Yesterday the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — travelled to Malta and visited the marine life at the Malta National Aquarium. Finding a quiet corner, we discussed Ira Losco‘s song “Walk on Water”. Did we jump in the deep end? Or were we running for dry ground? Read on to find out!

Ira Losco – “Walk on Water”

“Walk on Water” reviews

Patrick: Yep, what can I say. Since we did the video nothing really changed for me. “Walk on Water” is still the winner for me. Ira Losco is a stunning artist, a pearl in the music scene and the biggest star of Malta. “Chameleon” was a good song, though it was lacking, but PBS did a good job in changing the song. “Walk on Water” has power, modern style, rhythm and the ability to work wonders on stage. People tend to say Ira can’t sing live but that’s a lie and a shame to say. The staging will exceblow us all away for sure and Malta could make it to be the winner for the very first time. Good luck, queen!

Score: 10/10

Robyn: Ira Losco is a good singer and “Walk on Water” is a good song, but together something isn’t quite working. “Walk on Water” seems to be written for a singer with a huge soul voice (ok, yes, MPH), whereas Ira has a thinner, cleaner, polite lady pop voice. It’s telling that Ira can barely be heard under the gospel choir in the chorus. Team Malta will no doubt deliver a fantastic performance and they will likely qualify, but “Walk on Water” won’t be troubling teen Ira’s second place from 2002.

Score: 7.5/10

Angus: This is pure diva and I love it! Ira oozes soul power striding through the cerulean waters of the Mediterranean and her vocal on “Walk on Water” is spot on. If Amber was a warrior, Ira is the Amazon Queen. The song could easily be cheesy and overblown but Ira totally makes it her own. My only complaint is that the backing production is overpowering at times, but that can be remedied on stage.

Score: 7/10

William: Easily my favourite Maltese entry since I became a Eurovision fan, “Walk on Water” is contemporary, catchy and somehow inspiring. Ira squeezes soul out of every note and the choral accompaniment gives this a spiritual quality. Replicating that backing with live voices in Stockholm is a tall order, but Malta is filled with so many big voices I’m confident they’ll do the trick. Drum ‘n’ bass at Eurovision is a daring move, but I’m so glad Malta is taking the risk.

Score: 8/10

Bogdan: Oh, Molly! This is a gem — I hear you throughout this song. My only complaint is the lyrics (“all I wanna do is walk on water”, seriously?), but Ira’s beautiful voice and the infectious beats manage to shift the focus from the words. Overall, this is a better entry than “Chameleon”, although I liked that one, too, but I’m afraid it’s not going to challenge Ira’s record. It’s going to look and sound spectacular in Stockholm though — I can already tell.

Score: 8/10

Cristian: I didn’t appreciate “Chameleon” and for this reason I consider “Walk on Water” a better entry for Malta even if it doesn’t blow me away. I like the drum and bass — it’s a powerful song with clear Swedish vibes. I was among the international jurors who voted for the new Maltese entry and this was third in my personal ranking.

Score: 7/10

Deban: “Chameleon” would have qualified easily. However, “Walk on Water” pushes the boat further. It sounds polished, produced and packaged for victory. Malta have got JESC in the bag. “7th Wonder” came close to winning, and “Walk on Water” stands a good chance in a highly competitive field. Also, it adds a major hit to Ira Losco’s expansive catalogue. Team Malta deserve applause for their renewed commitment and extravaganza!

Score: 8/10

Diego: I wasn’t too keen on “Chameleon” and “Walk on Water” has been quite an improvement over Malta’s expectations for this year’s contest. Unfortunately, it’s a not a winning song. Ira Losco might deliver it amazingly in Stockholm but it doesn’t quite have what’s needed to reach first place with a power pop/soul entry — although we already know she’s going to slay live.

Score: 7.5/10

Mikhail: It’s a decent song. I want to put it in my playlist, but for some reason I haven’t done it yet and I am not in a hurry to do that. That’s not a good sign, is it? Maybe deep inside I know that I will quickly get tired of this song, because I tired of “I’ll Be Fine” a long time ago. Nevertheless, I can’t ignore the great quality of production, especially those interesting “bird screech” parts.

