The Wiwi Jury — our in-house team of music unprofessionals — is reviewing and rating the 39 competing songs in Eurovision 2021. Next we turn to Spain, where Blas Cantó has “Voy a quedarme”. Did we feel his heartfelt message? Read on to find out!
Blas Cantó – “Voy a quedarme”
“Voy a quedarme” reviews
Antranig: “Voy a quedarme” gives me all the feels. The song complements Blas’ vocals perfectly, delivering a delightful ballad that oozes pure emotion. Spain have simplified things this year and it really works. I hope they keep things as simple as possible on stage because this song is a moment that doesn’t need all the bells and whistles. Those high notes Blas hits towards the end of the song are magical and you have to stop and appreciate the way he unleashes his soul through his voice.
Score: 7.5
Deban: At its core, “Voy a quedarme” is a boring ballad. However, Blas Canto makes it beautiful. The Spanish singer vocally navigates between octaves, whilst conveying deep emotions of love, sorrow and loss. Although he sings in his native tongue, he touches on themes that resonate beyond borders. On first listen, this is heartwarming. On repeat spins, the complexities unfurl —he sounds good, and looks good too. Vocally exposed in parts, but drowned in others, unfortunately, this doesn’t quite read as a finished product. But make no mistake, the skeleton here holds promise.
Score: 6.5
Jordi: This song is more than just a song. It’s emotion, intimacy and hope, all blended in a piece that flows slowly but powerfully. However, “Voy a Quedarme” simply do not have enough hook to fight for the trophy. In a sea of strong competition this year, Spain’s ballad formula does neither offer anything new. Nevertheless, Blas makes it more personal, with his added falsettos and heartwarming expressiveness. Succeeding in bringing a powerful performance, Blas’ rawness and deep emotional connection with the song can run beyond the screen and reach the hearts of more audiences. With Marvin Dietmann on his team, Blas is in good hands.
Score: 5.5
Julian: To be honest, I really don’t see anything special in “Voy a quedarme”. The lyrics are cute and Blas Canto is a very talented singer without any doubts! I do like the song until the chorus starts, then it just does not go anywhere and it’s losing my attention. But besides all that, Blas Canto does his best to bring his song to life and the live version during the national final fit the song.
Score: 2
Tom: Blas has an incredible voice. “Voy a querdarme” feels to me that the performance along with the staging on the night will make or break it. The song has bags of potential to create magic. A steady and precise build, then packing a huge punch at the climax, Blas has a decent shot for a left-hand-side finish. Depending on what he brings to the table on the night, “Voy a querdarme” will either get lost and forgotten or utterly shine.
Score: 7
Blas Cantó – “Voy a quedarme” rankings
In the Wiwi Jury we have 24 jurors but only have room for five reviews. The remaining scores are below:
| Calvin: 7.5
Diego: 5.5 Erdi: 2 Esma: 6 Jonathan: 6 Josh: 7 Kristín: 7.5 Lauren: 2.5 Lucy: 7 Luis: 6 |
Natalie: 3
Oliver: 5.5 Pablo: 4 Renske: 7 Robyn: 4.5 Ron: 5 Sebastian: 4.5 Tobias: 4 William: 4 |
We have removed the highest and lowest scores prior to calculating the average. This is to remove outliers and potential bias. We have removed a low of 2 and a high of 7.5.
Wiwi Jury verdict: 5.34/10
What do you think of this song? Share your own score and review below!
I give it a 8! To be honest, I wasn’t feeling the song in the first time I heard it, even if I understand spanish. I love ballads, but this one was looking generic to me. Now, after watching the MV, knowing the message and how important the song is to Blas, I connect with it more, I sing the beautiful lyrics, I want to stop & listen to it with open heart! The instrumentals are beautiful too. The first live performance was weird to me, not because of Blas’s performance, because his voice and his way of convey the… Read more »
I do like it and actually never not liked it.. Thing is there is actually nothing bad about it but not very modern which doesn’t need to be.. His voice is amazing though! 8 points from moi..
This is a grower. I found this very forgettable and a bit boring in the beginning, but now I feel completely different about it. I really like it now. Unfortunately I’m not sure viewers will respond to it, simply because it takes many listens to get into it. If it does well, I think it will be because of jury points.
This is the only song that I had to listen to before writing a comment because I didn’t remember it. It’s in my 36th place, but I’d rather have the songs I’ve scored lower win than this here boring piece.
Sorry spain but Universo was so much better. I can’t feel this song. 3/10
I’m hoping for them not to be last..
Blas Cantó was never a popular choice as Spain’s representation in ESC. How TVE trusted him for 2021 is beyond me, and this comment comes from a Spaniard.
