Over the weekend the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of musical unprofessionals — journeyed to Montenegro to examine the 1,200 species and varieties of freshwater algae that have been identified along the Balkan country’s stunning coastline. After we took off our wet suits, we sat down to review Knez and his Eurovision 2015 song “Adio”. Did the Zeljko Joksimovic-composed track leave us with a major case of Balkan Ballad Fetish? Read on to find out…
Montenegro’s Eurovision 2015 song
Reviews: Knez with “Adio”
Padraig: I’ve never been a Balkan ballad boy. While everyone else fawns I think WTF! And if Zeljko or Sergej can’t convert me, Knez sure as hell won’t… or so I thought. On repeat listens “Adio” has actually grown on me. But that’s the problem with Eurovision, most people only get to hear a song once. It’s a cut-throat game, and I have to go with my first impression. Sorry Knez.
Score: 3/10
Angus: Fans act as if Zeljko Joksimovic translates as “automatic qualification”. Newsflash: it doesn’t. “Adio” is nothing special and feels very much a pastiche of Zeljko’s past work rather than the song to take Montenegro to the Grand Final two years in a row.
Score: 1.5/10
Anthony: Sergej Cetkovic got Montenegro into the final last year, so expectations are high. Composed by former Eurovision participant Zeljko Joksimovic, the main feature of “Adio” is the heavy Balkan influence, which is what I’d expect. However, this ends up becoming one of his slightly weaker efforts, especially as a ballad compared to last year’s Eurovision entry “Moj Svijet”. Not a bad entry overall, but Zeljko’s previous tracks stand out more strongly.
Score: 7/10
Bogdan: It’s difficult to review decent Balkan ballads when you live on the edge of the Balkans and you are tired of them. Yes, “Adio” is pretty good, but I would have preferred something else. This is the same old reheated soup — even if it’s cooked by chef Zeljko. And the folky beats towards the end seem to have been sprinkled in just because they realized there are too many ballads this year. Sorry, Montenegro, but I’m not buying it. I’m full.
Score: 6/10
Chris: Ehhhhh. Look, I love me a good Zeljko ballad and I think that this will probably be staged accordingly as any Zeljko number – but it’s pretty clear that he’s not exactly sent his best work this year. The mid-tempo sections feel incredibly forced and come off as almost fake. They just don’t belong in this type of song. You end up conflicted as to what you want to take from this song and I think that this will only harm Montenegro’s chances after their breakthrough last year.
Score: 4/10
Deban: Magical folklore driven by a spectacularly scenic music video, “Adio” has a quality mark boldly stamped on it. Its prime vocalist Knez delivers a compelling performance. With the right staging, this could be Montenegro’s best effort to date.
Score: 7.5/10
Mike: Montenegro know what they like to offer the Eurovision Song Contest: boring Balkan ballads. It was a true miracle for me seeing Sergej qualify for the final last year and I really do not understand why they thought they could just send the same song one year later. I am in the mood to send NASA an e-mail asking for them to get Who See back from space.
Score: 5/10
Robyn: There’s something very intriguing about this song. It has a great melody and Knez brings a certain gravitas to the performance. I’m thinking it might be the sort of song that really comes alive on stage. And I hope that the five women from the music video also make it to Vienna – they have a bit of the classic Montenegro weirdness without being too weird.
Score: 6/10
William: I really appreciate the 30-second instrumental opening: It means I only have to endure 2:30 more of the song. Knez is a fantastic singer and this melody is fine — but you need to be more than fine to succeed at Eurovision. If they wanted to send Sergej again they simply should have asked rather than re-packaging him as Knez. But props to the video director: This could be re-used as an advertisement for Montenegrin National Tourism.
Score: 3.5/10
William C: I love some Balkan ballads, and I hate some Balkan ballads. This is on the hate side. The instrumental opening is nice and peaceful, but then Knez enters and everything goes pear-shaped. Different parts of the song could make songs in their own right, but together it’s a big mess. It is similar to Israel in that sense, but at least that is entertaining.
Score: 3.5/10
Twenty-nine jurors review each song, but we only have space for ten written reviews. The remaining 19 scores are listed below.
Denise: 6/10
Francesca: 8.5/10
Josh: 6/10
Judit: 6.5/10
Kristín: 8/10
Liam: 6.5/10
Luis: 6/10
Marek: 8/10
Mario: 10/10
Max: 7.5/10
Mikhail: 4.5/10
Patrick: 4.5/10
Ramadan: 3/10
Renske: 5.5/10
Rezo: 3/10
Sami: 8/10
Sinan: 6/10
Sopon: 6/10
Zach: 3/10
To reduce potential bias, the lowest and highest scores are dropped prior to calculating the average. We have removed a low of 1.5 and a high of 10.
