Lithuania: Wiwi Jury reviews Egle Jakstyte with “Leisk dar buti”

The Wiwi Jury – our in-house panel of music unprofessionals – is continuing its journey around Lithuania ahead of the first Eurovizija quarterfinal on Saturday. Earlier, Petunja’s “Tomorrow” divided the panel. Can Egle Jakstyte’s “Leisk Dar Buti” unite us once more? Read on to find out…

Egle Jakstyte “Leisk Dar Buti” Live

Reviews: Egle Jakstyte with “Leisk Dar Buti”

Angus: BAM! Eglé is a shining star. National selections see such a deluge of EDM-music that it is easy to get fatigued. But “Leisk dar buti” just leaves me wanting more. Vocally it needs improvement but there is a solid foundation for success here.

Score: 7/10

Bernardo: Egle owns the stage! With perfect production (learn something from Sofi Marinova) this could be gold in Stockholm. She has the moves, her voice isn’t bad,  and the song builds quite nicely. I felt like I was in the club dancing with my friends. Add a decent chorus and slay the hairography.

Score: 7.5/10

Egle Jakstyte “Leisk Dar Buti” Studio Version

Robyn: There were a lot of songs like this in national finals last year and none of them were selected. The problem: modern EDM songs with instrumental choruses aren’t a good match for a competition that puts an emphasis on singing. Yeah, it’s hilarious when Egle head-bangs instead of singing on the chorus, but it’s essentially relegating her to a dancer/backing vocalist when she should be the star.

Score: 4.5/10

Anthony: Just like when Egle busts out the killer dance moves, this entry will have me raving in a nightclub too. “Leisk dar buti” has an international appeal to it, so I’m not surprised it did well with the foreign juries. It also has the added bonus of being in Lithuanian. In fact, you could slip this onto a Ministry of Sound album and not realize it’s composed by two Lithuanians, one of them being Egle herself.

Score: 9/10

Mikhail: Another boring dance track. There are a lot of great songs that instantly make your booty move, but not this. It’s bland. The beat-filled bridge isn’t enjoyable, every single dance song has something similar.

Score: 4/10

Egle Jakstyte “Let Me Show You” (English Version)

Steinunn: At the beginning I think “yeah this has some potential”. But then the David-Guetta-Avicii-wannabe technobeat kicks in and Eglé starts banging her head. Seriously, can someone give the girl some muscle-relaxant? I’m worried about her neck. It’s not the worst song I’ve heard though. It just feels like I’ve heard it so many times before. It’d be right at home in a Benidorm-esque club, but it’s definately not going on my party playlist.

Score: 5/10

Antranig: This is a killer performance and Egle SLAYS! Work those hips and flip that hair girl! And do it all in Lithuanian just to make it even better! I doubt you’ll find a better performance throughout this national final season. The song is incredible. I just hope she has two sisters at home because they could pass as the Lithuanian Kardashians.

Score: 10/10

Liam: Woah! That one word encapsulates my entire opinion of this song. This could be the entry that gives Donny Montell a run for his money. Eglé can WERK it! You go girl!

Score: 9/10

Luis: “Leisk Dar Buti” should be a banger. And I’m saying “should” because it is not, obviously. This kind of music is very much 2014, so much so that it already sounds dated. I’m not feeling her song although I appreciate Eglé’s dance moves and skills as a performer. As for her the vocal-free chorus, I think the first rule for dance songs is that the beat can speak for itself. Here it just babbles.

Score: 5/10

Padraig: If love is blind, then the hype is most definitely deaf! “Leisk dar buti” is the best dance song in this year’s selection. Period! Modern, dynamic and chart friendly, this has so much going for it. It sound’s great in both Lithuanian and English, which, as y’all know, is no mean feat. Add in Egle’s fierce stage persona and I’m smitten. I whip my imaginary long hair back and forth!

Score: 7.5/10

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

Josh: 7/10

Patrick: 7/10

Sinan: 6/10

Denise: 6.5/10

Judit: 6.5/10

Edd: 7/10

WIWI JURY AVERAGE: 6.75/10

To reduce potential bias, we drop the highest and lowest scores prior to calculating the average. We removed a low of 4 and a high of 10.

SEE OUR CURRENT LITHUANIA 2016 REVIEWS AND RANKINGS.

Photos: Vytenio Radžiuno (LRT.lt)