Yesterday morning the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of musical unprofessionals — headed to Brussels where we snapped photos in front of Manneken Pis, the famous statue of a little boy peeing. (Don’t laugh: Eurovision 2013 starlet Alyona Lanskaya did the same thing). After giggling and gorging on some delicious Belgian chocolate, we sat down to review Loïc Nottet‘s Eurovision 2015 song “Ryhthm Inside”. Did we want to rap-pap-pap along with him? Read on to find out…
Belgium’s Eurovision 2015 song
https://youtu.be/xV2b3L1K6_c
Reviews: Loïc Nottet with ‘Rhythm Inside’
Chris: Je t’adore, Loïc and I really mean it. I’d class “Rhythm Inside” as my favourite song of the year. Dark, brooding, infectious — this song skims along the surface of the Lorde comparisons, but doesn’t get weighed down by them. Loïc can deliver the vocals live and I just hope that Belgium gives him a suitable stage performance to tie it all together. I don’t think “Rhythm Inside” will win Eurovision, but I think it should.
Score: 10/10
Padraig: Prepare for an aural orgasm! The song, the singer – all perfect. From the moment I heard the 30-second teaser I was captivated. Lyrically sophisticated, musically daring, and filled with lush vocals – “Rhythm Inside” has it all. I wanna rap-pap-pap all night. Love, love, love! (I’ll cry if Belgian TV ruin this with crappy staging).
Score: 10/10
Robyn: I’m going to pretend the first 10 seconds of this song don’t exist, because the resemblance to the introduction of “Royals” bothers me so. But apart from that, this is an amazing song. It’s sly and sexy and mysterious, intensified by the beguiling vocals of Loïc. My only concern – recently Belgium has become known for disappointing staging, usually getting carried away with interpretive dance (o, ghostly mother!). But if they get the staging right for “Rhythm Inside”, it will be great.
Score: 9/10
Angus: Maleficent in the house! Loic has razor-sharp cheekbones and a dark, thorny song that grabs you because it feels other worldly. ‘Rhythm Inside’ pulsates with an occult intensity, anchored on Loic’s dreamy vocal and sparkly starry lyrics. The dark horse in every sense of the word.
Score: 9/10
Bogdan: Loïc has the ability to change from his childish, cute and totes adorbs appearance in interviews to a sexy beast and a real, confident performer on stage (kind of reminds me of Michael Jackson in that way), and that is why I am entirely sold on Belgium’s entry. Not to mention that “Rhythm Inside” is a spellbinding song. Yes, Loïc’s gospel voice and the daring lyrics make me want to sin and ra-pa-pap tonight. By the way, comparisons with Lorde bore me: after the short intro, Loïc takes us to the American Deep South rather than New Zealand. And I love it.
Score: 10/10
Deban: Belgium pitches the coolest music sample in this year’s contest, accompanied by flashes of its hottest heartthrob. “Rhythm Inside” oozes confidence. Although I’m not sold on this, Loic Nottet deserves praise for offering a different point of view. The arty video and visual direction is refreshing. However, underneath it all, I find the composition rather slap dash, and devoid of soul.
Score: 4.5/10
Francheska: YAAAAAAAAS (I don’t care, I’m using that expression). Belgium in the course of one year has completely restored my faith. Loic is tres cool, his vocals are eerie and spot-on at the same time, and he perfectly blends artistry and pop catchiness. And I melt a little bit every time I hear him say, “I’m gonna get that rhythm back”. Loic truly is an artist: he can create and he can perform. A song about staying original with such a flawless orchestration deserves recognition as the top song of this year. Je l’aime!
Score: 10/10
Judit: I’M IN LOOOVE! Earlier Italy was my clear favourite, but Loic has a brilliant voice and a sexy, unique song, and has completely outdone them in my book. The video is awesome. Hopefully they’ll bring some water to Vienna too. With this young talent Belgium has a chance to win the contest in 2015.
Score: 10/10
William: Don’t let his porcelain skin fool you: Vocally the boy is definitely a man. Loic’s song is among the most contemporary of the year. It’s dark, mysterious and different — yet refreshingly mainstream. His live performance on Belgian radio proves that he can deliver, but, more importantly, that he is feeling every single note. He believes in it and that makes me believe in him.
Score: 8/10
William C: The song is addictive and gives me major Lorde/Sia vibes. It’s fitting given that Sia RTed his “Chandelier” cover. Loic is ahead of the times, which, unfortuntatley, may put some people off: I think it will only reach the Top 10 at best. In reality this should be much higher. Best Belgium entry of the 10s for me.
