurovision song in my opinion.
It’s an okay song, the only good thing the Swiss selection can offer. Not sure about its chances to qualify.
When you look at its competition in this national final, Timebelle’s song is the strongest of the field. I’ve mentioned that I wasn’t really a fan of their 2015 entry, but their song this year really stands out thanks to a well-structured hook and strong vocals. It’s got so much potential for good staging, and I too hope the Swiss team don’t waste the opportunity if it goes to Kiev
By far the best. It’s a great song, the beautiful verses build to a ridiculously catchy chorus and I can’t help but sing along. With a memorable performance and good live vocals this could easily take Switzerland back to the top 15. But be careful: as Robyn pointed out, this is the kind of entry that could get lost in the Semi-Final and fail to qualify if it’s performed early in the draw and accompanied by a weak and forgettable performance. Pretty much like Mélanie and Rykka. Their songs were fantastic, but didn’t stand out at all. Their performance didn’t… Read more »
I think this one should go to Kiev, but that’s all. I think it will not do anything there.
IMO kind of overrated compared to ratings of Blackbird and This Love, but I kind of get why. Switzerland has a very one-note finals and since Apollo is clearly the most polished song, people are hoping it would get selected. I agree with Robyn, the song is nice and fluid, but if it gets stuck in a difficult semi (e.i. if Belarus, Georgia, Estonia with Kerli, Malta with Kevin… get to be in the same semi), then it’s quite possible it would get lost. I LIKE the song, but honestly, I liked Shine too and yet, my heart didn’t break… Read more »
Maybe the first name Apollo will become more popular (Gwen Stefani has a child named Apollo), and is a name that sounds good in the lyrics of a song.
Timebelle seems to be the choice that Switzerland will make, and I don’t think will be surprises like it might be from Finland.
Nope.
Average score is far too high.
Typical Swiss Eurovision semi-final fodder. The fact that it is clearly the best song in their selection is even more sad.
I was skeptic the first seconds of the song, but soon after that, it started to grow on me, and at the first listen I want to listen to it more. It is the only Swiss song that deserves to go to Kiev I think
We’ll take this one, please