Earlier today the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of musical unprofessionals — took a train to the Italian-speaking Swiss canton of Ticino where we enjoyed some ticinese polenta washed down with a fruity gazzosa ticinese soda. From our alpine valley hideaway, we discussed Mélanie René and her Eurovision 2015 song “Time to Shine”. Did the song have us basking in her glow – or grasping for the dimmer switch? Read on to find out…
Switzerland’s Eurovision 2015 song
Reviews: Mélanie René with “Time to Shine”
Angus: One thing is for certain: Mélanie René knows how to do screamy. In the case of ‘Time To Shine” though, you can put the banshee to one side and admire the quality added by two production facelifts. From awkward to awesome in two studio sessions. She’s not at the top of the pack, but Mélanie is clinging onto the middle, and in semi-final two that’s all she needs.
Score: 6.5/10
Zach: Switzerland has certainly broken free of the folky niche they’ve been in for a couple years, and they’ve done it in a big way. Mélanie is a very skilled vocalist, and her attitude matches the song perfectly, I love watching her on stage – she commands attention. I really like the song too. It’s something I wouldn’t expect from Switzerland, to be honest. It’s got sass, it’s got a good backing beat, and I remember it after one listen. I think Switzerland will finally qualify two years in a row with this one, and I hope it does really well. She should pick up jury points easily with that voice of hers. Well done!
Score: 9/10
Chris: I have been a supporter of “Time to Shine” from the beginning, as I thought it was one of the stand-out songs of the Swiss national selection. Mélanie is a really engaging performer and delivers the ferocity that is necessary to go with the lyrics. She has bundles of personality and the revamp to the song has really helped push it that extra bit. I really hope for her sake that this qualifies as I think it deserves to.
Score: 8/10
Robyn: “Time to Shine” has vastly improved from the awkward but promising version performed at Die Entscheidungsshow, but it’s still nothing amazing. Sonically, it’s all very dramatic, but there just isn’t anything captivating about this song. I’d rather hear a specific story than general claims of “no more mucking around”. Lonely Switzerland only seems to qualify when it has a really strong song which means it’s not time for “Time to Shine” this year.
Score: 5/10
Bogdan: It’s not a bad track, but I am struggling to find myself rooting for Mélanie. Even after the revamp, “Time To Shine” remains a middle-of-the-pack song, which is also largely due to its cliché-laden lyrics. There are too many warrior ladies this year and I have a feeling that they are going to cancel each other out. By the way, I hope for her sake that Mélanie will not sport a feathered headdress in Vienna like she does in the video. Cultural appropriation will not help her shine at Eurovision. Just ask Joan Franka.
Score: 6/10
Deban: Joan Franka reborn as a warrior princess, singing a re-vamped snoozefest! When the weaker entry clings to victory at the national selection, one must recalibrate by reevaluating with fresh ears. But no, I’m over it! You can polish this all you like. It still doesn’t shine.
Score: 4/10
Reacting to the revamped version of “Time to Shine”
William: It’s like magic: Mélanie takes Lorde, mixes it with R&B and still manages to spit out something shockingly boring. Thankfully she has ripped out the appalling electric guitar solo that tarred her song in the fall, elevating it to tolerable. She has immeasurable talent — she slays live — but the song is beneath her. It may be time to shine, but someone has turned on the dimmer…
Score: 6/10
Padraig: I love the irony of “Time To Shine”. Despite the title, it is one of the darkest songs in this year’s contest. I could totally imagine a wicked Disney villain singing this as she’s about to wreak havoc on an unwitting princess. My problem is that Mélanie seems to be playing the role of the princess. Her vocals are on point, but she rarely invokes the necessary levels of grit. It’ll need something more if it’s to shine at Eurovision.
Score: 7/10
Sami: I listened to all the songs from all the selections of the three Swiss broadcasters and “Time To Shine” didn’t stand out at all for me. However, I started to like this after it won the national final and the new version is even better. It’s not the best song in the contest, but it’s nice to listen to and Mélanie has a nice voice. This has a small chance of qualifying to the final and, as they made it in 2011 with that totally boring song, I think they could sail to the final this year also.
