Depi Evratesil 2020 takes place this Saturday. Armenia will be searching for a song to snap their two year non-quealification streak. There are twelve hopefuls looking to take the baton from Srbuk and fly the Armenian flag in Rotterdam. Now, the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — sits down to determine their favourites.
Antranig
1. TOKIONINE – “Save Me”
What a fascinating conundrum that Armenia has. None of these twelve songs could be considered guaranteed qualifiers at Eurovision. However, both TOKIONINE and Athena Manoukian have the potential to be exceptional entries, with the right performances. Neither is a typical Eurovision entry and that’s why they have the potential to be special. “Save Me” seems more at place on the soundtrack of a car racing video game than the Eurovision stage and if he can harness those vibes on stage, this could go a very long way.
2. Athena Manoukian – “Chains On You”
3. Miriam Baghdasaryan – “Run Away”
4. Vladimir Arzumanyan – “What’s Going On Mama”
5. EVA Rida – “No Love”
Florian
1. TOKIONINE – “Save Me”
In what is unfortunately a rather weak national final this year, TOKIONINE has the best potential to bring Armenia back to the final in Rotterdam. While many of the other songs badly need a revamp, this feels like the best overall product. It does feel contemporary but at the same time fits within the creative approach Armenia has taken in recent years.
2. Vladimir Arzumanyan – “What’s Going On Mama”
3. Athena Manoukian – “Chains On You”
4. ERNA – “Life Faces”
5. Sergey & Nickolay Arutyunov – “Ha, Take a Step”
Tom
1. Sergey & Nickolay Arutyunov – “Ha, Take a Step”
Oh dear, not a stellar year for Armenia. I was really looking forward to this jury but I struggled to fill my top five. Nevertheless, my favourite is Sergey & Nickolay Arutyunov with “Ha, Take a Step”. I was initially concerned with the song title but when I hit play, I was pleasantly surprised. Definitely a throwback feel (though that seemed to be the theme of Armenia this year) but I really like the anthemic chorus and I know it will sound and look great on a big stage with proper production.
2. Miriam Baghdasaryan – “Run Away”
3. Athena Manoukian – “Chains On You”
4. Vladimir Arzumanyan – “What’s Going On Mama”
5. TOKIONINE – “Save Me”
Robyn
1. TOKIONINE – “Save Me”
“Save Me” is one of only two songs in Depi Evratesil 2020 that actually sounds like a product of this decade. TOKIONINE delivers a slick take on alternative R&B, like an Armenian version of The Weeknd. But while the studio version is highly replayable, my big concern is how it will come across live. In many photos, TOKIONINE is hiding behind a hat and sunglasses — does the hit producer have the rock star persona needed to really deliver the song live?
2. Athena Manoukian – “Chains On You”
3. EVA Rida – “No Love”
4. Vladimir Arzumanyan – “What’s Going On Mama”
5. Miriam Baghdasaryan – “Run Away”
Pablo
1. TOKIONINE – “Save Me”
While the top three Armenian entries are clear among the rest, it’s clear each of them have… work to do. “Save Me”, while needing an edge to truly excel, does feel like a complete package. Modern production, a strong industrial, EDM-style hook and the potential for strong staging (think Japanese or Miami Vice styling and colours). Am I incredibly excited? No, but if Tokionine plays his cards right, then he can shape it up for Armenia.
2. Athena Manoukian – “Chains On You”
3. Vladimir Arzumanyan – “What’s Going On Mama”
4. Miriam Baghdasaryan – “Run Away”
5. Karina EVN – “Why?”
What do you think of the songs in Depi Evratesil 2020? Who should represent Armenia in Rotterdam? Let us know in the comments below.
It’s not the most abysmal one. That would be Belarus by a clear mile. My NF average for Armenia is 4.5, while for Belarus it’s 2.2. But for me personally, there are plenty of songs in Eesti laul and MGP I prefer to Save Me, which is my favorite here. Especially in Estonia. Butterflies is kinda catchy, I guess. I wouldn’t mind if it wins.
Yeah, I am of different opinion here as well, as both Iceland and Finland have some songs I’d rate with 9 or 10. Much higher than Save Me’s 6. 🙂 But yeah, that’s individual. One thing we agree upon is that all of these selections are better than Belarus and Moldova (but I *do* enjoy some Moldovan songs for all the wrong reasons). Interesting note of Attention, though. While I *do like it*, I cannot find myself fully emerging in it. I feel like this is the song I *should love*, but I just like it. IDK why. We don’t… Read more »
I am glad I am not the only one here. I mean, I do have Attention rated at 7.5/10 and my current 1st place of MGP (yeah, the bar is not THAT high this year), but I usually *love* Morland’s songs and do enjoy ”screaming diva ballads” far more than average fan here, so one would say the rating would be much higher. For reference, my ratings for other of Morland’s MGP songs: – Monster Like Me – 10/10 – En liveredd mann – 9/10 – Who We Are – 9/10 I also have a feeling we might agree on… Read more »
About “Attention”: masterpiece is too much, but I think it’s a very good song. In the MMU (Morland’s Music Universe :D), I would say it’s as good as Who We Are, but below the other 2. Compared to the rest of the MGP selection though, for me it’s much better than any other contender. In Eurovision, things may be different, but if chosen, it will get to my provisory top 3 along with “Fai Rumore” and “Make Me Human”, as long it also wins. About Depi Evratesil’s selection, I tend to agree with Tibor. But I think the biggest problem… Read more »
”Very good song” would be my current assessment too, Sabrina. The only thing is that it’s more engraved in my head than in my heart. I really hope it will grow on me even more if it wins. In any case, either Ulrikke or Raylee should win tomorrow.
