Last night, the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — gathered in Barcelona, Spain. After a lovely afternoon walk in Park Güell, we gathered in front of Montjuic’s fountains to review Manel Navarro‘s song for Objetivo Eurovisión 2017, “Do It For Your Lover”. Did we want him to be our lover, or were we rather dismissive of his love? Read on to find out…
Manel Navarro – “Do It For Your Lover”
About Manel Navarro
Manel is a 20-year-old singer from Barcelona. In 2016, he released his first single “Candle”. The song got plenty of attention and airplay, especially on the Catalan radio stations, paving his way to Spain’s Eurovision final. Three years ago, he won the contest Teen Star in Catalonia and released his single “Brand New Day”.
Wiwi Jury reviews “Do it for your lover”
William: The summery sound transports listeners to a land of pina coladas and SPF 50, a happy place where love flows and the six-packs shine. And much like an afternoon in the sun, things get very boring very fast. Manel has the voice, the charisma and the looks. But unfortunately the song is just pleasant rather than wow, and it’s pure monotony after the first verse. He wants to transplant us to Ibiza, but this feels much more like an EasyJet beach in Marbella.
Score: 5/10
Jason: Bruno Mars’ “The Lazy Song” Manel Navarro’s “Do It for Your Lover” is a slice of light, guitar-led teenage pop, which would probably have widespread appeal. But it is definitely not my favourite at Objetivo Eurovisión this year. The repetitive chorus quickly gets on my nerves and makes it hard for me to stand the entire three minutes. This would be a safe choice for Spain but definitely wouldn’t win the contest.
Score: 5/10
Jovana: This is not a typical Eurovision entry, but in spite of that, it’s my personal favourite in Spain. “Do It For Your Lover” sounds like a worldwide hit, and it would be one if it were sung by Shawn Mendes. It’s a relaxing reggae number with elements of electropop performed by a likeable singer. I have to deduct a few points for its lack of originality. Then again — in terms of Eurovision, it is quite original.
Score: 8/10
Bernardo: I won’t question Manel Navarro’s talent — it’s unquestionable. However, “Do It For Your Lover” sounds like a rejected Bruno Mars song. If sung with soul and given some atmospheric staging, he may be able to give this lift in the national final. For now, it’s just bland.
Score: 4.5/10
Chris: There’s a great deal of familiarity going on with “Do It For Your Lover”. But that’s not really too much of an issue in this context. This feels more homage than copycat. Manel’s got a good voice and the chorus becomes enough of an earworm that it’s still going around in my head whilst I type this. I don’t know if it would succeed at Eurovision, but it might do respectably.
Score: 6/10
Jordi: It’s January, but it feels like summertime already. I’m kind of pleased that Spain is bringing something current, varied and fresh to the selection with this track. Manel’s reggae-pop vibe takes me to the beach — and makes me think of watching the sunset with a guitar. Sitting on the sand I wouldn’t mind listening to this over and over again. But when it comes to Eurovision I’d have to get up and use the toilet. I’m afraid this isn’t strong enough to compete in a song contest. He definitely has the look, but I would like to see more dynamism.
Score: 6.5/10
Luis: Manel got me from the first minute. Maybe it’s my desperate need to find a decent song in my country’s selection that makes me like this much more than I should, but hey, I’m loving it. “Do It For Your Lover” might be repetitive and way too similar to “The Lazy Song”, but it still works. Manel serves charisma and elicits warmth. The song is instantly likeable and so radio-friendly. Normally it would round out my top 3, but given the level of Spain’s selection, this young man is the only one who can save us from a total car crash.
Score: 8/10
Robyn: There’s a lot of potential in this song — a cute guy with an acoustic guitar, singing a song that blends beachy guitar style with electronic flourishes. But the end result isn’t so great. The chorus is so disappointing and sounds like a children’s rhyme: “Clap your hands and do it for your lover”. But yet I could still see this doing quite well in Kyiv, especially if that potential is realised.
Score: 5/10
Our Spanish 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:
Antranig: 0/10
Dayana: 8/10
Deban: 3.5/10
Edd: 9.5/10
Forrest: 2.5/10
Josh: 4/10
Kristin: 6/10
Patrick: 4/10
Ramadan: 7/10
Sinan: 5.5/10
Zakaria: 0/10
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 0 and a high of 9.5.
@Colin: I thought “It” in this song could be something every-day like buying flowers or giving gifts.
I personally believe this can enter the Top 10 easily. Its fresh and radio friendly. Plus, the Spain delegation don’t have to worry too much about the staging because of the simplicity of the song. A cute strumming Spaniard. What more can you ask for?