Score: 9/10
Our first reaction (10 March 2015)
Our jury consists of 29 people, but we only have room for 10 written reviews. Here are the remaining 19 scores.
Anthony: 7/10
Denise: 9.5/10
Josh: 8.5/10
Kristin: 8.5/10
Liam: 8.5/10
Luis: 9.5/10
Marek: 8/10
Mario: 4.5/10
Max: 7/10
Mike: 7/10
Mikhail: 7.5/10
Patrick: 8/10
Ramadan: 5/10
Renske: 9/10
Rezo: 9/10
Sami: 7.5/10
Sinan: 10/10
Sopon: 10/10
Zach: 5.5/10
To reduce potential bias, we drop the highest and lowest scores prior to calculating the average. We removed a low of 4.5 and a high of 10.
I’m rating all the songs of 2015 again in 2016…
My country !! Belgium= 9/10
Well I can certainly see why Loic is so popular and the video had many attractions, not sure how much of that will be reflected on stage in Vienna?
Without all that I am not sure the song will by itself hold the audience without the video eye candy.
I hope that we can get to see more that one performance from Belgium this year
I totally love this song and I remember when I first heard this I was like: Wow something different from all these boring songs we have this year. Afterwards, Israel releaved its song too and I was amazed that the boredom from this year finally disappeared.
Clearly not my favorite to win this year. I personally think that this song is kinda overrated and hopelessly sounds like Lorde’s “Royals” even from the first beat. I have played this for several times and still I don’t get connected with the song. The only good thing is that this song’s better than the Swedish entry.
It is one of the songs I hope will win. And I think it will actually do better with the juries than with the public…
This is not among my top 10, but it is among my top 20. This should fare very well, depending on the stage design and stage performance.
It’s an interesting song, he has a gorgeous soul-ish voice and the rythm and instrumentation of the music are very contemporary as some of you have commented. I like it
I actually find this song to be extremely annoying. I don’t know, it might be just me, but this is just a middle of the road, average song that I feel like will flop live 4.5/10
I have a feeling that this will be the shock non qualifier this year, together with Armenia.
Belgium, Latvia and Estonia has the three most contemporary songs this year. I hope all three of them do well.
Yay! So happy! “Rhythm Inside” is one of my big favorite songs this year.
Belgium is one of the few countries that sent a modern and good song.
It remembers “Royals”, but is far away better!!!
And Loïc is one of the best singers this year.
The Jury’s age doesn’t make a difference. You all to quickly forget that Denmark 2011, Finland 2014, Norway 2013 and even Ireland 2011 ( Yes the year Jedward and their Lipstick song entered Eurovision ) were all ranked better by the jury even though all were very modern songs or in Ireland’s case quite gimmicky. If the song us performed and sung well on the night and it is indeed a good song, then the juries will give the sing a ranking it deserves.
2 / 10
It’s different; I’ll give it that. But it’s really not my kind of music. It sounds too freakish to me. Anyhow, you guys can rop-bop-bop tonight while I work on my chain of light.
overrated. awful wanna-be Lorde’s Royals
Love this song, and Loic, so much. Although it is true that if Lorde had wanted to sue over the first 30 seconds of the song, she would have won. Apart from that, “Rythm Inside” is something we haven’t seen in Eurovision before, hopefully the novelty will pay off, and the belgian broadcaster won’t ruin the staging like it has the past two years. It’s 7th in my top 10 right now.
Definitely one of my favourites this year. However, I’m afraid this will not do well… The style is very far from Eurovision standards (especially with the juries being 40yo on average, as reported by WiWibloggs a couple days ago), and Belgium really has no ally countries in the contest.
Still, I think Belgium should be praised for taking such a risk with a very good song, and that Loïc Nottet has talent!
If Belgium won I would be happy
Loïc, would you marry me?? <33333
happy this got such strong reviews on here! it really is a great song, and Loïc himself is incredibly talented, way beyond the norm for Eurovision contestants!!
This song is going to do so much better than people expect eeeek can’t wait!
I really like Belgium’s song this year, it’s been in my top 10 for quite a long time. With a good performance, Loic could really be a dark horse
For me this is the classic dark horse. There are 3 definite favorites this year (Sweden, Italy, Australia) with odds of around 1.5 – 3.
Belgium is down the chart with around 50. I think that with the might do a lot more damage than that. There is something very unique in Loic’s singing and in this song. It can stand out.
BTY, Loic is not the youngest contender but with his voice he might get the most “AHHH what a cute kid singing” votes.
I hate dancing. Yet I dance to this. Enough said.
At first I dind’t like it, but now is one of my dark horses
all iditos jury
Overrated as hell.
