Bonjour! The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — has landed in Paris. We are ready to sink our teeth into a baguette filled with camembert, but also into Alma‘s Eurovision 2017 song “Requiem”. Does her “Requiem” give us life…or just scream “dead on arrival”? Read on to find out…
Alma – “Requiem”
About Alma
Alexandra Maquet (28), known professionally as Alma, is a French singer and songwriter who has signed with Warner Music France. She was internally selected to represent her country at Eurovision 2017 with the song “Requiem”, which was penned by Nazim Khaled, the same writer who is responsible for the 2016 French entry “J’ai cherche”. Somewhat controversially, she decided to sing a bilingual version for Eurovision, adding juste un petit peu d’anglais to a part of the chorus. “My song is really about enjoying every second that you have, ’cause we’re all mortal, life passes by really fast, and I think what’s saved me through the dark moments that I’ve been through was love, and my boyfriend, and my family and friends,” she told us in London in April. “This is how I live my life. I love people so much that I’m happy.”
“Requiem” reviews
Jason: “Requiem” proves that France is one again on form. Alma’s sexy yet sweet vocals flutter over the beat and transport the listener to a chic Parisian bar. The revamp sounds clunky to my ears, but the inclusion of English ultimately makes the track more accessible. Alma’s live performances have greatly improved, so France has every reason to be hopeful this year. Bon travail.
Score: 9/10
Chris: The charm and sophistication of the original, wholly French version has been stripped away in an attempt at appealing to a wider audience. Does that work at Eurovision, though? In some ways, it’s better to be the number one of some than the number five of many. I suspect that live, the stop-start transition to English won’t be as jarring. Alma is a talented performer who seems to be growing in confidence. I still truly like this entry, but I wonder what could have been.
Score: 7/10
Robyn: “Requiem” is exactly the sort of song that ends up in the French singles chart — and all going well, it will appeal to more than just French listeners. But as much as I enjoy listening to it, it’s just not especially memorable. I struggle to recall its chorus in either language. “Requiem” has an enjoyably breezy style, but I’d love something a bit more substantial.
Score: 6.5/10
Padraig: Indila might have ruled herself out of Eurovision long ago, but, by sending Alma, France are giving us the next best thing. Like her compatriot, Alma weaves a pop spell that, while breezy, leaves a lasting impression. There’s a lightness of touch that allows her to swerve effortlessly from the foreboding instrumental intro to the uplifting English-language chorus. Despite lacking the instant appeal of “J’ai cherché”, France should still expect a respectable result. Essentially, whereas requiem is traditionally a word associated with death, “Requiem” gives me life.
Score: 8/10
Deban: “Requiem” is light, breezy, and packs a surprising punch. Alma’s vocal delivery is effortless. Distinctly French yet so relatable, France is proving yet again that it’s taking Eurovision seriously. Clearly the strongest of the Big 5, and perhaps one of the most commercial entries this year, “Requiem” is the love song that deserves to peak in the top ten.
Score: 7.5/10
William: Intoxicating from the first note until the last, “Requiem” is high art with a pop sensibility. Alma’s breathy vocals ooze sweetness and light, yet have a sexy edge that sets tongues wagging. The philosophical lyrics accept that life is fleeting, but recognise that love and its memory live on — encouraging us to make the most of the time we share: “Tonight I’m finally not afraid, I know that I will still love you when the world is turning no more.” And I, Alma, will still love you and your song.
Score: 8.5/10
Antony: France is definitely heading in the right direction at Eurovision with another quality song. The rhythm in undeniably French and Alma has a gentle voice that makes the song quite catchy and pleasant. The music video is captivating and if it can be remotely replicated on stage in Kyiv, it will serve the country well this year.
Score: 7/10
Forrest: “Requiem” is remarkable in that it manages to be both dramatic while retaining an almost summery feel. The revamp did well to add a bit of weight with some heavier strings, but the song remains light, fresh with a wonderful feel-good vibe. The offbeat instrumentation can be a bit jarring at first, but “Requiem” quickly develops a rhythm of its own, and Alma’s vocals wind through the track as elegantly as the music video’s dancers up the side of Parisian buildings. This simply oozes class and will undoubtedly provide France with another strong showing in Kyiv.
