The Wiwi Jury — our in-house team of music unprofessionals — is reviewing and rating the 37 competing songs in Eurovision 2024. Next we review Georgia, who have chosen Nutsa Buzaladze with “Firefighter”.
Were we set ablaze by Nutsa’s entry? Read on to find out!
Nutsa Buzaladze – “Firefighter” (Georgia Eurovision 2024)
Review: Nutsa Buzaladze – “Firefighter”
Simon: The formula is well-known for female pop bangers, but Nutsa is really bringing it. All the elements are there with strong vocals, flawless dancing (at least in the music video) and a good beat. But, it still lacks the extra bit of catchyness in the chorus to really get the last grip. It ends up being more a showcase of abilities than a coherent song, so there are things drawing in both directions. There is a good chance of qualifying, even though we are getting served a lot of bops in this semi.
Score: 6
Antranig: Georgia have been sending abysmal songs and failing to qualify for the best part of a decade. That all comes to an end this year. Nutsa’s “Firefighter” has one of the more memorable hooks of the upbeat entries at Eurovision 2024 and you can’t help but sing “I see it in the air” all day. I love the heavy bass beats, acting as the perfect contrast to Nutsa’s high notes. If they can nail the performance, Nutsa is capable of delivering one of Georgia’s best results to date.
Score: 7.5
Youyou: The melody of this song is a bit too clichéd and uninspired. A lot of “Eurovision Bops” are already a bit similar and I can’t find anything memorable in this song. It’s even a bit confusing and the lyrics are rather empty. Still, I would say it’s not a bad song, but I can’t really find anything outstanding about it.
Score: 3.5
Pablo: Georgia saw all the elements that worked before for other qualifiers, forced them into a blender, and served “Firefighter” for the fandom to lap up. It’s a fun time for sure, if lacking on cohesion and lyrical substance. There’s very little idea what this song is saying: Which are the verses? Where does the chorus end? And more questions that arise the more I think about it. Nutsa does seem like a performer that can bring this to life in an effective way and take Georgia to the final once again, but we need to close those question marks.
Score: 6.5
Georgia Eurovision 2024 ranking
In the Eurovision 2024 Wiwi Jury, we have 17 jurors but only have room for four reviews. The remaining scores are below:
|
Cinan: 8 Deban: 7.5 Georgia: 7 Jonathan: 5.5 Lucy: 7 Ron: 4 Ruxandra: 7 |
Scarlett: 3.5 Sebastian: 7 Suzanne: 5 Tom: 7.5 Tomas: 8.5 William: 7.5 |
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 3.5 and a high of 8.5.
Wiwi Jury verdict: 6.43/10
What do you think of Georgia’s Eurovision 2024 entry? Share your own score and review for Nutsa Buzaladze’s “Firefighter” below!
Nutsa is the best!
Georgia
Georgia
Georgia,????
Another wanna-be Fuego. That was 6 years ago, baby, wake up… But if you insist, then do it right and not boring. 2/10
Georgian 10/10
Georgia <3
Tacky, dated and shouty
Georgia 1,5/12
Georgian entries are usually quite quirky and estranging for the most parts, yet this year that isn’t the case. The song is interesting from start to finish, Nutsa’s performance and attitude is strong, all it needs is good staging and Georgia should be able to qualify.
I myself am quite fond of it, and while it’s a bit basic on a few fronts, it does enough things differently than other girlbops to help it stand out. For me, this song is a 7/10
I can’t believe this plastic song got more points than the Israeli entry.
Is there *anyone* in the wiwibloggs comment section who isn’t either a Jew or some other kind of pro-Russian?
so full of things in the production, yet so empty-sounding… one of this year’s worst.
Georgia have not qualified for the Eurovision grand final since 2016 and have only qualified for the grand final three times out of their last twelve attempts. Most of us know that. What fewer know is that of those three Georgian qualifications, a certain Thomas G:Sson had songwriting/post-production involvement in all of them. A call to the comically-haired one would have been a reasonable approach this year. However, if he’s unavailable, you can do worse than his Balkan equivalent. So, Mr. Dimitrov, come on down! By Georgian standards, this is disappointingly conventional. As with most of Dimitrov’s upbeat Eurovision numbers, there’s… Read more »
GEORGIA – I admire Georgia for being very creative in most of their participations. Even when I didn’t like the song, I could respect its out of the box thinking. Sadly, mostly all of these entries failed to attract wider audiences, so Georgia is now turning to a more standard formula. As a positive, this song is composed as a performance piece, and Nutsa obviously knows what she is doing. Not only that she is a tremendous singer, but she also oozes charisma, and can elevate any material. But even she can’t make this as polished or as immediate as… Read more »
Her vocals and stage presence are great, that is unquestionable. Lyrics are basic, at least part which could be understood, since her pronunciation is horrible, so mostly it is not possible to understand what she is singing about
In my top 15, with a 9/10 rating. Not very original bit it’s an absolute banger done right, the ethnic elements at the dance break when Nutsa shouts “put out the fire” are phenomenal and she probably is, alongside Raven, the best vocalist of the year. Super underrated, will barely qualify though.
