Lithuania: Wiwi Jury reviews Neringa Siaudikyte, Queens of Roses and Valerija Iljinaite

It’s been a long haul but it’s not over yet. The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — has come to review the final three qualifiers in Lithuania’s national selection. But being Lithuania, the competition still has weeks to go as the acts slug it out to see who will follow in Donny Montell’s footsteps. We finally look at Neringa Šiaudikyte with “Running Out of Time”, Queens of Roses with “Fisherman” and Valerija Iljinaite with “You Made Me Glow”. Read on to see what we think!

Neringa Siaudikyte – “Running Out of Time”

“Running Out of Time” reviews

Luis: Neringa is such a good singer, but her song is totally insufficient. Her voice is warm, charming and she serves the right amount of power and attitude to elevate this very mediocre song. It’s like wrapping an expensive present in newspaper pages.

Score: 5/10

Antranig: Neringa is serving up a very typical Eurovision ballad. This is a respectable entry but it isn’t pushing any boundaries lyrically, musically or vocally. It’s just good on all three fronts. Unfortunately, “just good” isn’t enough to make the cut at Eurovision but Neringa has the talent and “Running Out of Time” has plenty of potential if they can power it up in a revamp.

Score: 6/10

Anthony: Just like Ieva Zasimauskaite, Neringa is another Eurovizijos atranka retunree with her own entry. And the two singers are similar as they’re most comfortable in ballad territory. You’ll feel like you’ve heard it all before on the opening build-up, only for the chorus to drag the song into a country pop tune. Once again, Neringa beautifully executes it during her live performance.

Score: 7/10

Robyn: The opening of this chorus promises a simple ballad, but when the chorus kicks in, the song suddenly becomes a country-pop number. This was a little jarring at first, but as the song progressed I began to enjoy it. It’s not brilliant, but it’s nicely executed and Nergina’s vocals are lovely.

Score: 6/10

Renske: Neringa is delivering us some sea princess sweetness. It really reminds me of “This Time” is some ways, because it is so charming. Songs like these often sounds cheesy, but this one certainly does not.

Score: 7.5/10

In the Lithuanian Wiwi Jury, we have 12 jurors but only room for 5 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:

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 5 and a high of 7.5.

WIWI JURY VERDICT: 6/10

Queens of Roses – “Fisherman”

“Fisherman” reviews

Luis: Lithuanian speakers: is “catching fishes” a colloquial form of saying something sexual in your language? I’m very confused. Actually, this is one of Eurovizijos atranka’s best entries. Queens of Roses are charismatic and they harmonize well. Moreover, the beat is… catchy. (Badum tss!)

Score: 7/10

Renske: This is quite fishy, but seriously, this is some really cheap and cheesy Europop. Their performance was one of the cringiest things I have yet witnessed. Their choreo was not in sync and their dresses look like they were wrapped from foil. Which is sad, because Queens of Roses are not a bad singing group.

Score: 5/10

Antranig: “Fisherman” has a futuristic sort of opening but the first verse doesn’t make a big impression. Once the chorus hits, I’m just blown away. This has a quirky appeal to it and I don’t know why they thought a song about catching fish was a good idea but it is. This just works and slays on all levels, ticking the box of joke entry and serious entry at the same time. Holy mackerel, they’ve got the catch of the day!

Score: 10/10

Robyn: This a strangely appealing song about… catching fish. I feel like there’s some sort of sexual innuendo at play here, but I cannot figure out exactly what it’s meant to be. Or perhaps they’re just literally singing about a fisherman. It’s kind of saucy, a bit silly and very entertaining.

Score: 7.5/10

Anthony: Last year they were known as 4 Roses, but this is more of a hook, line and sinker effort. It’s an improvement from “Butterfly” and an earworm of a song. However, the constant repetition of “We’re gonna catch, catch a fish” in the chorus lets it down. This is worrying for a five-member songwriting team. The girls haven’t landed themselves a whopper, but they’re on the right track.

Score: 7/10

In the Lithuanian Wiwi Jury, we have 12 jurors but only room for 5 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:

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 10.

WIWI JURY VERDICT: 5.85/10

Valerija Iljinaite – “You Made Me Glow”

“You Made Me Glow” reviews

Robyn: This isn’t working. Valerija has a strong, expressive voice, but she’s been paired with a really cheesy song. “You Made Me Glow” makes me think of an encounter with a radioactive lover, not at all helped by the background graphic that looks like a giant glowing vagina. It’s unenjoyable and forgettable.

Score: 4/10

Renske: This reminds me a lot of my primary school musical. There was this girl singing  a small, but cute ballad and everybody fell in love with it. But this is not a primary school musical, but Eurovizijos atranka. This song is just too weak for Valerija and not captivating enough to do well at Eurovision.

Score: 6/10

Anthony: She tried to make me glow and there’s not a spark in sight, even after several listens to the studio version. It just isn’t clicking into place and comes across as a cringe-inducing Disney anthem, which makes Frozen look tame in comparison. Valerija’s a talented lady, but her Swedish songwriting team has had an absolute shocker with this effort.

Score: 4/10

Antranig: Valerija was absolutely glowing in a beautiful dress which captured the mood of the song well. She has very compelling vocals and is a lioness on stage. I have to point out that the song is very underwhelming but Valerija is such a good performer that she manages to sell it well. She certainly has the talent to go to Eurovision but she doesn’t have the song.

Score: 6.5/10

Luis: I had to restart the video, because I couldn’t stop laughing at the view of a woman singing a power love ballad with a giant silver vagina in the background. Once I calmed down, I actually enjoyed Valerija’s portentous voice. Her song though… it’s predictable and uninteresting. And what are those Celtic sounds in the end? Please Valerija, fire your team and come back with something that matches your vocal abilities.

Score: 3.5/10

In the Lithuanian Wiwi Jury, we have 12 jurors but only room for 5 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:

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 7.

WIWI JURY VERDICT: 5.3/10

See our list of Eurovizijos atranka rankings here

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