Tallinn, calling! The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continues reviewing the songs competing in Eesti Laul 2017, Estonia’s national selection contest for Eurovision. Next up are Eurovision veterans Koit Toome and Laura with their Shakespeare-themed “Verona”. Did we want to get lost with these star-crossed lovers? Read on to find out!
Koit Toome & Laura – “Verona”
“Verona” reviews
William: Did Laura say we wake up with a “butt” in our hands? Enunciation issues aside, her voice is rich and melodic, and works well with his sexy intonations. Unlike so many Eurovision duets, which sound like they’re from another era, this manages to straddle eras. At times it harks back to Phil Collins and Glen Menderios. But the production pulls it firmly into 2017 — especially the supersonic, Nordic chorus. The more I hear this, the more I heart it. I’m starting to think Romeo & Juliet has a happy ending. This is my winner of Eesti Laul 2017.
Score: 9.5/10
Natalie: I can appreciate the intensity and thought put into this, and Kooit and Laura definitely have chemistry. But this ultimately feels like a mess with repetitive and somewhat meaningless lyrics (even with the overt Shakespeare references). This is nice, but not special.
Score: 3/10
Chris: Romeo and Juliet ends with their demise in Verona. I fear the same for Koit & Laura’s chances, yet again. It’s obviously a very good song and another solid entry in their catalogues. But I just wish there was something else: more passion, perhaps? Seeing this performed live with full staging could really elevate this one. I hope so. For a love story, this is just a little too tepid right now.
Score: 7.5/10
Patrick: I loved Laura’s “Supersonic” last year and for me she was the real winner. Seeing her back this year made me happy and that she tries with Koit is sooo good. But I’m in shock, as this lacks a spark. Where is the the edgy, original style that Laura is known for? Yes, it’s cute. But there is so much room for improvement. I’m okay with it in the end but not satisfied.
Score: 6/10
Anthony: “Verona” feels like a step-down following last year’s attempt from Laura, but after Estonia hit rock bottom at last year’s Eurovision semi-final, “Supersonic” might not have fared any better either. Once again, Laura continues to deliver at Eesti Laul with her vocals. It’s a decent entry and I’m intrigued to see whether the chemistry with Koit Toome sparks life.
Score: 8/10
Robyn: Laura has such amazing vocal technique, but it comes with the unusual twang that makes her voice unmistakably Laura. The result is that she outshines Koit, making him sound like her backing singer. “Verona” has a cool moody feeling, but sometimes it doesn’t all come together. I suspect the live performance will be the only way to really way to gauge the potential of the song. Also, Laura needs to fix the “like Gromeo” pronunciation.
Score: 5/10
Mikhail: This channels the pure romance of a bygone era — and I don’t mean Shakespearean England! I can see this on a soundtrack to a romantic historical movie, where two lovers run around the city trying to find each other. It’s just charming. Although it falls a bit flat in the end, it doesn’t spoil the picture perfect image.
Score: 7.5/10
Steinunn: Laura had a really good song in last year’s Eesti Laul and Koit is one of my favourite past Estonian performers. But after listening to this I’m beyond disappointed. It’s not that the song is awful, it’s just there. It’s a bland pop number with some ‘try-to-be-witty’ cultural references and two rather good singers. Not much meat on this bone I’m afraid. Shame really, as this could have been such a super duet.
Score: 6/10
In our Eesti Laul Wiwi Jury, we have 20 jurors but only room for 8 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:
Antranig: 7.5/10
Bernardo: 7.5/10
Dayana: 4/10
Edd: 9/10
Forrest: 6/10
Jason: 6/10
Josh: 7/10
Kristin: 7/10
Luis: 7/10
Matt: 6.5/10
Sami: 8/10
Zakaria: 5/10
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 and a high of 9.5.
Redfox, im talking about the song not personally about Kerly. Her song is very catchy and could win the whole thing. I’ve never heard that Estonians dont love Kerli, how could you say like that. Her song will get high score from jury. I’ve seen the first show two days ago and Kerli was the best and the staging as well.
Outdated.
@susan: estonians don´t like Kerli as a person, so I dont think they will vote for her.
Why should Estonia choose this one? Nice melody that’s it. Will Estonia choose this one? No, because Estonians have Kerli, whose song is so much better than Verona. Although the staging will be better…
@Purple Mask: I was making a joke. I am not a dummy.
@Purple Mask: There is an indie rock band out there called Lost in Verona…
http://www.lostinverona.co.nr/
That having been said, if Koit and Laura play their cards right on stage and win at Eesti Laul (which may very well be hard, depending on what Kerli and Elina put on stage), they could score well and possibly sneak into the top-half of the board in Kyiv. Methinks they should use the Mørland/Debrah playbook, more so than the Elina/Stig playbook.
@redfox: Haha. For the last time: IT’S A METAPHOR!!! They are not ACTUALLY lost in Verona, it is about their long lost love in their youth! 🙂
if you are lost, get a friggin map or just stay at home. why complain in front of whole Europe
@ William Lee Adams – Verona is a really beautiful city, outside of the tourist routes. Tourists only go there for that (fake and) vandalism-ridden Juliet balcony and for the arena. This song is far too stereotypical in an irritating way, I guess! The best places are literally the areas where the tourists don’t go – and that’s the case with most Italian cities, sadly. I only go there for Peter’s Tea House, anyway! My goodness, this song has been first in the betting odds for a month. If it wins the Eesti Laul, I can guarantee 0 points from… Read more »
This is a great song. Definitely one of my Eesti Laul favorites. Interestingly, so was Supersonic last year. I guess I find Laura quite talented.
