Eesti Laul: Wiwi Jury reviews Janno Reim & Kosmos with “Valan pisaraid”

Look north, dear readers! The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continues reviewing the songs competing in Eesti Laul 2017 — Estonia’s always unpredictable Eurovision selection show. Next up is Janno Reim & Kosmos with their song “Valan pisaraid” (I’m pouring tears). Did it make us want to cry? Read on to find out!

Janno Reim & Kosmos – “Valan pisaraid”

“Valan pisaraid” reviews

Robyn: I properly love this. It is reminiscent of late ’80s British shoegazer indie rock, with an enjoyable laid-back vibe. I don’t expect that “Valan pisaraid” will have much appeal to the average Eurovision fan, but for dreamy, jangly indie rock, it’s really good! And bonus points for the Estonian lyrics.

Score: 10/10

William: The opening bars of this hark back to The Smiths and R.E.M. — bands that reached their heights decades ago. Then comes a truly dated mid-section, and then an irritating, loud and largely unpleasant ending… all sung in Estonian. It’s inaccessible, stuck in the past and somewhat cheap — especially when compared to the well-produced entries that precede it. I cannot tolerate this.

Score: 1/10

Chris: Repeat listens are not kind to this song. It’s not exactly welcoming on first listen, either. It’s ultimately just not very pleasant to listen to: a bad version of an indie-rock/pop British experiment from the 90s. There’s also something very reminiscent of The La’s in this song: when your reference point is a fairly obscure British band, that’s not a good sign for your chances at Eurovision 2017.

Score: 4/10

Jason: I love the totally chillaxed indie vibes that “Valan pisaraid” is serving. I haven’t always been an advocate of “atypical” Eurovision entries, but in the past few contests I’ve found myself not only supporting the divas and ballads, but also the songs that diverge from the norm. Because different can be good too. And Janno Reim and Kosmos are good!

Score: 9/10

Bernardo: I can see the throwback appeal this song has, but like everyone knows — we are in 2016. Despite liking a good throwback to my baby days, when it comes to Eurovision I crave for current beats. The Estonian lyrics give this song a unique element no other has. However, after one minute I completely lose the interest in the song. Toilet break act in Eurovision if it wins,  but I don’t think that is going to happen.

Score: 4/10

Luis: As a 90s child, this brings memories of the soundtracks of any serial of my childhood. Like, it could be the Estonian version of the Friends theme. There’s a part of the song that reminds me of something else – “Midnight Gold”. However, “Valan pisaraid” is not even close to Nika Kocharov and the Young Georgian Lolitaz. There’s no appeal here other than nostalgia, but not everybody was born in the 90s/want to remember that decade.

Score: 2.5/10

Steinunn: Here is another song that I think is great but maybe not suitable for Eurovision, and that’s because I don’t think people will get it. It has this psychedelia aspect to it that has a rather specific appeal. I hope that Janno Reim & Kosmos will be able to reach the Estonian public through the tv screen because I think this would be an interesting contender in Kyiv.

Score: 8.5/10

Matt: This mix of psychedelia and indie is a weird concoction — they should never go together. I always give props to anyone singing in their native tongue, but they were lost in their own beat. This is just not working for me and I can’t see this going anywhere.

Score: 4/10

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 0 and a high of 10.

Wiwi Jury Verdict: 3.86/10

See our list of Eesti Laul rankings here

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