Score: 6.5/10

Padraig: “Walk On Water” is current, radio-friendly and chart ready. So then, why did Molly Petterson Hammar and her team opt to send it to Malta rather than enter it in Melodifestivalen? Did they consider “Hunger” – a song which didn’t even qualify for the Swedish final – to be stronger? If so, we have a problem. Because while “WOW” has so much going for it, it doesn’t feel like a Eurovision winner. Ira’s going to need more than big names to win over the televoters and juries. Of course, we’ve yet to see her staging. If she can nail that, along with her vocals, she should easily make it to the final. Otherwise we could be looking at a shock non-qualifier.

Score: 7.5/10

Tobias: This is good! Written by the Swedish songwriter Molly Petterson Hammar, the Maltese Ira Losco does a great job. Her voice is strong and the song is catchy with an attitude. I like it and Malta will for sure be somewhere in the top 10.

Score: 7/10

Mike: We waited for Ira Losco to return to MESC for many years and when she did she simply slayed. “Chameleon” was one of my faves, but “Walk on Water” is again amazing in a whole different way. Ira is a performer and she will be one of the best, bringing her song to the audience in Stockholm. It should be an easy qualifier for Malta in this hard first semi.

Score: 9/10

In the Wiwi Jury we have 40 jurors but only have room for 12 reviews. The remaining 28 scores are below.

Anthony: 9/10

Antranig: 9.5/10

Bernardo: 8/10

Chris: 8.5/10

David: 7.5/10

Dayana: 7.5/10

Denise: 10/10

Edd: 7.5/10

Forrest: 7.5/10

George: 7.5/10

GÜkhan: 7/10

Jason: 7.5/10

Josh: 7.5/10

Judit: 6/10

Kristin: 6.5/10

Liam: 10/10

Luis: 9/10

Marek: 9.5/10

Maria: 6.5/10

Mario: 9/10

Max: 7/10

Renske: 6.5/10

Rezo: 8/10

Sami: 7.5/10

Sinan: 8/10

Steinunn: 6.5/10

William C: 8/10

Zakaria: 7/10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 6 and a high of 10.

WIWI JURY SCORE: 7.8/10

SEE OUR CURRENT EUROVISION 2016 REVIEWS AND RANKINGS

107 Comments
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Peter V
Peter V
7 years ago

I don’t know why this song is considered to be one of the frontrunners. Only because the whole year is rather week. In my opinion, “Walk on Water” is really forgettable, the chorus is really hard to remember even at the fourth and fifth attempt, let alone the first one. As for the song in general, it is really reminiscent of John Newman’s “Love Me Again”. Well, the song is better than the most of this year’s entries, but at the same time, it’s not even close to “7th Wonder”, which brought her to the victory she was robbed of.

Nicky91
Nicky91
7 years ago

@georgekirkas

of course it’s her own opinion, and just like our opinion

@ANITA15

weaker and forgettable, well they have the best draw ever for a semi final, doesn’t it want to make you dance along with the music 🙂

of course it’s your opinion, but it’s not a weak song

georgekirkas
georgekirkas
7 years ago

@Nicky91 Well, I am kind of surprised that FYROM, The Netherlands and Poland are in her top 20, because not many people love the songs from these countries. At the same time though, I am happy that Switzerland is in there! I love ”The Last Of Our Kind”! It’s my second favourite this year!

Nicky91
Nicky91
7 years ago

@georgekirkas

you’re welcome, and what do you think about her top 20?

georgekirkas
georgekirkas
7 years ago

@Nicky91 Never mind! Thank you very much!

Nicky91
Nicky91
7 years ago

should be a 1 before malta, oops sorry for that mistake haha

Nicky91
Nicky91
7 years ago

@georgekirkas

on a different eurovision forum, with a news section where Lys Assia gave her complete top 20

here’s the list:

. Malta
2. FYR Macedonia
3. France
4. Serbia
5. Russia
6. Austria
7. Italy
8. Bosnia & Herzegovina
9. Czech Republic
10. The Netherlands
11. Australia
12. Ukraine
13. Switzerland
14. Iceland
15. Israel
16. Bulgaria
17. Croatia
18. Poland
19. Sweden
20. Armenia

the songs Lys likes this year 🙂

georgekirkas
georgekirkas
7 years ago

@Nicky91 Oh, really? Thank you for the piece of information! How do you know?

