This afternoon the Wiwi Jury—our in-house panel of musical unprofessionals—caught a bus to Copenhagen to photograph the Little Mermaid statue and to review Emmelie de Forest’s “Only Teardrops”. Did she leave us in tears with her beauty and poise? Or did we tell her to dry her tears and write a better song next time? Read on to find out..


Bogdan: If many songs don’t sound like Eurovision songs, this one sounds too much like a Eurovision cliché to me, because it is very similar to past contenders. It has “Let Me Try” written all over it if you ask me (the flute, the drums… It’ll sound very familiar to Romanian ears). Also, the “We Are the World” lyrics are sort of dated and lame. That being said, Emmelie delivers a good performance and I see it doing well, especially because it’s so popular. But not in my book.

Score: 6/10

Emmelie de Forest Only TeardropsVebooboo:  Denmark has turned itself into a Eurovision powerhouse as of late.  Sweden may be the most intensely fanatic nation when it comes to Eurovision, but Denmark in the past 5 years has delivered a string of solid performances that have ranked in the top 5. Along comes Emelie, and Denmark finally has itself a winner (or so I hope at least).  This act has it all – a simple song that is easy to remember, a folksy flair that will appeal to eastern European peasants, a pretty girl, and sensational staging.  And can I just point out the obvious — Emelie is Helena Bonham Carter’s bastard child!  Not only do they look exactly alike, but they both have the same eery, cooky style.  And both are utterly fantabulous. Bottom line, unless Emelie gets a horrible lot when it comes to her Final starting position, I think she will be shedding a lot of teardrops when she wins. So start booking tickets to CPH, peeps.  Funny, since half of the Eurovision community are already there this year in light of Malmö’s atrocious reputation and utter lack of quality accommodation.

Score: 10/10

Deban: The Danx Melodi Grand Prix was interesting for many reasons. This year had the most submissions in it’s five-decade history. Oddly enough, the 10 finalists that were selected were by no means indicative of high quality. In their defence, many of them brought something special to the table, but nobody had the overall package in my view. Mohammed had the best song, Simone had the best vocals, Brinck is a big name, Kate had the most sophisticated staging and Daze rocked a killer chorus. Unfortunately for all the other participants, it was Emelie the unknown starlet who bagged the trophy with Only Teardrops. Although, not a standout contestant or song by any means, she was the only one who successfully ticked all boxes in all categories without compromising. Will this do well in Malmö? It’s hard to say, but my prediction is that it will qualify, but stall like her predecessor, Soluna Samay. Perhaps her Royal ties may win a few votes. Personally, I can’t help but echo Soluna and think, ‘Shouldn’t Denmark have known better’?

Score: 5/10

HK Dick: This has it all and is surely the song to beat. It’s original, has obligatory Eurovision drums, great vocals, a memorable chorus and even a bit of Irish flute to complete the package. Maybe I should just leave my suitcase in Copenhagen for 2014…

Score: 9/10

Emmelie de Forest Denmark EurovisionAlexander: Denmark’s Eurovision entries in recent years have usually been either generic or knock-offs. Just as a few examples, Denmark 2006 was a knock-off of Chubby Checker’s “The Twist”, Denmark 2009 was a generic country song, Denmark 2010 was an ABBA knock-off, Denmark 2011 was accused of being a rip-off of other compositions, and last year’s Danish entry was typical American country-pop. While I have enjoyed many of these entries, I have to sincerely applaud Denmark for going with something more unique and original this year. “Only Teardrops” is an excellent entry performed wonderfully by Emmelie. The song has a powerful and addictive chorus, the drumming is great, and the flute is absolutely beautiful. The lyrics also have a nice meaning as well. This should definitely receive a high placing in Malmö!

Score: 8/10

Mr Häggkvist: Just clean, pure, magical, different and not a commercial pop song… I can write a lot of things about this song, but I think it’s all about Emmelie’s way of performing and the feeling that she translates. It’s just beautiful. At the very least this should make the top 10.

Score: 8.5/10

Wiwi: Of all the songs at Eurovision this year, “Only Teardrops” is the one that will play well in the most markets. It has East-West appeal, is radio-friendly and actually has a story to tell. Themes of division and unity apply to love, politics, and the environment—and cut across all cultures. The tribal drumming taps into our most basic instincts and would have stirred a reaction in the first homo sapiens, the mandarins, and Enlightenment thinkers, just as it will in today’s bright young things, super models, and fans of pop. This song will age well as it’s timeless and has no borders. Mature lyrics with a spiritual delivery. A musical orgasm. A perfect ten.

Score: 10/10

Wiwi Jury Verdict: 8.07/10

Wiwi Jury Final Ranking: #3 out of 39 contestants

You can see the latest reviews and standings on the Wiwi Jury pageYou can also listen to all 39 entries on our contestants page.

