Attitude, ambition, point of view — Estonia knows how to do Eurovision. So the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continues reviewing the songs competing in Eesti Laul 2017, its national selection for Eurovision. We now turn to Elina Born, who previously represented Estonia in Eurovision 2015, teaming up with Stig Rästa. Now she’s back all by herself. Are we “In or Out”? Read on to find out!

Elina Born – “In or Out”

“In or Out” reviews

Antranig: Elina Born is unquestionably a superstar. “Goodbye to Yesterday” slayed Eurovision 2015 and her debut album is one of my favourite albums ever. “In or Out” would be a perfect fit on that album which sums up how great it is. Stig Rästa’s songwriting with Elina’s vocals — I’ve died and gone to heaven. It’s very early in the national final season but I doubt we will hear a song better than this one.

Score: 10/10

Josh: It was clear from the beginning that everyone would compare this to “Goodbye to Yesterday” – which is still one of my favourites from 2015. I don’t enjoy “In Or Out” as much, which is really disheartening because I want to like this. It’s just too mainstream and loses Elina’s individuality as the seconds roll by. The song is not bad, it’s just not good.

Score: 6/10

Chris: Let’s just put it out there straightaway: no, it’s not as good as “Goodbye to Yesterday”. So let’s put that to one side and take “In or Out” for what it is, which is a bloody good song. The ham-fisted Jekyll & Hyde reference aside, my foot wants to tap along throughout the song and I’d suspect Europe would be doing the same. We know all about Elina’s vocal prowess and she’d make Estonia proud if she got to Kyiv.

Score: 8.5/10

William: No, this doesn’t reach the heights of “Goodbye to Yesterday”. But it does allow Elina to show off her sexy voice, which sounds gritty, gutterul and strong against the banging of drums and the summery sound of the sax. This serves 1940s, entertain-the-troops while they’re at war realness along with a slice of big band — a genre I’ve never been into. While I respect this song and Elina’s performance, I’m not feeling it. In or out? I’m going with the latter.

Score: 6.5/10

Bernardo: In or Out? I’m in the middle. Elina’s voice draws me in, the verses get me excited and when I expect the chorus to boom I’m left a tad disappointed. Very catchy production that combines pop-ish elements from nowadays with some old-school instruments — the perfect tune for young-face, old-soul Elina. Potential winner.

Score: 7.5/10

Robyn: This is a really fun and super catchy tune but it’s slightly let down by a chorus that doesn’t quite match up to the energy and attitude of the verses. It’s not a Eurovision winner, but if Estonia just want to avoid a repeat of last year’s effort, it would probably see them sail into the grand final with no trouble. Estonia usually does well with staging so there’s potential for the weaker chorus to be lifted with good visuals.

Score: 7/10

Matt: I am so in love with this song. Elina has gone solo this time and she is the one to beat in quite a talented field. I cannot fault this song — it’s upbeat, it’s my cup of tea and I just can’t stop playing it over and over again. She can take this title and then some in Kyiv.

Score: 10/10

Patrick: Well well well… Look at her, coming back after Vienna and boy am I shook. We all know that Elina can sing and I have no doubt that she will deliver. This song is well produced with a cool sound and a damn good saxophone. The wild lyrics coupled with Elina’s inevitably strong stage show will ooze passion. Elina, I am in for you in Kyiv, my queen!

Score: 9/10

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:

Anthony: 7/10

Dayana: 7.5/10

Edd: 9/10

Forrest: 8.5/10

Jason:  7.5/10

Kristin:  7.5/10

Luis:  7/10

Mikhail: 10/10

Natalie: 8/10

Sami: 8/10

Steinunn:  7.5/10

Zakaria: 8/10

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 6 and a high of 10.

Wiwi Jury Verdict: 8/10

See our list of Eesti Laul rankings here

Follow all our Estonia Eurovision news

28 Comments
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KYLLITO
KYLLITO
7 years ago

The sound of this song reminds me of Electro Velvet singing for the UK in 2015. And not in a good way. I hope this song is not the representative for Estonia.

Riva
Riva
7 years ago

Incredibly recycled yet her voice turns the song into cringeworthy mess. I hope estonians won’t come into Rasta’s trap for third year.

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
7 years ago

Great song, guaranteed top ten at Eurovision but tnjs hear, Estonia could do better. Elina is a great performer. No doubt she would kill this live but it does not have the depth of GTY. The chorus is slightly annoying and does not focus as much on Elina’s vocal as it should.

Pedro
Pedro
7 years ago

When can I have this song on Spotify? 😀

For me, it’s 9.5/10!

Nice job, Elina!

mocosuburbian
mocosuburbian
7 years ago

pretty boring and electro swing is dead soo

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
7 years ago

A heard a funny opinion about this song today:
It’s the Estonian Brexit song! 😀
(In or Out [of the EU) – it may startle you!

