Gruetzi mittenand! The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — has landed in Bern. We are ready to admire some ancient art at the Kunstmuseum, but also to revisit Switzerland‘s song for Eurovision 2017 — “Apollo” from Timebelle. Will the Greek god help Switzerland get back to the grand final or is it time to head back to the drawing board? Read on to find out!
Timebelle – “Apollo”
About Timebelle
Timebelle is a Swiss-Romanian band from Bern, consisting of lead vocalist Miruna Manescu, drummer Samuel Forster, and multi-instrumentalist Emanuel Daniel Andriescu. Their previous attempt to represent Switzerland at Eurovision, back in 2015, resulted in them placing second at the national final with “Singing About Love”. Three members have left the band since then, but this didn’t dim their light. Timebelle won this year’s Die Entscheidungsshow national final with “Apollo”. The song was co-written by the Swiss-Swedish siblings Nicolas and Alessandra Günthardt.
“Apollo” reviews
Chris: Another example of a revamp adding to a song, without taking anything away. “Apollo” sounds modern, but with enough flourishes to not alienate any older statesmen on a jury. Miruna sells the song brilliantly as the lead vocalist too. There are definitely going to be people who are happy to get behind this song. Switzerland really should have no trouble qualifying this year.
Score: 7.5/10
Mikhail: The only thing I like about “Apollo” is the bridge, but other than that this song does absolutely nothing for me. It is not memorable, it is a typical mid-tempo pop ballad. For me it’s just background music, because I can’t listen to it on purpose and I get bored of its “originality”.
Score: 3/10
Robyn: It’s so satisfying when Switzerland sends a good act with a good song. “Apollo” is a sweet, emotional love song. It tackles a lot of the same territory as many of this year’s ballads, but it has a stronger upbeat pop sensibility and a current electronic sound. Switzerland should be proud to have this as their entry.
Score: 7/10
Deban: “Apollo” may be good, but I love Timebelle much more. With each beat, Miruna Manescu puts her heart and soul into this track. However, underneath all of this, “Apollo” is fundamentally a middle-of-the-road effort that stirs nothing in me. When I think of Timebelle, I always hark back to “Singing About Love”
Score: 5.5/10
William: “Apollo” was considered by Azerbaijan for its internal selection in 2015. And for good reason: it’s got a light, breezy vibe with strong production that elicits tender feelings while making you want to bob your head. That Timebelle delivers it with charisma is a huge plus. The revamp has added electro elements that pull this firmly into 2017 and the bridge does much to give this life. I just wish those lively flourishes came earlier, as the song lags a tad in the middle.
Score: 6.5/10
Josh: Praise the heavens above that Switzerland have finally sent a quality track to Eurovision! The past two years have been dismal – and that’s an understatement. Timebelle are bringing a killer song to Kyiv in “Apollo”, and whilst it is another ballad, it’s got a great pop hook that is catchy and memorable. The entire group work harmoniously together and it’ll be great to have Switzerland back in the final this year.
Score: 7.5/10
Angus: The last two year’s Switzerland has been dead on arrival. So thank goodness this year Timebelle have returned to resuscitate Swiss hopes of making the final. The original version of “Apollo” was as limp as Rykka under her LED waterfall, but the revamp has elevated it, particularly the falsetto which should appeal to juries. This isn’t remarkable enough to threaten the top 10, but could squeak into the final.
Score: 6.5/10
George: It seems that Rykka was indeed the “last of her kind”, as Switzerland is approaching Eurovision a bit differently this year. “Apollo” feels expensive and really well produced. I definitely follow Timebelle and I hope it does really well. A sure qualifier and a quite decent entry. Welcome back to the Final, Switzerland!
Score: 6.5/10
In our Wiwi Jury, we have 38 jurors but only room for eight reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:
Anastas: 5.5/10
Andy: 7/10
Anthony: 7.5/10
Antony: 7/10
Antranig: 9.5/10
Bernardo: 7.5/10
Bogdan: 7/10
Dayana: 8/10
Edd: 6/10
Erdi: 7.5/10
Forrest: 6/10
Jacob: 4/10
Jason: 7/10
Jordi: 6.5/10
Jovana: 7/10
Kristin: 6/10
Luis: 8.5/10
Marek: 9/10
Matt: 4.5/10
Natalie: 7/10
Padraig: 3/10
Patrick: 8.5/10
Renske: 7.5/10
Rezo: 8/10
Sami: 9/10
Sinan: 9/10
Stanislav: 9.5/10
Steinunn: 6/10
Tobias: 1/10
Zakaria: 6/10
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 1 and a high of 9.5.
