The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continues to listen to and review the eight competing acts in France’s Destination Eurovision 2018. Next up is songwriter-turned-star Nassi, and his song “Rêves de gamin”. Did we share his dream of childhood? Read on to find out!
Nassi – “Rêves de gamin”
“Rêves de gamin” reviews
Antranig: This is certainly one to keep an eye out for. However there are plenty of vocal issues and some minor staging issues that need to be ironed out for it to work. The best parts of the live performance were when there was no singing, which is disappointing because the song as a whole is vibrant and exciting. I hope the issues can be worked on because this song has the potential to deliver France another top-ten finish.
Score: 9/10
Chris: There’s certainly a lot of potential in “Rêve de gamin”, but in its current form, it’s not there yet. The childish element of the song doesn’t quite come across on the stage, bar the overgrown school kids outfits. On Spotify, the song pops, but when live, there’s just too many issues at the moment.
Score: 6/10
Robyn: Going into the semi, this seemed like a surefire qualifier, if not the winner of the heat. But it didn’t quite work out. Despite sounding strong and confident during the Stevie Wonder cover version, when it came to the “Rêves de gamin” performance, Nassi’s vocals sounded shaky and the staging was a chaotic mess. But that’s not to say it’s unsalvageable. There’s still a really good song in there, and if the worst of the semi-final kinks can be ironed out, this could easily be a contender to win.
Score: 7.5/10
Josh: Upon first listen of the snippet of “Rêve de gamin”, I just about screamed. The studio cut was a surefire way to get France to the top of the scoreboard in Lisbon. The live performance, however, was a little lacklustre. Nassi was failing to deliver power in his vocal and his dancing looked awkward and half-assed. The dancers were too much for the Destination Eurovision stage – making the stage look the same size as the roof of my Kia Rio. There’s potential here, but a lot of work needs to be done to get this ready for Lisbon.
Score: 7.5/10
Jonathan: The studio version of “Rêve de Gamin” is pure magic and would be pushing towards a 10. Unfortunately, it’s clear that Nassi’s live vocals and performing abilities are not as strong as some of his other competitors. The staging seen at the semi-final would also probably come across slightly strange to a non-French speaking audience, unless they were more acquainted with Stromae’s music videos. So, while there’s a lot of potential here, there’s also definite improvements to be made before the Destination Eurovision final for this to be France’s best option.
Score: 8/10
Luis: “Rêves de gamin” is an amazing song let down by a mediocre stage performance. Nassi needs to improve his vocal ability if he wants to go to Eurovision. If not, the juries will murder it mercilessly and with reason. There are moments when you’re suffering because he can’t hit the notes. The concept of the performance is ok, however the translation to the stage is a bit of a miscarriage. Nassi seems a bit lost and the dancers keep disappearing from sight. It needs some tweaks and polish, but there’s a lot of potential here.
Score: 7.5/10
In our Destination Eurovision Wiwi Jury, we have 15 jurors but only room for 6 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:
Bernardo: 6.5/10
Bogdan: 4/10
Deban: 6/10
Jovana: 7/10
Kristin: 7/10
Lukas: 6/10
Natalie: 7.5/10
Steinunn: 6/10
William: 6.5/10
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 4 and a high of 9.
I could give more credits to this song, but this banging bass was a bit forced to me. Look Imma bounce and shake your speakers like this, so you’ll just forget how verses sounded. After Alma’s song at contest, this comes up quite close in concept. I can say I’ve enjoyed her song better and moreover enough to get behind this.
this song has very high potential to win this show or even the ESC in Lisbon. But as many said, the live performance was let down by both vocal and stage performance. He needs to make it fluid and more natural on stage and sing effortless while dancing. The stage design was too much and the wardrobe for dancers were not good.
This song has an amazing music and a great context. But the live performance was disappointing. I really enjoyed the song and I hope Nassi improves his vocals on Saturday because it’s such a modern and fun song. And this chorus is stuck in my head. Also, if sent, they should change the staging for sure. Definetely a song I’ll keep listening to either he wins or not!
9/10
It’s such a great song. I wish they could have found a singer, you know, with a voice, to sing it.
