Wiwi Jury UMK edition: Ida Bois with “Kumbaya”

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. Today we are listening to Ida Bois, who is competing with her song “Kumbaya“. “Don’t wait for the world to change, but be the change yourself” — that’s the message Ida wants to give. Did we buy it? Or was our response, “Change your song?” Read on to find out…

Deban: Hmm..Some good ideas here, but are they transferable? Also, for every high moment, there are two dull interludes. Kumbaya is good in parts, but equally a let down in others. Anthems are great. I loved Ryan Dolan’s falsetto dance anthem. But guess what? It finished last in the finals. “Kumbaya” has a much longer way to go.

Score: 5/10

Josh: I personally think that “Kumbaya” is the dark horse of UMK this year. It’s got a great anthemic feeling that I adore, and the electric instrumental breaks throughout the song would give the crowd a great opportunity for a dance or a vigorous flag wave. And much like ‘”Mustelmat”, I’m all for a song sung in its native tongue. I like this a lot.

Score: 8/10

William: Ida Bois is turning up the heat on the traditional campfire song — and I am sweating! This is catchy, refreshing and more addictive than monosodium glutamate. Ida delivers it with conviction and pizzaz. Je l’adore!

Score: 8.5/10

Ramadan: Ida’s voice is so magical and it hooks me instantly. The Finnish language really enhances the song and makes the electro-pop complete. Even so, I’ll be worried during the live performance.

Score: 8/10

Robyn: Yeah, electro-pop songs with instrumental choruses are trendy right now, but it’s not something that’s going to work with the singer-centric world of Eurovision. What does the singer do on stage when the instrumental chorus hits? Jig about a bit while the DJ pretends to twiddle his knobs?

Score: 1/10

http://youtu.be/pX2KTXeRxHc

Sami: I really like Ida’s song and it’s my favourite one from the third heat. The ironic lyrics are great, just like the message. Ida’s voice is nice and fits the song, which is very danceable. I hope they make the stage performance big and memorable, then they might make it to the final.

Score: 9/10

Sopon: Ida’s song is alright and well-composed, but I feel that everything she does is not genuine. I can’t connect to it, and it’s not really a song for the contest.

Score: 6/10

Patrick: It’s a good song. The Finnish together with the electro-uptempo-pop sound harmonises really well! Ida can sing and I can already see a stunning performance! But since the thing with Siru happend, I’m not sure how this will end…

Score: 6.5/10

Mikhail: I am so tired of all these dance songs. It’s very nice at the beginning, and you expect an interesting chorus. But then they just turn up the dance beat. We’ve heard it everywhere already and I have no desire to dance.

Score: 3.5/10

The highest and lowest scores have been removed before calculating the final scores to avoid bias. We have removed a high of 9 and a low of 1.

The Wiwi Jury Verdict: 6.5/10

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