Score: 5.5/10
William C: Mélanie is a fantastic singer in her own right, and I love “Time To Shine”. It initially was middle of the road for me, but it grew enough to get inside my top five. The chorus is so into it, and I hope that Mélanie pulls through, despite there being quite a few screechy ladies this year. Her voice is quite quirky, and the song itself is dramatic. I hope this qualifies, and I think it may, especially since it has a good draw.
Score: 9.5/10
Twenty-nine jurors review each song, but we only have space for ten written reviews. The remaining 19 scores are listed below.
Anthony: 8/10
Denise: 5/10
Francheska: 2/10
Josh: 5/10
Judit: 5/10
Kristín: 5/10
Liam: 4/10
Luis: 3/10
Marek: 7/10
Mario: 1/10
Max: 4/10
Mike: 8/10
Mikhail: 5/10
Patrick: 6/10
Ramadan: 6/10
Renske: 7/10
Rezo: 7.5/10
Sinan: 6/10
Sopon: 1.5/10
To reduce potential bias, the lowest and highest scores are dropped prior to calculating the average. We have removed a low of 1 and a high of 9.5.
Echoing Bogdan “It’s not a bad track, but I am struggling to find myself rooting for Mélanie.”
I hope no one seeing this are suffering from pre-diabetes because this syrup filled cheesy robotic formulaic song that could have been served by Britney Aguilera Miley Bieber Cyrus will make sure that it goes from pre diabetes to full blown acutely diabetes
Renè where is Tina?
“It may be time to shine, but someone has turned on the dimmer” sounds like something that should be said in drag and followed with “I’m sorry, my dear, but you are up for elimination.”
Sorry Switzerland but I don’t think its your “Time to Shine”
Good vocals but the song doesn’t do it for me.
Like the change of look from jungle warrior to glamorous lady but unlike last year where they made the final with a catchy song I think this year may be a struggle to make the final night .
Sorry????
Look, it’s a good song. But it’s very flat. It’s too common and to some extent, a lazy attempt to do well. Switzerland is one of those countries that need something memorable to do well, like SEBalter last year and “Hunter of stars”. This isn’t special enough or memorable enough to stand out against stronger packages in the semi final, such as Sweden, Poland and Norway.
I think if Switzerland get to the final, they will have done very well. But it probably won’t qualify.
Maybe next year Switzerland.
Melanie is good singer, the way she sang Chandelier was amazing. But this song isn’t good. I think it will be the same result as Austria 2013 had – Natalie Kelly with Shine, tho it was better song.
A good song that will not qualify because the video drags her down.
The lyrics are generic, but considering that Melanie is the only composer, it’s a good effort from a totally unknown artist. She’s a great vocalist too, and the dark feel of the song certainly helps.
This song is trash and yet everyone loves it agggh
If this qualifies and Ireland doesn’t I will wreak havoc on the Matterhorn
I like this song. I haven’t listened to it in months though and I thought Sebalter was the entrant until I saw this. So I can’t remember it meaning a rate of 5 seems pretty good.
It’s in my personal top 10. I like it
Bland and boring. Melanie is a good vocalist(not fantastic), but the song never really goes anywhere. 4/10
Typical swiss entry.. neither bad or good.. just bland,
I just love this song. But I have a strange feeling about the televote appeal of the song. In 2013 austria had a similar kind of a song and it had jury love from a pretty bad running order position, though I think opening the show helped Natalia Kelly. I have to be honest, the performance in the national final was better….but the song was nice. …Back to Switzerland. I think that this song with bad staging could bomb in the televote while I expect the jury to love it. Will it be enough on average to qualify? I hope… Read more »
From this semifinal I have only 4 favorites: Azerbaijan, Slovenia, Norway and Latvia. I actually don’t see this the strongest semifinal, but everybody says otherwise…I can still find 7 entries worse than Switzerland (in my opinion), so I don’t mind if it qualifies…Sort of formulaic song and I agree, she needs to get rid of the ‘native’ outfit…but 6.5/10 from me
8,5 / 10
My personal Winner on the 2nd semifinal! <3
& my 3rd most favorite song from the 40 entries in Vienna's Vision! <3 🙂
Its so beautiful song! <3 Its actually one of my most favorites songs of the Diamond Vision! <3
I have it 1st on the 2nd semifinal & on my top4 overall! <3
I really hope that dear Melanie will manage to get the ticket 4 the final! <3
But i have my doubts if she will score enough points to qualify…Many others eurofans are not really that excited about the Swiss entry as i am unfortunately..