Score: 8.5/10
In our Wiwi Jury, we have 38 jurors but only room for eight reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:
Anastas: 10/10
Andy: 7/10
Angus: 9/10
Anthony: 7.5/10
Antranig: 9.5/10
Bernardo: 7.5/10
Bogdan: 6.5/10
Dayana: 10/10
Edd: 9/10
Erdi: 8/10
George: 6/10
Jacob: 9/10
Jordi: 8/10
Josh: 7.5/10
Jovana: 8.5/10
Kristin: 6.5/10
Luis: 9/10
Marek: 8.5/10
Matt: 8/10
Mikhail: 9.5/10
Natalie: 8.5/10
Patrick: 8.5/10
Renske: 6.5/10
Rezo: 8/10
Sami: 7/10
Sinan: 8.5/10
Stanislav: 9/10
Steinunn: 6.5/10
Tobias: 6/10
Zakaria: 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 6 and a high of 10.
Wiwi Jury verdict: 7.92/10
What do you think of this song? Share your own score and review below!
See our current Eurovision 2017 reviews and rankings
*BUY THE ALMA EMBRASSE-MOI SHIRT IN WHITE
*BUY THE ALMA EMBRASSE-MOI SHIRT IN RED, BLUE AND OTHER COLOURS
@William Lee Adams Where is the video about your review of Alma ?
I KNOW right!? they skipped it!
🙁 No need video. She will be in the top 5. I hope.
My goodness, the video release is even slower than the French electoral process! 😛
This is a great modern song, a song that can be presented in a lovely way, fingers crossed Alma’s team has a big surprise on stage.
Alma needs to gain confidence and be on point vocally in both jury final and televoting night.
I believe this is a better song than J’ai Cherche but it will be very difficult to get a higher than 6th position (unless she nails it live). But it has potential.
Well done France and Alma!
Just UPLOAD THE VIDEO already!
I really enjoy this song that my country sent, we are very lucky with Alma’s song and Amir’s song though I stay careful. The staging, the interpretation, the draw, some luck too so again careful. I hope a top 15 and at the best a top ten. All will happen in Kiev. Thanks for all the support with your comments, it was also interesting to read the comments which don’t like or have no interest in our entry, good luck to your artists too. And a message to Alma if she reads this blog : Profite de ta soirée prends… Read more »
I cannot like this entry. It is reminiscent of the cheap latin sounds that abound in Spain, Portugal and Latin America (which I dislike) only packed with a”cool” wrap made of slick and rich rhythms and a real cool image of Alma to make it palatable to the urbanites. Sure, I do get it that it can be fun for three minutes in a popular street party in the Summer, but so can many other more genuine songs. It tries to reflect Stromae’s work, but remains in million of miles of distance – flat chorus, uninspired, non-genuine, and no build… Read more »
Cool entry with effortlessly blended gorgeousity of sound and swingy dance rhythm. Even english chorus didn’t ruin it for me because of singer that easily carries it. Firstly I was a little bit confused with her attempt at Kyiv NF, but then she made more perfomances and quickly evaporated my doubts. I can imagine this song in some other genres which only adds value. Let’s hope for better stage.
Mon numero 6. | 7. Norway | 8. NL
For fans that hate the english lyrics, you must know the context.
France is accused of being extremely imperialist when it comes to language and culture in general.
English lyrics were necessary, not only for this song, but because France needed to show that is an open country.
Which would be fine if:
A) They wrote the song as bilingual like they did last year or like Croatia did this year.
B) They managed to find virtually the same lyrics in English and Alma actually pronounced them with a proper English (or American/Irish/Canadian/Australian) accent.
I will admit that her live performance is an upgrade from studio version.