Lyrics – 10/10
Melody – 9/10
Staging – 9/10
Voice – 7/10
Overall – 8.5/10
Harmonic structure – 8.5/10
:p
Like ive said before….its not about a good song only! Its the total package: good song, good performance/visuals, good vocals…all should be good.
The melody is definitely more memorable than the other french songs. I hope he’ll add some backing vocals.
My fav for sure. He can improve his vocals, etc. The song however, should not be changed. Love the song so much.
It’s still my favorite. I like that it’s up-beat but at the same time it has a strong message. His performance was not perfect, but I hope he can improve it and surprise us. To be honest it’s not an easy song to perform. He should have some backing vocalists (because sometimes a chorus comes right after the verse, so no wonder why he’s out of breath). Maybe he should also dance and move less and focus on singing. And it will be perfect.
My 2nd favorite song in France Destination Final.
I won’t mind if he wins on Saturday.
1) Malo – 12
2) NASSI – 10
3) Igit – 8
4) Max – 6
5) Lisandro – 4
6) Emmy – 2
7) Louka
8) Madame
Madame Monsieur- 12
Igit- 10
Nassi- 8
Malo-6
Emmy-4
Lissandro-2
Max/Louka 0
@ Madame’s song is extremely overrated…
I really hope that she won’t win on Saturday…
Even though i fear that she will.. 🙁
Madame would be the best choice for france. Malo is so crazy, to crazy in my opinion.
My ranking:
1 Madame Monsieur Mercy
2 Lisandro Cuxi Eva
3 Max Cinnamon Ailleurs
4 Nassi Reve de gamin
5 Louka Mamma Mia
6 Emmy Liyana Ok ou ko
7 IGIT Lisboa Jerusalem
6 Malo Ciao
By the way, for those of you who can speak French, I suggest not listening to BBC UDecide songs, after Destination Eurovision songs. While French songs touch the deepest corners of your soul with their poetic, British songs are ‘loving the love’, ‘turning into grey’ and ‘want to be our austranout’. I cannot believe that those songs were written by native speakers. Or were they?
* poetic lyrics
Catchy, I’ll say that. I neither love it nor hate it. The live performance was underwhelming, but he might still improve.
The studio version of the song itself is very good and the instrumental arrangement is good and it’s very appealing listening to it on the radio. I would be happy to listen to it on my playlist. On the negative side, live vocals not too good at all. One of the problems with this song which will not go down well in Europe if it is chosen to represent France is that it is too wordy for the contest. There is too much lyrics, and with many people not speaking French, it will get lost down the score board. Sticking… Read more »
Good point, about the lyrics.
I must disagree. Lyrics dont really have much of an influence of the song is good, specially if you look at previous winners like Salvador.
Yes, repeat MERCY 100 times at the emd of the song is definitely more poetic.
Will kill the televote, but will be penalized by the juries for the lacklusture vocal performance, and for the childlike charm. I also think Nassi lacks the charisma and stage presence of an Eurovision winner. And this comes from someone who is partnered with a Franco-Algerian 🙂
the three international jurors haven’t penalize him at all 12 ,8, and 6 pts so keep an eye on him saturday ; -)
What charisma Salvador has and Nassi doesn’t?
I hope Nassi will win.
I love the song, but it placed third in the semifinal of the national final by juror votes, and Salvador won the international final by a landslide. I think I rest my case.
It’s ridiculous to compare a national final with an eurovision final. Salvador didnt have an international jury scoring him in festival da cancao.
I didn’t like the out-of-breath live performance! The verses are bland but the chorus is really full of energy. Wouldn’t want this representing France. Will do well in Televote though just cause it’s fun
A 6/10
A song that 100% works well on paper. But in practice… well, not so much. But since the Wiwi jury have already torn apart the performance (thanks, Jury), I will look at the actual song instead. I really like the meaning of lyrics, about the child who just wanted to be happy and perform on stage, and then gets his wish when you see him sing this song. I like it. 🙂 The harmony appears to revolve between interrupted cadences and perfect cadences in G-sharp minor, although this is subjective as the whole song sounds like it’s instead based on… Read more »
Great song of course he can do better and he will do, however it wasn’t a massacre at all and his voice is good so he can be the surprise of this saturday evening.