Nicky91
Nicky91
7 years ago

@georgekirkas

thank you, and Ira is also Lys Assia’s favourite this year 🙂 🙂 🙂

georgekirkas
georgekirkas
7 years ago

@georgekirkas Sorry for the mistake! I meant ”revamp”, not ”recap”!

georgekirkas
georgekirkas
7 years ago

I would be curious to see how a recap of ”Chameleon” would work, but I am happy that they changed it, because ”Walk On Water” is a really good song! I just can’t stop singing along whenever I listen to it!

Nicky91
Nicky91
7 years ago

let me explain about not doing the high note in the pre party’s, some people from Malta, have said on YouTube, that they know Ira, she’s working on that high note until it’s pure perfection

so don’t worry about that, she just doesn’t want it to be awful in these pre party’s, and more rehearsing that backstage and without any camera’s or media 🙂

Nicky91
Nicky91
7 years ago

@Briekimchi

that’s good enough for me, and you’ve explained it well for me

and thank you again 🙂

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
7 years ago

@Nicky91 – I felt the same about Malta last year, great song but Amber just could not deliver it well enough live. Similar to Ira, there were parts of the song where she really nailed it but when she needed to really bring it home, her voice just could not deliver it with the control that she needed.
Having said that, I think a good song is better than a good singer and I really want Malta to make the top 10 (they are currently no.4 in my top 43)!

Nicky91
Nicky91
7 years ago

@GEF

what do you mean, overproduced, i don’t understand that?

well a 6.0 from you is heavily underrated, and the OGAE also underrate her, instead of overrating like you say

Russia and France are heavily overrated, i feel awkward when listening to Russia’s song, and Amir can’t sing live

GEF
GEF
7 years ago

It is not a bad song but I find it extremly overproduced and therefore overrated. I think this song works better inside the ESC bubble but won’t work too well with the juries and televoters. Will probaly make it into the finals due to the running order. Alter Ego / Play / Say Yay: 9,0 Love Wave / 1944: 8,5 Ghost / Pioneer / Slow Down: 8,0 Made of Stars / What’s the pressure?: 7,5 Sing it away / Goodbye: 7,0 Help to fly / Icebreaker: 6,5 Colour of your life / Walk on water: 6,0 Blue and red, Ljubav… Read more »

Nicky91
Nicky91
7 years ago

Well i don’t like the OGAE so far

Russia and France on top, overrated countries, i really don’t like their songs, sorry if i insulted anyone though

but Cyprus on 0 points, that song isn’t bad just like Netherlands, Belgium, Malta also on 0 points, those songs are good, Belgium maybe a little bit cheesy, but it’s a fun song 🙂

so OGAE i don’t believe them

Nicky91
Nicky91
7 years ago

@Briekimchi

have faith in Ira, and i like your posts 🙂 🙂

and don’t mind the OGAE, they ignore Malta because they didn’t qualify last year, i think

really it has a superb draw position, couldn’t have been better for Malta, finally after all these early draws 🙂

and don’t worry i respect you mate 🙂

Nicky91
Nicky91
7 years ago

@Colin

i agree with your qualifiers 🙂

@ESCaddict

and the OGAE well they ignore Malta because they didn’t qualify last year i think

Yohanna
Yohanna
7 years ago

To all the geniuses who are writing that Malta doesn’t own a big enough place to host Eurovision, you are of course all wrong. Malta may be small, but its not five feet, I assure you. There would be enough space even in the smaller island of Gozo if it was needed. So don’t worry your pretty little heads. Malta has more than enough space for an amazing Eurovision.

