Last night, the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — gathered in Talavera, in Castilla La-Mancha, Spain. While we sipped on red wine and enjoyed some manchego cheese by the Tagus, we reviewed LeKlein’s song for Objetivo Eurovisión 2017. Did she have us screaming with ecstasy? Or were we left shouting “Ouch!!” instead? Read on to find out…
Leklein – “Ouch!!”
About Leklein
Known for her smoky vocals and androgynous look, free-minded LeKlein kicked off her career in 2002 and has subsequently performed at all of Spain’s most iconic clubs. Having built a solid reputation in the anything-goes atmosphere of Ibiza, the Toledan artist is now trying her luck at Objetivo Eurovisión with the electronic pop song “Ouch!!” Thoughtful lyrics over modern beats, LeKlein brings a club banger with a positive message.
Wiwi Jury reviews
Antranig: Eurocasting delivered better songs than Objetivo Eurovisión and LeKlein was one of the better songs there. This song is vocally, lyrically and musically immaculate, except for the cries of “ouch”. It’s disappointing that one of the best songs you will hear in the entire 2017 national final season is brought down several notches by an absolutely terrible hook. Having said that, there is still a lot to like about this.
Score: 7/10
Bernardo: Now we know LeKlein can deliver this song live. I just don’t think it’s enough for me. I expect a song to be a punch of power in my face. I want it to be steaming hot, but “Ouch” just warms me. However, it’s going to fight for the win, especially if she upgrades the staging.
Score: 6/10
Jason: When I reviewed this for Eurocasting, I gave it a measly 1/10, and called it “unbearable”. For all of you LeKlein fans, I am sorry to say that my opinion hasn’t changed. “Ouch” is just really bad. Intolerable, insufferable, unendurable, you can take your pick. I simply cannot forgive that horrendous hook.
Score: 1/10
Robyn: I wasn’t such a fan of “Ouch!!” during Eurocasting, but hearing it amongst the other Objetivo Eurovisión finalists, it stands out more. It’s not perfect and it ain’t no Eurovision winner. But LeKlein delivers a strong electro-soul diva performance. I’m still not liking how the song hangs off the central lyric “ouch”, though. This would not be a strong Eurovision entry, but LeKlein is heading into the final as the people’s choice. That huge advantage may tip the scales in her favour, for better or for worse.
Score: 5/10
Zakaria: Another great example of how live versions can lift up an average song, even though I still cringe every time she says “Ouch!”. I wasn’t a fan of the song at first mainly because I was thinking RTVE had better songs in store, but well… This remains Spain’s best chance at finishing higher than 20th.
Score: 7/10
Luis: This song has the most unfortunate hook ever. But weirdly I found LeKlein’s performance at Eurocasting kind of anthemic. She slays musically and vocally, and once you get used to it, the “Ouch” is not that painful. However, on first listen the “Ouch” comes across as comic. It’s such a pity, because otherwise the song would be a very serious contender, but that hook kills her chances.
Score: 6.5/10
Josh: Isn’t it funny how the song from the wildcard Eurocasting round is actually better than the entrants hand selected by the broadcaster? LeKlein is a clear stand-out for all the right reasons. Her look and sound are memorable. The motifs of the song are able to be translated universally. It is current and radio friendly and it doesn’t sound like the stereotypical Spanish crap I’m sick of hearing. If Spain want to at least try to be on the left hand side of the score board this year, “Ouch!” is really the only option. Otherwise, prepare for another Barei-style fail.
Score: 6.5/10
William: This electro ballad about perseverance is catchy, on-trend and well-produced. LeKlein’s smokey vocals carry power and vulnerability so well and the inclusion of horns — so often disastrous — comes off as contemporary rather than throwback. I’m still not convinced you can build a song around the rather clunky word “Ouch!” — it kind of kills the mood. But as we saw with her live performance, she has the poise, polish and power to make people overlook the clunky phrasing. She’s a contender in Spain — and rightfully so.
