Lithuania: Wiwi Jury reviews Istvan Kvik & Ellada with “Please Don’t Cry”

The Wiwi Jury – our in-house panel of music unprofessionals – is continuing its journey around Lithuania ahead of the first Eurovizija quarterfinal on Saturday. After rocking out to Behind the Moon’s “Did It All” yesterday, we’re ready for something a little more tranquil. Are Istvan Kvik & Ellada with “Please Don’t Cry” just what we need? Read on to find out…

Istvan Kvik & Ellada “Please Don’t Cry”

Reviews: Istvan Kvik & Ellada with “Please Don’t Cry”

Antranig: The dancers might have borrowed some of Donny Montell’s blindfolds but clearly Istvan and Ellada didn’t take any of his star power. “Please Don’t Cry” is definitely enjoyable despite some extremely cheesy lyrics. But it’s missing something, which prevents it from being truly special. There’s potential here but I’m looking elsewhere for a winner.

Score: 6/10

Angus: This is just altogether rather unfortunate. Istvan and Ellada’s “harmony” makes me wince, the song is absolutely mundane and the dancers while impressive make absolutely no sense in the context of the song or the performance. What. A. Mess.

Score: 1/10

Mikhail: I want to cry! Lithuania you leave me no other choice! Yet more wailing! This time we have a duet — such diversity, not! And those oh oh ohs… Why are they here? They’re totally out of place. That final OH! is just scary.

Score: 3.5/10

Steinunn: At first I was like, ok a song in Lithuanian, but then all of a sudden they started singing “Please don’t cry” and I got really confused. Then I realised the whole thing was actually sung in English. When I have to rewind to check what language an entry is sung in there’s a problem. And when the guy started singing “Take my life, baby” I cringed. When the blindfolds showed up I double-cringed. Plus the vocals are kind of bad.

Score: 3/10

Anthony: Istvan and Ellada are following Monika and Vaidas with another male-female duet. But while Monika and Vaidas shone, the spark between Istvan and Ellada has yet to ignite. Their song choice might not help them either. “Please don’t crrrrrrrry” makes for a drowsy chorus and Istvan needs to sort out his pronunciation issues.

Score: 3/10

Robyn: What a mess. Istvan and especially Ellada are both good singers, but there’s no chemistry between then — and the high emotions of “Please Don’t Cry” require chemistry. The song itself is a pretty ordinary ballad. The ridiculous staging adds nothing, from the gratuitous aerial silks to using Donny Montell’s old blindfold gimmick.

Score: 4/10

Bernardo: Blindfolds and a circus act again? No, thank you! There’s zero chemistry and the instrumental is poor. Their voices are good but not memorable enough. Please don’t cry? I’ll cry — no doubt about that.

Score: 4/10

Luis: I also do want to cry. Both of them are good singers, but guys! When you sing a duet, you have to at least look in your partner’s eyes every once in a while! It feels like a battle on The Voice, where the jury and the audience only choose one of them. My verdict? Both should go home!

Score: 2/10

Liam: Istvan & Ellada are giving off major Esma & Lozano vibes. The song is fairly different from “Pred da se razdeni” but it’s just as unappealing. As individuals, their vocals are very good. However, when they sing together it’s like playing Adele’s “Hello” and Drake’s “Hotline Bling” at the same time. They clash.

Score: 4/10

Padraig: Istvan sings that he doesn’t want to feel like a fool. It’s a bit too late for that! Nothing works. The song itself is dire with overly simplistic and repetitive lyrics. Meanwhile, Istvan and Ellada are completely lacking in chemistry. You’d never believe they were supposed to be heartbroken. As for the staging, the less said about that the better.

Score: 2/10

Our jury consists of 16 people, but we only have room for 10 written reviews. Here are the remaining 6 scores.

Josh: 4/10

Patrick: 4.5/10

Sinan: 5/10

Denise: 3/10

Judit: 3/10

Edd: 3.5/10

To reduce potential bias, we drop the highest and lowest scores prior to calculating the average. We removed a low of 1 and a high of 6.

WIWI JURY AVERAGE: 3.46/10

SEE OUR CURRENT LITHUANIA 2016 REVIEWS AND RANKINGS.

Photos: Vytenio Radžiuno (LRT.lt)