UMK 2014: Wiwi Jury reviews Jasmin Michaela with Kertakäyttösydän

Earlier this morning the Wiwi Jury—our in-house panel of music unprofessionals—grabbed our Finnish-English dictionaries and headed to Helsinki to review Jasmin Michaela‘s #umk14 song “Kertakäyttösydän”. That means “Disposable Heart” in English. Did we want to give Jasmin our heart? Or did we ask her to pass the rubbish bin? Read on to find out…

Angus: The vocal is quite shrill and the lyrics are a bit overwhelming. The beat is catchy though, which might work in her favour. This really isn’t to my taste though and I’m inclined to ask the chef about sending it back and ordering something more palatable from the menu.

Score: 4/10

Bogdan: This one’s an intriguing track. It starts off as a slightly Oriental tune and then it takes you to unexpected places. I dig the fact that she’s singing in Finnish and the song is melodic and eventful enough to keep things interesting. Although I doubt that “Kertakäyttösydän” will be picked to represent Finland, it made me curious to know more about Jasmin, which is a big plus. After all, this is what Eurovision is all about, isn’t it? Getting acquainted with artists that you would otherwise never hear about.

Score: 8/10

The re-mastered version:

http://youtu.be/0JnQztJhjis

Deban: Jasmin looks good, and she’s able to carry a note. However, when a three minute pop song starts to read like an EP, then it signals disaster. It felt so much longer than the other songs, and it’s lacking in the cute folk factor that we expect to hear at song festivals. Finns may love this track, but it’ll most likely stall at the border.

Score: 4/10

Katie: Kudos to Jasmin for singing the song in Finnish, but she made the language sound pretty intimidating at the beginning of the song as she sounded rather angry. But by the first chorus, I was quite happily bopping along and the singer was sweet and smiley. The only thing special or unique to the song was the fact it was in Finnish, but that won’t serve any favours in Copenhagen and I can’t imagine this song would do well at all if it qualified.

Score: 6/10

Padraig: Kertakäyttösydän oozes potential. And this is harnessed to a certain extent in the studio version. But I still think that it could be improved with a little added stomp. Not that there’s a whole lot to improve upon. In terms of sass Jasmin is definitely the true successor to Krista. If only she could find her own “Ding Dong”, for want of a better pharse, and the song would soar.

Score: 7/10

Sami: This song got so much better with the new version. At first it was just okay, but now I’m in love with it. The drums sound amazing and I love Jasmine’s style of singing, even if her articulation could be a little better. I hope it does well in the contest and I would be really happy to see it on the ESC stage, even if I don’t know if it would have any chance to place higher than 15 or so in the final.

Score: 9/10

Wiwi: It’s like Margaret Berger has started rapping, y’all. I love this melange of electronica, rap, and Finnish language. Jasmine has brought something original and bold. That’s risky—she could alienate a lot of people—but also promising—she will certainly stand out. The strategy seems to be go hard or go home. In any event, I like the novelty factor. It’s kindo f like Montenegro’s ESC 2013 entry — a little crazy, a little WTF, and a whole lot of “I love it!”

Score: 9/10

Wiwi Jury Verdict: 6.86/10

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