Wiwi Jury verdict: 6.81/10
What do you think of this song? Share your own score and review below!
I honestly think this song is super overrated and I am doubtful as to whether it will qualify. The melody is dated and the lyrics are cheesy, and the revamp has not really done it any favours. I must, however, congratulate them on the overall quality of the live performances that they gave at the parties and I hope their performance at Kiev will be of the same standard.
Can’t say if this song moves me in any way. So unnecessary for me. Last year I actually liked Rykka, still pity how song was killed on stage.
P.S. vocals are on point and they all look prety sexually appealing. I won’t be surprised if they’ll pass their semi.
Technically good song, one of those so-called ”radio-friendly”, but I’m not feeling it, sorry.. Chorus is catchy and her voice is good tho.
Maybe performance will elevate my score, but certainly not if they dress such beautiful woman in cheap dated dress and horrible hairstyle like they did in music video. On the other hand, I loved the performance in NF and those rose petals.
6.5/10
I’m not feeling this too much. While Timebelle was eventually gonna represent Switzerland one of these years and they present well on stage and have a good live, this song feels… fake. Most people won’t know about the rejected by Azerbaijan deal, but the fact that a band feels very much like many of the entries this year just makes it sound so cold and artificial. While polished and well performed, I can’t warm up, it just drags along and hits predictable peaks. They might squeak in the final, but I don’t expect much or even expect a qualifying spot.… Read more »
“I fOLLOw you, ApOLLO” gets me every time.
I hope the keep the rose petals.
Switzerland went with somebody who can sing this year! The song is nothing great but Miruna squeezes as much as possible out of it. She is fantastic, the song is meh but I think it has a good chance of qualifying.
I thought Mélanie René’s “Time To Shine” (2015) was strong enough to qualify. Unfortunately, the 2nd video for this song (introduced in April 2015) sold it so poorly, that a pretty decent stage presentation at ESC couldn’t dig it out of the deep hole that the video production team dug for the song.
The video for Timebelle’s “Apollo” actually sells the song better than did Mélanie’s video for her song. Unfortunately, I don’t think the song sells itself as well as I thought “Time To Shine” did. That’s why it sits at #30 on my scorecard.
Wow! I’ve been dissapeared, now it’s time to catch up. I would have liked to comment on the other Wiwi Jury reviews, but I don’t have that time! ‘Apollo’ was, arguably, the best song in the Swiss National Final and it’s really catchy, but it gets annoying after a few listens. Nothing special for me. I would like Switzerland to qualify after these years of non-qualification, but I don’t know if this deserve to do it amongst the other SF2 entries. Switzerland is currently my 25th. 5.5/10 PD: I’ve been in Alcudia (North of Majorca) for the last days and… Read more »
Poor Rykka gets crapped on. Such a great song last year, everyone just focuses on the staging. The studio version is so good!
Does someone know what she sings about? The lyrics mean absolutely nothing.
It’s about devotion to “Apollo.” So either it’s about her love for the Greek God Apollo, or its a metaphor for her strong devotion in her chosen man. Does that help?
Miruna says that the song is basically about following your dreams. What Apollo is can be many different things depending on the person, so whether it’s music or whatever she says to keep following your dream no matter what life throws at you
Thank you Stephanie. 🙂
Ehh…. I was disappointed with the final version. It feels too casual and soft all-around, vocals and instrumental. Hopefully they’ll do a good job live.
one of my personal favourites this year, i love this song, it’s so classy yet so simple 🙂
there is no political message which is great, and Miruna is simply one stunning looking girl
9.0/10 a easy qualifier for me
“There is no political message…”
Are you sure? I guess it depends who “Apollo” is, haha! 😀
Apollo is Angela Merkel.
Do you think that only Putin has cards to play?
A beautiful interpretation! 😀
They haven’t left the group. They just didn’t need an accordeon, a guitar and bass for Apollo, that’s why there are only three of them, but they take the others with them and I know that at least one of them is full supporting them.
“I follow you Apollo” and I definetely follow this song with great enthusiasm! The last swiss entry I really liked was in 2014! So I’m hopefull it will qualify! It has Germany in the same semi, not to mention Romania! It’s maybe not enough, but they can have a good result! This can’t be left behind! As for the song itself, it was my favourite in the national selection in Switzerland! To be honest, there was no competition! All the songs were average with “Appollo” somehow being distinguished from the bunch of songs! It’s catchy and the revamp really improved… Read more »
Sadly, us Germans don’t vote for our neighbours!
