Yesterday the Wiwi Jury — our in-house of music unprofessionals — travelled to Montenegro and visited the bayside town of Kotor. While enjoying the view from the hilly streets, we discussed Highway‘s song “The Real Thing”. Did we think it was the real deal? Or did it come across as more artificial? Read on to find out!
Highway with “The Real Thing”
“The Real Thing” reviews
Padraig: Of the two eclectic rock entries, Montenegro is by far the strongest. Unlike Georgia, “The Real Thing” actually feels alive. The opening bars pack some real drama and the atmosphere continues to build throughout. It’s a more polished entry with fuller production. That said, its chances of qualifying are practically non-existent. The lyrics occasionally verge on the creepy, while the vocals are likely to be too harsh for casual listeners.
Score: 3.5/10
Bogdan: I struggle to find the merits of this songs, and that’s not because rock isn’t my favourite genre. I think even the rock fans should face the music and agree that this is a mess: from the ’80s style of singing to the dubstep, from the sleazy machismo to the creepy lyrics, everything literally screams disaster. Why Montenegro would send this after the success of Knez is baffling.
Score: 2/10
Liam: To listen to this is a draining experience which I would wish upon no one, including my worst enemies. What ANYONE could find even slightly appealing about this song bewilders me.
Score: 0/10
Angus: Let’s get real: this is a car crash performance. The opening scream is painful and the vocal is too low to really resonate with you. The entire thing passes without making an impact and that’s exactly why “The Real Thing” will be staying in the semi-final.
Score: 0.5/10
Antranig: Musically, I really like this song in the chorus — it sounds like it was made for a car-racing game’s soundtrack. However, their vocals are absolutely ghastly and it would probably feature on the soundtrack of my worst nightmares. Them singing “inside you” repeatedly almost warrants a phone call to the Montenegrin authorities.
Score: 1/10
Chris: Cheap video, cheap song, cheap entry. Nothing about this is really worth talking about: it’s doomed to not qualify, particularly with many of its Balkan neighbours delivering much better efforts this year to steal any vote source. Adding Bojan to bolster Highway’s lacking vocals was smart, but that’s probably the only thing they’ve done right with “The Real Thing”.
Score: 2/10
Deban: The few merits contained in “The Real Thing” were voided with flashes of interpretive dance. It made Highway appear gimmicky and out of ideas. Although the hard-rock genre is well suited to their voices, this entry sounds predictable and isn’t the best representation of their capabilities.
Score: 3/10
Sinan: Too rocky for me. I’m not sure this song is the real thing for Montenegro this year, I’m sorry. Knez’ song was better than this one definitely. I expected more from a band. It looks like this year is not the year of the bands.
Score: 2/10
William: There is a thin line between sexy and sexual, and this definitely leans toward the latter. The provocative lyrics suggest a man eager to get off — regardless of whether the object of his affection is interested in helping or not. The lead singer says he’s the real thing. Other real things include depression, disease and dysentary — none of which one should embrace. One of the singers’ father runs Montenegro’s state broadcaster. A prime example of why nepotism is so destructive.
Score: 1/10
Mario: From awkward lyrics to enraged music background, this is a NO from me. The Montenegrin accent is pretty strong on this one, making it a clash against the groovy, not so typical Balkan music accompaniment. This is probably too alternative for non-rock fans to understand and appreciate.
Score: 2.5/10
Max: This is attention-seeking for the sake of being attention-seeking. Such a clash of styles and genres can produce acceptable results if weaved together appropriately, but this is a complete mess. Hard rock isn’t my kind of music in the first place, but Highway aren’t making it any more appealing by throwing in dubstep, interpretive dance and ludicrous lyrics. I’m intrigued to see how this will translate to the Eurovision stage, but I think I will turn the volume right down when I watch this performance in May.
Score: 1.5/10
Robyn: Highway are perhaps trying to be quite sexy and seductive, talking about being “inside you” and “I’m gonna feel what my body knows”. But it comes across as quite predatory – he’s coming after her, whether she likes it or not. I like that Montenegro is sending one of their more unconventional acts (albeit an X Factor boyband transformed into a cod rock band) but the song lyrics just creep me out.
Score: 4/10
In the Wiwi Jury we have 40 jurors but only have room for 12 reviews. The remaining 28 scores are below.