Alongside Iolanda …. Also
Iolanda will be so robbed and i am NOT ready to witness such a crime…
Me neither….
I really liked “White Horses Run” back then. I can’t really get behind this one but the vocals are there and the production has some beats and twists that make it enough interesting to be able to qualify as a borderline. The lyrics, as always happens with this kind of songs, are very simple and dull though.
6/10
I didn’t like this song at first listen, it was a good firefighter and put out my fire. I’ve given it more shots and it just doesn’t do it. I struggle to recall this and I think I’ve just found it lyrically jarring.
Score 2.5/10
My sentiments entirely, there’s only so much effort I can put in before I have to give up and move on.
Ohh, this song is full of fire and expression. As some of you may know, I love hearing expressions in the notes themselves, dramatic clash chords and difficult unresolved harmonies. So instead of focusing on this song’s polished structure that includes both an Intro and an Outro (bravo on that), I’ll just point out some of the expressive notes instead. This song is in E minor, which is melancholic-sounding, so clash notes really stick out like sharp edges. They really cut deep into our emotions. Straight away in the Intro, the second time we hear “Aiiiirrr-aaiiirr” the harmony shifts down… Read more »
Interesting, I’m glad it has value for some.
Any thoughts on the lyrics, or would you prefer not to say?
The lyrics in my opinion are a direct message to Europe. It’s only my opinion though (disclaimer). As I mentioned on a previous post: “In V1: “Did we build empires just to watch them burn?” And in the Pre-Chorus: “The ceiling is falling, the windows are burning.” Yeah, we get the point.” – It’s not subtle at all. This is what is actually happening in some parts of Europe at the moment, and I’m actually glad to hear a song that will tell us that and evoke that sentiment right now.
I actually also find the lyrics to be quite a strong aspect of the song. I don’t really know why they’re giving difficult to some.
The dancing may be flawless but this isn’t a dancing contest. I care about the song and the singing. Trying to distract us with a flashy dance routine from the singer tells me you have no confidence in either.
Nutsa is talented but the song is so mediocre, dated and full of cliche moments. She did a great performance in London last night but i can barely remember the song.
It could be a borderline qualifier (9th, 10th) but if there were juries, Georgia wouldn’t stand any chances.
Very loud and noisy, but doesn’t stay in your head.
Off topic: Ireland is now a qualifier in semi 1
We won’t know that for another month
17) “Firefighter” – Nusta Buzaladze (Georgia) A welcome detour from Georgia’s tradition of quirky Eurovision submissions. Firefighter is a gripping and passionate song. There is a well-identified theme, which the video clip also plays on, with a sonic nod to last year’s Tattoo bridge (if I’m not mistaken). I have high expectations for the live performance which could well elevate it in the best way. Judging from Madrid and London pre-parties, Nutsta has all the makings of a great vocalist, and I’m sure Georgia is capable of sublimating her with the staging. Everything comes together to give us an embodied… Read more »
Ahh well-spotted on the Tattoo bridge! 🙂 I don’t know if that was intentional, but it’s pretty cool.
Spotted as soon as first listen ahah! Looking at the team behind Firefighter, there’s a serial Eurovision songwriter, specially operating on Balkan countries, so perhaps it’s no coincidence.
my number 17 too, although i gave it a 7/10 instead. 🙂
Nice to match as early 🙂 Let’s see how it goes by the end of the reviews!
You wanna see me dance? – type of song.
No thanks
Agree with the parallelism
don’t compare this amateurish song to the masterpiece from our other queen Noa Kirel
Hahaha
I’m sorry, zero stars.
It’s just sounds very noisy to me and I wait for it to be over.
My winner, I know its not going to win, Top 13 is very much achievable. Staging is so crucial with this, if its not there, its going to flop.
If it is there and to what I hope it could be based on the video, we could get some Eleni-esque staging from this that would really elevate it live.
At the very least it should qualify. Far better than that overhyped mess that is Belgium.
then it isn’t your favourite, if you say something nasty like you know it isn’t going to win
It’s a difference between wanting something to win and knowing what possibly will have chance to win based on different factors. There’s nothing nasty with that. A great song also needs a great performance to make it all the way.
