The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of musical unprofessionals — continues its reviews in Norway with “A Monster Like Me” by Mørland and Debrah Scarlett. This dynamic duo is a fan favourite, but have they also impressed the Wiwi Jury?
“A Monster Like Me” – Mørland and Debrah Scarlett
Max: I’m not a betting man but if I was then all of my student loans would be on this one to win Eurovision right now. Sadly, though, I don’t think the Norwegian public will pick it, in favor of something more lively. This track is haunting, charming and endearing all at the same time and genius behind the lyrics needs a pay raise. Head and shoulders above Estonia’s song.
Score: 9.5/10
Angus: This is the obvious frontrunner and like Carl Espen last year, the likely public favourite. Unlike in 2014 though, choosing the obvious frontrunner this year wouldn’t be a major injustice. With astute staging and a successful intimation of chemistry this could be dynamite.
Score: 9.5/10
Patrick: I have no idea what I should say about this song… it’s just beautiful. The video itself is really dark and touching. The voices are matching perfectly and the melody is just amazing. It’s strong, powerful and a bit retro and thats amazing! Top 5 in Vienna for sure!
Score: 9.5/10
Colin: At first I thought this song was nothings epcial, especially when the 15 second clip released. It grew on me and it is amazing. There are a lot of duets this year, but this is one of if not the strongest of all of them. If staged right it would be a true contender for the win at Eurovision.
Score: 10/10
Renske: It’s so mysteriously beautful! Love the whole structure of the song: from the soft start to the impressive end. You can’t deny that this one is a strong one. After all, I’m doubting if the people at home will understand this beauty of a song.
Score: 8/10
Josh: SO. MUCH. LOVE. The Norwegian selection this year is quite amazing, and there is a monster inside of me that is living for this song. As Angus said, with the right staging this song could be incredible. But right now it’s right up there in my Top 3.
Score: 9/10
Francheska: A song of guilt, humility, and recognizing the monster within all of us is hard to pull of beautifully. However, this duet has obviously succeeded at this! The drama lingers, the simple instrumentals stand alone and clear, and they complement each other wonderfully. The slow bits of piano even remind me of the very beginning of “Formidable” by Stromae. Even though the end isn’t necessarily the most powerful, it’s a wonderful release at the end of something that keeps building up beautifully. I need some tissues!
Score: 8/10
James: I’ve said so much about this that my mouth is going dry – I direct you to one of the wiwi.tv videos I was in if you want my true opinion. It’s magical and wonderful, and yes, and yes, and yes!
Score: 10/10
Ramadan: I loved the snippet as it sounded promising, but the full version doesn’t sound promising at all. I can see a lot of Eurovision fans loving this, but I just find it way too boring. The instrumental is beautiful, though.
Score: 4/10
Deban: Very confessional in delivery, the Irish would love this if it advanced! Well-crafted story telling that traces feelings of guilt and regret. The voices here blend beautifully, adding a perfect ingredient to a dramatic score. Although the crescendo is delayed, the result isn’t flawed. No foot has been set wrong here. This monster is MAGIC!
Score: 9.5/10
Sopon: Whoa, Adele, is that you? I love this girl’s voice, it’s amazing! It’s very well-written musically, although I find some weakness in the lyrics. Still, props to the extremely strong voice that is Debrah!
Score: 8/10
Anthony: Despite the fairly slow start which took me a while to get going, it’s a beautifully executed ballad. So I could see why it’s becoming a favourite amongst Eurovision fans. However, a majority of Eurovision viewers out there will only listen to this once, which is where I’m concerned on whether it’ll have the same impact to non-hardcore fans. Maybe the staging in Vienna could work for them.
Score: 8.5/10
Robyn: I want to know what the “terrible” thing was that Mørland did in his “early youth”. Did he break another kid’s Optimus Prime toy? Whatever it was, it’s enough to inspire this emotional heartbreak song. Despite the shaky set-up, the song is enjoyably camp, with a hint of Disney ballad, and a twist ending almost as good as “Save Your Kisses For Me”.
Score: 7/10
The highest and lowest scores are removed before calculating the final score. We have dropped a low of 4 and a high of 10.
The Wiwi Jury Verdict: 8.77/10
A good song from Norway! This will be the cherry on top for Norway.
The so haunting,so dark it made Lorde cry wishing ” why didn’t I hire that dude to write my songs”. This song will be a hit if it was released in many countries. Mark my words haters, This will win (or at least be in the top 10).
Verdict: 11/10
Come on Norway!! You know what you’ve got to do. Look to Estonia and Slovenia for guidance by picking the clear winner, not Switzerland and Finland. That is unless you don’t want to host next year, then pick the Pizza song and let’s have a bit of fun.
Please send this Norway
I don’t get why this song is so overrated. I prefer Erlend or Karin but this’ll probably win. The song only gets good in the last third(kind of like Armenia). I can see the Norwegian public going for it but not the European public.
It’s a beautiful (and dark) song but the only reason why I don’t want this to win is because people complain that either a) it’s a ballad and b) it’s a duet.
@Titaniumsparrow – SAME 🙂
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We want to show TVP whom we want to represent us. I know the wiwibloggs team likes her (I saw the article “Nine girls we want for Poland”) so I hope they won’t mind.
So damn overrated. Yeah, it’s good, but I would much rather have “Human Beings” at Vienna.
I’ll be so disappointed if Norway doesn’t go with this song.