Today the Wiwi Jury – our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — began to wrap up our tour of Norway by attending a vocal masterclass run by Mørland. After exhausting our voices, we settled down for a cup of hot tea to review the ten acts competing at Melodi Grand Prix 2018. Next up, we look at Stella & Alexandra and their song “You Got Me”. Will the combination of a Eurovision veteran and a newcomer bring them success? Read on to find out!
Stella & Alexandra – “You Got Me”
“You Got Me” reviews
Bernardo: The instrumental of “You Got Me” serves its purpose and gets you up and moving but despite Stella and Alexandra’s delivery, it’s still a tad bland. It begins on a high note and it stays there for the entire three minutes which is a shame.
Score: 5/10
Chris: The Kids Bop version of Swingfly. Stella’s career has grown and evolved considerably since the “Haba Haba” disaster of 2011. So why she’d come back to MGP with such a reductive entry like “You Got Me” is baffling. Both Stella and Alexandra sound good, and it’s catchy to a degree, but it’s not quite enjoyable on repeated listens.
Score: 5.5/10
Deban: There’s an uncomfortable cohesion here. “You Got Me” is scored with a beautiful melody, but Alexandra’s teen-pop delivery doesn’t quite gel with Ms Mwangi’s street rap. Whilst both performers and heavyweights in their own right, this collaboration feels forced. For Stella, this is a far cry from the heights of “Biashara”.
Score: 4.5/10
Josh: When I first heard the rumour of Stella Mwangi coming back to MGP, I was so excited for another African-influenced bop. I had an open mind after hearing of her pairing with Alexandra, but upon first listen of “You Got Me”, I was underwhelmed. Separately the artists are great, but the juxtaposition of the two ladies doesn’t work here. Stella needs to be singing, and not rapping. And Alexandra deserves a solo song. It’ll be a fun moment in the show, but that’s all it will ever be.
Score: 5/10
Robyn: I really want to like this song, but it’s just not working. “You Got Me” feels like two separate songs that have been awkwardly put together. There’s no reason why a Motown-style song needs a rap section, or vice versa. Despite the vast talents of the two performers, the song feels like a cheap mash-up from the mid 2000s.
Score: 6/10
Our jury for 2018 consists of 15 jurors, but we only have room for 5 reviews. The remaining 10 scores are listed below.
Antony: 5/10
Antranig: 6.5/10
Bogdan: 4/10
Cinan: 8.5/10
Jonathan: 8/10
Kristin: 5/10
Lukas: 7.5/10
Rezo: 4/10
Sebastian: 6.5/10
Steinunn: 4/10
The highest and lowest scores are dropped prior to calculating the average score. This is to remove outliers and reduce potential bias. We have removed a low of 4 and a high of 8.5.
The studio version is good. Not sth exceptional. It may look better on a big stage I guess. In this version, it’s just fine for me.
5.5/10
Norwegian Minnie & Rhayra! 😀
Noooooo…… This is too sugary and bubblegum pop for ESC imo. And the rap part here doesn’t appeal to me.
A 5/10.
Firmly in my bottom 3 for MVP.
Wut.. This is an amazing song that would be an easy Summer hit. Norway is playing with power this time and a lot of their songs would be awesome on the stage in Lisbon. Thats how you write a song, You got me, Talk to the hand, Scandilove. I have been playing this song a lot since it got released and it makes me and my friends very hyped.
Besides, Stella is an amazing artist and 2011 didnt really show what she got. That rap! gurllll.
I don’t like this at all. Alexandra is going to some sickly-sweet, inoffensive, almost S-club vibe with her performance whereas Stella is trying to bring some street cred to it with a rather forced rap. Neither play these roles particularly well. My eyes rolled far too much when listening to this.
I agree with Robyn about the song. I like that it’s different, but the strange mash-up doesn’t work for me. 6/10
People the belgian song has leaked
Why is there no article about it
Probably because it leaked during the night in the UK, and it was still morning when you posted. Wiwibloggs might have dedicated journalists, but they are voluntary, unpaid, and even they have to sleep at night! For goodness sake, be patient.
It has now been reported. 🙂
The Belgian broadcaster must not be happy with the leaking of their entry, otherwise there’d be an article on here by now, I’m guessing. Does anyone know who’s responsible? Spotify again?
Well it wasn’t me who leaked it. 🙂 No, really, it wasn’t.
And the reason there isn’t an article is probably because the leak happened during the night, and it’s still morning.
As someone who detests Haba Haba, I must say I find this quite enjoyable. The chemistry between the two is there (more so than in the case of San Marino) andthe song just puts a smile on my face. Of course, this is not a ‘heavy hitter’, but it’s nice nonetheless.
7/10
No. The one half already crashed and burned in 2011 with what is possibly the worst song Norway has ever sent. I was so glad when they recovered in with Margaret Berger and Mørland. Let’s not go back to those dark times.
It’s enjoyable, bur incredibly messy. I got no idea of any structure, and I don’t know why Stella doesn’t give us that bad girl rap she does best and opts for Disney tunes, the collaboration feels off and there is no breathing room to appreciate any of the girls.
4.5/10
I really hope this, Who We Are, or (PLEASE PLEASE) Scadilove wins to continue the sudden trend in everyone releasing amazing songs (Belgium & Portugal, looking at you…)