This afternoon the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — took a trip to Ljubljana to rock our headphones Maraaya-style. We felt a little down, down low, sinking in the undertow, so we decided to review Lina Kuduzovic‘s Junior Eurovision 2015 track ‘Prva Ljubezen’ (First Love). Was it love at first sight for Slovenia this year, or are we left feeling a little heartbroken? Read on to find out…
SLOVENIA’S JUNIOR EUROVISION 2015 SONG
‘PRVA LJUBEZEN’ REVIEWS – LINA KUDUZOVIC
Josh: Ljubljana in the house! “Prva ljubezen” is everything I need to survive, honey! Lina’s vocal is so incredibly powerful for someone so young. The melody is giving me Sanna Neilson ‘Undo’ realness. This makes it two years in a row that Slovenia have sent a song that I really love. I think Ula was really ripped-off last year, so I have every finger and toe crossed that Lina can achieve a result that is deserved.
Score: 9.5/10
Robyn: “Prva ljubezen” is a powerful, dramatic ballad and so it takes a skilled singer — junior or senior — to deliver it. Fortunately Lina has what it takes, serving a performance filled with drama and emotion. She has a bit of a junior Céline Dion vibe happening, which can only bode well.
Score: 7/10
William: “Prva ljubezen” is a power ballad with an R&B edge. Rather than focusing on vocal gymnastics — so tired — this sets parameters in which Lina really soars. There is soul, passion, and modernity, helping set this apart from the other ballads in this year’s contest. Best of all, Little Lina can sing: The differences between the studio version and the live version are minimal.
Score: 8.5/10
Diego: It’s the second time Slovenia takes part in JESC, and the second time they really want to slay on the big night. After last year’s unfair and unfortunate outcome with Ula Lozar, Lina sings her heart out for her “primo amore” in a sweet song about first love. This song has it all. I’m in love with it and it’s just perfect for JESC. Go Slovenia!
Score: 10/10
Angus: Play those piano keys Lina – play ’em girl! I feel like this song totally does not need the dubstep and beats and overlayed synths, but some people appreciate that more is more. Lina’s voice is engaging and if she ramps up the emotion to the max she can gloss over the production shortcomings here.
Score: 9.5/10
Deban: My girl can SING! But “First Love” isn’t that memorable. The arrangement gives a good peek of what a dance version may have sounded like. Unfortunately, the final product retains its ballgown flavour. Lina Kuduzovic can deliver vocal magic on anything. Her team could’ve worked on a better song.
Score: 6.5/10
Bernardo: This just screams Junior Eurovision perfection to me. Her vocals are really on point and I’m sure it’ll catch the attention of older viewers and jury members. That said, it still has a nice JESC vibe to it: that Disney princess instrumental is definitely going to catch young girls’ attention – and hopefully their votes. I wish the chorus were stronger, but nevertheless this is perhaps my favorite entry this year.
Score: 10/10
Our jury consists of 21 people, but we only have room for 7 written reviews. Here are the remaining 14 scores.
Antranig: 10/10
Edd: 9.5/10
George: 9.5/10
Jason: 9.5/10
Liam: 9.5/10
Luis: 9/10
Marek: 8/10
Mario: 7.5/10
Renske: 6.5/10
Rezo: 7/10
Sinan: 7/10
Sopon: 9/10
William C: 9.5/10
Zakaria: 10/10
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 6.5 and a high of 10.
Looks like this song will be hyped up just like there adult counterparts…
Can’t see what the fuss is about.
These pics with girls touching their hair, I cannot take them anymore. Stop touching your hair like that, JESC contestants!!!
Awesome song – My 1st! San Marino is my 2nd now ^^
This song is wonderful. It gives me such a pleasant and inspiring feeling every time I hear it.
After seeing the scores from the remaining jurors I thought Slovenia will surpass Australia, but the numbers didn’t make that favor to me! I do really like Australia (8.5/10 and my 6th) but I LOVE Slovenia . It’s great and it does give me “Undo” vibes, and I adored “Undo” . Lena is a fantastic performer, truly flawless. The song builds well and I must say that I liked it from the first listen. I hope that JESC 2015 will do justice and lift Slovenia at AT LEAST the top 5, avenging last years unexpected and totally unfair 12th place… Read more »
This is my joint favourite with Australia. Ula didn’t deserve to be as low on the table as she was last year but I think Lina is a significantly better singer and I much prefer Prva Ljubezen to Nisi Sam so fingers crossed for Slovenia on the night! And I actually prefer her live performances over the recorded performance!
So overrated song like last year at junior Eurovison and song from adult Eurovision 2015.
For me Slovenia had better song last year than this year, and if with that song they finished on 12 of 16 countries with this i predict same result.