I really enjoy this song. It has got some freshness, is positive and even after a few listens it doesn’t get old.
Unrelated to the song, I can’t understand why this Tobias is still on the Wiwi-jury. You can like a song more or lese, but he rates half of the songs (including this one) with a 1/10. I’m sure there would be many more and better people who would deserve his spot…
The jurors are only having fun; they don’t take it seriously. If you would like to see real change, please e-mail Wiwibloggs. There have been enough public anti-Wiwibloggs campaigns recently; there’s really no need to start another one.
P.S. Tobias is super hot. 🙂
Tobias is only sort of cute, and he’s only cute for a wiwiblogger. He’s obviously very unprofessional.
Here’s a link to his Instagram, I believe: https://www.instagram.com/tee.swe/
I hope so much this will come to the final! This is catchy, but at the same time has a class beside it. Really hope they will deliver on staging, I really liked the rose pedals at the NF, in my top 12 🙂 I give it a 7,5/10
Lights, camera, action. In a smokey 40s style bar, this performance is held and is breathtaking. Admittedly, I found this song merely nice when the national finals were on. However, it’s a grower. The lyrics are so beautiful, the melody is so nice and the singer is astounding. It’s a mid-tempo pop that sounds both contemporary and vintage and hits the right spot. I really hope Switzerland manages to qualify this year. 10 – ITA, FIN 9 – UK, AUT, POL, IRE, SWI, NOR, MOL 8 – BLR, CRO, MAL, AZE, FRA, LAT, ROM 7 – EST, DEN, POR, GRE,… Read more »
Right from hearing all the Swiss finalists’ songs from the Live Check, I knew that Timebelle had the strongest song of the six. I wasn’t really a fan of “Singing About Love” from 2015, but they’ve come back strong with this one. Miruna’s live vocal from what I’ve seen of the pre-party videos is consistently strong, the crowds seemed to love them, and with the right staging the performance could really be elevated (given its place in SF2 it’s a mid-tempo song in between two uptempo songs). This could be the one that will snap Switzerland’s two-year streak of bad… Read more »
I love this a lot, it’s actually my second favorite. In my opinion, it’s a strong and catchy song. I don’t know if Switzerland qualifies, I really hope so.
9/10
Switzerland will stay in the semis once again
Wow. Way to high. The most generic song of this edition! And the lead singer has problems to sing in the right tone too.
No, I predict an exit in de semi. Sorry.
But….pffff…no
There should be no need for Switzerland to be locked in their semi-final again. If it turns out Timebelle heads back to Switzerland early (in other words, staying stuck in their semi-final), I’ll be extremely angry! The first time I watched the music video for “Apollo”, I LOVED it! 🙂
8.5/10
Strong ballad. I expected higher scores, it’s unfortunate to see this get so many 6s… I hope it makes it to the final, because Miruna can sing, and she’s singing a great song.
It’s a great song, but I really wouldn’t call this a ballad. No wonder people complain about too many ballads, when they call every slow or mid-tempo song with love lyrics a ballad. IMHO – Ballads (Finland, United Kingdom, Ireland, Malta, Slovenia, Australia, Netherlands, Georgia, Albania) Often called ballads, but probably aren’t: Switzerland – mid-tempo pop song Denmark – mid-tempo pop song Portugal – slow tempo love song, but not a ballad Czech Republic – slow tempo pop-jazz song Poland – slow tempo pop/alternative song Estonia – mid/up-tempo schlager I am not a musical genre expert, but these songs don’t… Read more »
Taking the word “ballad” to be short for “pop ballad,” the tempo of these types of songs can technically be anything up to 100bpm. However, some musicologists state that anything faster than 85bpm is instead classed as “medium slow.”
The tempo of all Eurovision 2017 songs (in bpm) can be found here: https://youtu.be/lIyhwRDGWN4
Switzerland has an average tempo of 85bpm, so technically it can still be called a “pop ballad,” although the tempo is actually “medium slow.” I hope that helps.
Tempo-wise – definitely. Thanks 🙂 However, I think that not all slow songs are ballads. Poetic definition clearly states a more concrete narrative, with characters and plot, or at least close to it. You can actually tell what happens in a song like it was a story; with characters, chronology and cause-consequence activities. For example, Finland’s song has a main character (singer) who has a specific story behind her. We find out her lover abandoned her by divorce or death and she feels all alone. She sees a bird singing below her window which reminds her of her previous love.… Read more »
Wikipedia [Ballad]: “In the later 19th century, the term took on the meaning of a slow form of popular love song and is now often used for any love song, particularly the sentimental ballad of pop or rock.”