Anthony: 3.5/10
Bernardo: 1/10
Cristian: 1/10
David: 2/10
Dayana: 6/10
Denise: 1.5/10
Diego: 2/10
Edd: 0/10
Forrest: 1.5/10
George: 1/10
Gökhan: 1.5/10
Jason: 3/10
Josh: 2.5/10
Judit: 2/10
Kristin: 7/10
Luis: 9/10
Marek: 1/10
Maria: 4/10
Mike: 1.5/10
Mikhail: 1.5/10
Patrick: 0.5/10
Renske: 1/10
Rezo: 1/10
Sami: 3.5/10
Steinunn: 4/10
Tobias: 0/10
William C: 3.5/10
Zakaria: 3.5/10
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 0 and a high of 9.
Stage this with everybody vomiting on the floor because the way they sing this reminds me the sounds of having heaves before retching.
Yes, you are right. I’m a rock fan and I think this is a mess, specially for Eurovision, there is no way to work with this song to keep people’s attention, and the few people that would listen to it are probably gonna find it pretty weak and if they listen to he lyrics they may even hate it because is kind of disgusting, so I see no hope. The boys are not that bad, they have some decent performances on youtube and they are cute wich always helps in camera, but this song is a BIG mistake.
Fair assessment Luis! Cheers bud
@karminowe.usta
maybe it will sound great if you’re wearing earplugs, and their voices are creepy and scaring me
sorry to say this, because Montenegro has wowed me for 2 years in a row with Moj Svijet and last year’s Knez
this is going back to the Igranka level, but 1 positive thing no overscreaming female singer like Igranka haha
In my opinion Montenegro is underrated. This song is interesting and very good. Vocal is so strong. I really like rock so I`m happy. In my opinion Montenegro is better than Switzerland, Malta, Latvia and Armenia.
Montenegro good luck in Stockholm:)
@Robyn Gallagher
okay can’t wait for that 🙂
here are my qualifiers if you want to know
Croatia
Malta
Cyprus
Armenia
Greece ( i like a bit of traditional music, and it’s comedy)
Netherlands ( although i’m not a fan of the song it will be popular i think)
Hungary ( a bit of Imagine Dragons style)
Azerbaijan ( they Always qualify for some reason)
Russia ( same as Azerbaijan)
and maybe Czech Republic or Estonia
Nicky91, I like it, but it is just not in my top 10, I also like Croatia, who is also in your top 5, but it is a strong semi final. Armenia has grown on me, but not that much, and Czech Republic is ok, but just ok. The last Czech entry was better. Speaking about semi final 1, there are only 5 countries that I am sure that I want to qualify, but there I want 15 countries to qualify, the rest are Czech Republic, Moldova and Montenegro, the first two are ok, and you probably know what I… Read more »
Please don’t be shocked, but not ALL of this song is rock. Rather this is a song that includes a rock-based guitar riff, as well as elements of trance/house and dub-step. Here is the analysis: Structure is as follows: Introduction (Rock-based guitar riff in G minor with screaming); Verse 1 (Shifts to trance/house genre in D minor); Chorus part 1 (Same rock guitar riff as in introduction leads us back to G minor. Continues for a bit longer.); Chorus part 2 (Dub-step! Gmin7 chord with rising harmonic lines.); Verse 2 (Shifts back to trance/house in D minor, so it’s the… Read more »
@Pollaski cheers mate,appreciated.
Meanwhile I’ll continue to listen to Kick Me by Sleeing with Sirens as I walk to work 😉
This is an absolute disaster from Montenegro this year. After successfully qualifying for two years now, I think they will return to their old ways this year. The song is just so bad, I just don’t know where to begin. This shouldn’t qualify but stranger things have happened at ESC. 2/10 🙁 sorry Montenegro
@Tom
Actually well said, dude.
High five.
http://cdn2.sbnation.com/imported_assets/1739483/KENTUCKY-FAN-HIGH-FIVE-FAIL.gif
Right, enough of this homophobic generalising, it’s insulting and ignorant. I’m gay and I love rock music. ESC doesn’t run anywhere near my usual tastes, I love Pierce the Veil, Sleeping with Sirens, I See Stars (who this mess is trying to emulate. I’ve seen Bloc Party, Two Door Cinema Club, The Hot Lips, Foals, Artic Monkeys all live. To blame the fact that this song is rubbish and an insult to anything resembling rock on the fact the gays not liking that farts rainbows only highlights your own ignorance. News flash, us gays as you call us have differing… Read more »
@Cooky
Music aint’ that great either.
Seriously, I would listen to every Three Days Grace album ever made in entirety before listening to this song again. And I LOATHE Three Days Grace.