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
7 years ago

@Nicky91 – I was not commenting on whether or not Ira was the best singer in Malta or not. I do not have the knowledge to say such a thing!
My point is that generally, Ira Losco is not a particularly strong singer. She is nowhere near powerful enough to do this song justice. I am a big fan of the song (it is probably my favourite) and think that Ira does a good job of performing it in places but overall, it would have been better if somebody else were singing it.

Allen
Allen
7 years ago

I absolutely agree with the jurors overall score, the best maltese entry so far, it’s obviously catching and listanable.

Gooooo Ira!!!

Sparrow
Sparrow
7 years ago

@cookymonzta well yes even the worst singer has more vocal ability then Britney but Ira still doesn’t have the umph in her to carry this song.

CookyMonzta
CookyMonzta
7 years ago

@Sparrow: Which is to say that her singing voice is waaaaaay better than Britney’s! 😛

CookyMonzta
CookyMonzta
7 years ago

@Sparrow: Then maybe she ought to take the Celine Dion approach when it comes to her vocal segments juxtaposed with the background vocal segments.

Ron
Ron
7 years ago

HEY GUYS – A BIT OUT OF THIS TOPIC, BUT WHO’S GOING TO BE IN STOCKHOLM DURING EUROVISION? I’M GOING FOR A WEEK, WOULD BE KOOL TO MEET NEW PEOPLE AND GO BAR/CLUB HOPPING.

Jerome
Jerome
7 years ago

7.5/10
Let’s face it: Chameleon was going nowhere and this is miles better. Another let’s face it: Sweden, you can only keep Molly Pettersson Hammar away from Eurovision for so long until you can’t so I hope you’re regretting your choices right now because this is SO MUCH better than what you’re giving. Anyway, the backing electronic sounds combined with a little soul and the choir backing vocals create this mid-tempo and upbeat song that is so good. Ira Losco only helps elevate this with her vocals so I expect something great come the contest.

Loo
Loo
7 years ago

https://twitter.com/MrAdamR/status/719509985072398337

Frans is shown on UK TV before the contest. That’s quite telling about his popularity.

And people still count out Sweden? Don’t be naive folks.

Loo
Loo
7 years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2__1my7Jm4

Amir was MUCH better live this time 😉

Matteo
Matteo
7 years ago

Quite emotionless lyrics. Exaggerated I’d say.
Overproduced music. Chameleon was better, but I’m not really into love songs.

To me this is a bit overrated and should not even get in the top 10.

She has a beautiful voice, though.

Sparrow
Sparrow
7 years ago

This entry is great until you get to the chorus then it’s all down hill from there. Ira doesn’t have the power in her voice that this song deserves.
It’s like Britney trying to sing like Whitney Houston. It’s awkward and it doesn’t work.

ESCaddict
ESCaddict
7 years ago

WOW is wow! I loved it from the first listen. I have listened to Walk On Water so many times & want to hear it again. With great staging, this wall of sound could win the competition.
Currently I rank “Walk On Water” 2 of 43.

Tom
Tom
7 years ago

Let me start with throwing out the caveat that Malta has over recent years been my toilet break country. Not this year though! Im suitably impressed with walk on water, the song is great and it’s very contemporary; I can see this being a hit on the radios.

Ira is a beautiful woman and sings well live (I still remember being wowed by her in 2002) so I’m expecting good things in May.

Super excited to see gospel soul drum n bass in Eurovision. Good luck Malta!

nene
nene
7 years ago

one of the most overrated songs in the competition. heard it live in amsterdam and it did absolutely nothing for me. i just didn’t feel anything and she didn’t leave any remarkable impression. unless she get’s a great staging i can’t see people voting for this in the semi final.

wtf
wtf
7 years ago

This song is so freaking overrated and it isn’t even that good, it’s just another pop song you hear everyday. While I admit it’s better than Chameleon is still not that WOW as people are overrating it. It’ll pass due to the running order, but I don’t see it doing good in the final. It’ll really flop.

Colin
Colin
7 years ago

@Nicky91

You are welcome. 🙂 I really enjoy WoW and I caught myself listening to it a lot.

