Lithuania: Wiwi Jury reviews Milda Martinkenaite with “If Tomorrow Never Comes”

The Wiwi Jury – our in-house panel of music unprofessionals – is continuing its journey around Lithuania ahead of the fifth Eurovizija show on Saturday. Earlier we took a trip to the garden, as the 4 Roses sang “Butterfly”. And now, judging by Milda Martinkenaite’s attire, we may have wandered into the vegetable patch. But what do we think of her song “If Tomorrow Never Comes”? Read on to find out…

Milda Martinkenaite “If Tomorrow Never Comes”

Reviews: Milda Martinkenaite with “If Tomorrow Never Comes”

Angus: I was ready to wish for it to already be tomorrow, but on repeat listen this has a fun Gaia-of-the-Earth message, styling and tone that the first verse really masks. Milda’s mad eyes also have me totally hypnotised.

Score: 7/10

Steinunn: “If Tomorrow Never Comes” is just ridiculous. It’s like it can’t decide what kind of song it is. Is it a country song, a pop song, a nursery rhyme, a song to play at half-time during a handball game or an Irish folk song? The writers don’t seem to know, so I have no idea whatsoever! Even Milda seems confused. Everything about this is messy. I want to crawl into the fetal position and wait for someone to make it stop.

Score: 1/10

Bernardo: Yas! Milda’s voice is good and “If Tomorrow Never Comes” has some seriously catchy lyrics and instrumental. I’d already be feeling this happiness in Stockholm, if it wasn’t for Donny Montell.

Score: 7.5/10

Robyn: There are some fun things happening there. While Milda sometimes struggles to reach the lower notes, she is a likeable performer and she totally sells the performance, nailing the key change and expertly coping with her earpiece falling out. The song’s chorus especially has a rollicking folky feel to it, reminiscent of the Irish folk classic “Whiskey in the Jar” (!!!). My main criticism: Milda really needs to lose the Peter Pan pantomime costume.

Score: 5.5/10

Anthony: This is certainly one of the kookiest performances from this year’s competition. Milda begins promisingly, but then it all kicks off into a Texan mishmash, immediately triggering flashbacks of “No, No. Never” from Texas Lightning. The refrain also bears an eerie resemblance to Slade’s “Run Runaway”. And Milda might want to change out of her budget version of Kristina’s “Horehronie” outfit.

Score: 4/10

Liam: I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve listened to a song with ukulele on it! I love how polar opposites like the ukulele and electric drums morph together seamlessly. It’s quite enjoyable, but not Lithuania’s best option.

Score: 7/10

Mikhail: Finally, a listenable song! “If Tomorrow Never Comes” is full of positive energy and sunshine. And then there’s the rodeo cowboy vibe. It’s fun and catchy, but for me it is a one time listen.

Score: 6.5/10

Antranig: “If Tomorrow Never Comes” attempts to juggle multiple genres — this should be a hot mess but somehow it all works. Her decision to wear a giant cabbage is questionable but she’s serving Mother Nature country realness and I want to be part of her vegetable patch! I’m having endless fun with this song and I think Europe would too.

Score: 10/10

Luis: Happy clappy, nice and easy to listen to. “If Tomorrow Never Comes” is actually one of the better songs in Lithuania. Milda exceeds the level of the song, delivering a very entertaining performance (compared to the all the other sleeping pills songs). Her voice is a bit too deep for the song, but she compensates with energy and spontaneity.

Score: 7/10

Padraig: “Tomorrow Never Comes” should fail in every way possible. And sure enough, the first verse is a complete write-off. But then we reach the chorus, easily one of the most joyous moments in this year’s selection. From there on in it’s amazingly ridiculous. The lyrics are bonkers, the melody is almost child-like, but as a package the whole thing is infectious. Milda carries off the whole performance with aplomb. She’s not po-faced and serious, nor is she making a mockery of everything. She’s simply having fun. And as a result I am too.

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: 4/10

Patrick: 5/10

Sinan: 6.5/10

Denise: 4/10

Judit: 7/10

Edd: 10/10

WIWI JURY AVERAGE: 6.32/10

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 10.

SEE OUR CURRENT LITHUANIA 2016 REVIEWS AND RANKINGS.

Photos: Vytenio Radžiuno (LRT.lt)