Ahead of the third and final heat of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2016, Finland’s Eurovision 2016 selection, the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — listened to and reviewed all six of the competing songs. Now it’s time to review Pietarin Spektaakkeli with “Liian kuuma” (Too hot). Did we like this throwback to the 50s? This is what we had to say ..

Pietarin Spektaakkeli – “Liian kuuma”

“Liian kuuma” reviews

William: This doesn’t feel like a song with instrumental sections, but rather an instrumental piece with some vocal sections. The melody is cute but starts to grate halfway through, and overall it’s more plateau than hill and valley. Monotonous, tedious, uninspired — it really does nothing for me.

Score: 1/10

Edd: I’m always a fan of jazzy throwbacks, and this is no exception. His harsh low voice, the catchy Finnish language and that saxophone solo all come together to make me smile. This will almost certainly be completely different to anything that arrives in Stockholm come May, and for that reason I think it would do pretty well.

Score: 8/10

Sam: While I like my Eurovision entries unorthodox, with a side of distinctiveness, this isn’t for my palate at all. Big band jazz is not something that makes me excited, and the way the bass-voiced lead singer sings sounds like a tribal chant (“Liian kuuma, liian kuuma”). I’m falling asleep even writing this.

Score: 0.5/10

Luis: I can take this as a compensation for the year when Germany left out The Baseballs in their NF to send Elaïza. My only problem with this is the lack of attitude of the lead singer. It feels as if he had given up on the song in the first note and then just read the lines. It’s a pity, because the song itself is funny and catchy, but this kind of music relies a lot on the charisma of its performer. In this case, there isn’t any, so that will make it sink.

Score: 7/10

Robyn: Well, this is a nice throwback to the 1950s, but then Eurovision in the 1950s was all about nice ladies in nice gowns singing nice songs, not rhythm and blues bands singing about hot chicks. The song is cute, but I’m wondering how interesting it would be to see on stage. The band seems very restrained (that seems to be their style) and it could come across as not very engaging.

Score: 6/10

Kristin: Well, this I did not expect. I was completely baffled about the ’50s throwback, the pin-up girls and this magnificently laid-back singer. But for some reason, I found myself chanting along in the second verse, and even listened to the song again and again, just to be sure. And yeah, after a careful consideration, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m actually digging this tune! It’s out-of-this-world corny, but it’s funny and catchy too.

Score: 7/10

Antranig: This song is ridiculously dated. That doesn’t automatically make it bad as it will undoubtedly have its fans but I certainly won’t be one of them. There’s plenty of clapping and snapping going on in the video and at no point do I feel the urge to join in — that effectively sums up why it fails to achieve what it sets out to do.

Score: 1/10

Max: “Liian Kuuma” has effortless style and an air of gleeful irreverence. The distinctiveness of the Finnish language is shown off to full effect here, as Pietari’s voice and the lyrics are hypnotically paired with the jazzy instrumental. “But it’s 2016,” I hear you moan. Who cares? What this entry is selling is timeless chic, as relevant today as it would have been back in the ’50s. I hope that the stage presentation somehow pulls off the gloriously simple aesthetic of the music video to help propel this fabulous entry into the UMK final.

Score: 8/10

In the Finnish Wiwi Jury we have 16 jurors but only have room for 8 reviews. The remaining eight scores are below!

Maria: 6/10

Josh: 3.5/10

Ramadan: 6/10

Denise: 2/10

Bernardo: 3/10

Dayana: 8/10

Cristian: 4/10

Mario: 2/10

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 0.5 and a high of 8.

WIWI JURY SCORE: 4.61/10

FOR OUR LIST OF FINLAND 2016 RANKINGS, CLICK HERE

FOR MORE FINLAND EUROVISION NEWS, CLICK HERE

Photo: YLE

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Hugh
Hugh
8 years ago

There’s a difference between dated and throwback, and this is the latter. It’s a bit of fun that won’t get to Stockholm but gives UMK some life. 6.5/10