Zdravo Slovenija! Slovenia is still chasing their first Eurovision victory and the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — is checking to see if Ljubljana is ready to host the contest. As we fell in love with the city and its glorious architecture, we decided to pause to evaluate Omar Naber and his Eurovision 2017 song “On My Way”. Is he on his way to victory? Read on to find out!

Omar Naber – “On My Way”

About Omar Naber

Omar Naber returns to the contest — and to Kyiv — after representing Slovenia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 in the same city. Twelve years ago he failed to reach the final with “Stop“. Since then Omar has made four attempts to right that wrong and finally did so with his Broadway-inspired number “On My Way”, which he penned himself. In April he told wiwibloggs that he entered Slovenia’s national selection to show people what he’s got — not with the expectation of wining. “I just went there to show what I can do and to show my song that I’ve been saving for ten years because it was special to me,” he said. “I think it’s very emotional and very intimate and I thought people would feel that. They would identify with it. A lot of people go through bad times, and the song itself would actually talk for them.”

“On My Way” reviews

Robyn: This is so frustrating — Omar easily has one of the best voices at Eurovision 2017, but he’s wasting it with one of the worst songs. And Eurovision is a song competition, not a singing competition. “On My Way” is so maudlin, so depressing, so dated, and not helped that at EMA he was styled like a teenage boy from the mid 2000s. Omar deserves better. He is throwing away his second shot at Eurovision with a dire song. The less I have to listen to “On My Way”, the happier I’ll be.

Score: 3/10

George: This song leaves me with mixed feelings. It’s not good, but it’s not bad either. There’s nothing to make it stand out and nothing really original. It’s a typical power ballad that builds gradually and incorporates a useless key change near the end. At the end of the day, it’s a really average song, significantly boosted by Omar’s promising voice.

Score: 5/10

Deban: Omar’s vocal flourishes are a wonder to behold. “On My Way” captures much of this vocal drama whilst retaining a very strong melody. Warm, soothing, uplifting and soaring, Omar Naber’s voice is a fine instrument, and his self-composition bears the hallmark of a modern classic.

Score: 7.5/10

William: This is so far off-Broadway that it’s in Hoboken, New Jersey. From the grammatically incorrect lyrics (“World is calling out tonight”) to the dated sound to the questionable styling, this feels beneath him. To make matters worse the uninspired bridge makes me think he has indigestion. Omar has a stellar voice. But not even that can right this oh-so-wrong song.

Score: 2.5/10

Chris: Truly dreadful. This entire package comes together to be one of the worst entries at Eurovision in the last five years. Omar’s voice is more often than not grating, whilst the song flops for three minutes of off-Broadway attempts at showboating. Entirely unmemorable and just wrong for a song contest in 2017. He’s right about one thing: he should never have come back.

Score: 2/10

Mikhail: That has too many cliches for one song. It’s like I’ve been teleported back in time and desperately want to return to 2017! Please, let me go back! This song will fight really hard for last place in the semi-final, no doubt about it.

Score: 1.5/10

Bernardo: Omar’s voice promises a lot and he delivers. The problem is that he delivers the wrong song. “On My Way” is quite dated, depressing and the production does not help it at all, as I struggle to emotionally connect with both Omar and the song. I wanted more, but I’m left with nothing but a voice.

Score: 4/10

Padraig: On my way home… am I right or am I right? There’s no way Slovenia are making the final with this mood killer. Of all the dull dirges – and there are a lot – in this year’s contest, Omar is probably singing the worst. The rhyming structure makes me cringe, but it’s ok because I’ve completely zoned out by the end of the song. And please, someone hire Omar a stylist! His national final outfit would have been straight out of the bargain bin when he first did Eurovision in 2005, let alone now.

Score: 1/10

In our Wiwi Jury, we have 38 jurors but only room for eight reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:

Anastas: 2.5/10

Andy: 3.5/10

Angus: 1.5/10

Anthony: 6/10

Antony: 3/10

Antranig: 3/10

Bogdan: 3.5/10

Dayana: 2/10

Edd: 8/10

Erdi: 2/10

Forrest: 3/10

Jacob: 9/10

Jason: 3/10

Jordi: 4/10

Josh: 2/10

Jovana: 5.5/10

Kristin: 8/10

Luis: 2.5/10

Marek: 1/10

Matt: 3.5/10

Natalie: 1.5/10

Patrick: 4/10

Renske: 4/10

Rezo: 3/10

Sami: 1/10

Sinan: 5.5/10

Stanislav: 6/10

Steinunn: 3.5/10

Tobias: 1/10

Zakaria: 1.5/10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 9.

