The Wiwi Jury – our in-house panel of music unprofessionals – is continuing its journey around Denmark. Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2016 is almost upon us and we’re here to review the ten finalists. Yesterday, Veronicas Illusion brought us to the dance floor with “The Wrong Kind”… it was so right! Today, we’re paying a visit to DMGP veteran Simone. Can “Heart Shaped Hole” fill the winner’s trophy shaped gap in her mantle? Read on to find out…
Simone “Heart Shaped Hole”
Reviews: Simone with “Heart Shaped Hole”
Kristin: At first I was sceptical because “Heart Shaped Hole” is not from a musical genre, that I typically enjoy. Thankfully, Simone washed most of my doubts away with her powerful voice. This may not be my alltime favorite, but Simone does a great job, and the song is sort of stuck in my head, but in a good way. This is an extremely “easy on the ears” tune and should it win DMGP, it would most certainly send Denmark straight to the final without any trouble. Good song, good singer and all in all not too shabby.
Score: 8/10
Deban: Suspense builds from the very first beat, ushering listeners into a chorus that simply envelopes you. Despite the vulgar title, “Heart Shaped Hole” is truly wholesome. It gathers momentum with Simone’s vocal range, which spans many octaves. This is her third showing at the contest, but her best effort to date. Fortunately, she’s also one of the front runners for DMGP victory this year.
Score: 9/10
DMGP 2016: Our top three
Anthony: In contrast to her 2010 and 2013 entries, this is Simone’s strongest attempt so far. I’m filling that hole with true love for this song. The gradual build-up draws you in before the chorus bursts into life. After two third place finishes, I’ll be delighted if Simone makes it third time lucky this year.
Score: 8/10
Bernardo: Dark, sassy, powerful — “Heart Shaped Hole” combines awesome production with a compelling voice and thoughtful lyrics. It’s my favorite this year and screams Eurovision. I have a feeling Simone is going to give a stellar performance live and conquer Denmark. Well done!
Score: 10/10
DMGP 2016: First reactions
Edd: As we saw back in 2013, Simone has beautiful, clear, and surprisingly powerful vocals. That said, the girl lacks charisma – as does her song. I love the Kygo-style synths in the middle-eight – but other than that it’s all very forgettable. Don’t get me wrong, it’s well-written and well-produced. It just lacks soul.
Score: 6.5/10
Sami: I prefered “Stay Awake”, but I really like “Heart Shaped Hole”. It’s very 2016 and I’m sure juries would appreciate it at Eurovision. With good staging, Simone could take Denmark back to the top five.
Score: 9/10
Mikhail: “Heart Shaped Hole” is a really strong song, but I’m left empty. I’m not sure whether it’s heart shaped, but the void is real. Good melody, great vocals, but we’ve heard it a million times. It’s time to move on from all these pop-power-ballads that have zero emotion and no message.
Score: 7/10
Robyn: I can see the appeal of “Heart Shaped Hole”, but I can’t enjoy it because of the awful lyrics. It’s attempting some bold, emotional Sia-style lyrics, but the confusing mixed metaphors end up sounding like Simone is literally engaging in a gruesome act of home surgery. But despite the horror movie lyrics, Simone seems too polite to really sell it. But then, the song begins with “I put on the mask” – yep, while she’s brutally cutting out her lover’s heart, she’s being safe and wearing a surgical mask.
Score: 6.5/10
Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2016: Interviews
Padraig: I tired of Sia months ago. So naturally, I have little time for the many imitators she’s spawned. Saying that Simone, is amongst the better tributes. But her voice is too pure for a song such as “Heart Shaped Hole”. Instead of grit, we get smooth caramel. This could contend for a top ten spot in Stockholm, but it lacks the spark needed to win.
Score: 7.5/10
William: She’s cutting him out of her life and filling her heart-shaped hole with passion, soul and just the right amount of anger. The female voice over the electro backing has shades of Sia — it’s edgy, it’s current and most importantly it tells a story. When Simone sings I believe what she’s saying. If she can deliver this live, she may be reprising it in Stockholm.
Score: 8.5/10
Our jury consists of 22 people, but we only have room for 10 written reviews. Here are the remaining 12 scores.
Antranig: 9.5/10
Bogdan:Â 10/10
Cristian: 10/10
Dayana: 9.5/10
Denise:Â 10/10
Gökhan: 9/10
Josh:Â 10/10
Liam:Â 10/10
Luis:Â 7.5/10
Patrick:Â 10/10
Ramadan: 8/10
Sopon:Â 9.5/10
WIWI JURY AVERAGE: 8.83/10
To reduce potential bias, we drop the highest and lowest scores prior to calculating the average. We removed a low of 6.5 and a high of 10.
I’m not sure how it has a vulgar title!
Maybe it’s humour that just went over my head?
12 points from Brazil to Simone. The most international song till now.
My favourite song from any NF so far, if it wins Denmark will go to my top spot of selected songs so far.
I think is too early to say if Denmark will win a third time after Sweden… but with this song I say it is a reasonable possibility!
One of my winners this year with Justs, Jamala, Greta and Mick Pedaja
8’83? Wow… I think it’s extremely overrated…
My winner alert of Eurovision is screaming when I hear this music. I don’t know, it’s so envolving… I believe that – if the stage is powerful – that Denmark can win Eurovision 2017 and the tradition that if Sweden wins, then Denmark wins, may happen again.
10/10
I have the feeling that i’m listening to a 4 minute long track, while its 3:03, because of those last parts of the song and thats amazing. I can’t see any other song winning but simone’s and i’m sure Denmark will go with Heart shaped hole.
9,5/10
she has to win DMGP, this song is incredible!
Nearly a 9? Yikes! This is definitely near the lower end of my rankings for Denmark. Her voice on the chorus pierces my ears. I’m trying to like it but I can’t. I think it would flop in Stockholm too
Denmark has a many advantages over Sweden, Norway and other countries. Denmark does not participate in winter sports. Additionally they have a small number of immigrants, many pretty womans, support from many countries and they never scored nul points in the ESC. Denmark is the power of the future. Their victory in 2013 was just the beginning.
It reminds me a lot of ‘Chandelier’ which is fantastic if she can pull that off.
Can’t wait to see Simone being defeated on Saturday by Emmelie de Forest once again as in 2013, but this time through Anja Nissen’s voice =D
Arrivederci, Simone!
10/10, it has got to win.
I love Heart Shaped Hole 😀 😀 Can’t wait to see her live performance this Saturday 😀
Denmark has better chance this year at Eurovision than Sweden at least. Moreover Denmark is clearly the safest country in Western Europe. If anyone is thinking of emigration, Denmark is very good option.
“vulgar title”?
This is the only song this year that when I first heard it, I thought was going to win in Stockholm. There are other songs that have been added to the mix since, but this has instant impact, is entirely accessible, and with the stage show it deserves, it absolutely could be another Sweden/Denmark double act. It’s not what I listen to outside of Eurovision-land at all, but for the contest it’s immaculate…and even skeptics of Europop can get into it, I suspect. 10/10