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Paul
Paul
10 years ago

What are the notes of “Only Teardrops” that are played on the tin whistle?

Paul
Paul
10 years ago

What are the notes that are played on the tin whistle for “Only Teardrops” ?

Cheers 😉

Mark Dowd
Mark Dowd
10 years ago

I can see this winning as easily as Alexander R for Norway in 2009. Douze points!!

Trevor
Trevor
10 years ago

Like it, like it, like it. Her breathy inability to hit a big note without her voice breaking – in that way that Dolores O’Riordan of the Cranberries has – is rather endearing and she overcomes it towards the end before it has the chance to irritate. Like the tin whistle, too. Very engaging.

Ari
Ari
10 years ago

The beautiful blonde for the win? possibly. Just teach her how to breathe while singing first. She’s panting worse than an exasperated stallion… Staging is lovely, being barefoot on the floor with the neutral white flowing dress and the “just woke up” hairdo (took a page from ‘euphoria’ didn’t they?). Get her a clean dress for the ESC since I reckon she wiped the danish stage floor sufficiently with the current model. photographs dirty for some reason… The song is actually refreshing, a sort of combination between traditional pop and folk (yes I am a sucker for the flute and… Read more »

NeoGabox
NeoGabox
10 years ago

12 points from Venezuela :3

nikki
10 years ago

song is very beautiful and girl too

Emmlily
Emmlily
10 years ago

Kind of reminds me of Horehronie…we all know how that turned out.

Leon
Leon
10 years ago

A good entry with lots of ticks in the right places. It moves away from the clubbing mob and could draw voters who want to listen and appreciate the finer nuances of a song.

MrHäggkvist
MrHäggkvist
10 years ago

Henrique like i always said, it’s a matter of tastes, i don’t see this entry as Poor, and Norway is good, but it wont connect with people like this!!!

henrique
henrique
10 years ago

You’re absolutely right Dan, this song is simply quite poor, it has just been staged in a very grand, clever way to make people believe it’s good. So many have been caught in the trap.

There’s not much in this year’s lot to be honest, so you’ll probably find you have been wasting your time anyway, but I’d advise you to check on Norway. It’s miles from all the rest.

Alexander
Alexander
10 years ago

Dan, maybe this song doesn’t fit your type of style/genre. There are other good songs in different genres 🙂

Dan
Dan
10 years ago

I haven’t listened until now to any of this year’s songs, except for this one (being the hot favourite and all), and if this is the best 2013 has to offer, I won’t bother and waste my time listening to any more entries…

Ian
Ian
10 years ago

Certainly deserves to be one of the favorites. A terrific song.

Gavin
Gavin
10 years ago

I was rather over this song after the first listen. I don’t think it’s anything special, it sounds very much a generic eurovision song that I have heard before.

I can apricate the singer and the performance and ill be eager to see it on the night, but interms of a song to listen too, a song to share, I find it dull and slightly cliched of eurovision, but not in a good way, in a dreary way.

5/10

ct
ct
10 years ago

I think a lot of the odds in her favour have to do with the fact that Denmark is the one scandinavian country that hasn’t won in quite a while than with the real chances this song has. As far as I am concerned this sound would have been very succesful in the ’90s (think Norway ’95 or Ireland ’96 for example) but now it sounds terribly middle of the road, adult-orientated radio kind of song.

I do believe this will prove as overrated as Denmark’s song last year and will struggle to get in the top-10, let alone win.

Harriet Krohn
Harriet Krohn
10 years ago

Hmm. The song is nice and all, but I don’t quite get why so many people see this as the winner. It’s way too harmless for that in my personal opinion, but who knows, maybe Europe will go for middle of the road, by the numbers again this year – there could be worse outcomes. But the flute is totally getting on my nerves by now.

Samo
10 years ago

After 2010, 2011 and 2012 being so close to victory I think 2013 could be the year of Denmark. Denmark was robbed in 2012 with Soluna placing a dismal 23rd. Let’s bring 2014 Eurovision to Copenhagen!

Interesting fact: Denmark’s odds are actually lower than Loreen’s last year! Could Denmark peak over 400 points in the final? I hope so!

MoMo
MoMo
10 years ago

Yawn. This song is formulaic Eurovision.
*singing* “How many times will you do this, dude?”

Z24
Z24
10 years ago

After years and years of pure boredom and overrating, Denmark finally sends a decent, interesting song.

This may be in my top 10, but not really quite there. It’s greatly arranged and great lyrics, but it may be getting more credit that it actually deserves. Still, very nice of you Denmark for not sending overrated rubbish like lots of years.