I was like that at my first listen, but when I finally gave Ulrikke the attention she was begging for, it already have done more for me. By the way, the same thing here applies to “Fai Rumore”: the moment I got the lyrics and sang along, I was sold on them. I guess singing it aloud is my equivalent to Purple Mask’s piano playing. Though I’m still missing some “greatness” on this season. By this time last year we already had “Soldi”, “Telemóveis”, “Ktheju Tökes”… On the other hand, while I see why many people think “Wild” is entertaining,… Read more »
I’m already totally in love with Fai Rumore 🙂 To me, it’s just as great as Soldi, Occidentalis Karma and most other Sanremo winners. Each year, I think whether Italy will AGAIN have a top 10 song, and every time they just do. I hope Attention can get to at least a similar status, since I see a lot of potential. I have a few *outstanding* NF favorites in this season too, but I am waiting to see whether any of them wins their NF. Oculis videre is certainly a forthrunner. 🙂 As for Wild, I was ”meh” with it… Read more »
But if I recall, we disagreed more during the national selections. After a bunch of my favorite and your favorites get slashed, then we tend to find a common ground!
What a weird feeling to agree with Antranig for the first time in my life. But I guess this says a lot about this selection and how limited the viable options are here. I don’t think the selection is as horrible as most of you think, but yes, it’s quite basic and pretty disappointing if we think about Armenia’s record in the contest.
Finally agreed with you. Great there are no faints here because of a diva wannabe and for a cute boy who happened to win JESC.
So off putting nobody is backing Agop’s “Butterflies”. God it is so uplifting…
TOKIONINE is really the only option.
Save me sounds really good. With s good staging, this can easily reach a top 10, even higher
Apart from Belarus, this might be the weakest NF this year (Okay, there’s Moldova, but that one is at least fun!). Tokionine stands out as the best one here, but I don’t think it would go very high on an overall list. Most songs are just very average or underwhelming. I’m not feeling “Chains on You” TBH 🙁
I easily prefer Qami (and 5-6 of the songs which competed in DE 2018) to any of these.
Ps. Is Eva singing “No love without a painted dragon”? I couldn’t tell either way.
I listened to that song at 0.25 speed 5 times and I still have no clue. My best guess is “With no love we know pain is stronger”, but the lyrics of “No Love” are one big mystery for me.
Maybe in terms of average quality Moldova is weak but they have a couple of songs such as Prison which are very good (or at least fun). Armenia’s selection is weak not only in comparison to the rest of the 2020 season, but also in relation to their past entries.
I really like Karina, she would be my favorite from this collection.
But I don’t know Why?
So far the worst preselection. None of the songs I like.
You know that selection is painfully bad when only listenable option is “my diamonds shinnin’ on me”.
This song needs strong delivery in order to be saved, and I’m not sure if this girl is capable for that, we”ll see live.
oh my god, Aremnia is lost 1,2 3 years tears
Live performances will be the make-or-break determining factors for whether any of these songs could stand a chance of qualifying. The consensus top two (Save Me and Chains on You) are my favorites as well, but I really want to see how they translate live. Armenia’s failures have just been bizarre, as with just a few changes they wouldn’t have done nearly as badly as they did. (Although I confess the only thing that probably could’ve saved Sevak would be if he switched semis, since that song 100% could’ve qualified in a less competitive semi). It’s also weird that staging,… Read more »
You all deserve appreciation for finding five songs that you could put in any sort of “favourites” list.
I never thought I’d long for the quality of Supernova. 😉
Ha, I know, right? This is the one you didn’t even bother to make a video about. Here are my NF ratings: 1. Save Me – 6/10 2. Life Faces – 5.5/10 3. Ha, Take a Step – 5.5/10 4. Butterflies – 5/10 5. It’s Your Turn – 5/10 6. Run Away – 5/10 7. Chains On You – 4/10 8. What’s Going On Mama – 4/10 9. What Is To Be In Love – 4/10 10. Heaven – 4/10 11. Why? – 3/10 12. No Love – 3/10 As you can see, it’s not all bad, but I certainly… Read more »
To be honest, I just got around to ranking them but far too close to the actual final to make a “pre-final” video! I’ll still put one up on Sunday morning!
I’m looking forward to it. I’m interested in how much we’ll agree on here. For me, majority of the songs would fare into the ”average” or ”meh” categories, which still most often results in bottom 10 ESC placements these days.
PS. I have finished my UMK list and am just sorting my Beovizija list. So, with Ukraine being under a question now and Slovenia probably being unrated (as usual, but it’s not my fault they don’t pre-release their songs and their NF collides with others I am already hyped about), it’s only Dora, DMGP and Melfest left for listing.
I have the exact same top as Antranig!