Apologies, but no amount of “context” or “understanding” can change the fact that these English lyrics read like they have come out of Google Translate. In attampting to appeal to English speakers, this song in fact does the exact opposite and makes us think “WTF.” I would also point out that songs in English from other countries have either not made this mistake, or they have gone out of their way to correct such mistakes; therefore it makes France look particularly bad. Estonia’s song (“Verona”) actually contained a few grammatical mistakes that were corrected, and Greece changed a key lyric… Read more »
You know a song’s good when you don’t have anything creative to say about it. Alma’s ‘Requiem’ is a fine piece of music; it hits all the right moods in the right places; It’s subtle but not out-of-reach; It’s original but not monotonous; frankly, it’s perfect – almost. It’s only flaw is the English chorus, whose light and cheerful lyrics seems a bit out-of-place from what the music’s suggesting; it feels like a misplaced counter-melody. I don’t mind it much, but the chorus could have been modified to fit the music better. Final rating : 8/10 BTW : Congrats to… Read more »
And it’s another hit in the park for France! Even way before their new renaissance with Amir, and besides a very close 2015, they have been on my top 10 non-missing since 2009. France, despite overall belief, has constantly done it right in my book, seding an array of genres with have all been great, and Alma is no exception to that rule. While, as with Amir, I prefer the past version, I have grown with this offering, the English is good, (I personally would have ended the chorus with only “Cette la beauté de un requiem” [sorry French readers]… Read more »
I have to say, I preferred the original in 100% Français. But still, I love this so much! I play it a few times a day. The lyrics are moody but the music is so uplifting! Not to mention the video is one of my favourites too. It’s not as good as Je Cherché was last year (But cmon Amir Haddad is my Bae) but I still think this song is amazing and France will get another Top 10 in Kyiv. Loving their Eurovision renaissance these past 2 years. Looking forward to seeing Almas staging. 9/10 and currently 3rd in… Read more »
I can see this winning more than Italy! France is the strongest of the big 5 most years
I actually see a scenario when this wins… Not because it gets the most 12 points, but for getting decent score for most countries, while other contenders, such as Italy may end up getting much lower scores than expected from a number of countries, which gave them 12 points in OGAE. In any case, top 3 for me–I liked the French only because it added a level of mystery and left more to the imagination…. She really is so likeable, fresh, multi-cultural, beautiful that she creates magic. Requiem really transports me in a timeless Paris where romantic love changes the… Read more »
Seeing that the lowest score of 38 jurors is a six metls my heart, she totally deserves it.
Definitely top-10 material. They should have kept all of the original music, rather than tweak it for the contest. If you try to make something more mainstream-friendly, it could backfire. Consider Albania’s 2014 and 2016 entries. Methinks they should have kept it all French.
I really like this song, and now that I’m used to the part in English I like it almost as before. Not in my top 3 but definetly in my top 10 (in some moments even top 5).
I’m sure I’m gonna listen to it even after May.
Bravo Alma! :)))
Oh, so close to an eight. This isn’t my favourite Alma song, but it is undeniably beautiful and jarring. Alma is a really nice girl and her personality shines through on stage. Definite top ten finish in my opinion.
This song has so many different versions available to listen to, and all of them are good. For the purposes of this review, I’m going to stick to just the official Eurovision version, i.e. this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Koi36aeRv7I This key is B minor throughout. B minor is a key often chosen for heavy Christian religious works such as masses, and a “Requiem” can also mean a “mass for the dead.” Some musicologists also describe this key as the “key of death” – it is chilling. Even before Verse 1 starts, we hear a triangle and a piano sounding a dark B minor… Read more »
I like your reviews 🙂 I’m not a music expert but I think that these chord progressions and the orchestration make “Requiem” haunting, actually more haunting for me than the supposedly dark song from Poland… The chords, the instruments and the rhythm in Alma’s song make me think of a danse macabre, and in a good way!
Thank you. 🙂
There was a “Danse Macabre” written in 1874 by Camille Saint-Saens; it is one of my favourite classical pieces of music! That’s more for Halloween though. 🙂
Alma’s “Requiem” feels to me more like the aftermath (or prelude) to a terrible tragedy. My Mother watched the video and told me the empty streets of Paris symbolised the aftermath of the Paris terror attacks; once that idea is there, the whole song makes sense to me (except for the English lyrics).