I absolutely love this song!! It’s not dated at all! Speaking about Romeo and Juliette they could have written a totally different melody and make it sound really dated! This song has a great production, it’s modern with an interesting sound! This “a a a a a ” part is my favourite, together with the chorus when the music changes a bit. Estonia is in an open semi, if they send this they’re in the final for sure. I believe Laura should go to Eurovision some time! I loved “Supersonic” last year and this year’s song too! @William Adams Lee… Read more »
9/10
Shoots up to my number 1 if it gets picked.
The story is about lifetime experience which keeps a lot inside of it by definition and that’s what makes it wide-appealing. I witnessed that by myself for many years and I feel how this song captures memories in capsule to spray over you with all these ‘enough’ and ‘I’m sorry’ that costs a lot in relationship. That’s the main reason why It’s my guilty pleasure of this EL. The melody is beautiful and serves festive mood for only-good-memories edition feelings, but arrangement is older than even Lazarev’s so called hit from last year (does it hurt, Laura?). Yet I feel… Read more »
This is a beautiful and haunting song, sung by excellent singers. I loved this song from the moment I heard the first version and can listen to it over & over again. Please choose this one Estonia.
@ ct_greece
Going to wait for the semis and live performances to decide who to vote for. Perhaps they’ll surprise me on stage and I’ll change my opinion, but so far, I’m not a huge fan. Reminds me of Getter back in 2011.. another Lõhmus song that everybody was hyping and liking, but in the end, it flopped hard. I suspect Verona could be a similar fanflop if it wins. At best, a Poland 2016 situation.. televoters will like it but juries will bury it. But we’ll see what they can bring on stage.
I love Mere Lapsed, Koit’s entry in 1998. I love Laura’s Supersonic too. And this entry is so good, even if it’s lack of the goosebumps effect (?) or something I can’t explain it lol
but I want this to qualify.
8/10
@ cicada
Vote for this and the whole southern Europe will be voting for Estonia 🙂
Was thinking this would get a higher rating, since people seem to be fawning over it! But glad it didn’t. Really don’t see the appeal of this dated cheesy thing. Another typical Lõhmus number with crappy broken lyrics and basic bland beat. Laura has bad diction, the whole thing drags, no chemistry on stage.. it’s not the worst song in our selection, but it’s far from the best. Unless they knock it out of the park with the stage show somehow, I’m not convinced. Hope someone else will win.
Cant believe that you underrate so much this amazing song. For me this a clear favorite to win the hole Esc. #TeamVerona
This is the kind of eurodisco we definitely need in Eurovision right now, after everyone tries so hard to sound “current” and bland. It also reminds me of my holiday in Verona last year, which is an added bonus 🙂
Verona…..obsessed with this song. It sounds as good as the first time I heard it. Only song yet to give me goosebumps from any of the festival entries from Estonia or any other country. Also, if you listen to the live acoustic version on youtube, they sound great live and won’t be a let down. The staging will elevate it even more. Even if it doesn’t win Eesti Laul and end up on the Eurovision 2017 CD, I will be buying this song no matter what!
It’s funny how this song is supposed to be a duet, when Verona is more like Laura feat. Koit Toome, and the fact it’s written by Sven Lõhmus A.K.A. the Estonian Thomas G:son is a turn-off.
@NscoN: There are plenty of songs about New York. Why not Verona?
I like it, it’s interesting.
7/10
Amazing entry, I’ve loved this since its release.
Very underated! This is very special.
This is so good.
It is exactly the sort of music that I would listen to outside of Eurovision and everything about it is just great. Deban’s reaction from the video mirrored mine exactly!
Verona has to win Eesti Laul. It is the best song and quite simply, the gap between first and second might be the biggest I have seen in a national final for many years!
Dont care if its outdated blah blah blah, if you only want modern stuff, go and watch the Mtv award instead. I LOVE this song aswell. Its the kind of stuff you can hear in esc only i guess and imho we need more songs like this 😀 ESC is a world on its own where everything is possible <3
I second Polegend Godgarina: I am from Northern Italy too and I find the lyrics so weird: it’s like someone from, say, Yorkshire heard verses like: “We lost and we found our Manchester”.
Overrated and outdated entry.. confident that Estonia looks past this garbage 🙂
@Polegend Godgarina: It’s not literally about Verona. It’s just a metaphor for their youth.
Underneath all of the distractions of the well-known singers, the lyrics and the story of the song, there is beautifully written music. It is best demonstrated on the piano, and unofficially Renate Saluste has already recorded this here: https://youtu.be/nkcSBPGRnGM What I love about this song is that it’s already a tragedy at the start. Two people had already fell in love when they were younger, maybe too young, and have now fallen out of love as adults, but they don’t want to admit the truth that their youth is over. The song evokes a Nordic soap opera more than a… Read more »
I JUST LOVEEEEEEEEE THIS SONG!! I LOVE IT!! An I have to say that I’ve played this to some of my no eurofans friends and they’ve all loved it as well <3
I simply don’t get the love for this one. It’s so monotonous, and the lyrics are a mess. I live close to Verona so it sounds even messier.