Just hope 4 the best….Be positive about Switzerland's entry.. <3 🙂
Middle-of-the-pack entry, if there ever was one. I don’t hate it but I’m not too crazy about it either. Could be a borderline qualifier.
she will not make the cut against entries like Norway, Malta and Sweden but also Iceland and Ireland are much stronger
Switzerland’s best entry by far. The song is magical and modern. I love the elements of the songs and the guitar solo. Melanie has one of the best voices this year. I hope it’s her time to shine (to the final). 🙂
Switzerland´s worst entry since 2010 imo, and I don´t like it very much tbh. xD
I have loved Switzerland’s entries over the past couple of years but ‘Time to Shine’does nothing for me. Timebelle’s ‘Singing About Love’ would have been a definite qualifier but this is in the maybe pile
Above average, I’d score it at 7.5 tbh. She should get through Semi 2, but I don’t see it doing particularly well in the final. I love her though <3
@Jericho, I have a fantastic taste in music, so much so that I could predict when all the poor fanwanks could fail (apart from Israel last year, never predicted that to not qualify). I know that the Netherlands, Israel and Lithuania are never going to do well.
This song never really kicks on. There are nice elements to it but it still feels as if it is building up to something that does not actually come. She is a good vocalist and it is not a bad song but it is the very definition of middle-of-the-pack. It may qualify, it may not but I do not think I will care either way.
6.5/10
It’s hard for me to take a song with the line “no more mucking around” seriously, and it doesn’t help that the song also feels incredibly bland. It’s like they tried to inject some life into it, but it wasn’t quite enough.
Hm, I like intro until the refrain comes… And then it doesn’t feel that good anymore.
This one is really underrated like Iceland. Her vocals are on point in performances and the song has had an amazing revamp. That being said, she has a challenge singing after Måns – her song just doesn’t stand out enough. Whilst I really want her to qualify , I don’t think she will.
8/10
4,5/10
She is a pretty girl! But I don’t like the song.
I find it really boring. I hope for a fun staging, to make the song better.
7/10
This song is slowly but surely growing on me. I like the dynamic of this song and the personality from Melanie that she brings to this song. However, the lyrics don’t match the dynamic as I find them too cliché. Because of that, I don’t find myself coming back to listen to this song as much as several others. I do hope this will qualify.
I really, really like this one. Something about the gothic mood in this song that clashes with the electric/synth vibe of the production (emphasized by the laser lights in the national selection, please bring them to Vienna) really appeals to me. On top of that, it’s sung by a great singer with attitude. It’s an odd combination, sort of, but it works so well for me! That said, the version played in the official music video sounds a bit odd in comparison with her performance in the Lithuanian selection. It lacks some power, it’s a little all over the place.… Read more »
Yeah, our own little Mélanie! I actually like this song and I think it has the potential to make us proud here in Switzerland! However, I totally realize that a lot of other countries have more powerful entries and that Mélanie cannot win. I just hope she manages to clear the SF and place fairly in the final. In my ranking, she’s #3 in SF2, and #12 in the final. Good luck Mélanie!
@John: You’re so right, I totally agree! 🙂
Melanie: 10
Song: 0
So, yeah: 5 is good.
@John: Perhaps it’s your taste that is rubbish. I think the jury was way too friendly to this song — TIME TO SHINE IS AWFUL. I would rate it a zero. As for the others, Israel is my #2 so YAY!
This. Jury. Sucks. I swear if they give bad ratings to songs that are in my top ten I’m just not reading these anymore. The current top 3 is Lithuania, the Netherlands and Israel, ALL OF WHICH ARE REALLY RUBBISH SONGS.