Had they kept it in all-French, it would probably rank around fifth. Still an elegant song elevated by an even more elegant singer. Alma has defied all the negative expectations at the start and has blown us away with her live performances. 01 | 02 Norway | 03 | 04 United Kingdom | 05 Austria 06 Albania | 07 | 08 Bulgaria | 09 | *10 France* 11 Serbia | 12 Sweden | 13 | 14 Denmark | 15 Moldova 16 Poland | 17 Portugal | 18 Latvia | 19 Cyprus | 20 Iceland 21 Azerbaijan | 22 Australia |… Read more »
Go France! Paris isn’t that far away from Belgium 😉
We love Alma…
PARIS 2018…..??????????????????
@sniper13
If somone is cheap its Italy.
b o r i n g
This song gives me life!! To be honest it doesn’t have the instant effect of “j’ai cherché”. When I listened to the last year’s entry I immediately thought “This is perfection!Nothing is wrong in this song” I didn’t have the same reaction with “Requiem” at first listen. At second listen, I got it! And I loved it! I prefered the original French version! In the revamp they improved the instrumental parts though I was not a fan of the english chorus. However, now it doens’t bother me. And it’s making the meaning more accessible to a wider audience! This shows… Read more »
I always like mixing languages. It gives the track a somewhat surreal quality. All of a sudden you hear these words you recognize and start to wonder if you just misheard something. And then they’re gone.
Being just the right amount of ‘out of place’ is the key to capture the imagination.
Well deserved score here, one of my favorites and it will definitely be top 10 if staged right.
I think they took away most of this song’s charm and quality by adding these useless English lyrics… I hate it when countries treat their songs like a piece of Ikea furniture and just switch bits like that. If you want to sing in English, write a song in English right from the beginning (that’s what Amir did last year, partly, and the “youhouhou” perfectly fitted his song), but don’t just switch/translate parts like that. Now there’s something very unnatural in the way she switches from French to English, and the new lyrics don’t add any value. The song is… Read more »
France is not one of my favourites but the track does feel fresh and modern I preferred it in all French because the English parts sounds like it doesn’t belong and I don’t have high hopes for their staging. I don’t think it will be a top 10 finish and will place somewhere on the high right-hand side of the scoreboard.
bla bla bla you think bad
Leo, I agree with the English part being a potentially bad decision, but I don’t agree with the no-top10 placement. I believe France will be easily placed in the top10 this year, along with Italy, Portugal, Bulgaria and Sweden.
France deserve a place that should have take last year….a top-5 one
Ooohhh!! Almost an 8!!
C’mon, Wiwi Jury! Give us an 8! XD
This is the best song of the year, 10/10 and i hope she wins!
???????????????????????? #Paris2018
I agree!!! I hope paris 2018, we cross our fingers, all is possible, Italy has not already won
I think she is able to eat the ape lol, Paris2018 yes she can
robyn is cheap, she does blatant favoritism, she makes angry many people because of her pathetics comments in her cheap articles so #robynoutofwiwibloggs
Well I absolutely adore Robyn!! Well she is a juror so she has to rate songs she likes high and ones she doesn’t low and frankly most of her ratings are close to mine.
So please keep your distasteful comments to yourself.
Hey I like Robyn! I enjoy her insight!
#CouldntDisagreeMore
OMG, are we arrived so low at attacking jurors and writers only because they are not liking our favourites? Get a life and grow up people.
I’m gonna give Robyn tons of love now (even if she’s gonna demolish my favourite; I don’t care). <3
Here here!
all the reviews and comments from robyn are so pathetics, I hate and contempt her
I LOVE how exciting Wiwibloggs is making the reveal of their votes. Especially because towards the end, it’s only the bookies favorites that are still left. Not sure why Estonia has been left this late. Secretly hoping Estonia will finish first like Goodbye to Yeaterday did two years ago but in my heart I know that ain’t going to happen. I wouldn’t be surprised to see either France or Belgium too Italy though.
Considering of all the remaining songs left, I have a feeling it’s going to be in the 7-7.25 range. If any song that will reach 8 or higher, it’ll probably be Belgium or Italy.
