We’re ready to make a decision! The Wiwi Jury is here to take on Eurovision: You Decide — the UK’s selection for Eurovision 2017. With the show set to take place on January 27, there’s no time to wait. So, as usual, our group of music un-professionals will be giving their candid thoughts on each song and we’re starting now. The first act to face our exacting jury is Olivia Garcia with her song “Freedom Hearts”.
Olivia Garcia — “Freedom Hearts”
About Olivia Garcia
Like the other five contestants, 16-year old Olivia is perhaps best known for her time on The X Factor UK. She appeared on the show in 2016, making it through to the judges houses. Simon Cowell sent her home. She was also a finalist in the UK’s Open Mic competition in 2014.
“Freedom Hearts” Reviews
Josh: A big voice packed into a young human – Olivia slays the pack. “Freedom Hearts” combines thought-provoking lyrics with a solid beat and a voice that exudes a Jessie J-esque sass. My favourite part of all? This is a pop song that can be played on the radio in 2017. This is a step in the right direction for BBC. The left-hand side of the scoreboard can be achieved!
Score: 8/10
Robyn: This is the only song in You Decide 2017 that I’ve been repeatedly listening to and I’d be very happy for it go to Kyiv. The lyrics are clever — they can either refer to a relationship or the current political climate, which seems a very smart move for the UK. Olivia gives a fantastic performance, full of attitude and never feeling unsuited for her 16 years. It’s super catchy and fun and could give the UK its long-desired not-awful result. My only reservation: I’m holding off scoring a full ten until I see how Olivia is live.
Score: 9/10
Florian: “Freedom Hearts” is a well-composed pop song and has all the ingredients to achieve a better result at Eurovision 2017 than Joe and Jake did last year. Olivia already proved her singing prowess on the X Factor, and this song showcases her voice on a new high.
Score: 9.5/10
Chris: “Freedom Hearts” never strives to be more than safe, really, but that might not be such a bad thing in this selection. It’s the better kind of “off the shelf” Eurovision track: it does enough to keep you hooked for three minutes. Good jury fodder, but I doubt it’d motivate a stunning televote score (yet again). Sending young Olivia might also help as a way to ward off any anti-Brexit feelings.
Score: 6/10
Antranig: “Freedom Hearts” is by far the standout song in the United Kingdom. This song belongs on a Demi Lovato album and would definitely light up the Eurovision stage. Olivia has everything she needs to take the UK back to the left side of the scoreboard. If she can nail this live, there is no reason to send anything else. Head and shoulders above the competition.
Score: 10/10
William: Polish, poise, power — Olivia has these qualities in spades and “Freedom Hearts” helps her flaunt her many gifts. The only tolerable song in the bunch, this builds steadily to a memorable chorus with major ear-worm potential and some lovely drumming to boot. And while Swedes can definitely do production and melody, the lyrics have me whispering WTF: “Mad men in suits, shiny hair and shoes, how about me and you?” I’ll bump my score up by a point if she can actually tell me what “Freedom Hearts” are.
Score: 7/10
Jovana: “Freedom Hearts” is not a bad song, but it’s not that good either. It lacks personality. It feels like Olivia read a textbook called ‘How to Make a Good Eurovision Song’ and then just put everything she saw in there into a song. I’m afraid it’s going to drown in the pile of songs that will inevitably have a similar sound. Good staging could give it lift though.
Score: 6.5/10
Luis: Olivia may be 16 years old, but she brings a strong message. “Freedom Hearts” blends a powerful pop with shades of teen music — a combination at once sophisticated and age appropriate. The song creates the perfect platform for this young diva to show her full potential. Olivia is the obvious choice for the UK. It’s the only song I’ve actually wanted to listen to on repeat. Coincidentally, it’s also the only one I didn’t lose interest in before it ended.
Score: 8/10
In our UK Wiwi Jury, we have 18 jurors but only room for 8 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:
Andy: 7/10
Anthony: 7.5/10
Bernardo: 7/10
Dayana: 6/10
Edd: 3.5/10
Forrest: 4.5/10
Kristin: 7/10
Matt: 8.5/10
Sinan: 6/10
Zakaria: 4/10
Before calculating the average score, the highest and lowest scores are dropped. This is to remove outliers and reduce potential bias. We have removed a low of 3.5 and a high of 10.
