C’mon, Norwegian language! Today, the Wiwi Jury – our in-house panel of music unprofessionals continued our reviews of the songs competing in Melodi Grand Prix 2017, the national selection for Norway at Eurovision 2017 in Kyiv. Today we move on to Amina Sewali and her song “Mesterverk”, meaning “Masterpiece” in English. Is this song a masterpiece destined for the Eurovision stage? Read on to find out…

Amina Sewali – “Mesterverk”

“Mesterverk” Reviews

Jason: Thankfully “Mesterverk” gave up its ballad aspirations after the first few seconds, because it turns into a refreshingly modern tune. Amina chirps along sweetly with some unexpected little flourishes, and overall the result is actually quite pleasant and catchy. Europe might not take so well to “Mesterverk” however, as it lacks a discernible moment.

Score: 7/10

Antranig: The first few bars suggest melancholic ballad but then in quickly turns into Spotify fodder. There’s nothing interesting here — I spend the entire three minutes asking Amina to win me over and she doesn’t even seem to try. As you look back on the Norwegian selection, this is unlikely to be one of the songs you remember or even give a second thought to.

Score: 1.5/10

William: The strings and piano help this stand out from the endless (and generally anonymous) synth-pop and electro-lounge songs sweeping the airwaves. But like its contemporaries, “Mesterverk” fails to stir anything particularly emotional or memorable. In a contest that should rev viewers up, this will simply chill them out. But props for singing in Norwegian!

Score: 5.5/10

Robyn: A song like this wouldn’t be out place in Eesti Laul (only without the Norwegian lyrics, obvs). It’s one of those songs that would be perfect on a cool Spotify playlist. But as a Eurovision entry, it doesn’t quite sound entertaining enough. The staging could be the secret ingredient that pulls it all together — but it feels a bit too late for that.

Score: 6.5/10

Chris: There’s so much that could make “Mesterverk” in to a real contender, but the song never gets out of second gear. This kind of chilled lounge electronic music certainly has a market (hey, Medina) but in a Eurovision context, it barely ever works. Just a little bit more drive going in to that final chorus would do the song wonders. It’s a real shame because this could be brilliant. Instead, it’s just “good”.

Score: 6/10

Zakaria: “Mesterverk” is a modern and experimental tune, which is quite interesting but not for a competition. This would belong more as an ambient song in a fashion week’s catwalk but not the Eurovision stage. While it’s refreshing to listen to, it lacks a WOW factor that would make stand out.

Score: 4/10

Forrest: There’s great irony in a song whose title translates to “masterpiece” could be so exceedingly dull and uninspiring.  It’s difficult to find any semblance of melody, build, or even emotion here.  Three minutes of repetitive electro beat and some faintly sung lyrics hardly constitute a song – let alone a legitimate contender in this competition.

Score: 1/10

Angus: “Mesterverk” is pretty, twinkles along for three minutes and then fades off into the sunset. It starts off so promisingly, so hauntingly and then it all flatlines after the 30-second mark. Amina serves good ambience, but Norway doesn’t need ambience – it needs an avenger. She’s not getting that gig.

Score: 6/10

Our jury for Melodi Grand Prix 2017 contains 20 jurors, but we only have room for eight reviews. The remaining 12 scores are listed below.

Bernardo: 5/10

Cinan: 6/10

Dayana: 7.5/10

Edd: 1/10

Florian: 3.5/10

Jordi: 7/10

Josh: 5/10

Jovana: 8/10

Kristin: 6.5/10

Luis: 5.5/10

Sami: 5/10

Steinunn: 6/10

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 8.

WIWI JURY VERDICT: 5.25/10

See all our Melodi Grand Prix 2017 rankings here

READ MORE NORWAY EUROVISION NEWS HERE

7 Comments
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Manuel
6 years ago

Thank you for the auspicious writeup. It actually used to be a leisure account it. Look advanced to far introduced agreeable from you! By the way, how can we keep in touch?

Rich
Rich
7 years ago

The up tempo arrangement makes it sound current and fresh and Amina has a pleasant tone to her voice.

One of my favourites in this year’s selection.

Héctor
Héctor
7 years ago

I disagree. This isn’t a masterpiece but it’s between the best from the MGP.

MB
MB
7 years ago

‘There’s nothing interesting here’
aaaaaand I stop reading on from there, I’m sorry. ‘Nothing interesting’ based on your bad musical taste I reckon…

mocosuburbian
mocosuburbian
7 years ago

‘Spotify fodder’
Why is that a bad thing?

Music is the key
Music is the key
7 years ago

Love this song! Not commerical for ESC, but all the better for it!

bis
bis
7 years ago

I don’t think this song will go anywhere in the Norwegian final. Although I am happy that Amina sings in Norwegian, some of her pronunciation sounds very odd to me as a native Norwegian speaker.