This afternoon the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — travelled to Belgrade to sample rostilj and pivo at Skadarlija. After a short trip to the Cathedral of Saint Sava, we were inspired to review Lena Stamenkovic‘s Junior Eurovision 2015 track ‘Lenina Pesma’ (Lena’s Song). Were we feeling the soulful vocals, or did we just think, “another Balkan ballad?” Read on to find out…
SERBIA’S JUNIOR EUROVISION 2015 SONG
‘LENINA PESMA’ REVIEWS – LENA STAMENKOVIC
Robyn: Lena is a talented performer. Her voice can go from sweet and delicate to strong and powerful, and she has amazing vibrato. The song is dramatic in a very grown-up ESC way, but Lena can handle it. She never sounds out of her depth and ought to be able to deliver a strong, confident performance.
Score: 8/10
William: Blow that dandelion and then step into my heart! Young Lena gives us FACE and attitude in this video, and that transfers to her song which is all about Balkan beauty. Texture, drama, direction — this is a secure and moving performance from Belgrade.
Score: 9/10
Mario: Just when you think Serbia won’t ever find someone as good as Bojana – bam! — the mini Bojana arrives! Serbia is in it to win it with this Balkan power ballad. “Lenina pesma” puts all our emotions on display – from sadness to hope – in less than 3 minutes. Whether deliberate or not, the lyrics relate to today’s migration crisis, and that is what makes this song even more special (and heart-breaking) to me as a speaker of Serbian. What a nice way to conclude Serbia’s year at Eurovision events!
Score: 10/10
Angus: Ooooohhhh this is ruul soulful. It is not big on heavy instrumental pulls and instead lets the vocals float above a soft backing. It is a brave play by Belgrade and it pays off.
Score: 8/10
Deban: Vocally, Lena is ON POINT! The composition has enough range to keep the audience engaged, and Lena’s confident take on this number gives it tones of brilliance.
Score: 8/10
Sinan: I love this song! Oh my goodness, Lena’s voice is everything! The song fits her so well, and I think she is going to perform it amazingly on the Junior Eurovision stage. This entry is my second favourite so far! Slay LENA!
Score: 10/10
Zakaria: This song is amazing and Lena does a stellar job singing it. This song reminds me a lot of Krisia’s “Planet of the Children” and I can definitely see it in the top 3 or even winning the contest.
Score: 9.5/10
Our jury consists of 21 people, but we only have room for 7 written reviews. Here are the remaining 14 scores.
Antranig: 9.5/10
Bernardo: 7/10
Diego: 8.5/10
Edd: 6/10
George: 8/10
Jason: 8/10
Josh: 8.5/10
Liam: 9/10
Luis: 7.5/10
Marek: 9/10
Renske: 6/10
Rezo: 5/10
Sopon: 5/10
William C: 9/10
The highest and lowest scores are dropped prior to calculating the average score. This is to remove outliers and reduce potential bias. We have removed a low of 5 and a high of 10.
@Djole – great, thanks.
Here’s the official translation, since I’ve seen all kinds of it (moooostly correct, but have some (big) errors): This is a song about a world where the sun is the darkness where flowers don’t blossom where children are alone This is a song about a tear that lies on my heart about a cold room, where the light runs away from the day And when the day ends I only want everything to be better together, we can do it to make the good chase away the evil And when we dream a dream may it be colored in thousands… Read more »
The translation of the Serbian lyrics goes something like this: (It may not capture some of the lyrics by 100%, but it’s about overcoming fear and finding your own voice to make a better place..for you and for me and the entire human race. It’s becoming a rather recurring theme this year, but when a song has strength of character, it shows beyond the words themselves.) This is a song about the world in which the sun is darkness , where flowers do not blossom , in which children are alone. This is the story of narrow* (Suzi) that in… Read more »
The best song of the year.
Serbia has blown me away this year. There is nothing that gives this one a flaw. Excellent dramatic when needed music, a deep, fantastic voice and really moving lyrics. It’s hauntingly beautiful as Eva said and it can also make me cry. Ukraine might be my second with a 9.5 but Serbia is a perfect 10! I believe (and hope) that it will translate in to votes, I think Serbia will make it in to the top 5.
Roelof, it is a song about a kid without childhood… about a child who wants to be happy, but there is much darkness in the world around her which weights on her heart and she wishes that she could be a carefree child. Most of the song is about the contrast between the simple things she wishes for and reality.
The lyrics are great, I do not remember where I read them in English–probably in a Youtube video.
What is this song about?
My winner too, by a far shot. This song is original and has it all-instumentals, emotion, power and the vocal acrobatics, without overdoing it. Perfect balance. I can actually cry on this song-this is how good it is. Passes big time the heart test, the originality test and the vocal performance test.
Sadly, I am not sure it will be appreciated by the average voter…for me, it is so hauntingly beautiful. An instant classics. Amazing job, Serbia!
My personal favorite too because it captivates the spirit of expression where you are taken on a journey in less than 3 minutes and yet it maintains childhood innocence and simplicity. That’s what JESC should be about.
My absolute favorite junior entry this year. Serbia for the win!!