We are getting close to Estonia’s national selection for Eurovision Eesti Laul 2016, which kicks off on February 13. In recent weeks the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — has been listening to and reviewing all of the songs. Next up is Grete Paia with her song “Stories Untold”. She came second in 2013 and now she is back trying to grab a victory. Are we ready to give it to her? Read and find out!
GRETE PAIA — “STORIES UNTOLD”
“STORIES UNTOLD” REVIEWS
Mikhail: The song has quality in it, but it doesn’t change the fact that it is quite boring. It is flat, it is the same throughout the whole song and has nothing to focus on. Just average, just a nice background, but not for listening to enjoy.
Score: 5/10
Josh: I’m thrilled to see Grete Paia back at Eesti Laul this year. “Stories Untold” is a mesmerising, dark pop song that oozes attitude and maleficence. There’s definitely some similarities with “Fire Meet Gasoline” by Sia within this track, but I think this song stands well on its own and could do quite well in the live show.
Score: 7.5/10
Cristian: As Josh said, we can definitely hear similarities with that Sia track but honestly I’ve found also a bit of “Jar of Hearts” by Christina Perri in the melody of this song. Actually I don’t like when singers try to copy successful solutions from others, so even if this entry sounds good and solid my vote is a bit lower.
Score 6.5/10
Luis: I’m sorry but I’m not really keen to hear Grete’s untold stories. It began quite nice, with a very appealing dark atmosphere, but then it evolved into a generic R&B tune with a very cheap beat and a long, plain chorus. I’m not buying it.
Score: 5/10
Bogdan: I see — or, rather, hear — why many fans find this dark and poetic song as one of the frontrunners in the Estonian selection. However, something about Grete’s clean, detached rendition and the familiar sound of “Stories Untold” doesn’t convince me. Perhaps I will be a convert once she performs it live, but until then I am on the fence with this one.
Score: 7/10
Patrick: Yes, even I heard the Sia similarity, but guys I really don’t care cause it’s Grete Paia. How dissapointed I was in 2013 when she only came second. Anyway, she is the queen, no doubt! Her song starts dark and has some mysteries in it but then it starts being really nice. I don’t have a better word than nice ’cause how can I describe it? Grete will surely do well, if not win the whole thing. Surely one out of the best, if not the best. GO GRETE
Score: 9/10
Kristin: Starts out very promising, but the chorus is a little weak. What could have become a dark and gothic dance number, suddenly turned into a middle-of-the-road pop song. But Greta’s voice is good, and I would have wanted her to use it just a tad more. “Untold Stories” is missing the edgy sound it should have, and probably was supposed to. It’s mediocre at best.
Score: 5.5/10
Anthony: I was with the many disappointed fans when Grete Paia agonizingly lost out in 2013, so it’s great to see her back. And just like last time, composer Sven Lõhmus has again worked wonders with the returnee. Well produced and wonderfully deep, “Stories Untold” has that hint of a Sia vibe and it’s another fantastic pop song.
Score: 8/10
Sinan: YAAAS OMG!! That is the song which Estonian people should choose for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016! It is Eurovision style, and I can just imagine how it could be performed on the stage this year. The song grabbed me from the first listen, which is very important because you have exactly three minutes to impress the audience. Wish her best of luck – I hope she wins!
Score: 10/10
George: “Stories Untold” begins really nice, but the more story I learn, the more I want to stop listening to it. I believe it’s yet another attempt to make a track out of several international hits that’s gone wrong. It combines too many things and the result is just too messy for me.
Score: 5.5/10
“STORIES UNTOLD” SCORES
Robyn: 5.5/10
Deban: 7/10
Angus: 7/10
Bernardo: 8/10
Antranig: 10/10
Renske: 8/10
Denise: 9/10
William: 9/10
Zakaria: 6/10
Dayana: 7/10
The highest and lowest scores are removed before calculating the final score. We have dropped a low of 5 and a high of 10.
I am laughing… Estonias selection is probably the best of all the selections this year coming to the studio recordings at least. Pretty much every song sound contemporary and interesting – and I rather have 20 alternative or indie electronic songs in a final than a final with 20 different genres where most are avarage representatives of their respective genre (Like Melodifestivalen, which becomes worse for every year).
I am sure that Jüri will go top 10 and maybe even top 5 with is song Play 🙂 Its an awesome song 🙂
I’m feeling this Sia inspired song, which makes sense because I god damn love Sia. The start sounds so unique, and the chorus is very “Fire Meets Gasoline” – just, slightly worse. I wish there was more of a kick there, because i could really get behind the chorus if it wasn’t as trudgy. I wish Grete fully committed to the Avant-Garde style, instead of whimping out of the chorus.
Score: 7.5/10
lmaoooooo Eesti Laul actually tries super hard to be innovative for once and everyone still goes for the cookie-cutter pop song (this is still better than supersonic and play though)
Is nobody going to mention the fact that the chorus sounds exactly like Halo from Beyonce?
How do you come part of the Wiwi Jury?
Jüri Pootsmann will win anyway.
The English isn’t quite perfect here, and as others have said the chorus just lets the whole song down; it’s too long and plain sounding. It’s still a decent song nonetheless, but since this year’s EL is so strong it barely makes the halfway mark for me. If Estonia wants this kind of sound at ESC, they should choose Laura instead (although I don’t personally rank Supersonic too high either)
The start with the mysteriousness is really promising and interesting but it just falls so flat at the chorus and I just find myself disappointed when its all over. That being said I still enjoy it and its in my top 10 for this year.I really hope this doesn’t win EL because I can’t really see it getting past the semis.
I do like the “you can’t go, you can’t let go” bridge, but with this kind of quality competition, it just falls short for me. Annoyingly, this song is still very catchy. Of course that’s because it sounds like “Halo” by Beyonce and “Jar of Hearts” by Christina Perri mashed up into one.
Bottom half of EL for me, but not a bad song. A thought came to me as I was relistening to it that it’s a shame that Ira Losco isn’t singing it for Malta, cos it would suit her perfectly. Sweet but not; interesting without being avant garde. It’s the kind of easy pop song that I don’t really go for, but plenty do. 5.5/10
Another bundle of MEH. It doesn’t go anywhere and I just find myself listening to Wurffel for a second time instead
My favorite this year for Estonia <3 I love it !