Grab your pastizzi, darlings! Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2017, the national selection for Malta at Eurovision 2017 will take place on 18 February. But before then, the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — will be reviewing and rating all sixteen competing entries. Today we move onto Kevin Borg with his song “Follow”. Does this Swedish Idol have what it takes to become Malta’s next Eurovision superstar? Read on to find out…

Kevin Borg – “Follow”

“Follow” reviews

Deban: No one should doubt the singing abilities and vocal talent of Kevin Borg. With a No.1 single, a gold album, and lead roles in musicals under his belt, he is undoubtedly a star where it matters, i.e Sweden. However, his entry for the Malta national selection spells a poor choice. “Follow” is a MOR adult-pop/rock number that wouldn’t stand tall enough to be an album filler, let alone a song for Europe. Kevin’s star potential may not be in question here, but nonetheless, “Follow” isn’t in the running for song victory in his native homeland.

Score:4/10

Zakaria: Am I the only one getting some major Backstreet Boys vibes with “Follow”? To put it in other words, I was expecting more from one of the country’s biggest pop stars but instead we get an old-fashioned 90s ballad that I totally forgot while writing this review. If Malta wants to stay in the semi-final this year, they should send this song.

Score: 4/10

Robyn: Kevin has such a good voice, so it’s a little heartbreaking that the song isn’t of similar quality. It’s not a bad song — and the dramatic structure brings a lot — but there’s just nothing amazing about it. Still, Kevin brings a lot to the performance and no doubt elevates the song beyond just an ordinary ballad. It’s still good and he might win MESC with it, but it could just be so much better.

Score: 7/10

William: From Swedish Idol to Maltese bore, Kevin really underwhelms with this one. The first minute is promising and I thought he was setting us up for something huge and moving. But instead it’s just more clichés — lyrically and musically. The bridge seeks to turn this into an anthem, but they’d have to clap rul, rul loud to wake me up.

Score: 4/10

Chris: In every way, Kevin should be the type of act any Eurofan would desperately want to win MESC. He nearly wins me over with “Follow”, but then the pre-chorus just ruins it. This song belongs in the last decade and would, I suspect, struggle if it went to Kyiv. It’s a shame that someone so talented seems to constantly end up with such underwhelming entries.

Score: 5.5/10

Josh: I was absolutely stoked to see Kevin Borg returning to MESC this year as I am such a fan of his amazing voice, but “Follow” is such a let down. A ballad would’ve been perfect for Kevin if it had a hook, however it unfortunately comes across as repetitive, thoughtless and forgettable. Please come back another year, Kevin, with a song that will win this competition for you. We love you!

Score: 4.5/10

Luis: I was hoping for Kevin to follow the Ira Losco formula: winning with a boring song and then change it to something decent. Alas, that can’t happen anymore. He might be Malta’s biggest superstar, but his song is bland and lame. There are some Disney musical vibes, but they are so subsided in this lame composition. Kevin’s voice wins me over, but his song is the definition of disposable. He’d get the exact same score if he was reciting the grocery list.

Score: 4/10

Our jury for the 2017 Malta Eurovision Song Contest contains 14 jurors, but we only have room for seven reviews. The remaining seven scores are listed below.

Antranig: 1/10

Bernardo: 6.5/10

Dayana: 7/10

Forrest: 3/10

George: 7/10

Jordi: 7.5/10

Ramadan: 5/10

 

 

 

 

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 1 and a high of 7.5.

Wiwi Jury Verdict: 5.13/10

See our list of MESC 2017 rankings here

Read more Malta Eurovision news here

11 Comments
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tween
tween
7 years ago

When I saw his name shortlisted within the 60 songs in the second phase I was super excited to hear his song but while listening to it after the first time I was so dissapointed 🙁 The same happened with Claudia Faniello :'( I thought their songs were super winning songs. Only Brooke satisfied me…her song is the most competitive one.

Davve
Davve
7 years ago

I hope he wins! Kevin is a great performer!!

Chance
Chance
7 years ago

I can’t decide what I hate more. His face or the song.

Anouska
Anouska
7 years ago

While I’m a Kevin Borg fan, I have to agree with the Wiwi reviewers – sadly, it’s a snoozefest of a song.

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

I like this song but it would stand no chance at Eurovision. It’s just too ordinary and forgettable to stand out. It will probably do well in Malta because Kevin is really popular there and it may even win, but then it would tank in Kyiv.

Colin
Colin
7 years ago

It’s not the best Maltese ballad, but it is good. I’d prefer Kevin to Brooke, although we all know who will probably score over 7.

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
7 years ago

The inferior ‘Follow’ song in this selection. Banal and uneventful in every way. I thought you guys would give him higher scores, but I’m pleased to see we all agree 🙂

AngieP
AngieP
7 years ago

It’s not that bad. I kind of like this song.
It’s a bit flat though, it doesn’t have progress.

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
7 years ago

It’s not that bad.

Cube
Cube
7 years ago

True

FACT
FACT
7 years ago

Again…