olivia-wieczorek-poland-jesc-2016-junior-eurovision

Today the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — travelled to beautiful Warsaw and ate kielbasa in the Old Town Market Place, a medieval square famed for its mermaid statue. Excited that the country is returning to Junior Eurovision, we decided to review “Nie Zapomnij” by Olivia Wieczorek — Poland‘s entry for Junior Eurovision 2016Did her song, which translates as “Don’t Forget”, linger on our minds? Read on to find out…

Poland’s Junior Eurovision 2016 song

“Nie Zapomnij” reviews – Olivia Vieczorek

Marek: Olivia’s biggest weapon is her voice. She can sing, but she also has the ability to convey subtlety and emotional depth. The way she sings this live is almost identical to the studio version. She slays. As a Polish speaker I appreciate the emotion of the lyrics too. All in all, a beautiful act. She has every chance to take the title.

Score: 9/10

Jason: I am absolutely delighted that Poland is back at JESC and I am sure that Olivia will improve upon her country’s rather lacklustre history at the contest. For me, her vocals are great, and any little kinks will be ironed out before the big day. This entry would benefit greatly from an interesting stage show. That way anyone whose attention wanes during big ballads will be kept interested in Olivia and her huge voice.

Score: 7.5/10

William: Edyta Gorniak better watch out — there’s a fierce young diva snapping at her heels! Olivia has a lovely voice, strong stage presence and a lightness of touch that suggests she’ll easily evolve from child starlet to adult star. And while she’s a compelling singer, this isn’t a compelling song. The melody comes from another era and I struggle to connect with it.

Score: 5/10

Stanislav: The song is lyrical and pleasant to the ears — a typical Eurovision ballad. Olivia has a strong and booming voice, but I think that she needs to change her approach to the staging ever so slightly. That’s not to say her performance at the Polish national final was bad. She just needs to add some stunning visual effects to take this to another level — and to match the beauty and power of her voice.

Score: 8/10

Bernardo: Olivia’s powerful vocal performance is without a doubt the main feature of the song. It’s a class act — simple yet compelling production combined with confident stage presence. This would work well on my sad, rainy day playlist. However, Junior Eurovision is not sad, rainy day contest. The outcome will depend on the running order and staging.

Score: 7.5/10

Robyn: “Nie Zapomnij” has a really cosy, old-fashioned feel to it — like a song that could have been entered at Eurovision a decade ago. Olivia has a strong, dramatic voice and easily handles the emotional demands of the song. It’s a mature song choice for JESC, but Olivia has what it takes to deliver that maturity.

Score: 6/10

Deban: Olivia has great vocal control and range. However, “Nie zapomnij” sounds somewhat too mature and a little out of place. As ballads go, this one drags. However, the fault here lies with Piotr Rubik — the composer. Olivia’s vocal power holds court, and her facial expressions seal her presence.

Score: 5.5/10

olivia-wieczorek-poland-jesc-2016-junior-eurovision-3

Edd: The song opens as a pretty, Frozen-esque ballad, but finishes as a Ralph Siegel reject. Whilst the melody is strong and beautiful, and Olivia has fierce vocals, the production really lets it down — that clunky beat just ain’t enough to make a powerful chorus. And the key-change is not pleasant. Let’s swap it for a good old children’s choir holding candles.

Score: 5/10

Josh: I tip my hat to Olivia for having such a commanding and powerful voice at such a young age, but I struggle to connect with the emotion of the song because I feel like she’s shouting the entire time. For me a good quality Eurovision entry always possesses light and shade. But “Nie zapomnij” has so much light that my retinas are feeling the burn. I’m hoping for some fine-tuning before Olivia hits the stage in Malta.

Score: 5/10

Chris: Olivia could be given so much better than this. It screams “demo track on keyboard” above all else. Olivia gives it her all with her vocals, but that’s really as far as she can go with this song. There’s no scope for emotion or feeling, ultimately leaving Olivia down in my rankings.

Score: 5.5/10

Our jury for 2016 consists of 21 jurors, but we only have room for ten reviews. The remaining 11 scores are listed below.

Andy: 7.5/10

Antony: 7/10

Antranig: 9/10

Dayana: 7/10

Jordi: 6.5/10

Luis: 6.5/10

Mario: 6/10

Matt: 6.5/10

Renske: 8.5/10

Rezo: 6/10

Zakaria: 9/10

The highest and lowest scores are not counted prior to calculating the average score. This is to remove outliers and potential bias. We have removed a low of 5 and a high of 9.

