Ahead of the second heat of Finland’s Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) 2016, the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — are busy reviewing all the competing songs. The final song comes from Mikael Saari, who placed second in Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2013. Can he do better with “On It Goes”? Read on to hear our thoughts…
Mikael Saari – “On It Goes”
“On It Goes” reviews:
Sinan: I don’t know why, but I like it — and I am not a fan of ballads. It has a great music video and I’m loving all these old fashioned costumes. I will definitely listen to this more than once.
Score: 7.5/10
William: On it goes — for three tedious minutes. I can remember the instrumental but not the verses or the chorus. I appreciate that he has a great voice, it’s just a shame it’s wasted on this wet, slightly wandering song.
Score: 3/10
Edd: Ballads very rarely move me, but Mikael Saari is an exception. The song pulls on your heartstrings with its tenderness in the first minute, and then builds and builds and doesn’t stop building. His voice has a beautiful timbre, and the orchestral production and non-standard melody makes it feel so organic. I wouldn’t say “too good for Eurovision” but more, “too complex to be a fan favourite.”
Score: 9.5/10
Sam: “On It Goes” feels anything but genuine. Mikael’s voice is good enough, but the instrumentation accompanying him is too sugary and too excessive. It doesn’t help that the song itself bores me to death, and I’d fall asleep immediately if it weren’t for the super screechy violins. Let’s shut this one down before it goes any further.
Score: 4/10
Luis: Is Mikael sure his song was for Eurovision? Because I see it more in a Broadway production. “On It Goes” is a very good composition, but the drama and the over-trascendence of this song surpass the Eurovision limits. I had major Didrik Solli-Tangen feels with this song, although in some parts it also reminded me of “A Monster Like Me”, which I loved. It’s not as boring as “My Heart is Yours”, but I doubt it can get as good a place as Morland & Debrah.
Score: 5.5/10
Robyn: This sounds like a song from a musical, a ballad that the hero sings while wandering the stage, gazing at a moonlight backdrop. Mikael has a good voice and the song’s production is good, but all up, it’s just not grabbing me as a song. However, I have a feeling that it might be more powerful when performed live.
Score: 6/10
Kristin: I am totally and completely head over heels in love with this song. The beginning reminded me of Didrik Solli-Tangen’s “My Heart is Yours”, and in my case, that’s nothing but good. But that was just for split second, and then Mikael took it to a whole new level and I ended up with goosebumps and a mysterious lump in my throat. And suddenly I discovered why. I was having a case of the…..feelings! Which is everything this song is about and Mikael portrays it so so beautifully. Perfect, simply perfect.
Score: 10/10
Antranig: I’m not a fan of this one at all. On and on it goes for three minutes and it gets nowhere. I usually criticise songs I dislike for making three minutes go by extremely slowly. In Mikael’s case, three minutes passes in the blink of an eye and I feel as though nothing happened. It’s one of the weakest entries and I’m looking elsewhere for a winner.
Score: 4/10
Max: I didn’t know quite what to make of this at first. There’s nothing else like it competing in UMK, and I think it will definitely make an impression when performed live. But ultimately Mikael does seem to stretch those 3 minutes out, and the first minute of the song is dreary enough to lose my vote. This is an enigmatic yet flawed entry.
Score: 5/10
In the Finnish Wiwi Jury we have 17 jurors but only have room for 9 reviews. The remaining eight scores are below!
Maria: 7/10
Josh: 5/10
Ramadan: 4.5/10
Denise: 6.5/10
Bernardo: 7.5/10
Dayana: 7.5/10
Cristian: 5/10
Mario: 6/10
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 3 and a high of 10.
WIWI JURY SCORE: 6.03/10
FOR OUR LIST OF FINLAND 2016 RANKINGS, CLICK HERE
FOR MORE FINLAND EUROVISION NEWS, CLICK HERE
Photo: YLE
It’s an intriguing song. The Wiwi jury judges like the televoting audience votes: based on taste. There’s nothing wrong with that, but if something is not to your taste you can still judge whether it’s well done or not. But maybe you need a jury of professionals for that (and even they would probably be divided on this song’s merits).
The fact that this song sparks a discussion like that already qualifies it as a work of art that deserves a place in this competition 😉
The only time FINLAND will do well this year is if they send
“NO FEAR” by Saara Aalto
Take it from someone who spent 15 years in music/entertainment.
