The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continues to review the qualifying acts from Lithuania’s Eurovizijos Atranka 2018. Next we listen to Juozas Martin with “Don’t Give Up” and Paula“1 2 3”. Did these songs make us want to give up? Read on to find out!

Juozas Martin – “Don’t Give Up”

“Don’t Give Up” reviews

Barnabas: If we put Shawn Mendes’ voice and Ed Sheeran’s musical style together, we could easily end up with this package. But in total, even though the whole package is quite radio-friendly, it doesn’t seem like a standout performance.

Score: 5/10

Lukas: Another Ed Sheeran clone this year. Juozas’ performance is quite nice but the song “Don’t Give Up” is very flat and boring. After a short while, it gets repetitive and annoying. The message of the song is nothing new too. Juozas has a nice voice and there is nothing wrong with this entry but it just doesn’t stand out at all.

Score: 6/10

Natalie: A guitar and a cowboy hat make a very original combination, don’t they? I can’t deny that this a very charming song, but there really isn’t anything that anyone hasn’t heard a million times before. Honestly, you could pick any random song sung by someone with a guitar and a cowboy hat and have listened to 95% of this song already. I shouldn’t be sad, it is a nice uplifting song, just also really forgettable.

Score: 5.5/10

Robyn: Despite the cheesy-sounding song title, “Don’t Give Up” is a fresh piece of folk-inspired pop that wouldn’t be out of place on a popular Spotify playlist. But that doesn’t mean it would make a good Eurovision entry. Juozas is a decent vocalist, but the song is perhaps a bit too chilled out to work as arena entertainment. But as Eurovizijos Atranka continues, the performance has potential to evolve.

Score: 6.5/10

Sebastian: From the start, you might be tempted to turn off as you hear a Latino sound emanating from a guitar and drums, and a Lithuanian dressed as a cross between a country star and a mariachi singer. But, like its namesake — don’t give up, yet. Juozas delivers something surprisingly smooth and chilled. It’s a sound that has been heard many, many, many times before across this year’s national finals. But at least his take sounds authentic.

Score: 6/10

In the Lithuanian Wiwi Jury, we have 13 jurors but only room for 5 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:

Anthony: 7.5/10

Antranig: 5/10

Bernardo: 5/10

Jonathan: 6.5/10

Luis: 6/10

Raphael: 5.5/10

Renske: 7.5/10

William: 4.5/10

 

 

 

 

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 4.5 and a high of 7.5.

WIWI JURY VERDICT: 5.86/10

Paula – “1 2 3”

“1 2 3” reviews

Barnabas: I understand that the team behind this song got inspired by Kalomira on how to make an attractive performance by stimulating certain viewers, but at least Kalomira did it right! The song starts off by mentioning a symphony, but musically there’s steel drums, oriental beats and Japanese instruments. Confusingly, Paula is in the middle of Japanese-inspired staging, looking like a geisha! And she is just 17, why does she need to act like a 25-year-old sex icon when she isn’t one? This is a huge. However, the song is not bad and it will probably be a chart hit.

Score: 4/10

Lukas: Last year Paula did stand out and now she is even stronger than before. “1 2 3” has a great beat and strong chorus. You can see that this song is a Swedish production. It is very modern and makes you want to move along. The live performance could be a little stronger. Some of those dance moves could be cut down and her vocal would be much stronger.

Score: 8.5/10

Natalie: I love how Paula is able to blend minimalism with energy, it’s not easy to achieve but she nails it. She does go a bit overboard at times, but it’s still really effective. Everything is so simple but so bold and vibrant that it’s encapsulating. And also, massive points for originality. I honestly can’t remember a performance like this, or at least done this well. I’m really into this one. Also, best ponytail in Lithuania.

Score: 9/10

Robyn: The influence from across the Baltic Sea can be felt in the very Scandi-sounding “1 2 3”. Paula gives a slick performance that immediately looks like one of the strongest contenders in Eurovizijos Atranka 2018. The risk is it may be too generic, the sort of performance that could be swapped out into any national final.

Score: 7/10

Sebastian: Atmospheric staging, on point choreography and personality by the bucketload, “1, 2, 3” is missing 4 – a strong song. Putting aside the early ’90s synth sound Paula borrowed from Fusedmarc (please return it immediately), Paula looks fresh, fierce and fantastic. She is the redeeming feature to this act, and sells it. This score is purely reflective of her talent, minus marks for a pretty average song.

Score: 6.5/10

In the Lithuanian Wiwi Jury, we have 13 jurors but only room for 5 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:

Anthony: 8/10

Antranig: 8.5/10

Bernardo: 7/10

Jonathan: 6.5/10

Luis: 7/10

Raphael: 8.5/10

Renske: 8/10

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.

WIWI JURY VERDICT: 7.45/10

See our list of Eurovizijos Atranka 2018 rankings

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8 Comments
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AngieP
AngieP
6 years ago

“Don’t Give Up”: Nice melody but it gets repetitive.
5/10

“1 2 3”: The good things here are the beat and her attitude. The lyrics sound basic. It depends on the staging.
6/10

Simon
Simon
6 years ago

I’m reading the comments and I just don’t get it. How a song with a non-existant chorus be better than this? Talking about Paula, just to clarify. You might tell not only the chorus is important, but there was just nothing special about “Let U Go” either way. Paula is severely underrated this year.

esc freak
esc freak
6 years ago

“1 2 3” is so much better than “Let U Go” in my opinion. Paula for the win!

Kris
Kris
6 years ago

Don’t give up: 5.5/10
Paula: 6/10

Yeah…. Paula’s song last year was much better….this is a little meh for me.

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
6 years ago

Paula’s song from last year was better imo. I haven’t heard the other Lithuanian candidates apart from Greta Zazza but I’m sure there’s better.

up!
up!
6 years ago

Paula was perfect last year and Lithuania should still be punished for choosing Fusedmarc while having her, Greta or Sasha in the selection. This year, Paula has a much weaker song, but still is a strong contender. If Lithuania doesn’t manage to send Greta Zazza, they should go for her…

Paul
Paul
6 years ago
Reply to  up!

Greta’s song is awful, I don’t understand what’s so special about it. Same with Paula, just a generic pop song.

Marco
Marco
6 years ago

Paula should be the winner,but jury hates her :/