The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continues to review the songs competing in the grand final of Melodifestivalen 2017. Ahead of the show on Saturday, we turn to Wiktoria and her song “As I Lay Me Down”. Did she make us feel like getting cosy? Read on to find out!
Wiktoria – “As I Lay Me Down”
About Wiktoria
Wiktoria made her Melfest debut in 2016. Her country-inspired “Save Me” placed fourth in the grand final and launched Wiktoria’s pop career.
Wiwi Jury reviews “As I Lay Me Down”
William: Wiktoria ticks so many boxes: girl-next-door charm, innovative staging, pitch-perfect vocals that balance power and control. Taken together she has the broadest demographic appeal — she’s the woman girls want to be and who guys want to be with. The production is slick and, unlike so many other entries, somehow pared back. This gives the song a purity that allows Wiktoria’s vocals to soar: her harmonies in the chorus are stunning and smack of classic country from Dolly Parton. This song isn’t loud and flashy — and that’s one of its biggest strengths. A potential — and very deserving — winner. (My only minor concern is the colour of the dress — the pale plum washes her out).
Score: 9/10
Ron: While listening to the studio version, I wasn’t really impressed, but damn, Wiktoria sure has an amazing and very strong voice live. To that we add her beautiful smile, stage presence and her special LED-bed (can I get that bed in IKEA?) and we got a pretty cool act on stage. I am in the minority that didn’t like “Save Me” as a song last year, but with this song, although it’s kinda simple and retro in a way, it’s more appealing to me.
Score: 7.5/10
Jordi: With “As I Lay Me Down” Wiktoria is serving a tasty pop-country flavour showcasing again her beautiful vocal ability. She’s truthful to her sound, as she reminds me of “Save Me” in a good way. However, for this year’s Melodifestivalen she’s bringing stunning harmonies and a powerful creative staging. She invites me to clap – and gurl, my hands are already hurting. She’s charming, creative and fierce and she makes me feel warmer and joyful. Pop your confetti, Wiktoria is knocking at Sweden’s door!
Score: 9/10
Dayana: “Save me” in no way can be beaten by “As I Lay Me Down”. In contrast to Wiktoria’s last year’s distinctive song and touching entry, the singer’s new entry is far way more generic and therefore boring. The staging is fascinating indeed, but it’s a little too much. What about Wiktoria herself, she is still adorable as ever and her vocals are on fleek.
Score: 7.5/10
Sami: The more I listen to “As I Lay Me Down” the more I enjoy it. Everything just works on this. Wiktoria’s amazing voice fits very well to her recognisable country-pop sound and the harmonies on the chorus elevate the song. I don’t like the performance as much as I like the song though. It has some nice ideas, like actually laying down, but the whole thing is bit messy. Wiktoria is still one of my favourites to win this year’s Melodifestivalen and I can see this doing well in Kyiv too, in case it wins.
Score: 9/10
Chris: “Save Me” eventually grew on me over the months from Melodifestivalen; “As I Lay Me Down” has me hooked from the first performance. It’s a well-crafted next step from Wiktoria’s debut, too. The staging gives her more freedom, yet retains some elements — the swooping flowers on the bed, her logo — which ties everything together well. As may have become clear, country-tinged music is my jam these days. This ticks so many boxes and I’d love to see Wiktoria in Kyiv.
Score: 8.5/10
Antranig: While Wiktoria has some amazing work in her repertoire — listen to “Yesterday R.I.P.” — I’m utterly disappointed by her Melfest entry yet again. While this clearly has its fans, I find it very lifeless, messy and dry. Even the song title is grammatically incorrect and that bothers me too. While the production is sound — as is the case with any Melfest song — I can’t justify any other score because this is a song contest. The song itself is even worse than the army of shouty female ballads at Eurovision 2017. W is for woeful.
Score: 0/10
Robyn: I’m not a big fan of country pop so this doesn’t do a lot for me. But I can see its appeal. In particular I love the country-style close vocal harmonies. And it’s so good to see Wiktoria free to move around this time, not rooted to the spot for the “Save Me” projections. I can see the song’s appeal to dansband-loving Swedes (and Wiktoria is adorable) but it’s not one of my Melfest 2017 favourites.
Score: 6/10
Our jury for Melodifestivalen 2017 contains 29 jurors, but we only have room for eight reviews. The remaining 21 scores are listed below.
Angus: 8.5/10
Anthony: 8.5/10
Antony: 8/10
Bernardo: 8/10
Deban: 8/10
Edd: 9/10
Erdi: 7/10
Forrest: 8.5/10
Jason: 6.5/10
Josh: 9.5/10
Jovana: 7/10
Luis: 6/10
Mikhail: 9/10
Natalie: 8/10
Patrick: 9/10
Rezo: 8/10
Sinan: 6.5/10
Steinunn: 6.5/10
Tobias: 4/10
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 0 and a high of 9.5.
