In the run-up to each heat of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), Finland’s selection for Eurovision 2015, the Wiwi Jury — our in-house team of music unprofessionals — will rate the songs from that heat. Next up is Opera Skaala with “Heart of Light”. Did opera mixed with EDM made us scream from fear or dance with joy?
Deban: Mediocrity has never been my forte. Clearly, Opera Skaala share my view. I am blinded by the excess of it all. Essi Luttinen’s stretched face, her impossibly high-pitched vocals, random shots of roses in flower vases, and ballerinas in period costume. They all offer a very heavy dose of poor taste. “Heart Of Light” is kitsch beyond comprehension! Any admittance to liking this trash deserves a bravery award. But here’s the thing…… I LOVE IT!
Score: 8.5/10
Josh: “Heart of Light” is going to be my Eurovision 2015 guilty pleasure song. I can’t help but love this. I admit, the first time I heard this song, I cracked up laughing because I thought it was so ridiculous, and it is ridiculous, but its amazing! I have a feeling this would do pretty well in Vienna if it were sent. I’m surprised more countries haven’t jumped on the opera bandwagon after Federica Falzon’s result in JESC 2014. I wouldn’t complain if this went to Vienna.
Score: 8/10
William: At times in the video Opera Skaala looks like a drag queen. And I love me some drag queen! This is bonkers, bizarre and over-the-top, but totally works. I would dance to this at the club, and I’ll totally dance to it at UMK. Should it go to Eurovision? No. Should it make the UMK final? Absolutely.
Score: 8/10
Ramadan: And the best video goes to Opera Skaala. This is one epic song, even though I really hate opera. It’s over-the-top but I’m loving it, y’all. Though, I’m worried this would be horrible live. I hope I’m wrong!
Score: 7/10
Robyn: This song is totally ridiculous and I love it! Combining an opera singer with modern electro-pop has been done before (see the fabulous Cezar in 2012), but Opera Skaala do their own thing with some fresh house beats. If the music video is anything to go by, there’s potential for wonderful crazy greatness with the staging.
Score: 9/10
Sami: Everyone says you either hate this or love this. I think it’s just an okay song. Essi’s voice is amazing, but the beat is maybe a little too lazy. I don’t see myself dancing to this, as it’s more like “wow, she is great singer” than “omg, where’s the dancefloor?!” I think it should make it to the final from this heat, but it’s not guaranteed.
Score: 7/10
Sopon: Please feel free to feed me to the wolves for this, but this song is EPIC. After seeing gothic Alenka’s luminescent palm, powerhouse Malena’s phantom dancers, and miniature Federica’s overdose of the smoke machine, it’s only natural to see James Madison pirouette on stage! This avant-garde number (when combined with OTT staging) will keep my eyes glued to the screen. This certainly leaves a lasting impression, and that’s the key of doing well. #guiltypleasure, y’all!
Score: 10/10
Patrick: This lady knows how it works! Opera Skaala is weird, but special! This song is so great in its own way that it deserves a place in the UMK final. I really can see her standing on the stage in an overwhelming glamourous dress with a huge wig and amazing vocals! I love it and yes, Finland would be a sensation in Vienna!
Score: 9.5/10
Mikhail: This song is weird and not in a good way. I don’t like dancing tunes so much, but together with opera it transfers into something worse. It doesn’t fit together. I love opera itself, but in this song the magic of it is spoiled. The melody itself is nice, but with a normal voice it would sound much better.
Score: 4/10
The highest and lowest scores have been removed before calculating the final scores to avoid bias. We have removed a high of 10 and a low of 4.
The Wiwi Jury Verdict: 8.2/10
You can read all of our reviews and rankings for Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) 2015 by clicking here. You can also keep up with the latest Eurovision news and gossip by following the team from wiwibloggs.com on Twitter @wiwibloggs and by liking our Facebook page.
Photo: YLE
Although this song is unique at its own right, I don’t think Finland should send this unless it gets improved for the finals performance at UMK 2015. I don’t know but it seems that the song isn’t sung coherently for an opera song (yes, opera songs can actually be sung coherently) and seems like there is more vocalization than the lyrics and this isn’t like Norway’s 1994 entry that really had more vocalizations and lyrics that can fit into a tweet, this one has lyrics whose length will break the tweet limit yet only 60% of it is sung coherently,… Read more »
A list of things wrong with this can be summed up in one word: Nothing
I am torn a because this is built for Vienna (As long as her performance has no period costumes, that would be too much). This is everyone’s guilt pleasure song and it’s fabulous but Mustlemat is a top 5 song for sure and a really strong contender to take out the comp so I really don’t know which I would choose.
I like this song a lot but I would not send it to Vienna.
Firstly, I don’t think it would win.
Secondly it is really just a novelty song & ESC should be trying to establish some music credibility. It is doing this & ESC is getting more respect because there are many great songs competing. This song will go straight into the kitsch basket. Don’t send it for the sake of Eurovision.
This song is built for Vienna but not Eurovision. I don’t want this to go but I won’t be completely heartbroken if it does.
Check a live performance here! It’s absolutely flawless!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ThY1BaZdig
This is great. Really, really great.
Siru would be the best choice if Finland wants a realistic chance of winning with a great song, but this song is just soooo fun 🙂 I love it, and althought I wouldnt mind if it got to represent Finland, i dont think it’d do as well as Siru would. My other guilty pleasure is “Bon Voyage” which I just love for some reason (a lot of people hate it lol)
Only one song is *built* for Vienna!
Come on Suomi, do the right thing!
SHE. HAS. TO. WIN!!!
Opera Skaala to Vienna!!! <3
OPERA SKAALAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!<3
“Should it go to Eurovision? No.”
That’s where you lose me. It’s the kind of song that we need this year – it’s uptempo, it’s ridiculous, and it has the potential for special staging.
Ew, no! I hate opera!
0/10
Really hope to see this song in Vienna 😀
really lovin this, Finland selection this year has really strong songs. I just don’t see this getting any higher than siru and satin circus. 10/10
I was impressed that this song actually seems to follow a classical music format rather than give in to the standard predictable pop song structure. The one thing I’d improve is the instrumentation.