@Steven, as you wish 😉
“The real thing” is a great take on dirty rock and I’m totally loving that a boyband has gone this un-mainstream. I might be into cacophonies, but the rawness of this song makes me scream hell yes! However, I would be happy to have it in Montenegrin, the lyrics verge on verbal raping.
I still can’t believe that Montenegro is sending this crap after last year’s masterpiece. Definitely the worst “song” this year. Georgia somehow managed to both be alternative and have a good song (in my opinion, of course).
A box full of crickets would make better sounds than this excuse of a song.
We could say that the year France won again, Montenegro was the worst of them all. Even worse than San Marino and that is a tough task. BAHAHAH
I always say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. A VERY bad idea it was to give up on the guys (like Sergej and Knez) who got them to the final. Knez was my #2 last year, and they decided to go with THIS?!
@Pollaski: I concur. Like Nika and the Lolitaz from Georgia, the lyrics and the delivery destroy EVERYTHING the music brings to this song; which is to say the ONLY thing good about it is the music. After my first review, it sits at #39.
Unlike Georgia which has a masterpiece that will never be understood by the typical cheese pop lovers of ESC, Montenegro has this entry which, honestly, it’s only good to stick a well deserved middle finger to those generic stans, other than that, it is indeed a complete mess, not the worst entry this year but far from being one of the best entries either, 5/10 for me, i appreciate their effort in staying out of the box and sticking their middle finger to the typical gayrbage diva pop cheese lovers but still, it’s not enough, in my opinion.
Not a fan of Rock Music, but I really like it… the dudes ooze passion…. no need to have a sophisticated text. It´s about pure connection. In my top 5, I´ll vote for Montenegro. Best combo: Zoe between Montenegro and Cyprus. Escape in connection.
The lyrics are definitely the biggest problem with this song. Eurovision’s never exactly been a bastion of deep, poetic songwriting but even so the lyrics here are just really lazy (not to mention a tad sinister!)
The melody is actually kinda cool, and I like the vocals in the verses (reminds me a little of Editors) but despite all the production I think it sounds more like a half-finished demo than a final product. Certainly not the worst entry in ESC 2016, but give me “Midnight Gold” over this any day of the week.
I like Montenegro’s ‘we do not send cheesy popsongs just because they want us to’-attitude. But then the result will be that noone is going to vote for them. Me included.
I find it also catchy and melodic.
Montenegro : 32*
I like this song and actually i don’t like rock music.Its my 37 in my top 43.For me is this song better then Adio,because actually i don’t like Adio.For me is this entry not the worst of this year,because for me is that ”Dona” from Kaliopi [F.Y.R Macedonia],because i don’t like the song at all.For me is Montenegro the winner of all the countries with a rock song.I like also the atmosphere in the song.Actually is this song very interesting and good and actually i don’t understand why so many hate for this song.One thing more : [for me is]… Read more »
@Pollaski – that is not fair, I wrote many sentences about why I like it 🙂 And to rpeat, I find it catchy, powerful, rousing, cool, melodic and full od great bluesy hooks. And they are not bad musically at their stuff. Too bad that so many people are narrow minded for music outside their own bubble. For me, some of the fun of ESC is to get some new musical impulses
@DToes I like it also!
Am I the only one who likes it?xd
@georgekirkas
well i could’nt have said better 🙂
@Robyn, Colin, Pollaski, I agree that the lyrics are not the best but generally the ESC lyrics are silly or just extremely cheap. I am looking forward your review on the Russian song …:-) And what about these: “I love you oho, and I fight for you” lyrics from Albania, or “Loin d’ici”. Those who understand French know it is very cheap. But I don’t find the Montenegro’s song lyrics oversexed. Com’on in which world are you living? Art should not only cover a lollypop world where everyone loves each other and is so overly cute and patheticaly good. Life… Read more »
@Fafefifo
Ironically enough, if you were to step back and read your comments, you might see that you are the one who’s dealing with objectivity issues. You have presented zero arguments promoting your case outside of “ITS ROCK AND ESC FANS HATE ROCK!”
3/10
This is a hot a mess. A really hot one.
@Fafefifo
Serbian song last year was about self-empowerment. ”Beauty never lies, never hides, never gives a damn”. It is completely out of nowhere comparing it to these oversexed lyrics. Maybe general audience doesn’t care much about the ”sophistication” of the lyrics, but five lines about intercourse won’t do it.
This is a hot mess! The only part I like is the ”Inside you…” part. The rest is just bad for me! Also, the lyrics are so misogynistic and I hate them! Their vocals don’t help either, since they sound really scary and creepy! I’m not even going to comment on the random music video! The female dancer seems completely ridiculous!