Wiwi Jury verdict: 3.44/10

What do you think of this song? Share your own score and review below!

See our current Eurovision 2017 reviews and rankings

47 Comments
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Tom
Tom
6 years ago

Definitely my last placed entry this year. While I think saying its the worse song in the last five years is a bit harsh (when comparing to Latvia 2013, Georgia 2014, Montenegro 2016, etc), it is certainly one of the most boring entries since Belgium’s “Would You”.
Score: 1

Pablo
Pablo
6 years ago

You thought Spain’s jury was bad? Omar said he wrote the song 10 years ago and waited until now to submit it to EMA. I believe him. People wonder why others use “dated” as a bad thing, but said others have some sort of validation when used to describe On My Way. This song just drags on and on without any hook or memorable moment, and falling right into the filler of a knockoff of a Broadway knockoff, to the point it could be considered background music I feel sorry for the 13,000 people (almsot two and a half more… Read more »

Rich
Rich
6 years ago

I am one out of a few who really likes “On My Way” it is certainly growing on me, it also has a classic melody and feel to it which i like. It is one of many other songs this year that i would describe as “Marmite” you either “love it” or “hate it”.

Omar certainly has the voice and personality to transform the song on the bigger stage in the semi finals, who knows….I believe with the right staging this has the potential to surprise and be a shock qualifier.

Magpie
Magpie
6 years ago

He wrote this song himself?

Perhaps he should have had it looked over by someone else. I’m already mistaking the first two lines of the chorus as:

“On my way, I’m never gonna crap
And I’ll pray you’re never gonna crap”

cheesecake
cheesecake
6 years ago

This is SO bad, I absolutely HATE listening to this. 1.5 for me and definitely my last place.

(#No One)
(#No One)
6 years ago

It seems that I’m in the minority of the fans that actually like Slovenia’s song..
It’s atmospheric & emotional ballad..
My score: 7/10 – My rank:14th/42

~ 8,0: Israel(5th) – Latvia(7th)
~ 7,5: Poland(9th) – UK(10th)
~ 7,5: Iceland(11th)
~ 7,0: Malta(12th) – Denmark(13th)
~ 7,0: Slovenia(14th)
~ 6,5: Netherland(20th) – Greece(24th)
~ 6,0: Montenegro(25th) – Serbia(32th)
~ 5,0: Germany(36th) – Spain(37th)
~ 3,5: Belarus(40th)
~ 1,5: Norway(42th)

Sash Animenkos
Sash Animenkos
6 years ago

Thank you, Deban, for being so positive.
Even if a song is not very up-to-date, there is no need to be so cruel.
Take away all the money and the posh staging from Sergey Lazarev’s “You Are the Only One” and you’ll get Omar Naber’s “On My Way”.

Joe
Joe
6 years ago

2.5/10

Zebb
Zebb
6 years ago

It was revealed that ‘classic’ version were preferred over rocky. Sorry, but you can’t take ballad and not even deflate ten years’ dust. I wrote this while enjoying Nuska’s flowers again #SorryNotSorry

Erasmus
Erasmus
6 years ago

Hmm.. I will rank this the same as Malta’s entry : 5/10. Which is not good, but not bad as well. I can say that those who give this song 2 or 1 or something as low is just nonsense! His voice great as Claudia’s is the song os dated so yeah it’s 5/10. I would rather see Raiven, Nika or BQL for Slovenia, cause they would all be in my top 10, but it is what it is ! maybe next year Slovenia!

Héctor
Héctor
6 years ago

Yes, Omar has a good voice, but that isn’t enough! ‘On My Way’ is really dated and would have fit better in his first attemp in 2005. I also prefer the first version over this revamped one. It’s almost impossible for Slovenia to qualify and I predict a placement between 15-18th in its semi.

They had BQL, whose song was fresh, modern, catchy and radiofriendly. Wrong decision there.

Slovenia is currently my 38th. 3/10

Hada
Hada
6 years ago

Bless his heart.

Cf
Cf
6 years ago

LOL. 8 points from Edd. I’m not even surprised by that. His taste from last year just shows how “unique” he is, in a bad way.