Bronze star.
Blas is an incredible live performer, one of the best this year in that aspect, and that’s something you can’t judge using a studio version. Please Spain don’t kill it with a terrible staging… as usual…
A highest score of 7.5 already is an omen not many people will pick up the phone to vote. The composition Is not bad, yet forgettable.
The verdict just shows how Spain is criminally underrated in Eurovision this year.
30th: Spain. What a step down from Universo, which wasn’t even that good. Voy A Quedarme is a well-sung ballad with absolutely no flavour or substance. Literally the only intriguing moment is when that metallic noise comes in – that is the only thing in this song that piqued my interest once. But there are some things to enjoy here, mostly Blas’ vocal and the relatively good production. At it’s heart, though, Voy A Quedarme is forgettable. I wish they had gone with Memoria, which at least had a strong hook. The only reason Spain is as high as 30th… Read more »
31) Spain –
Given that Spain had to choose between two rather average songs, I think this was the right call. Having said that, while it’s a nice song with a theme that would resonate with many people, it is rather forgettable but it does bring emotion and feeling which I appreciate. 4.5/10
Who knows, no one thought north macedonia would do well in 2019 and they won the jury. Even though i dont think spain will win the jury this is something i could see the jury really like.
Not bad, but not amazing either. I would prefer spain sending something latin since that is very much what represents their music scene and could do very well in eurovision
This is latin. May not be the Latin stereotype, but it’s very much latin.
this is like, my 4th to last i think. it’s just not something i’d listen to, and it’s certainly not what people want to hear from spain. no surprise it’s universally PANNED even among the wiwi jury. chained to the bottom 5 they stay !
It’s a beautiful piano ballad, which is my comfort zone as a songwriter. It’s what I call “ballad candy.” The verses start on the relative minor (C minor) but quickly hover around in a contemplative way. The bridge moves us to a connecting chord sequence leading us to the Chorus, which is in E-flat major. Hooray for chord progressions. 🙂 But the real strength of this ballad is in the expressive melody. The Chorus is particularly nice, and also shows off the sweet spots of Blas’ vocal range very well. But, there is an issue. Blas has such a powerful… Read more »
P.S. That’s really interesting how other commenters here don’t feel the melody of this song, but I do. That’s the second time this has happened with Spain in recent years – I also liked “Tu Canción” when others didn’t. Interesting.
I am with you in this. I like it, and I like the piano-based melody. I hope that it gets a better result than Tu cancion did.
Interestingly, we are only 14 songs in, yet almost half of my favorites have already been reviewed. Still, all of my top 5 are still to go. Meaning, from now on, if I say I love the song, the chances are big that I REALLY love it. 🙂
“Voy a quedarme” fits Blas better than “Universo”. It is also more natural and less artificial. While it is not a song I would specially listen to outside the bubble, I do think it is the kind of song that grows live on stage. Blas is an amazing performer, vocalist and eye-catching, with the right staging it could not only surprise some viewers but also those who underrate this entry. The best example is “Dancing in the Rain” by Ruth Lorenzo. You can even go back to 2012 with Pastora though “Quedate comingo” wasn’t underrated. 7,5/10 Spain stands in my… Read more »
I really like the message of the song and the video since I’m also very attached to my grandmothers for which I’m lucky to still have. The song is the definition of “just fine” though… I just hope next year Spain sends something that represents their music industry better than just sending “eurovision” songs every single year because this is their issue and this strategy may have worked in early 2010’s but not anymore… This will have a very hard time escaping the bottom three especially if performed in the first half. my score: 6,5/10 my leaderboard so far: Belgium… Read more »
This is a song that I never skip when it comes up in my playlist but I wouldn’t vote for it either
Lyrically, it’s one of the best entries this year. Or at the very least it carries the required emotional charge to be among them. But, like “Tu Cancion” before, it forgets that emotions stripped of a memorable melody to accompany them may not be enough to move mountains at the contest. The music in “Voy A Quedarme” limps along aimlessly, never interacting with or contradicting anything Blas sings, always there, but not really. Which has its upsides and respectable downsides. It certainly makes the conviction and agitation in Blas’ vocals appear more explicit and personal. When he gets to the… Read more »
Lyrically, it’s one of the best entries this year. Or at the very least it carries the required emotional charge to be among them. But, like “Tu Cancion” before, it forgets that emotions stripped of a memorable melody to accompany them may not be enough to move mountains at the contest. The music in “Voy A Quedarme” limps along aimlessly, never interacting with or contradicting anything Blas sings, always there, but not really. Which has its upsides and respectable downsides. It certainly makes the conviction and agitation in Blas’ vocals appear more explicit and personal. When he gets to the… Read more »
Wiwi jury points so far if anyone else was wondering:
Finland 7.34
Ukraine 7.32
Russia 7.18
Sweden 7.14
Azerbaijan 6.57
Latvia. 6.34
Czech republic 6.16
Belgium 6.16
Serbia 6.09
Norway 5.89
Albania 5.89
Spain 5.34
Germany 5.14
Am I the only one loving this entry? Although not the best, for me it plays in the same league as France and Switzerland, emotional, great voice, great lyrics, great performer… We just have to see the acoustic performances or the amazing English versión to see that. Despite we can all have different tastes, we cannot deny there is quality behind. I must say that, in my view, your 5 is an insult to musical creativity and to ESC as a musical diversity contest.
