Last night the Wiwi Jury—our in-house panel of music unprofessionals—grew out our hair and traveled to Tirana to review Adrian and Bledar’s Eurovision 2013 song “Identitet”. Were we blown away by Albania’s entry? Or did we catch the first mule out of the country? Read on to find out.
Vebooboo: After such an amazing year last year, we knew Albania would face an uphill battle to find someone to fill Rona’s shoes. What we didn’t know is that they’d be sending such a hideous number. I mean, seriously…just as you shouldn’t travel to Kenya and attempt to climb Kilimanjaro without any hiking gear or food, you probably shouldn’t send a duo with horrible vocals and the most grating of songs I’ve ever heard to compete at Eurovision. This is probably my least favourite song this year. It tries to be deep, yet it’s as shallow as a mudpit in the Okavango Delta during a drought. Yes, I’m using a lot of African references here, but that’s probably because songs like this don’t belong in Europe. Period.
Score: 1/10
HK Dick: If I could listen to an instrumental version of the song I think I might like it. The opening 20 seconds are really nice and there are points when it actually sounds like a decent tune. Then the rasping vocals set in, followed by guitars and I totally disengage. Absolutely no chance of winning but one rock song usually makes it to the final.
Score: 5/10
Wiwi: Do you remember that urban legend about the girl at your high school sticking a hot dog up her woman business? That was gross. But this song is even grosser. After a promising start with a folksy instrumental flourish, “Identitet” falls flat on its face. And then it licks the dirt and swallows a bunch of insects and excretes them out of its rear. I hate to be over-the-top, but this is the kind of song that does damage to Eurovision and makes us Eurovision fans look like total freaks. This is definitely my least favourite song of 2013 and I hope that we never have to hear it again.
Score: 1/10
Deban: How these boys triumphed in a contest that boasted a deep field of talent still baffles me. They shouldn’t have been short-listed as an entry to begin with! “Identitet” is a folklore song laced with a heavy dose of rock instrumentation. When you add Adrian and Bledar’s vocals to it, it becomes almost deafening. The original entry of the song is 4.15 minutes. That’s already 75 seconds too long for Eurovision. My advice is to showcase this song as a soundbite. No one should be subjected to three minutes of this. Audience viewing figures dipped last year when Rambo Amedeus opened the show with Euro Neuro. Thankfully, the show’s format has changed yet again. This act is likely to be programmed when most people would be needing a toilet break.
Score: 1/10
Bogdan: I never liked classic rock even when it was still clinging to life. Apparently, Adrian and Bledar didn’t get the memo that rock is dead and they aim to revive it, which is heart-warming. But how do you revive it without injecting anything new to the old-fashioned sound of twenty years ago? Some have voiced Lordi-fueled hopes that “Identitet”‘s uniqueness could bring it forward, but I wouldn’t be that naïve. It’s too backwards.
Score: 2/10
Mr Häggkvist: I think the different style of music in Albania sometimes wows us (as in 2008 and 2012). Unfortunately sometimes it is just boring and easy to forget (as in 2007 and 2011). “Identitet” falls into the latter category and I can’t see anything unique in this entry. It’s kinda dissapointing that Albania chose this in a Festival I Kenges full of amazing performers and songs who would have done much better at Eurovision. I love the guitars but the whole idea doesn’t work to me.
Score: 4/10
Alexander: Albania’s song is alright, but not great. I do enjoy the folk motives and instrumental parts. I also like the abrupt shift from Bledar’s quiet, raspy verse to Adrian’s loud and energetic one. Besides that, “Identitet” is flat, repetitive, and a little too dull for my tastes. Will it qualify in Malmö, or fail in the semi-final? I really don’t know, but either way is fine with me.
Score: 6/10
The Wiwi Jury Verdict: 2.86/10
You can see the latest reviews and standings on the Wiwi Jury page. You can also listen to all 39 entries on our contestants page.
Very flat , apart from a few interesting instrumental hooks- most would lose interest before it reaches the half way point. But, you never know …..
EHW some of this juries song like ignorant and perverts that is all I have to say.
I thought this site was weir before …. now they made me not to follow them again…. Your comments make sick… and please do not act like experts when you are not ok. As you have stated “unprofessional” but please be professional… dont sound like some teens… having fun 🙁
70’s Stadium rock lives on. All the fags smoked by Emerson Lake and Palmer have left them without decent voices – and that guitar riff is pure Groundhogs, circa 1971. Get your loons on and headbang to some odd nostalgia. Or not.
@Veebooboo 🙂
*waving at the spaceship*
Actually, Zolan raises a good point. In the Albanian national final, the instrumental parts are performed live, which was likely a huge part of this entry’s appeal to the Albanian audience. This entry would have more of a point if the EBU would allow the return of live instruments on stage. The same could have been said of Slovenia’s Love Symphony, which is still one of my Eurovision favorites. (Of course, you have examples like “Only the Dead Fish Follow the Stream” from this year’s Melodifestivalen and “Eastern European Funk” from Eurovision 2010 where the entrants get around this rule,… Read more »
This one is terrible and I myself can’t even listen the entire song. Good one, jury!
Unfortunately, I find “Identitet” boring and shouty; the vocal pattern is too repetitive, and it lacks drive. It’s more marching band than metal. I’m no purist, but it’s a problem when the highlight of an act is the pre-recorded guitar solo being mimed on stage.
Rock is not dead at ESC, but I’m not pinning my black singlet to this offering.
This song is made from stuff I like, but it fails to soar and it all falls flat.
I definitely agree with the jury. This is awful and deserves nothing but “nil point”
But @Veebooboo, I do not appreciate your casual suggestion that this hogwash has a place in Africa /anywhere in the world.
XoXo
From Lagos (Nigeria, West Africa) with love
It’s a lot of noise, nothing more sorry-:)
@Ewan, I’d like to think that the jury members have varied music tastes,and can judge all genres according to composition, lyrical and melody merits. Rona Nishliu is no schlager fodder, and she came second in our reviews last year. What do you say to that? Meows Kitty, a panelist last year, ranked Rambo Amadeus very high last year, and he’s far from anything popular. The reality is thatthe current Albanian entry doesn’t measure up to any musical standards.
I have to agree with the Wiwi jury here, at least on the song rating. Rock isn’t dead and it’s not going to die, not even in Eurovision. There were plenty of good rock entries in the national finals this year. But this song is just a lousy, boring cut of the original version. It doesn’t help that Kejsi Tola had a far superior entry that should’ve won, but alas, she split the female-solo-vocalist/past-Eurovision-entrant vote with Anjeza Shahini (who really shouldn’t have finished the national final in 2nd place either). This song unfortunately just feels like it’ll do nothing but… Read more »
I really don’t agree with you guys. Identitet doesn’t compare to Rona’s song, but it was their best choice; it’s not bad at all, it’s unique and quite catchy.
I really agree with this score for Albania… i didn’t like them last year, but they got a really high ranking… I think it will be tough to not be last in the 2nd semi-final this year.
I’m a huge rock fan myself, but most Eurovision fans are not. I think the sad reality is that these scores reflect reality. Albania will have to try again next year.
Agreed with Ewan, as a Rock fan, these scores appear most harsh to me. There are considerably worse songs out there (Romania, Estonia, Slovenia, Macedonia and Hungary to name but a few).
Let’s be fair, asking the Wiwi Jury to look this is over is kind of missing the point – do you have any touchstones to this genre that allow comparison? I think a bit of bias for the schlager is sneaking in here 🙂
Ouch. But a deserved ouch. Rona was amazing so this is even more of a letdown. I also liked Kejsi Tola back in Moscow. More of that please, Albania!