Today the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — journeyed to the Etchmiadzin Cathedral, the oldest cathedral in the world. After taking in plenty of Armenian culture, the team sat down to review two more Depi Evratestil hopefuls.

Today’s artists include two male soloists with two very different songs. One is serving up tropical vibes while the other brings drama befitting a Bond movie. Did either of them catch our eyes as a potential Eurovision winner?

Tyom – “Follow the Ocean”

“Follow the Ocean” reviews

Antranig: Before Tyom starts singing, the song packs some Iberian heat that would not be out of place in Lisbon. Once he starts singing, I’m not too impressed with the vocals. He can sing but it doesn’t really match the song well. Ultimately “Follow the Ocean” has a lot of potential and while it may not be a serious contender for the Depi Evratesil title, it is enjoyable for what it is. Sit back and enjoy the tropical vibes.

Score: 8/10

Jonathan: “Follow the Ocean” feels like rather lazy songwriting. While there’s an OK, almost tropical, beat, once we reach the first chorus nothing else particularly interesting happens and it becomes very linear. Even the sax solo is a bit limp and doesn’t really add that much to the overall product. It’s fair to say I won’t be following Tyom to the ocean any time soon.

Score: 4/10

Luis: Wow, this is so bad. Seriously, the beat is a mess, the voice does not suit this song, the lyrics are a disaster and the sax riff is pitiful. There’s so much work to do here that whoever revamped this entry would need a three-month leave to get something decent. Tyom sounds like a guy with personality who could shine with something that suited him, not a song made out of a bunch of royalty-free sounds put together.

Score: 2/10

Bernardo: Everything is OK until Tyom starts singing. Not because he is bad, but because his voice doesn’t fit the production at all. The lyrics are appalling and that leaves me with nothing to connect with. It’s just a big big mess.

Score: 2/10

Robyn: This song sounds like it was written with a big-voiced R&B singer in mind. Instead it’s being sung by a guy who sounds like he’d be better off with an acoustic guitar. Tyom can’t bring the energy and attitude the song needs, and as a result there’s a real clash between the style of his vocals and the music. He needs a different song; “Follow the Ocean” needs a different singer.

Score: 2.5/10

Deban: Sounding like a karaoke effort at best, Tyom and the song he’s plugging need a complete re-design. Armenia should only advance this song if it doesn’t want to be a part of the Eurovision Grand Final. The sax riff towards the end is nausea-inducing.

Score: 1.5/10

In our Depi Evratesil Wiwi Jury, we have 16 jurors but only room for 6 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:

Barnabas: 5.5/10

Bogdan: 2/10

Chris: 3.5/10

Cinan: 7.5/10

Edd: 3/10

Erdi: 5/10

Lukas: 5.5/10

Natalie: 5.5/10

Rezo: 3/10

Sebastian: 4/10

 

 

 

 

 

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 1.5 and a high of 8.

Wiwi Jury Verdict: 3.93/10

Robert Koloyan – “Get Away With Us”

“Get Away With Us” reviews

Chris: Well, look who bought an English rhyming dictionary! Truly cringeworthy lyrics throughout, that Robert can’t elevate with his performance. “Wanna shake your brain” and “Ooh, I wanna take a train” (thankfully, not put together to rhyme) are particular low-lights. Perhaps suitable for an Armenian attempt at a Bond theme, but not for Eurovision.

Score: 4/10

Robyn: Robert Koloyan is a good singer, but “Get Away with Us” is doing him no favours. It’s the laziest kind of Eurovision song — one that runs out of ideas about two minutes into it. It has all the hallmarks of this — especially the frequently repeated sections and the uncalled for key change. The end result — three minutes of wasted time and a song that does nothing for the talents of the singer.

Score: 4/10

Bogdan: While I appreciate the obvious efforts that the singer, the songwriter and the production team put into “Get Away With Us”, sadly the result is underwhelming. With a little more work and a lot more originality, a good song could be found in there somewhere. As it stands now however, this would need a major revamp in order to sound even half decent for Lisbon.

Score: 4/10

Cinan: I don’t know what to say about this song, I just do not think that the song is something that is even a bit dull, but the text is really nice and it matters what I’m happy about. Eurovision has a great deal of need for such meaningful texts. I wish success to Robert Koloyan.

Score: 4.5/10

Natalie: So I’m not sure about the grammar of the title, which is pertinent because it’s repeated over and over again through the song. And it’s the lyrics of the song I can understand. I don’t want to be harsh, I can tell there’s good production through this song, but really I can’t get into it. Robert’s voice is annoying, there’s nothing here I haven’t heard before, and it feels a bit forced. I can’t take guys trying to be so hardcore seriously.

Score: 4/10

Edd: Robert has a good voice and the song is well-produced, but the package has no lasting effect. Eurovision is always overflowing with wannabe dramatic mid-tempo songs, and whilst it might work as a 2004 Britney Spears B-side, Armenia can give us something much more exciting for Eurovision 2018.

Score: 4.5/10

In our Depi Evratesil Wiwi Jury, we have 16 jurors but only room for 6 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:

Antranig: 8/10

Barnabas: 7/10

Bernardo: 3.5/10

Deban: 2/10

Erdi: 8/10

Jonathan: 7/10

Luis: 3.5/10

Lukas: 6/10

Rezo: 9/10

Sebastian: 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 9.

Wiwi Jury Verdict: 5.21/10

See our list of Depi Evratesil 2018 rankings here

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8 Comments
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AngieP
AngieP
6 years ago

“Follow The Ocean”: Just an ok song. 5/10

“Get Away With Us”: I really like this one. Beautiful voice. Strong chorus.
7.5/10

EscAU
EscAU
6 years ago

tyom’s one always reminds me of hovi star’s song from 2011 ‘why should i leave’ with the trumpet 😛

CyxCy
CyxCy
6 years ago

I must be the only person in the world to have sympathy for the Tyom song. of course when we hear “Follow the ocean” it’s not the word “winner” that comes first, but I think it can create a little surprise, like SunStokeProject once. I’m ready to bet! XD

Steve
Steve
6 years ago

Yes, I agree with juries. Songs are ok-ish one way or another, singers are good. But the whole package for both cases is missing. There are 4 decent entries at Depi Eveatesil tho. Armenians can’t compete with native speakers in terms of producing British-wise songs. Even the UK can’t get a decent placing with its composers. How come can Armenia? Armenians need an ethnic song or a song produced by worldwide famous composers if they wana win. To me, however, Armenia will never win in the coming decade or so. It has conflicts with some voting countries, people think it’s… Read more »

Budapest Girl
Budapest Girl
6 years ago

I only like Kamil’s song in this preselection, cuz it’s at least it fun, there’s nothing more interesting unfortunately. They are all rather boring and cliché

Kris
Kris
6 years ago

Follow the ocean : 3/10
Get away with us : 4.5/10

Ron
Ron
6 years ago

Actually really surprised at how much both songs scored and especially Robert’s song. I give it a solid 7/10. His accent is pretty bad but the song itself is a pretty decent effort.