Roelof Meesters
Roelof Meesters
7 years ago

This is SO catchy, oh my god. This doesn’t reacht the expected BOOM tho, wich is sad. Elina Born is an AMAZING singer and performer, and this could win the NF, and could reacht the final with EASE. This is no Goodbye To Yesterday, but it’s a good song.

9/10

Avstriya
Avstriya
7 years ago

Ooh, I like it….. It serves Nina Zilli meets Estonian sax realness.

A guaranteed 8th in any Eurovision Final

AngieP
AngieP
7 years ago

This is a totally different thing from what we saw in 2015. I fell in love with “Goodbye to yesterday” since the first time I listened to it. But this is sth else. It’s a different side of Elina we haven’t seen so far. I love her voice, she’s amazing. I also like the song. It’s dance, up-beat and has the potential of a good live performance. But, I have to say towards the end, after 2 minutes it gets repetitive. However, it draws the attention in the beginning and that’s good at Eurovision. I don’t know, I’m between Elina,… Read more »

redfox
redfox
7 years ago

it is a strong beat, but what is the conclusion, then? it is kind of… does it have a message for us or not? It is all about the sound here. I like it though.

but plz stop comparing everything to GtY. that song should never have been written… it will take 50 years to escape that shadow. nothing will ever seem good enough etc. so could we just concentrate on THIS year? Please

Héctor
Héctor
7 years ago

and… YES, there are and will be better songs in this NF season.

Jackqulen
Jackqulen
7 years ago

I feel like I am the only one with something bad to say.

Yes, Elina is a great singer, and her duo Stig back in 2015 was probably the only song I liked from Eesti Laul that year, but I have never been a fan of Elina’s music style. This song could have just been one of the boring songs from her album. And Stig’s saxophone does nothing for me. I really hope Estonia send something else. They have a lot of better songs this year in my opinion.

Héctor
Héctor
7 years ago

Wooooow! What I was thinking… OVERRATED. Yes, ‘Goodbye to Yesterday’ was cool and she performed it really well, but that’s all. This song is average as best, wouldn’t reach the Eurovision final. As a jury you must be fair and objective, some jurors (I won’t point who) aren’t, simply that. You are judging ‘In or Out’ not Elina. I hope Estonians don’t vote it for Elina, but instead vote for quality.

Paul D.
Paul D.
7 years ago

This one has grown on me, but I still prefer Verona, Spirit Animal or Feel me Now

Peyton
Peyton
7 years ago

Definitely top 3 in my opinion. Could see this fighting for the win against Kelli and Koit & Laura

cheesecake
cheesecake
7 years ago

I think she’ll do extremely well at Eesti Laul, definitely top 3. I wouldn’t mind seeing her in Kyiv.

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
7 years ago

Wayyy overrated. It’s an enjoyable song but it’s in no ways memorable. She can find better collaborators than Stig Rusty.

beccaboo1212
7 years ago

I think I can see where this going. If there’s a goodbye to yesterday, there’s also a hello to today AND tomorrow, even for fans in AND out of Europe! 🙂

Score: 9.5/10

GoodbyeToYesterday
GoodbyeToYesterday
7 years ago

Elina is a superstar. Her voice is unique, sexy and smooth. This song is catchy, fun and flirting. It suits her perfectly. I honestly think that this is her best song by far.
It’s also better than Goodbye to yesterday. Please Estonia choose Elina! The star is Born. I’M IN!

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

I was ecstatic when I found out Elina was returning and she didn’t disappoint me. In my opinion, this is the best song in a very weak selection, it’s incredibly catchy and enjoyable.

8/10

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
7 years ago

Elina Born is fantastic; the song is okay. She will definitely get through to the Eesti Laul final. Her main challenge will be to stand out against some very memorable and different competition (like Kerli), but Elina’s hidden strength is her natural likeability on stage. You can’t buy that power. Despite having the equally likeable Ariadne, Liis and Lenna all out there as well, I would bet on Elina to out-charm them any day. Best of luck to Elina at Eesti Laul. 🙂

Jacob
Jacob
7 years ago

Elina herself is amazing, but this song falls flat for me.

an esc fan
an esc fan
7 years ago

Is her face on the drum ?
This song is not Goodbye to yesterday.
5/10

Colin
Colin
7 years ago

Wow! I absolutely agree, Elina’s song is stunning! I am still under shock on how any song managed to nab over 8 in here. But I am glad this one did.

Ola
Ola
7 years ago

Seems like people judges Elina, rather than the quite mainstream song.
Quality yes, great voice yes – but the song really goes nowhere and would be lost in Kyiv. Average is the word.

Donut2
Donut2
7 years ago

Still a bit disappointed you missed the chance to write ‘are we in or out? we will soon find out’

Mai
Mai
7 years ago

Is this song that good, or have you rated it that high due to Elina? For me it’s a good song but not good enough, kind of loopy chorus and difficult to separate it from the bridge.

Marco
Marco
7 years ago

I think this will be overrated by the fans :/