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
6 years ago

I quite like it but that is more because it is my personal musical taste (I do love the theatre!). There is nothing wrong with Omar’s voice. He is very capable and the song is well-written with the right builds and the big notes where they should be.
I think it will do better than a lot of people expect. There is an appetite for this kind of entry and I can see it getting some Eastern European points. It will do better than last year’s Slovenian entry I think.

Roelof Meesters
Roelof Meesters
6 years ago

What may have been the most promising Slovenian NF ever, it became 50% worse when Amaya withdrew, there stille where some very strong songs (Heart Of Gold, Zazarim and others) but they decided, hey, in 2015 we had the best song ever created, so now let’s ruin our reputation again after 2016. This entry isn’t even trying, and with Czech Republic the batlle for the last place in SF1 is going to be tight. I love his voice, but the song is flat and awfull. I amn’t going to waste any moere words on this.

2/10

Donna Vey
Donna Vey
6 years ago

There are quite a few other things here to correct I’d be happy to point out though — but I can be in touch via email.

(I did email once before both to the wiwi address and William’s and never received a reply.)

Donna Vey
Donna Vey
6 years ago

Hi Robyn, Thanks for replying here to me. (I really like your articles by the way; my comment about proofreading was purely constructive and I’d be delighted to join the team, I’ve actually wanted to for a number of years but always thought you were full already). As for the correction to Omar’s quotation: “I think it’s very emotional and very intimate and I thought people would feel that. They would identity with it. A lot of people go through bad times, and the song itself would actually talk for them.” I think it should be “they would *identify with… Read more »

Colin
Colin
6 years ago

@Robyn – Thank you 🙂 I was honestly thinking about applying. I love ESC, regularely follow all events and finals. Also, I think my liking of many slow tempo songs might add a new voice to an already amazing team. Would you be pro that idea?

Mar
Mar
6 years ago

My biggest problem with the song is the lyrics, they sound so childish, like a little boy running away from home and saying goodbye to his mom. Obviously this clashes with his image (although he could bare to buy a suit). I thought the live version in Slovenia had a lot of power, but the revamp is so disastrous, it makes the song flat as a pancake even with the key change.
The grammar is quite alright for Eurovision standards, he was just missing an article in that sentence William provided. We have worse offenders this year, like Moldova.

AngieP
AngieP
6 years ago

One of the weakest entries this year!

Omar is a good singer, no doubt! But he needed the right song! And it’s not the right song!

I’ll give it a 3.5!

Vladimir P.
Vladimir P.
6 years ago

I think the Wiwi jury is too harsh on Omar and his song. I like it. Greetings from Serbia

Adam
Adam
6 years ago

I feel so bad for him. He deserves a better song, but this song is truly dated (a word I used sparingly because of how often haters use that to describe any song they don’t like), and not in the good way.

Voice: 9/10
Song: 1/10

Donna Vey
Donna Vey
6 years ago

Or as Robyn would say: “This so frustrating!”

🙂

Donna Vey
Donna Vey
6 years ago

Wiwibloggs needs a good proofreader, especially when articles are presenting incorrect spelling mistakes and that are not sic in quotations from contestants. I’d happily volunteer to join the team to do this.

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
6 years ago

Well, I’m not surprised. The original version has some emotion in it, but that tragic revamped version leaves no qualities at all in this song. The lyrics are so cringey, with predictable rhymes and clichés all the way. Poor sis Omar will probably come last in the semi…

Iberian
Iberian
6 years ago

I don’t care about the song that much. He’s too hot. Eurovision’s next top model (after the rapper from Romania).

Leo M
Leo M
6 years ago

This would have been fine back in 2005. He has a good voice but this song is so dated and sounds like many other ballads we have heard so many times over the years. Slovenia could very well finish last in semi final 1

Eve
Eve
6 years ago

Actually, this is added to my playlist of singing under the shower songs 😛

Eve
Eve
6 years ago

Come on, it’s not that bad, or maybe I have a thing for kitsch ballads like this 😛 Omar and Claudia are not so low on my list at all 😀 Besides, I love how he acts confidently on stage and sings with emotions.. And I’ll praaaaaaay I’m never gonna crack.. Cheers!

quentin
quentin
6 years ago

Oh, is this the guy who did to a girl what Trump said in that bus.