Meh.
The song goes on for too long before it eventually grabs me a little.
Lukewarm
A beautiful but sad ballad with lyrics that tells of determination to hang on to lost love. I guess that most people can empathise with the subject. Great song in a different setting but the majority of voters would most likely go for joy in ESC. 6/10
I was sure that it was my little Alex who had been on a mothers diet when Knees err Knez pics surfaced.
Well Knez I was down on my knees for your country last year offering a ring -:)
I can’t help but loving this track
Thank you
Please deliver or surpass your vocal delivery and we are still good friends and I will call of the search but if you fail I will shake you off
A very interesting music,so ….ok~!
I agree with the reviews saying the video is amazing It is ! Beautifully shot and shows off the country with amazing birds eye views. Sadly we are not promoting the local tourist board but the song for Eurovision and so the lovely scenes won’t be there on the night in Vienna. As the key change happens and the song builds to a climax I started to gain intrest but it was all over moments later! The build up to the key change didnt really grab me. Am sure the ladies will be doing their thing on stage and wish… Read more »
In comparison, most Slavic languages sounds great. I really loved Slovene, Serbo-Croatian in any form and Polish. The only other language I like (in Eurovision) is Estonian I think.
Out of those, only Montenegro sticks with its language. The difference is that most Montenegrin entries lose the language’s rhymthic feeling once translated into English. For just the language alone it would’ve been a straightaway qualification for me. Add to that the voice of the singer and the lyrics (ofc not everyone have the chance to have that much research) and I have it at 8.5/10 already.
To those who hope to hear Danish or Swedish: It has already been a written rule that any Danish entries in Danish that win the Danish MGP must be translated into English before being entered into the Europe-wide contest. In Sweden it’s like an unwritten but consistent rule. Also in many cases Germanic languages sound like crap and have to rely on melodies to be good, such as Norway’s 1985 win. English is not like crap because there are too much French and everything in it. Dutch, German, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian sound terrible with many, many sharp tones (and loss… Read more »
I wouldn’t be surprised if this one qualifies, even in the 10th spot. Not very many thought Sergej ?etkovi? (“Moj Svijet”) would qualify, either.
It’s really weird… in the last 10 years we’ve had approximately 10 Balkan ethno-ballads and you ‘ve got bored of them, while every year we have more than 20 pop songs and you still ask for more! It’s a little awkward, isn’t it?
By the way, even if it’s Zeljko’s worst track ever, it’s still wonderful. 9/10 and good luck Montenegro
This is quite a tricky one, since speaking of musical diversity this is the only Balkan Ballad this year and I have to say that even tho It is not my cup of tea I can see it qualifying.
But on my personal list of entries this year I would place it 30-37th. Not the worst thing ever but very dated, THO way better than Serbia (Zeljko should have helped Serbia probably, cos their song this year is CRAP)
Not impressed. The shots of the beautiful landscape and a rather good performance (all things considered) from the singer cannot hide the fact that the song is trite (musically speaking) and the lyrics are nothing to write home about.
The music solo at around the 2-minute mark is absolutely stunning. Other than that, it doesn’t stand out for me.
If the staging is good though, I wouldn’t be surprised if it got through in 8th-10th place.
I LOVE THIS SONG EVERY DAY MORE, I THIK THAT TO PUT 1 OF CALIFICATION Y REALY NASTY BIG MASTERS EXPERTS IN MUSIC.
For me this is the worst Joksimovic song at Eurovision.
I don t see Montenegro in final. Maybe from 11 to 14 place in second semifinal.
It is a little bland and Knez does not have the voice to really sell it as anything special. I do not dislike it but this is going to have to have some fantastic staging to qualify. I suppose the good news is that it is a lot better than Serbia’s effort this year.
5/10
I love a good Balkan ballad. But this song is just recycled from
Zeljko’s previous work. Plus another thing to consider is that it’s not Zeljko singing, it’s Knez. It’s not bad, don’t get me wrong. But it doesn’t hit hard enough to challenge the giants it is up against. Such as Måns Zelmerlöw, Elnur Huseynov, Deborah and Mørland ETC..
Will it qualify? I have my doubts to be honest.
6/10
It is a nice Balkan ballad, and I like that it’s one of the few countries singing in its native language. But it isn’t a standout either. It’ll probably be forgettable on the night.