In my opinion this song is so good. I hope Wiktoria will win Melodifestivalen 2017:)
Even if this is the worst song for you… To give it a 0 is to say it doesn’t even exist. If she didn’t open her mouth to sing then I can see giving it a 0. But she opened her mouth and uttered sounds so a 1 should be the minimum score given in my opinion.
While awarding rating points to the song should stay subjective, maybe Wiwibloggs could consider giving some objective descriptions to each rating (for example: 0 = irredemable, 1 = terrible, 2 = very bad, 3 = bad, 4 = weak, 5 = median, 6 = okay, 7 = good, 8 = great, 9 = brilliant, 10 = masterpiece) to make it more clear exactly what does one think of the song. The problem isn’t only Antranig’s ratings, but the fact that one reviewer can say the song is quite decent and give it a 3/10 and another can say a song… Read more »
@blondboybc My point is that if you have any knowledge of music or any understanding of the contest itself then put in to context, there is no way that this song or performance has zero merit. Given that if it were to qualify for Eurovision, I would be incredibly surprised if it didn’t make the top 10 (at the very least!) in the final. Is a real indicator that this song has a certain level of quality. The production and vocal quality are obvious to hear, even if it’s not your taste. Music is subjective, that is completely true. But… Read more »
@antranig
So Måns Zelmerlöw and Frans was really your 2 least favourite from a total of 56 “Melfest” competitiors in 2015/16?? Maybe you’re VERY special (or maybe you’re just someone who tries to be just that..). Anyway your track record shows that Wictoria’s indeed got a very great chance to win e v e r y h i n g this year! ????
Any score <50% would mean that the juror dislikes the song and 5 or higher are various scales of liking it.
Giving a score of 0 is saying its not worthy of calling a song. So jurors have to be credible and impartial to opponents of their favourites. Cough *Antranig is no better than that juror from Spain except atleast he got paid for it and antranig didn't* cough
In no way does this song deserve a score of 0. But in all fairness, it’s not a great song at all. It’s very bland and boring and I hope it does not win. I would have given it 4/10 just because I’ve heard so much worse in Melodifestivalen.
While I would question the taste of anybody who would give this a zero, I do respect Antranig’s right to judge how he sees fit. That is surely the point of these scorecards, a quick sample survey in an attempt to gauge the broader appeal. He’s obviously a passionate man of extremes, but yeah…harsh. To remain impartial kinda defeats the whole point, right? Don’t take these so seriously, guys, it says it right there in the main banner “Wiwibloggs…Eurovision news…with attitude!”. Still…zero? The man who is tired of Wiktoria is tired of life. 🙂 Also, the title of the song… Read more »
Oops! Sorry, I meant WIKTORIA. Stupid auto-correct! LOL!
Um, asking jury members to remain “impartial” (re: Antraig) is like asking a baby not to cry. Unrealistic. The very act of judging is to give one’s opinion. If someone doesn’t like a song/singer, then so be it. This is not an objective act, but rather subjective. Wisteria is my #2 in a rather generic pop field of finalist, but the real stand out for me is Jon Henrik/Aninia!
Singing, yes. Innovative staging, no. I concur with chr0n0s on the second aspect. Irma (“Save Me”, 2014) and Sergey (“You Are The Only One”, 2016) would emphatically say, “Been there and done that.”
Ehhhhhhhhhh it’s so insanely generic. I also dislike anything even remotely country inspired. She’s got a good voicee, but she sounds a bit too shouty during certain parts in the live version.
I hope she doesn’t win, but if the international jury likes her she will, because the ppl of Sweden have already decided.
Innovative staging? LOL
@hakan are all Turks so rude and under-educated?
antranig is armenian so of course he is stupid
TURKIYE <333333
Sketchy grammar in the title.
Amazing how so few people can respect someone else’s opinion.
Chillun please, this discussion should be about Wiktorja. I give 1/10 and thats for the pale plum dress
@Antranig
I have to say your review is quite simply ridiculous. To find 0 merit in ‘As I Lay Me Down’ i find hard to believe. You even praise the production value yet your score is still 0/10.
As soon as I read your review I wondered immediately if you were standing for another finalist. Then I noticed you have Marietta 10/10.
I hope you understand that you are part of a jury, your job is to remain impartial. You are doing all of the readers a disservice.
What an ugly personality this Antranig has.
Horrible song – maybe i would have liked it better with another singer… cant stand her pitchy voice… Its one of the few songs from this years MF i will NOT listen to after the contest is over. It will not enter my top200 from this year. I do see her appeal though, she looks like a thousand bucks and has loads of charizma.
In Antranig’s defence, if he doesn’t like the song and if he wants to never hear it again, he said 0/cancelled. Its also about a person’s temper/nature/personality.
I respect his decision.
Not a fan of the genre so don’t really like the song but Wiktoria’s performance really lifts up the song.
Also @Antranig you’re supposed to rate the Artist’s performance of the song.
I think he mistakenly recorded himself singing ‘As I lay me down’ and rated his recording rather than Wiktoria’s song.
No offense.