3,5/10
With all the negative comments from the “jury”, we see that e.g. one guy called Lluis liked it a lot, and gae it 9/10 (like I would) why could we not read his comment? And some other more positive ones. Instead, almost only negative comments highligted Not much balance. I wish people could try to be more objective when verdicting music. Try to “understand” it, even if it’s not to the primar taste….I think it shows many people here don’t even like rock (a pity) so why then comment on it? Maybe the lyrics are bad – but I don’t… Read more »
@Fafefifo I’m straight. I like rock. But like Robyn said- you can’t just go “ooh this song is rock- DOUZE POINTS”. Its gotta be good. This one isn’t- its the lowest level of rock- a simplistic song structure accompanied by Neanderthal grunting. The lyrics…. holy crap dude. I didn’t even know how bad they were until I looked them up. Inside you take me little closer, inside you ‘cus you got Spinning shadows on the walls I see you, Inside me.. Feel it I’m the real thing yeah Feel it I’m the real thing yeah I’m gonna fight for your… Read more »
There is a difference between being sexy and being sleezy. Estonia this year, Greece in 2008 and Romania in 2012 know the difference very well, since they are in the first category. Ukraine in 2009 was dancing on the thin line and was kind of both. Montenegro 2016 just falls of the cliff of good taste.
I am very happy to own up to my mental issues and proudly say that yes, Montenegro is way better than Georgia this year – insofar as I have Montenegro 2/43, and Georgia in my bottom 5. I agree that Montenegro won’t qualify and the song is really not apt for Eurovision. But I love it regardless.
@Robyn Gallagher
who are your top 10 qualifiers from semi final 1?
@Fafefifo
well i agree with you, Montenegro has got a good draw near the end, and so does Malta ending the first semi final, in eurovision the later you perform the better the people will remember it 🙂
i think this will standout as well, not that i like it though
just like Belgium ending semi final 2, also a very good draw for them, it’s a party song, and people will like it i think 🙂
Who says that even this entry is better than Georgia clearly has serious mental issues. It’s a very amateur production but at least is way better than other songs that you support…
sigh…another good rock song, and another one underrated by both the wiwijury and the comments….why are always rock songs underrated by escfans? I don’t get that “ESC-fans don’t like rock”,I am sure many of them have taste! 😉 Not all ESC-fans love only bad schlagers / euroballads. I love ESC, hate schlagers / euroballads, and I love rock and indie 🙂 Another dumb assumption is that all “ESC-fans who write here are gay”. OK – many gay male fans. But also many straight ones. And what about the females? What I DO agree upon – which sometimes we tend to… Read more »
This song really sucks on every level.
It’s one of the messiest entries this year and the lyrics are awful.
1.5/10
38/43 in my top
It would actually be a good song if someone else would sing it.
@ooops
i do like Serbia from your favourites, and i like Romania
and what’s your opinion on my favourite Malta?
I thought this was a bit of a joke when I first heard it but because of how bad some other countries are (Hello, Moldova and Romania!), I do not hate this as much as I once did. I am of course, giving Montenegro a hard time considering just how good their entries were for the past two years and then to serve up this? It is hard to listen to but not quite the car crash that some people are making this out to be. It is semi-final cannon fodder but it is not the worst song this year… Read more »
Nicky91, not exactly, but Bulgaria is in my top ten, and Poland is in my top 5.
My top 10:
1. Estonia
2. Russia
3. Italy
4. Poland
5. Hungary
6. Romania
7. The Netherlands
8. Latvia
9. Serbia
10. Bulgaria
Are there more in my top 10 you like except Bulgaria and Poland, Nicky 91?
@Colin
me too 🙂 🙂
0.5/10
41st/43
Total mess.
I am very opened to different types of music. For instance, I loved Twin Twin’s song Mustache and Jedward’s first song Lipstick (both of which are really funny actually), I loved opera genre from Slovenia in 2007 and France in 2011, I loved several rock songs (only this year, I can count 3; Romania, Cyprus, Georgia, I loved Finland’s winning Hard Rock Hallelujah and their host entry Leave Me Alone), I love many ballads (Greece last year, Czech Republic this year…), I love hearing different languages too (Crisalide, L’enfer et Moi, An Me Thimase, Molitva, Lako je sve, Kedveshem…). As… Read more »
@ooops
also with me, ranked 43th out of 43
can you agree with my top 5?
1. Croatia
2. Bulgaria
3. Malta
4. Poland
5/6 Czech Republic
5/6 Armenia