Score: 7/10
Our Objetivo Eurovisión Wiwi Jury consists of 19 jurors from across the globe. However, we only have room for eight reviews. Here are the scores from the rest of the jurors:
Chris: 5/10
Dayana: 4.5/10
Deban: 6.5 /10
Edd: 7.5/10
Forrest: 5/10
Jordi: 7/10
Jovana: 7/10
Kristin: 8/10
Patrick: 5/10
Ramadan: 5/10
Sinan: 9/10
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 1 and a high of 9.
I still don’t like this and I have to agree with Luis (as he stated on wiwi.tv), that this would probably end up like Barei. Somehow “Ouch!” reminds me of “Say Yay!”…
Lyrics are hilarious but it’s musically excellent
terrible grammar
you do not say DOUBT ON something but DOUBT something
About the lyrics Leklein told she is bilingual and she also took some native american friend advise, so she’s sure the lyrics are grammatically correct. She said she isn’t going to change anything about the lyrics. That said, I like this song, but I can’t see it placing in the top 15. The ‘Ouch’ hook is really bad and make a good song worse…
This song can do well or not well at all, because people are divided. On the one hand, there are people saying it’s a great song, LeKlein is amazing and Spain will definitely come in a better position than last. On the other hand, we have those saying that the song isn’t good enough, English is terrible and “Ouch” bother them. What I want to say is that when people watch this they’ll say either “this is really good, I’m voting for it” or “no, I don’t like it” and not voting. Personally, I believe it’s a good song and… Read more »
This is one of those songs that has good music and a good singer, but terrible lyrics. There’s no point going into this again in detail, but it needs a lyrical re-write. As for the Chorus extensions (the “ouch” bits); you either like them or you don’t. I like them because Leklein sells them pretty well, and despite the song’s lyrical flaws, this is a contender to win (mainly due to the weak competition).
The lyrics are unforgivable, which is disappointing b/c the musical arrangement is nice. 3/10
I can’t get over those lyrics, so that’s a 4/10 for me
For me this is the only song I can see leaving the bottom 3 and I really hope this is the song that gets selected despite the car crash of a hook. The fact that it’s upbeat when a lot of what we have so far seems to be funeral ballads should easily make it stand out and LeKlein seems to have pretty good stage presence, if Spain can provide better staging than they did with Barei last year then this has the potential to finish on the lower left side of the board. It’s not a great song by… Read more »
This is just a bad song, plain and simple. It has a promising start, but the moment she hollas “ouch!”, it hits a brick wall. It’s sung with so much earnestness as if to be profound, but it comes across as the kind of parody of a Eurovision song you might see on a sketch show. Such a shame, because it could have been a good choice without such a daft chorus. With 25 other songs to choose to vote for in the final, I can see this doing very badly with both juries and the public.
Spain has the worst process of any country.
When this won Eurocasting, it should have been the entry. Javian is better than any of the five finalists and LeKlein beat him comfortably (rightfully so).
There is no alternative in Spain. The only good news is if they pick a song other than LeKlein, the UK will not come last in the Eurovision final (yay!).
Antranig has to explain a thing or two because he called this mess “lyrically immaculate”. To me, it looks like it was written by someone with poor English knowledge, with the help of an online rhyme dictionary.
I would be embarrassed to send a song with these lyrics. It’s also overproduced with all those random sounds, and it’s a cringefest overall. LeKlein’s slightly unfortunate appearance doesn’t help either. I get it that there’s nothing that would get Spain on the left hand side of the scoreboard this year, but this one would be an embarrassment.
Only with her, Spain have some chance for Top 15 maybe Top 10. Paula can bring same result or flop (depends how juroes and public react to her song in eurivision final). With others songs especialy fan favorite Mirela , can bring Spain another result from 21 to 26 place.in final. I think Mirela wii be finish like spanish female singers from 2009, 2015,2016
I like it, it’s my second favorite. But Mirela is still the clear winner for me.
7/10
6.2? Seriously, considering how some good songs are panned? I cringe every time she says ‘ouch’ too. Isn’t that, like… crucial part of the song?
I say 5/10 at best. LeKlein can sing, so it’s a shame the song isn’t better.
This is the best!
Spain can reach top15 or top10 with this!