@Britz26 – I agree 100%. Belgium & Finland are the two songs this year that I dislike. A lot.
I hate the song its draggggging ughhhh and im sure it wont win. It’s not a song that will get massive support. Even the previewshows dont seem to really like it. Also, Mans and Guy have way more attractive songs. Belgium will stand out no doubt and they will qualify. Prediction in the final: 5 – 7
It would have been better had he sung we’re going to ‘wrap it up’ tonight
In my opinion the worst song after Finland. AWFUL! 🙁 Belgium please don’t qualify
Well done Belgium! They have really chosen a remarkable song and artist this year, and I am so relieved after last years absolute disaster. To everyone saying Loic’s song is a copy of Lorde, get with the program! Most Eurovision songs are actually copies of mainstream music, its actually very rare that something original is brought to the esc stage, (Sweden 2012, Netherlands 2013 and 2014) that does not make the song any less likable, its just appealing to a particular market. Well done Belgium this year, its not in my top 10 yet…but it should definitely make the final.… Read more »
@Maltish is says it removes the highest and lowest score, meaning a score given by a single juror. Even if a song gets 5 10’s, only one will be discarded.
@spirK: True. I was worried that the Jury was going to end up with Iceland as its highest-ranked entry this year!
7/10
When the song plays, I dance. But I am not amazingly crazy about it.
P.S Even though I feel it was slightly overrated, I am really happy that someone finally passed the to me seriously mediocre Iceland.
If Belgium win this year go to be one of the most deserve winners ever , is a song from 2015 , actual modern , catchy , and the boy is really hot , BUT……… is eurovision , the bigest oldfashion festival from the world
I like it, but at times I tend to not feel it. It is really contemporary and for know I give it a 7.5/10, being between the ones who really feel this (like Chris) and the ones who don’t (like Deban).
I like Belgium this year.
Last year Belgium was probably among the worst (don’t know which one was the worst in the semi, Belgium or Moldova), but this year they are quite authentic. Let’s see how staging will look like.
Speaking of last year, Belgium had one of the best national selections and they picked probably one of the worst choices.
Good lord the 10’s :P. I always wondered, if there are a lot of 10’s are all of them removed as they form part of the highest jury ranking or is only one removed.
Good on Belgium for sending something really different but this is just not for me. I am not a big fan of Loic’s voice and it is not my type of music. This is one for the younger crowd and I just do not think it is going to get enough votes to trouble the top 15. There are a lot of better songs this year.
5.5/10
I adore the wiwijury reviews, particularly when Deban and Angus are on- the facial expressions on the pair of them when other people are talking leave no doubt in the viewer’s mind where they fall. 🙂 Much love to Denise and William too, the whole lineup here is fantastic. I laughed out loud at the phrase “otherworldly realness” Overall, I think this song will do well if there are newer people drawn to Eurovision by Conchita’s win last year. I played all the songs for my boyfriend (not a Eurovision fan) and this was one of his favorites, which leads… Read more »
I really hate this song… It would like it a little bit more if I didn’t know Lorde. It’s not plagiarism but it’s so similar that I can’t stand with it. (I also hate the “rapapa rapapa thonight”… wtf is that?) I hope it doesn’t qualify. 4/10
Prefer Lorde but I still love it. 9.5/10.
Your seriously over-estimating this songs chances, Ill admit that i do think it will get to the left hand side of the scoreboard but it will not touch the top 5, the only way it will be top 5 is at the beginning of the voting when the songs are in alphabetical order.
This is not an aural orgasm and it’s very hard to predict how this song will end up. This year is a year where there is no obvious crap in the contest, almost everyone has upped their game. So the scoreboard and qualification chances are very wide open for everyone, incl. Belgium. Hit or miss, it depends on the staging and the acoustics I guess.
@Nicky piss off already, we all know you’ve got your head shoved up Amber’s arsehole, your stupid joke isn’t funny. Stop acting like a twelve year old, and grow up.
Belgium’s best song ever for me. Loïc has an amazing voice accompanied by an amazing song and he has proved that he can perform the song live. The song has many hater because they’re scared. Scared that this may be the song that is going to beat their favourites. Definitely a contender for the win.
10/10
You shouldn’t compare the staging with last year. Due to VRT we had such a boring/scary staging. RTBF showed in 2013 that they can offer a good staging. I hope the best for my country Belgium 🙂 !
I Love Loic, love his song it’s Amazing
Good Luck Loic
As someone already stated. Please, you guys (especially the haters), stop saying this is overrated, that one is overrated. Some people like this and others like that. Get over it. It has nothing to do with a song being overrated or not. It’s just a matter of personal tastes!