Wiwi jury score: 6.82/10

READ ALL OF OUR JESC 2016 RANKINGS AND REVIEWS

FOLLOW OUR JUNIOR EUROVISION COVERAGE

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(J)ESC Fanatic
(J)ESC Fanatic
7 years ago

I have to agree with Edd, that clunky beat in the chorus is so weak, the song would have been a million times better if they had payed a little more attention to this. Having said that, I still find it a good ballad and her voice is amazing. I just wish for a revamp.

Score: 7/10
Rank: 10th/17

Eva M.
Eva M.
7 years ago

I agree with the comments and overall score. My first reaction when I heard the song was–“I have heard that before, it sounds like the 1980-ties.” Then listening more, something about song, even without understanding the language made me feel I am listening to a cliche… These were all gut feelings, and they did not go away after the first hearing… I am glad to hear that Olivia gets so much support from Poland. May be lyrics compensate for the out-dated sound of the song– but whatever it is that makes this song so popular on YouTube, I am at… Read more »

Erin
Erin
7 years ago

The song doesn’t seal the deal or makes the sale. The chorus is awkwardly heavy and forces Olivia to make her high-pitched vocals sound like she’s overreaching herself. She has to compensate for the song’s insufficient driving force and ‘inner engine’ since the chorus fails to lift the song into a higher level of dynamics and proficiency. It’s one of a few songs this year which lacks in strong melodic hooks and unfortunately Olivia’s vocal nuance and character can’t make up for that. 4/10 for the song, 8/10 for Olivia.

Paul D.
Paul D.
7 years ago

This song, together with Australia’s is really nothing special, something I heard thousands of times before, although both have great voices (Olivia screams too much imo)

DenizNL
DenizNL
7 years ago

7/10
I agree with the jury. I like Olivia, but she’s far from my favourites.

Roelof Meesters
Roelof Meesters
7 years ago

This song is far better than Belarus, Georgia and Cyprus all together 🙂
Poland has been gone for 12/11 years, so they had PLENTY of time write a masterpiece. While this isn’t a masterpiece as the second chorus is kind of a let down, Olivia has an enchanting voice and the verses are very good. This si a very good return, better than the ones from Israel and Cyprus.

8.5/10
Rank: 10/17

Blake
Blake
7 years ago

Sorry for the grammatical errors =)

Blake
Blake
7 years ago

Aha lmao =) And I would to add something. People are talking about Oliwia’s powerful and fierce and strong vocals … but gosh ! We don’t care of it ! Many contestants this year sings as well and strong and fiercely and powerfuly as Oliwia like Klesta, like Alexa, like Christina, like Fiamma, Martija, Zena, Lidia etc… so the fact that people talk about Oliwia’s voice as if she were the most talented singer of the year and will be able to attribute her the victory makes me soooo meeeeeeeh =) Don’t be focused on her sooo strong and fierce… Read more »

Blake
Blake
7 years ago

Weird musical structure, the dubstep parts in that ballad makes the song very meeeeh, she’s screaming more than singing (especially at the last minute) but she has a incredible powerful voice (I can recognize it), and at the polish national final she were dressed as Gaia Cauchi (what a copycat !) and that is a thing I can’t support ! =) lmao
I think that the polish return at this JESC won’t be successful as many of people think …

I’ll give to the country a 5/10. I’m sorry for Oliwia, because she looks so nice and funny =)

Ananas
Ananas
7 years ago

I definitely agree with the first comment. How can she be ranked second to last?! She has the beautiful and strong voice that she can use perfectly! The song is magnificent and if Olivia will sing it right I’m sure she will place high. For me the Top 5 material (if not the winner).

My rank: 10/10
Place: 1st-2nd/17

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
7 years ago

“The melody comes from another era” – Isn’t that exactly why Mickey Szpak was so popular? This song is TIMELESS, just like Color of Your Slayage.

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
7 years ago

6.82? Ddd bye, this is the best song of the year. Her vocals are stunning.

Bartosz
Bartosz
7 years ago

I know that my home country’s entry is not the best song in the contest, but ranking Olivia lower than Cyprus or Belarus? Really? I think it deserve better rank, and I hope Poland will be higher during the actual contest