This week the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — headed north for Melodi Grand Prix 2016, Norway’s selection for Eurovision. After experiencing a relaxing dog sled ride, we sat down to listen to Suite 16. Did their song “Anna Lee” make us sing along? Read on to find out…
Suite 16 with “Anna Lee”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjMIlPQXitU
“Anna Lee” reviews
Zakaria: When I first saw their promo picture I feared a One Direction type of song but I was pleasantly surprised after listening to “Anna Lee”. It’s fun, catchy, sweet and I can definitely see this climbing the scoreboard in Stockholm. I don’t think this it needs elaborate staging — the song is simple and the staging should reflect that.
Score: 9/10
William: I don’t know who Anna Lee is, but she must be fierce to have all these guys dreaming about her. This is catchy, cute and sweet and wouldn’t be out of place on a 1D album. I like how the wistful and chatty verses lead to that choral-feeling chorus. If they can pull this off live it might just slay the pack.
Score: 9/10
Josh: Everyone’s going to naturally compare Suite 16 to One Direction – five good looking boys who can sing a catchy pop song together. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the formula. Teenage girls will vote for this. Thirsty gays with a keen eye for a twink will vote for this. “Anna Lee” will score quite well, and could potentially even go onto Stockholm.
Score: 7/10
Chris: A ten-a-penny boyband with an anthemic chorus in a song about a girl. Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Yes, it’s better than some awful NF boybands that we’ve seen (hey, Youngblood). But “Anna Lee” would be absolutely crushed if it went to Eurovision. It doesn’t feel authentic whatsoever and just leaves me wishing it were over by the end.
Score: 5.5/10
Robyn: I was going to describe this as a generic boyband song, but it’s actually quite bit better than that. Suite 16 have a great sound and the song is a joyful journey of love (awww…). But then given the band’s pure boyband origins (via a reality TV show), it does make sense that “Anna Lee” would still feel like a by-the-numbers pop tune.
Score: 5.5/10
Mikhail: A nice mix of pop and cheerful country. I like such songs. It reminds me a bit of the Czech song “V Case Zpatky” by Voxel (especially the “hey!” parts), which I prefer a bit more, but this one is very enjoyable too. I don’t mind if these guys spread their positivity in Stockholm.
Score: 7/10
Luis: A boyband with a funny guitar song. Kaboom! I’m sure you have never heard something like this before. The lyrics sound a bit lazy, with all those na-na-na-nas. Personally, I’m a big hater when it comes to boybands, so it’s no surprise I don’t really like this one either. As I said, they bring nothing you haven’t heard before.
Score: 2/10
Steinunn: This sounds like every teenage girl’s dream… five years ago. But five years ago wasn’t all that bad, and the song is quite catchy and the members of Suite 16 sound and look like they could be up for the task. Are they going to make it big with the whole of Europe? No. But at least a few young girls are going to daydream about these boys in the near future.
Score: 6/10
Sami: I’m sure some teenage girls will dream the guys are singing about them in “Anna Lee”. Well, I’m not one of them, but I do enjoy the song. The guys have nice voices and build nice harmonies. The lyrics on the chorus are bit lazy, but at least it’s easy to sing along. It puts me in a good mood and makes me happy — especially when put between two ballads.
Score: 7/10
Deban: Providing lashings of guilty pleasure, “Anna Lee” pretends to be nothing but pop. Suite 16 are equally shameless! Comparisons with other successful boy bands are inevitable, and seemingly, they don’t seem to mind. “Anna Lee” may be decidedly teenage, but it is driven with a mature country mandolin. The juxtaposition here is cohesive and beautiful.
Score: 7/10
In the Norwegian Wiwi Jury we have 25 jurors but only have room for 10 reviews. The remaining 15 scores are below!
Edd: 9.5/10
Bogdan: 4.5/10
Antranig: 10/10
Denise: 7/10
Renske: 8/10
Liam: 5.5/10
Bernardo: 7.5/10
Mario: 6.5/10
Cristian: 4/10
Maria: 7/10
George: 7.5/10
Dayana: 8/10
Ramadan: 8/10
Patrick: 6/10
William C: 5.5/10
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 2 and a high of 10.
They seem as if they are trying too hard.
@crazylama – Good spot! That’s fixed now 🙂
btw you said th highest it got was 9.5 but antranig gave it 10!
It should be this song or Afterglow for Norway this year.
Yeah, this song feels authentic enough for this type of band. I like it better than Denmark’s entry. Having said that, it’s some way down my list of Norway favourites this year. When you consider the crazier and fun entries like the all-groovin’ Freddy, ice-breaking Agnete and lesbian-rights-disco The Hungry Hearts, this entry seems rather ordinary! I suppose it depends on how ordinary Norwegians are feeling this weekend – if they only consider serious entries then either this or “Afterglow” might win. I’d prefer if Norway sent something more fun this year after two years of depressing songs. This might… Read more »