Love it !
This is the most interesting song of the six. She has a great voice and certainly she has the looks. She can bring UK to a good placing. If she can sing live that well, she has my vote.
Thanks for the love! And love Olivia! <3
7.5/10
*Song (autocorrect problems)
Very bland and forgettable sing. Hysterically overrated!
Safura (AZE 2010), Kejsi Tola (ALB 2009) also were 16 when they entered Eurovision. I don’t think her age will cause a problem to her.
I’ve watched girls her age enter the contest and crack under pressure in front of a live audience. Hope the same doesn’t happen to her. Its a great song
You’ve got to watch Olivia’s live performance of Rise Like A Phoenix!!! She SLAAAAAYED. It’s hard to find on yt if you end up looking for it, just search her name. You won’t be disappointed. Amazing.
@Gobio
Also vice-versa. Just because a song has an even stronger competition in the NF, doesn’t mean it’s a weak song.
Both reasons are why so many times a pre and post selection reviews of the song have vastly different ratings.
I think there’s a misconception from the reviewers about the ratings. A song which is the best within the preselection doesn’t necessarily mean its a good song. So that results overscoring of rather mediocre songs.
this song if staged probably will become phenomenal. she has the looks, the voice and the song is quite good.
I prefer Salena or Danyl 🙂
This young lady better win the selection. Otherwise, I’ll EXPLODE! 🙁
Good to see that personal attacks are being actively stopped on this blog. It’s a big improvement from last year, so thank you Robyn and Wiwibloggs. 🙂 What I’m still amazed about is that Olivia Garcia is only 16! Yes that’s SIXTEEN, and she has the powerful voice of a 30-year old (at least, in the studio). This is astonishing. Singing live will be the big test – remember that it was Molly (“Children of the Universe”) who succombed to nerves at the ESC a number of years ago; nerves caused by being overwhelmed by the big occasion. Olivia has… Read more »
Do bookkeepers(?) have profound influence on contests like You Decide for them to be revered and feared by many?
Freedom Hearts has been stuck in my head since Monday! Love it!!! This must win, but I have a feeling Lucie will..she can sing but the song is so boring and will do badly in esc. Hopefully everyone votes for Olivia and it wins! I will be very upset if it doesn’t.
I think this is the UK winner and again, expectations have to be realistic. It is not going to win Eurovision but it might finish in the teens with a good live performance. She seems a capable singer and has youth on her side and that never hurts. As with the other entries in the UK selection, the song-writing is weak. For a country that invented the language, some of the lyrics are pretty embarrassing and should have been re-written somewhere along the way. As for the song itself, it is similar to the sort of songs that would not… Read more »
Worryingly, all the bookies have Lucie Jones as the favourite to win with Olivia in second
I’m waiting for the live performance, but still… This is the best of a bad bunch, and it’s too bland to really stand out at the actual ESC. Bottom 5, maybe bottom 10 if the live performance is good.
It says something today when “making it to the left side of the leaderboard” itself is an accomplishment.
Anywho, I like the song, it’s the only one I’ve listened repeatedly.
That comment directed at antranig was very nasty. we love you antranig!
The UK absolutely has to send this. Its got good potential and *hopefully* they will give it a revamp because the horns that they too quietly introduce at the bridge would be so much better if they were developed louder and louder towards the end plus maybe more violins for a greater instrumental crescendo.
@henning That was quite rude I think.
Olivia and “Freedom hearts” by far the best choice for the UK imo. She’s too talented and can make a great performance at Kyiv I believe.
I’ve been listening to this song nonstop, the chorus is catchy as hell ! Her voice is also very good and mature for a 16 year old
“Olivia has everything she needs to take the UK back to the left side of the scoreboard.” Not on planet Earth darling… The UK isn’t seeing the light of the top 20 with this selection of songs – and it’s more likely to see the darkness of the bottom 3.
She must won , cuz is the best choice for uk this year.
Lmao bye af this sounds like a Mediocrityfestivalen reject and it probably is. We’ve already heard this thing a thousand times, and in much better forms.
Certainly the best of a bad bunch
Eh fair. I’d have given it 8.5 and think it’s the best choice for us. Then again, the live performance will almost certainly shake up the attitudes towards all of them.
She must win!! It’s the only GREAT song this year,from UK.