I loved it so much from the beginning when they released it. I think, that the french version is still better – the english lyrics are pretty unnecessary for this song and after a month I’m little bit tired of it – maybe I listened it too many times? Anyway it’s still a good entry and I hope it will get a good place in the final. 7/10
Glad to see France back on track, well done! Catchy rhytm, charming French vibe, beautiful video, beautiful charismatic Alma makes that song really stands above the rest. Her performance and stage presence is captivating, fingers crossed to perform very best in Kiev 🙂 Generally, I don’t like bilingual songs, but I understand impact on wider audience, so it is forgiven 🙂 Second thing which I like very much about this song is lyrics. One can ask why title ”Requiem” for love song? When you look closely into lyrics, you see that song celebrates love and to live your moment now… Read more »
For me its a 2/10
the song reminds me of Stromae, which i really like, i Always love the French language
but yeah it’s fresh, modern yet it is still a bit classy 9.0/10
Unsurprisingly, this has no haters at all. A great song with a very French vibe and a hammering beat. Radio-friendly but Eurovision-friendly as well. Although I prefer the original version, I’ve gotten used to the bilingual one as well. I really want France to do very well.
Nice song but not exactly exciting.
The English was not a good idea. She can perform live, though!
This is very cute and puts me in a good mood.
7.5/10
It’s an 8 for me. Would have been a 9 if Alma didn’t go all “No Degree Of Separation” with the language switch.
Yet another one like Azerbaijan I think has a rating way too high.
I’ll propably never get this one as this is more like pain in my ears.
I liked the original one, this one… Not really.
Overrated. 6.5/10
8/10
The French-English studio version is terrible, but she can make it work live.
Yass Alma! Slay the rest! Top of the wiwijury (I know Italy and Belgium will likely top her but let me pay tribute to la Reine Alma).
Can I just how rare it is to have a song get as its lowest score 6? She’s doing something right.
The original French version was easily a 9/10. I loved how nonchalant it carries out such a dark theme. It is very easy-going and heavy at the same time. Then, the revamp happened and injected the chorus with English lyrics which come out of nowhere and due to Alma’s mispronunciation cannot be completely understood without a translation. I hear ”Pillow super-skies” instead of ”Below silver skies”. ”Tell me that you love me” part at the end also seems quite out of place. I still love this song to a degree, but so far, I cannot give it more than a… Read more »
I hear “lighter is the light”
Same here: I can’t understand everything she says in English (and French is my mothertongue!).
Agreed on the English lyrics. I love the “darkness” in the music though, and the re-orchestration in the re-vamp is of a very high quality.
What was interesting was that at the London Eurovision Party, Alma got one of the loudest cheers!! She’s so likeable that even the English love her! (That’s quite rare for a French entry here.) I think France will do quite well in the final.
The song is basically still good and it does deserve a high score. Along with Italy and UK. I know that recently only one of ‘Big 5’ manages to nab top 10, but this year three of them.deserve to. I am bummed about the re-vamp, but live version indeed sounds way better than studio and Alma can deliver a good live. I am starting to think I should give it an 8.
I agree about how fresh and breezy it sounds. I really enjoy the song and it has a big french vibe. I found english lyrics very cheesy, but yeah overral I think this is the best song from big 5! Im giving it a 7/10.
I don’t know… I can’t have a clear like or dislike for this…
I only can’t accept the English addings, they seem “out of place”. Quite stereotypycal for a French entry, but I wish her the best!
6.0/10
I can’t rank this higher, even if I’d like to.
Love it
10/10
Deban: “Requiem” is ….. Clearly the strongest of the Big 5.
Deban doesn’t like Italy so much. Can’t wait that review.
Yes, I noticed that in the videos.
The good sis is in denial if he thinks Occidentali’s Karma isn’t the strongest entry not only out of the big 5, but in the entire year. But hey, reality checks for the OFH are coming in less than 3 weeks 😀
I hope the juries ruin Italy’s trash once again and then I’ll be the happiest person on Earth.
Why post such an ugly comment? I really don’t understand these people. It’s EuroVision, the time when we all come together to celebrate music.
This year, particularly, has been disgusting.
You have absolutely right. ESC now seems like a battlefield meaning to shout hate to each other.