We kicked off our trip to Latvia yesterday, with the start of our Supernova 2018 Wiwi Jury. Today, we continue by reviewing Ritvars, with his song “Who’s Counting”.
Ritvars is a man of many talents. He’s got a law degree, works in IT communications and does voice acting as well. His song, “Who’s Counting”, is based on his experience with his son after a divorce.
Ritvars — “Who’s Counting”
“Who’s Counting” Reviews
Bernardo: “Who’s Counting” is easily a standout in this year’s Supernova. Ritvars’ voice gets you with every note and keeps you captivated from start to finish. Combining a bit of jazz with a well produced backing track, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this winning easily.
Score: 8/10
Edgars: You can really feel that Ritvars wrote this song with some deep memories and feelings. That’s the only positive you can find in this track, though. It’s the only song of Supernova that can’t stay in my mind, even for a minute. It’s a nice try for Ritvars’ first time, but it’s likely we’ll only see you the once.
Score: 4/10
Robyn: This song is so intriguing. In places, it feels loose and jazzy and improvised, and yet in other places, it’s strong and structured. The minimalist production lets Ritvars’ voice shine through, conveying so much emotion as the song builds. “Who’s Counting” has a “Save Your Kisses for Me” parent-child twist, but it’s delivered with taste and sensitivity. This will be one to watch in the semi-finals.
Score: 8/10
Luis: At first, the song is just confusing, with the apparently unconnected lyrics. Once you realise Ritvars dedicates this song to his child, however, it’s actually quite touching. Here’s a man, opening his heart and expressing his regrets about an undoubtedly difficult choice, and losing his child. He packs it with gusto, elegance and that gorgeous deep voice. “Who’s Counting” is a pleasure.
Score: 8.5/10
Kristin: This song messes with my head big time! At first, it seems rather bland, if not boring. Suddenly, though, you find yourself humming along and tapping your feet. Ritvars has a voice that hypnotises you. It’s deep and soulful. How they’ll stage the song is hopefully something to look forward to, perhaps like Raphael Gualazzi’s, but slower and darker. Ritvars and “Who´s Counting” definitely has my attention.
Score: 8/10
Jordi: When it comes to Eurovision, a song like Ritvars’s “Who’s Counting” would really stand apart from the usual Europop hits. However, even if the rhythm of the song is lovely, it’s still as flat as a pancake. The song doesn’t really have any dynamism at all and it doesn’t create any climax. The result is that you want to stop listening after the first minute. Still, it’s easy to appreciate Ritvars intention of bringing something stripped back and away from the usual upbeat pop.
Score: 3.5/10
Chris: “Who’s Counting” proves to be one of the most difficult songs to review here. It’s a song that builds to a revelation; unfortunately, the journey is the most interesting part here. The minimalist production — with odes to the likes of Joanna Newsom — is a good kind of uncomfortable at the start. But when the father/son reveal is made, everything becomes too literal for its own good. The edge is lost and the schmaltz takes over.
Score: 6/10
In our Latvia Wiwi Jury, we have 14 jurors but only room for 7 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:
Antranig: 2/10
Jonathan: 2/10
Jovana: 7.5/10
Lukas: 5/10
Natalie: 2.5/10
Steinunn: 7/10
William: 7.5/10
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 2 and a high of 8.5.
WIWI JURY VERDICT: 5.75/10
What do you think of Ritvars’ entry? Let us know all your thoughts in the comments section below.
It goes nowhere. It’s flat and boring. Sorry.
However, beautiful voice. He should try again.
4/10
lol of course bernardo thinks it’ll win easily cause its a minimal jazz song, haven’t heard one of those before 😛 hopefully there’ll be some ‘diversity’ other than jazz this year as half of the selected acts so far are jazz singers
ahaha I really like the song. I also like pop bangers. ahaha
Wow. I really don’t normally say this, but this goes nowhere. Yes, it’s sweet and has a great message, but that’s it. This probably won’t make it past Supernova’s semi-finals. 5/10
It’s a good song for Supernova, but would this do well at ESC? I don’t think so. Anyway, a decent effort.
6.5/10
It’s a standout for Supernova, but would this survive at ESC? I don’t think so.
It’s a decent effort tho.
6.5/10.
ESAMIBA
One either likes jazz or does not; there’s not really an “in between” score for it, and this has been accurately reflected by the Wiwi jury. As it happens, I agree with Briekimchi in the comments – I liked the concept, but when I heard the execution I was disappointed. This is far too “chill-out” in its execution, and hardly does anything for me, emotionally. I realise that it could also win if it catches the audience in the right way, but personally this isn’t for me. So sorry! 3.5/10.
Absolutely not my cup of tea! Much worse than Portugal’s song 3/10
Boring, will never win.
Please do Esamiba!
Ritvars is the Latvian Frank Sinatra!
Far too repetitive and disjointed. The idea behind the song seems a lot better than the execution.