Colin
Colin
6 years ago

@ESCFinland – There is something in there of what you said. The song itself is a nice Broadway ballad. Kind of which I usually enjoy a lot. Omar undoubtely has a great voice, but he approaches this so clinically and with no passion. You cannot feel his angst when he goes ‘on his way’. It’s also up to debate whether this song was even meant to sound inspirational or depressive. Regardless of the result in Kiev, this seams to be the most hated song in the contest according to Eurofans. I don’t hate it, but for the reason mentioned above,… Read more »

James
James
6 years ago

I wonder if “On My Way” will become the “Kuula” of 2017: Shredded alive by the Wiwiwjurors yet slayed its way to the final (and despite Estonia 2012’s qualification, there was not a lot of love still for it from this site).

It’s gonna be interesting once either or both this and “Breathlessly” qualifies.

Karl
Karl
6 years ago

Good singer? He sounds off key the entire time. I can safely say his national final performance is one of the worst performances, in or out of Eurovision, I’ve ever seen

Racal
Racal
6 years ago

The song is not THAT terrible. As a ballad I actually think it’s better than Georgia and the UK. But yeah, overall I agree that it has a 99% of finishing last in its semi…

I’m also glad I’m not the only one who questionned his clothing during the national final. In my hometown, people dressed like that are the ones who will mug you to steal your phone.

Maria
Maria
6 years ago

been in*, sorry

Maria
Maria
6 years ago

Edd, Kristin, Jacob and Deban are the only ones I can relate to. I really like this song because I’ve also been to a bad time recently. Therefore the lyrics appeal to me. Also, Omar’s voice is just wonderful. He definitely has a lot of experience. I hope he still manages to win over lots of people so he can end up somewhere between 15-8 in the semi instead of dead last. Maybe it’s a dark horse, who knows.

ESCFinland
ESCFinland
6 years ago

I’d say that the Slovenian entry’s more like a dire singer with a great song. You just can’t see the power in it. But because he doesn’t sing very well, the entry’s barely included in my top10 either.

M_K
M_K
6 years ago

Personal rating: I don’t think that this is as bad as most people say. Yes, the song is dated and Omar confirms various clichés (both musically and lyrically), but he seems to do it in an honest way. When he sings the chorus, I do feel a little spark, it just doesn’t ignite a fire due to its overall simplicity. 5/10 Prediction: I am going to take a wild guess here and predict that this is going to be this year’s shock qualifier (which would be kinda ironic since in 2005, “Stop” was one of the most beloved entries of… Read more »

Tomás Patrick davitt
Tomás Patrick davitt
6 years ago

Lololol @ Robyn, William, padriag and Chris

Digital Style
Digital Style
6 years ago

The revamp of this song has definitely changed my opinion of this song. It’s suddenly a lot more raw, and Omar’s voice is brought out better. I unfortunately do not see this qualifying, which is sad because, had there not been so many good songs in SF1, I would have definitely liked it to.

(J)ESC Fanatic
(J)ESC Fanatic
6 years ago

I don’t think it’s that bad, to be honest… It’s an OK ballad. Very cliché and dated, but not horrible. That being said, by no means should he have won the national final. I feel sad for him because he will soon be labeled as the Eurovision participant who competed twice and failed to qualify both times. And I also feel sad for Slovenia. Their qualifying streak ended so fast…

6/10

Troy
Troy
6 years ago

“bears the hallmark of a modern classic” lol. Nice one Deban.

Lukewarm
Lukewarm
6 years ago

This is currently last on my list and that is well deserved. Three minutes of depression and cringe.

02 NOR | 04 UK | 11 SRB | 14 DEN | 16 POL | 19 LAT | 20 ICE | 26 NLD
27 BLR | 33 MNE | 34 ISR | 36 GER | 37 MLT | 38 ESP | 42 *SVN*

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
6 years ago

I feel really sorry for Omar. He is a great singer (as I heard in London), but this song… oh dear! I know he wrote it himself, and it means a lot to him, but it just doesn’t work for me. I agree with most of the reviews in the above article. 2/10, and a bout of sickness. 🙁

azaad
azaad
6 years ago

guess Claudia feels better now.

Kostka
Kostka
6 years ago

3.44… Too high for such horrible song.

DragonairZ
DragonairZ
6 years ago

Deserves lower.