We’ve got another girlbop already. This one is more of a vocal showcase, and the lyrics are a little bit better than “Liar.” The “put out the fire” section is awfully repetitive, though. I was disappointed but not surprised that Georgia made a move toward the center in order to qualify; this fits in the “solid but uninspired” level. I’ve got it in 27th place.
After seeing this live in the London preparty I’m putting it up a point. At absolute worst enunciation is the only thing getting in the way of the fact she’s genuinely excellent live.
I think it’s a decent pop song. Probably qualify but right of the table in the final
In a way it would be more interesting to read the comments of whoever ranked them higher! Also, personally I really like Georgia this year and think it will come alive with her flawless vocals.
Georgia is 5th for me, like I said for Cyprus, I enjoy dancy songs because they will make me dance as well and I find them sooooo catchy!
26th place from me for Georgia this year.
To be honest I both like and dislike this song at the same time. It’s very mainstream and the chorus sounds good, but there is something overall that doesn’t do it for me. It isn’t a wow song to be super amazed by.
I also think it’s borderline if it will go through to the final. Really depends on staging and vocals. I haven’t heard her sing the song live yet. Let’s hope it will be a good performance and Georgia can for once qualify!
34TH PLACE: GEORGIA: I am really disappointed in Georgia this year. As a person who always liked their alternative approach to the contest even if it was rarely rewarded, I see them this year sending a mainstream and unimaginative dance-pop song with bland lyrics. I find nothing interesting in this one: neither the song nor the general aesthetics. It also seems less polished than for example the Cypriot song that we reviewed previously, production-wise. Vocally she is strong of course, but I am not a particular fan of her timbre to be honest. This song is not for me at… Read more »
I can understand many fans of Georgian Eurovision entries feeling similarly to yourself. I expected something a bit more Eurovision results-friendly from Georgia this year. In 2023, they were leaning that direction and their approach was probably still a bit too “out there” and got the result that it did.
The real question is, if this does do well, is this the new Georgian normal going forward?
I hope not. Personally as of now I don’t believe Firefighter will have a huge success in the contest but a qualification is very much possible, and in that case since it will be Georgia’s first in many years they may be tempted to go in that direction again. I believe this will be to the detriment of their artistic authenticity.
This song suffers from the same issue as Iru’s Echo: it doesn’t express anything at all. There are no emotions and there is no catchiness. On top of that, the production is abhorrently noisy. There’s no place for such a song in the current market, it’s easily the worst “girl bop” this year.
I have this 21st, it is so much better than Cyprus, which I have at 29.
Wiwi Jury Ranking
In my opinion, Georgia is 23rd and Cyprus is 29th.
Unfortunately, just like Cyprus (comparing it to Georgia since you posted Cyprus earlier) – a lot of things have to (amazingly) go their way for them to qualify. In 2nd Semifinal there are a lot of sure qualifiers (a lot more than in 1st semifinal) for me. I agree with odds a lot on the 2nd Semifinal. Netherlands, Switzerland, Greece, Belgium, Armenia, Norway, Israel and Austria are going through. All other counties will fight for the 2 remaining spots. I would not dare to say there is a sure Non-qualifier in 2nd Semifinal. But for me, Georgia just does not… Read more »
I actually really love her powerful vocals in the chorus “I see it in the air”, so much that I am tempted to put it on my playlist. But the drop “put out the fire” is so annoying to me. So all in all, I’m not a fan. Could have been a good song but isn’t. Might make the final in the lower places but doesn’t have to.
25) Georgia – Yeah, this one is a borderline qualifier for me. Nothing inherently wrong with the song – Nutsa’s voice is cool, but it’s not hard-hitting enough for me to warrant putting the song in a higher spot. I guess I’m too used to Georgia being one of the more quirky countries. 5/10
this is my in top 5 HELP
29. Georgia – Nutsa – Firefighter – 5.5/10 – rather unfairly, this is a song that is at the bottom of my repeat playlist – I have just found very little that sets it apart from its very middle-of-the-road flavour – Nutsa is undoubtedly a very good vocalist, I just need more emotional connection. I miss the more daring Georgian entries that we have had in recent years.
agree, Circus Mircus were in my top 3 of 2022 for example, i really liked the quirkiness of ”Lock Me In” i prefer that sort of quirk to the overhyped Dadi Freyr one year before either
I think having it in that “It might qualify, it might not” position bubble is fair. As far as the emotional connection goes, I think it has more of a one than the songs that it frequently gets compared to this year (Cyprus, Austria, Malta etc.) so I don’t think that’s going to be a big issue for those who are willing to vote for it. ^^