What is ‘IT’ in the song even refering to? Clapping hands? What is the meaning and purpose of this song? Besides, as noted before, it is very repetitive. The chorus only repeats the title word by word and goes nowhere. The instrumental is quite pleasant, though.
4/10 and I am being generous.
Manel: Do it for your lover, do it for your lover…
Me: I don’t have a lover!
Manel: Oh. [Stops singing]
Me: Just go away!
Leklein: Ouch! Ouch! Ou-ou-ou-ou-ouch!…
Me: Don’t YOU start!
I trust the point is made. I do like Manel, but the song is patronising and irritating on the same level as Leklein’s “Ouch!”
Q: What has happened to Spain’s selection this year?!
Bruno Mars’ “The Lazy Song”- yep lol that’s what I thought when I first heard it, and it is a lazy song too! do it for your lover do it for your lover how many times can you say it before it doesn’t sound like english anymore…
Well… If you are not Sweden… Last year, IIWS deserved 24-26 and finished 6… I’m not talking about personal taste, I’m talking about the production, voice, staging… Well, the staging was simple but good.
You compare the production of this song to Ouch!… 5 is OK. It’s too simple, and this is EUROVISION. We are not Sweden, and this instrumental is common. Guitar and percussion. OK. What else? If you wanna listen this song con the radio, I don’t have any problem, but one good song for ESC needs more instrumental. That’s all!
You’ve lost all your credibility giving this almost the same score as Mario’s “Spin my head”. Very disappointing, Wiwibloggs. Manel’s song is fantastic. Is it cuz it’s Spain and not Sweden?
You only like DIVAS….
Manel is top.
I suppose those divas lovers who give Manel a 0/10 are going to give a 8-10/10 to Mirela. Predictable and ridiculous. I would like to know why.
This is the most decent song in Objetivo Eurovision, forget Mirela and her dated song pls. She won’t get any points in Eurovision. Europe don’t want her, just some eurofans, who (as always) won’t vote for Spain in the Grand Final.
I have the feeling that this one might make a big top 5 in Kiev. It’s the kind of mainstream song that people like to listen/vote/buy
I agree with you @PolegendGodgarina! If you’re going to give a song a 0 (a 0 c’mon guys… it’s a bit insulting) at least we should be entitled to know why! he has a nice voice and you may dislike it because yeah, it’s a very cheesy song, but as a whole it’s not PAINFUL to listen to… so I just can’t understand the 0’s, I’m sorry.
Spain should definitely send this one. Just look at Belgium 2010, Malta 2013, Hungary 2013 and Sweden 2016. They’re all in the same genre as this song and they all finished in the top 10 so why wouldn’t this song finish in the top 10 as well?
I would love to read a paragraph from those who gave it 0/10 btw. I notice how the lowest scores usually don’t have a paragraph but those are the ones I’d be more excited to read!
It’s decent, the best in their selection for sure. Very modern, but it would sound better fully in Spanish – it could have a Kedvesem effect!
I think he’s gonna win just because he has a BIG label behind him: Sony Music. If you think that Spain’s chosing shows are usually watched by very few people, imagine how less few people vote, maybe 3000 votes? Vote costs around 1,5€, is it very difficult for a huge label such as Sony Music to invert just 9000€ in text-sms and receive back all the huge promotion for Eurovision to its singer? #JustWondering
This song can have a really good performance live.
I don’t love it, I don’t hate it.
It is enjoyable listening to and it can bring this happy feeling in ESC.
I’m really confused with Spain. I think almost all the songs can go to Eurovision.
I’m waiting for the final, cause I want to see the songs live.
I don’t like this at all, it’s so repetitive and annoying. It’s my personal least favorite and unlike other people here, I think Maika’s song is miles ahead.
First of all, this is Spain, and Europe expects another diva that nobody will care about, so for Spain it can be a good change to send Manel.
The negative comments about this song remind me of Cyprus 2015, almost everybody said that John Karayiannis – ”One Thing I Should Have Done” is not for ESC, and after that they were surprised how the song qualified.
Hahahahaaaaa… wiwis, you are jinxed! (you like tacky songs full of bad music tooooooo much)… So, Leklein or Manel for the win ;P
Did you really just give this a lower score than “Momento crítico”? Wow.
I love this song, it’s my #1 in Objetivo Eurovisión and I actually see this pulling a Malta 2013.
This is so annoying. It sounds lazy and cheap. Again, why was this put straight through to the final when it is this bad? I see nothing to get excited about with this. A long three minutes.
Probably the second best. But that’s not saying much.
This song has a lower score than Maika’s?!?
I really like, I don’t think it would do wonders in Eurovision(about 20th place), but it’s at least likeable… I give it 7\10