In my opinion, Voy a Quedarme is a good song with a deep and strong lyrics. The only thing that the spanish delegation have to do is create an intimate performance like Lithuania in 2018. For make arrive their message to all the people, they can use holograms with his granmother and they can arrive to all the million viewers in eurovision. Also, is not my last place. For me, this is not the worst song of the year and all we know. But, when we listened a ballad, everyone said that is boring, but guys, IS A BALLAD, with… Read more »
Blas is a great singer, love his voice, and my good is he gorgeous. However the song just leaves me numb. I don’t hate it, but it’s pretty forgettable. I thought in 2019, with Miki that Spain where onto something. Like the potential is there that if they really wanted, Spain could be top 10 every year, instead of leaving it up to non-Spanish countries (Cyprus, Switzerland who gave us Spanish sounding songs) they could deliver if they wanted. Nothing against Blas of course, but this song just exists, it’s just there. A pleasant 3 minutes but then that’s it.… Read more »
26. Spain: It’s a mediocre song. Nothing more nothing less. It seems to go on forever with little changes to the melody. I’ve listened to it fully only once actually. It will struggle a lot in the final.
It likely is. Germany will get some points from children and childish adults, as there is nothing like that in the contest. People who like Spain will likely gravitate towards Switzerland, Romania or Bulgaria even more. The staging can make Spain feel more intimate, thus leveling it up. Other possibilities for the last spot are the UK and the Netherlands. The first might also fall into the trap of being nice, but not as impactful as, say Greece, Lithuania or Iceland, who are also in the rough scope of uplifting groovy songs. The Netherlands might be too linear for many,… Read more »
I agree that this is a rather boring ballad, but so are many other entries this year that don’t rate so low. I don’t understand why this is underrated so much. Seriously, if Victoria sang this same song it would be a favorite and top of the betting odds.
Spain 5/10
Sadly, for the most part I agree. I really like this song, as it’s exactly the type of melodramatic ballad I tend to like when done right. I also do connect with the emotion in it. However, I get major ”Bigger Than Us” vibes from it, it terms of competitiveness. Unless the staging is Sobral-level emotional, this is likely finishing in bottom 3. Which is a shame, quality-wise. But again, low ESC result isn’t only about what you detest, but also about what you ignore. I do wish Blas all the best, though.
It’s a sweet song that feels personal to Blas, who performs it very well. But I fear it lacks a special feature to attract votes, a mistake Spain makes regularly. It was a great decision to start it a cappella, since he’ll probably perform after a high energy act and this may draw attention to him. The missing piece would then be some clever intimate staging. I hope the new version promised for Rotterdam gets rid of or tones down the backing vocals, which sound too loud and unpleasant in the original. 6/10
It’s not a bad song. However it lacks memorability . After having listened to 26 songs , I won’t be remembering this. Blas definitely has had more immediately songs in his repertoire and this year when we have a strong ballad heavy contention at the top , this is not likely to do well.
5/10
I’ll stand by my thought that I think it is being very underrated and overlooked.
32. Spain – Blas Canto – Voy a Quedarme – 4.5/10 – I am not sure why but I lack any sort of emotional reaction to this song, which is very disappointing because I think it is intended to do just that. Blas is for sure a talented vocalist but for some reason I find his efforts to be a little bland. He is such an earnest performer that I find it hard to get under the surface of his entries into the root of the feeling. The very familiar production doesn’t help. I had the exact same problem with… Read more »
SPAIN – One the most improved ones from last year, Blas ditched the overtly polished shell to deliver something that actually feels personal to him. Sure, structurally, Voy a quedarme isn’t re-inventing the wheel of a classic ballad. Then again, does it have to, if it still feels lively within the genre? It reminds me of some well-made telenovela intros. The ones that have some drama in them, but still let genuine emotion take the front seat. The lyrics tell us a sad and emotional story, which could be interpreted as one’s devotion to their partner, family member, or a… Read more »