Eesti Laul: Wiwi Jury reviews Carl-Philip with “Everything But You”

Grab your coats, charge your cameras, and open your eyes and ears to some quirky euro-pop realness! Yes, the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continues reviewing the songs competing in Estonia’s Eesti Laul 2017. Next up is Carl-Philip with his song “Everything But You”. Did it make us want to think of anything but him? Read on to find out!

Carl-Philip – “Everything But You”

“Everything But You” reviews

William: Nodding to Brit pop but pulling it firmly into 2017, Carl-Philip has created a song that’s current, dreamy and memorable. His voice carries longing and hope from lower register to upper register with ease and his delivery has me totally convinced he can win. I’ll never be the same again.

Score: 9/10

Zakaria: Very unoriginal and random song that fastly becomes boring and irritating, especially when Carl-Philip hits the “Youuu” part. There’s nothing more to say about this song. It’s pure filler and I can’t see it representing Estonia in Kyiv. Next please.

Score: 3/10

Robyn: There is an idea that Eurovision 2017 will be the year of chart pop. If so, then “Everything But You” is a serious contender. It’s a really well written pop song and Carl-Philip delivers strong vocals, especially on that big chorus. But it is a bit generic — a catchy random love song that doesn’t quite have the emotional hook that a good Eurovision song needs. A national finalist for sure, but less likely a Eurovision pick.

Score: 7.5/10

Chris: This one ticks a whole lot of boxes. Carl-Philip is evidently a talented vocalist, paired with a song that compliments him in pretty much every way. It’s all a bit familiar, but not in either a dated, “heard it before” way or too much like a rip-off of other chart hits. Still, though, it feels a little empty. It might be too “obviously” Eurovision to suggest this — but, seriously, would a key change have gone amiss in the final chorus? Just something to mix it up a bit as the song goes on.

Score: 7/10

Luis: Carl-Philip is a contender, for sure. This song is likely to hit the Estonian charts, and it could do so in any other country in Europe. However, it would only achieve moderate success. As it is right now, there’s something missing here to stand out at Eurovision. Carl-Philip’s voice is strong and engaging — am I the only one hearing a bit of Alex Turner at the beginning? But the song is too generic. Great staging could do wonders for this song, though.

Score: 7/10

Matt: It has everything but that wow factor. It has that edgy, urban feel but it’s missing some vital components. The song is OK but doesn’t grip me from the first three bars. He has the looks and the vocals but not a distinctive sound. It won’t be enough to even qualify for the final.

Score: 5.5/10

Mikhail: This instantly grabs you and I would put it on my playlist while cleaning up. It has energy and rhythm, but it gets a little bit repetitive toward the end. Mix up the song in the home stretch and perhaps I won’t skip to the next song.

Score: 7/10

Steinunn: This song sounds very familiar, maybe because it sounds like every other pop song that has been released in the recent past. This can both be a good and a bad thing…but I lean toward the good. Carl-Philip has a really good voice and that’s what keeps the song going. The verses have that x-factor quality that gives it a little ‘ooumph’ and edge. It won’t win Eurovision, but it’s a pleasant pop song.

Score: 7.5/10

In our Eesti Laul Wiwi Jury, we have 20 jurors but only room for 8 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:

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 3 and a high of 9.

Wiwi Jury Verdict: 6.06/10

See our list of Eesti Laul rankings here

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