This is PERFECT. 10/10
Maybe wiwibloggs should have a separate 3 member jury who have a music background and who would balance out your “unprofessional” taste level (brought up buy the saade review) which clearly shows that your team is more “televote” and less “jury vote”
Quote: “too complex to be appreciated by the Eurovision community” This statement does not place ESC fans under the best of lights. It’s like saying they are dummies unable to listen to any kind of music or are close-minded within their bubble of upbeat trash kitsch over-the-top delights. If we are unable to take a minute and listen to everything there is in any shape and form and just rely on a confort zone equally comparable to a 10 year old listening to cartoon tunes, … then we have a problem. Eurovision community … it would be wise to not… Read more »
Too complex to be appreciated by the ESC community? Well, this has “A monster like me” sounds, which placed 8th in 2015. Imo this is an amazing song, that ,I think, will win UMK
I agree with wiwi jury and this song is overrated by fans… 6/10
Jesus the commenters on Wiwibloggs are such asses sometimes, attacking people for no reason. If the wiwi-jury’s opinion is that they do not really like a song, it is THEIR opinion.
It is just their opinion and obviously not from everybody, don’t act like you got attacked by a mental ill cat, just because some don’t like a song you like.
@William Adams: She came sixth for the same reason that Suus of Albania came fifth. These two really can sing, and there’s no doubt about it. But when it comes to the songs, boy… If you ask me both would be packing home after semis. I don’t think the whole Europe is stupid or what, but based on your reviews I am really concernd about you. And one more thing while we’re here. Bryan’s song Sunlight or something like that…. You like that??? Talking generally now. I mean people, we all know why you like that. It’s Ireland, he’s a… Read more »
OMG. If you don’t like what you read on this site, then pls leave, nobody’s gonna miss you people. Everybody’s entitled to their own opinion, and they have the right not to like a song, despite the fact that you do. Btw, I don’t think it deserves higher points because it’s very boring.
@F. Lene No, obviously I don’t think that all Eurovision fans have empty brains/closed minds. But I am shocked that this hasn’t been massively embraced as a fan favourite when (in my opinion) it is miles better than the majority of other songs in UMK. And what I’m saying is I think the reason that it’s not become a fan-favourite is because of the non-standard format of the song. But maybe I’m wrong.
“too complex to be appreciated by the Eurovision community” – I feel really sorry about this comment. Do you think all Eurovision fans have empty brains / closed minds / whatever like this? Not all Eurovision fans are like you (thanks god)
Shame on you ,, special ,, jury , you dont know how to treat a masterpiece , Im disappointed of you , AGAIN , stupuds
This won’t stand a chanche against Saara Aalto, but still its underrated by the wiwi jury. 6,03 for a very nice ballad, i liked ”Start a fire” by Dilara and this sort of male version is great.
And when I thought these reviews couldn’t get any worse. You guys like to be laughed at, appareantly.
I’m ashamed watching your videos because you are so annoying. Now I’m ashamed for you because of these reviews. Never reading your reviews again… Somebody said very well… Eric Saade (Sting) – 9, and this masterpice only 6. I’m not surprised because you all liked Aminata’s song and you all lift her up like she’s a God. Yeah, right… You guys have a serious problem.
I think it’s comfortably the best in the semi and should get through. The Broadway musical vibe is definitely there, but what that means hopefully is that it will be three minutes of a great show on stage. He can sing, and while it might not be the right formula for a Eurovision winner, it would definitely add some depth to the mix at Stockholm. 8/10
You can see that the credibility of this website goes lower and lower, mainly after this review. An example was last year when they chose ”Sting” by Saade as the best NF song that hasn’t gone to Eurovision with reviews like .. ”The lyrics are not the best, he cannot sing but OMG IT IS SAAADE OHH.. 10/10″ and then we get this masterpiece with a grade of 6… it is just sad. Definitely this song is too complex for the eurovision crowd, as you said (aka you all). People who were born to listen to songs with their hips… Read more »
Sorry I meant Mikel’s 2013 entry and Norway’s entry last year
C’mon people, this is the best song from Finland by far!
Absolutely disgusting reviews of this song, especially by William. The Eurovision community seems to love this, not sure why anyone would think we wouldn’t like this.
I should expect this considering most of the reviewers seem to live for cheap, modern synthy pop and nothing of real substance.
This is very pleasant in a slightly dated way – though not much different from last year’s and doesn’t follow trends. Norway did a far superior version of this sort of stuff in 2013. A quarter of all votes are for download potential – I can’t see many people downloading this. I suppose it’s interesting.
You guys only like cheap pop, so this comes as no suprise.I won’t read any critics anymore from this site, it’s always the same pop, schlager up high and songs with quality like this one always low. Y’all gave 9+ to Eric Saade’s Sting last year and only 6 to Saari, you’ve gotta be kidding me.
6.03 are you kidding to me Wiwibloggs ? This is the best finnish song this year 8.50 +
It scored a 6 out of 10 … no words for these people 😡
Underrated.