The video is fantastic as travel ad…But other than this, I think he’ll get an ‘Adieu’ in the semifinal.
Being from the area, I am typically biased in that the ex-Yu countries are among my favorites. This year, Montenegro, Serbia, and FYROM songs are in my bottom 5 out of all 40.
The key changes in this one are pretty arbitrary, to be honest. It’s still a high-quality composition, though, and Knez is a wonderful singer. I’ll admit I wouldn’t be surprised if it suffered the same undeserved fate as Verjamem, but we’ll wait and see. Adio’s draw is just terrible.
Knez’s voice sounds nice but the song is so similar to Zeljko’s other Eurovision songs, only even less defined melody. I remember Zeljko claiming it would be faster and more upbeat than his usual, but it really isn’t. Even his other Eurovision songs had stronger parts where the music got louder, more emphatic and faster, so overall it doesn’t stand out as different. So it’s too “Formulaic Zelko.”
One word: meh.
I like this one, but the melody doesn’t go anywhere for me. It just stops after three minutes. Still like it though, but I’m not sure if it’ll qualify. I wouldn’t mind if it did, but it’s competing in the stronger semi-final.
John: Well, Slovenia was second last in their semi-final in 2012. Croatia also failed to qualify that time.
6,8/10
Cool song, better than last year. But I don’t think it will qualify.
I like the uptempo and the traditional sounds. Nice to see some culture at esc.
Balkan ballads are my least favorite genre, I’d rather listen to bad 90’s synthpop.
I wasn’t too crazy about this at first, but the song has been steadily growing on me. I guess I feel intrigued by it, since it sounds so foreign. Props to them for sticking to their language unlike their friends in Serbia.
I’m really hoping they will qualify.
I really like Montenegro’s entry…Its qualifier 4 me and i have it on my top10 on the 2nd semifinal and on my top20 overall..
The rhythm and the composition of its music really stands out..
Mr. Zeljko Jocksimovic has offered us 4 one more time a rather beautiful essential song…He never fails… <3 🙂
Zeljko makes us glad with his achievements and he is briliant illuminated sample of a proud GAY homosexual man.. <3
7 / 10 {im strict on my grades….i i do not rate with very high marks many songs 4 the record..}
@ ct, you have a right I would say, but I believe the EBU should encourage countries (somehow!) to sing in their languages. I don’t know which mechanism to use, but this year is for me ridicilous – 40 countries are competing and we have:
1. France
2. UK
3. Ireland
4. Spain
5. Portugal
6. Italy
7. Malta
8. Montenegro
9. and partially Romania
singing in their languages. That’s why I believe Montenegro could at least partially capitalize from the current situation and get stuck in the minds of some juries and televoters.
🙂
Agree with Robyn. The five backup ladies need to join him on stage. Don’t know what it is, but they add to the staging within the music video.
BTW, I really really REALLY want to go to Montenegro now after watching this year’s and last year’s music videos. Wishful thinking hopes that Slovenia will pull out the victory so I can go before or after Ljubljana 2016!
Montenegro is on the verge of songs I don’t really hate that much, around #31-30. I enjoyed Zeljko’s other balkan ballads but this is just the same old recipe and really has nothing special. It will probably qualify; when has a balkan ballad ever done poorly? Similar placing to last year I reckon. 3.5/10
Actually I think this is much better than last year’s…Some of the Zeljko magic has definitely rubbed off. @ Allen My only problem with your proposal is that it seems like “punishment”. Plus there are 3 countries that will never be “punished” this way because english is their official language (the UK, Ireland and Malta) Instead of punishment I propose an incentive. We all know there is a very strong incentive in having english lyrics. A counter-incentive may be for a country fielding a song without english lyrics to be able to choose its position in the running order in… Read more »
Just… no. 2/10
This is not bad song. I actually think it’s quite different compared to other songs this year so this can help Knez to stand out and qualify… Of course, Eurovision is some sort of russian roulette so it’s hard to predict anything. We are used to Željko’s songs hence for us this sounds little bit boring , but ESC fans shouldn’t forget how big is the Željko fan base. Plus, Montenegro might get some diaspora votes, but juries might prefer this song over some others… And finally, it’s such a shame that Montenegro is among the very few countries that… Read more »
so bland, no competition for Malta.
i’m really #TeamAmberWarrior : really like her sweet personality and her powerful voice
Vote your Top10 >>> http://eurovisionow.blogspot.com.es/p/sondeo-14.html
This has really grown on me. Should qualify.
Completely bland until like 2:30. Don’t see it qualifying.
Way too tough on this one.
Nothing exceptional 4/10