The Wiwi Jury — our in-house team of music unprofessionals — is approaching the end of our journey through Hungary. We’ve just two more acts to review, the first of which is Ív with “Fire”. It’s different, it’s new, a little pop, a little dubstep. And it looks like she stole Kállay-Saunders’ dancers. Did she bring the heat? Read on to find out…
Angus: Ív has a real dreamy almost drunken-sounding drawl to her voice. It lends ‘Fire’ a real passion and rage other songs in A Dal are denied. At times the drawl does sound a little like vocal laziness though and failing to hit all the right notes at the Final would be unacceptable.
Score: 7/10
Deban: “Fire” comes off as an simple pop number, but in actual fact, it draws on heavy production values. The flamed backdrop is a genius idea, however, this loses impact with the dancers in the background. Less is more! Iv has good vocal control though. When she sounds nonchalant, it provides an interesting juxtaposition to the lyrics of the song. A Dal or Eurovision, this is a decent entry.
Score: 7/10
Francheska: The instrumentals are so cool. The drums and guitars are very Imagine Dragon meets Adele and the electronica in the last verse is killer, but unfortunately that’s all I like. She has the voice of a cat with strep throat, and what famous cliche do we get? “My heart is on fiiiiiiiiire”. Weird lyrics, a confining dress, and a singer who cannot complement this song will be the death of this. If somebody would get me the instrumental (without this woman’s screaming), I’d be eternally grateful.
Score: 4/10
Robyn: The performance in the semi-final was an improvement on the heats, but a lot of that is down to Ív’s vocals being given a compression effect to disguise her weaknesses. While the song is fine and the staging is great (flames! spicy dancers!), Ív’s voice is still monotonous and doesn’t have enough going on to make the performance a success.
Score: 5/10
Renske: I don’t really know what to think about this song. It clearly has some potential, but it sounds like a demo… The semi perfomance was way better than the heat, but still not amazing. The instrumental bridge is superfluous, it’s so awkward to watch. If it was a good dance routine I wouldn’t mind, but this was just nothing at all.
Score: 6/10
Patrick: Last time I gave her a seven cause I said her voice is not so good… How did she do that? She sounded amazing this time and I’m in love with this stunning, wonderful, catchy and special song! Her voice sounded brilliant and the show itself was fabulous! I’m sure she won’t be in Vienna but at least she should be in the top four!
Score: 9.5/10
Max: I’m not sure how ‘Fire’ even got through to the national selection. It’s by far the worst song in the final. Some saw it as a pleasant surprise reaching the final but I’m just like ‘wait – why do people like this?’ – it’s slow, snooze worthy and just doesn’t seem to go anywhere. Ív lacks any sort of charisma and the only thing that works for her is the instrumental when she’s not singing.
Score: 2/10
Judit: It’s hard to explain my feelings about this song. First, I thought it didn’t deserve a place in the competition and now I really hope she’ll be in the top four. It’s not a typical ESC song but I think that’s why I like it more and more day by day.
Score: 8.5/10
Padraig: This is HOT! Ív is a sultry seductress and I’m under her spell. Her “Fire” may have dimmed slightly during the first heat, but she rose from the ashes and slayed in the semis. Modern, fierce and chart-ready, I’d be quite happy for Europe to become engulfed in her inferno.
Score: 9/10
I love it soooo much. She is beautiful, great song and a VERY unusual climax. Definitely my favourite behind Kati. 10/10.
Love the song! I’m glad all my favorites are in the final.