I’m done with this Antranig, what kind sense of journalism is that? #FireAntranig
Agreed: I can totally understand why someone wouldn’t like this song, but there’s no way it deserves a zero. That’s a totally biased score.
Unlike “Save Me”, I liked this immediately. During her semi final performance she gave off major winner vibes. This is the one to beat in Sweden.
Btw, there’s no way that you could give this song a ZERO.
@ Briekimchi I’m surprised also with 0.. I don’t like the song, but it is not THAT bad.. seems immature and some emotional involving, not expect from jury member..
I hate this song and do not understand why anyone would like it. Having said that, I could not give it a 0. Definitely under a 5 though.
Although I like the entire wiwi team,
Antranig has to be my least favourite.
He is so biased in all his scores and half his reviews make no sense.
My score on Antranig as a juror: 0/10
Sincere request to the Article editors : please include the reviews of more credible jurors rather than Antranig.Its just a waste of space and the reviews of the more impartial jurors who write good reviews are lost.
Boring song and annoying voice. If it wins melfest, as a swede I hope we comes last this year. I hate this song.
Antranig you stupid dude or what??
Even this comment of mine ,
Warrants a score more than nought
Now the song also has rhyme and reason
So clean your ears before you score next season.
@ Maclaren
Thank you! If international jury will bury Jon & Aninia will be so sad. I’m tired of international jurors, they are there just because somebody has the ambition to make it look big & international.
Ok song. Good voice
The title really bugs me.
Shouldn’t it be ‘as I lay down’ or Lay me down or just lay myself down
Her hair is cool and she’s nice but I don’t get her hype she’s just shouting, pls don’t bring back avicii’s 2013 country pop
@Karla
Thank you, dear Karla, you made my morning by the joke about extraterrestrial forces 🙂 yep! Rooting for Jon Henrik here as well (and hope aliens will snatch Wiktoria and the bed instead)
I disagree with Antranig so much. This song isn’t lifeless, it’s the bare opposite. She brings it to life on stage. Her charm, the cute dancing, the entire staging is brilliant. But she isn’t my winner, I’d rather have Jon Henrik feat. Aninia or Mariette. But I wouldn’t be disappointed if Wiktoria does go in the end, she does deserve it.
Wiktoria didn t have innovative staging, didn t have pitch-perfect vocals (she made in semi final , 1 mistake in singing in last seconds of sang, before end of song).
She is also my favorite but for me she had better song last year.
It’s such a cute song! A vast improvement from last year, both song-wise and performance-wise.
This song is so boring and generic 2008-Taylor Swift-wannabe.
It is not Swedish music as it was written and composed by the British.
A good voice can still be annoying voice. I agree with Antranig.
A fifth grader could make more professional assessments than Antranig at this point. If Antranig fails to find anything positive at all about this song (and all the other songs he gives 0s and 1s to, which is like every fourth or fifth song), he should emigrate to a planet with just as good of music taste as his.
Honestly, I would never give a 0 to anyone, I think it’s a matter of respect for other people’s work, but I respect others that don’t agree on this
Wow all this hate for Wiktalent is NOT cute, y’all need some help to save you from your bad taste.
Just because you disagree with Antranig doesn’t mean you have to beat him down, people..
I personally disagree too. Wiktoria’s vocals are definitely on point and the song is catchy. My problem is with the lyrics…I somehow find them cringe-worthy and can’t look past them.
@Hsinaps – ”I think the major flaw in “As I Lay Me Down” is “Save Me”, if you know what I mean…”
I know EXACTLY what you think. Just like I said that Brooke Borg’s ”Unstoppable” is basically ”Golden”, then same way ”As I Lay Me Down to Sleep” is basically ”Save Me”. That said, on this occasion I don’t mind it that much. Somehow it’s still fresh, catchy on it’s own and Victoria brings an indisputable charm to the stage. This is my second favorite to win in Sweden.
While I agree with Antranig, I wouldn’t have given it a 0 score. Wiktoria has a great voice and that should amount to something.
I liked her song, performance, and staging from last year more.
Its crystal clear that Swedens right choice is Jon and Aninia, its so clear that I feel i’ve lost my time having to write these words. If somehow, Jon and Aninia are abducted by extraterrestrial creatures and they cant attend esc, the second best is Nano.
I hope that Jon Henrik is going to win this because I’ve found myself that I would rather have him or Owe than any of the other disposable, mind-numbingly dumb pieces of pop trash that are so typical of current Melfest quality. Anton Hagman, Benjamin Ingrosso, FO&O – little girls are going to vote for these a lot. Robin Bengtsson – another JT wannabe turns out to look like Robin Thicke. Boris Rene is uhm…there for idk…something. Mariette, Wiktoria – lifeless and unoriginal. Lisa Ajax – lifeless, unoriginal, dull and “I Don’t Give A” has some extremely stupid lyrics to… Read more »
Another piece of disposable, dated country-pop awfulness. And it is not a surprise Swedes and the general public loves this.
I would have given this a negative number for the originality but to be precisely objective I have to say the song is somewhat catchy and the production value is great so it is 4/10