My Semi 1 qualifiers (alphabetically):

Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Malta, Netherlands, Russia

CookyMonzta
CookyMonzta
7 years ago

I always thought it would be a bad idea to dump “Chameleon”, because it would set her up for an impossible task of coming up with a stage performance to sell the replacement song to the audience and viewers. But now I’m thinking that she, her choreographers and stage director could possibly do a lot more with “Walk On Water” than they could have with “Chameleon”; and that is why I think she is STILL sitting 5th-to-7th on the bookies’ boards. She doesn’t necessarily have to win it (because we all know that the chances of COMING CLOSE to winning,… Read more »

Österrike
Österrike
7 years ago

Thanks for your very profound prediction, Zefir. Finally we know everything.

Bubblefish
Bubblefish
7 years ago

I saw this live in Amsterdam. Painful and underwhelming. It will not reach final, me thinks.

Zafir
Zafir
7 years ago

Österrike In last few year in TOP 5 of OGAE voting we had 1 or 2 countries who are flop at Eurovision 2012 Iceland was on 3 rd place (Greta and Jonsi no good result in final , I predict good place for Iceland this year with OGAE voting, Norway on 5 place (last place in final, and same points as Bulgaria on 11 place in second semifinal) 2013 San Marino on 2 nd place (they stay in semi) and Germany on 4 place (thez flop in final ) 2014 Israel on 3 rd place (they stay in semi) and… Read more »

Huh
Huh
7 years ago

I forgive her for changing her song from Chameleon to Walk on Water and releasing it a few days before the song submission deadline. In fact, her present song got more competitive compared to the latter and it sounds catchy even for a long period of time. Whether Ira or Molly HP sings this song, it doesn’t matter because this song is basically good… and safe like the rest iykwim.

Österrike
Österrike
7 years ago

Malta ignored by OGAE yet again

OGAE Luxembourg

12 points go to… Russia
10 points go to… France
8 points go to… Iceland
7 points go to… Austria
6 points go to… Latvia
5 points go to… Australia
4 points go to… Hungary
3 points go to… Bulgaria
2 points go to… Sweden
1 point goes to… Italy

Current top 5

France – 60 points
Russia – 60 points
Australia – 46 points
Latvia – 23 points
Austria – 23 points

This is my opinion (TIMO)
This is my opinion (TIMO)
7 years ago

after so many years of coming back to represent Malta all they could do was to get her to sing walk on fire….it be shame for a country that entered eurovision for looong time and previously had some good results e.g. 1998 3rd, 2002 2nd, 2005 2nd and after so many years make ira losca sing song like walk on fire like they did whith shiara who failed with what if we and got 22nd position. Malata shanged their song we thought ok they are trying hard and in it to win it this time but after hearing the song… Read more »

Chupacabra
Chupacabra
7 years ago

solid work, knows how to sing, but after one other song or 3 minutes, I don´t know anything anymore…lost in oblivion…. a beautiful Mrs. Ira Losco without mistakes, but no melody, no voice anymore in my ears….. Simply, it doesn´t catch, it doesn´t touch. Good handycraft is no art.

ArmerUkm
ArmerUkm
7 years ago

@beccaboo1212 Malta does have an indoor arena, The MFCC in Ta Qali, it can hold up to 23,000 people

Daniel E.
Daniel E.
7 years ago

I know this song is much loved by wiwi (and many others), but I can’t help but think that it will actually sink in May, despite Ira’s desire to walk on water. I don’t get the song and it is a hot mess for me, sorry to say… But, I wish Ira all the best.

beccaboo1212
7 years ago

If Malta wins this year, then the venue for 2017 wouldn’t be big enough. Besides, there isn’t any indoor arenas in Malta. 🙁

Österrike
Österrike
7 years ago

Overproduced pile of meh

Matteo
Matteo
7 years ago

Lol all I can read in these reviews is Molly PH – people, this obviously has Molly written on it I give you that, but the drum and bass is ALL Ira, even if you look at her previous singles, almost all of them have a drum and bass influence

cheesecake
cheesecake
7 years ago

This is a million times better than “Chameleon” and a very good song overall indeed. Should easily qualify and maybe make the left side of the scoreboard, depends on staging and her vocals on the night.