“Apollo” is about devotion, which I think is sentimental. Devotion to a person or to a deity, that is indeed the question. 🙂
Liking this entry and really hope it gets the love it deserves. The Swiss don’t have a great track record when it comes to recent Eurovision results so it would be great for this one to be in the final. It deserves it!
As a side note, I really like both Swiss entries in the last two years. Even though they both came last, I think they’re good songs when considered in isolation. And though Rykka had bad staging, I thought it was good for Melanie Rene.
It’s a nice song. Probably my co-favorite Swiss song this decade, along with 2014. I have it as a borderline qualifier though. It’s a 7 for me.
But the main question is, which dress Miruna will wear? I’m sure it will be very eye popping. 😉
“Apollo” is largely constructed from groups of 4 chords repeating over and over again. In the Verses these are: G-min, E-flat, B-flat, D-min. In the Choruses the chords change slightly to: G-min, E-flat, B-flat, F. The only main difference comes the end of the Extension (“What are we now if we never tried?”) where there exist only three chords that sound like inversions of G-min and F chords. The key is therefore G minor throughout, with some hints of B-flat major in places. If the song is harmonically simple and unremarkable, the melody almost makes up for this by being… Read more »
This is one of the very few entries I saw this year in the pre-national stage. My first reaction was quite good. The melody is pleasant, and it grows towards the end. Of course, it imitates the likes of Ryanna and felt a bit like of a by-product of those slick and luxurious American (Swedish?) productions. But I felt it had a lot of potential. The new version doesn’t make justice to the song. It would need a much bolder drier rhythmic section to make it remarkable. Instead they opted for a much more generic pop-rock feel, which washes out… Read more »
This is the easy-listening of a ballad. The national final performance was incredibly atmospheric. If they can take it a step further they can seriously contend. 01 Italy | 02 Norway | 03 | 04 United Kingdom | 05 Austria 06 Albania | 07 | 08 Bulgaria | *09 Switzerland* | 10 France 11 Serbia | 12 Sweden | 13 | 14 Denmark | 15 Moldova 16 Poland | 17 Portugal | 18 Latvia | 19 Cyprus | 20 Iceland 21 Azerbaijan | 22 Australia | 23 Greece | 24 Czechia | 25 Armenia 26 Netherlands | 27 Belarus |… Read more »
I don’t think they will qualify.
I love Apollo, it’s my top 3!
I hope Switzerland qualifies this year…
My country! As I said before, nice song but not engaging at all. Eurovision is a contest where people actually have to pick up their phones and vote for a song, and to trigger that a song needs to have appeal. I don’t think this song has any… It’s more of a “Hum, ok, not bad. What country is next?”. It gives me “Melanie Rene” feelings: not a bad song but no one voted for it. If this qualifies, it’ll be a bottom 10 in the final anyway. I also struggle with the fact that no one in Switzerland has… Read more »
Exactly my feeling as well. People like it, but not enough to vote for it.
To say that your country’s song is not engaging, when most of other people say it is…maybe you need to think twice. Try it, it doesn’t hurt.
I’ll try to think twice, promise.
… Ok, done: still not engaging. But thanks for your contribution! Have a nice day. 😉
I’m sure people in Switzerland are nice and open minded, but I can’t help but thinking that if there are more like you, maybe this is why it was so hard for your country to send something decent in previous years.
1. Your initial comment was nonsense: my point is that this song is not engaging. It doesn’t mean people don’t like it, it means that they will not vote for it despite liking it. You wrote that “people said it was engaging” (no one is saying that) and that “I should think twice” (which is totally stupid: I have obviously thought about this song, it was released ages ago). Forgive me for answering with a little irony, I hope I didn’t hurt your feelings. 2. Great, in two sentences you managed to squeeze in a personal attack, to insult my… Read more »
Your country has a good entry and you are not supportive, that is disgusting. Many fans say that Slovenia, San Marino, Lithuania, are weak, but if this countries qualify, everybody will accept that. Because at the end of the day all songs are fine. Start supporting your country, you robot.
1. “Many fans say that Slovenia, San Marino, Lithuania, are weak, but if this countries qualify, everybody will accept that.”… Yes, I will accept that too. And so what? How is that related to my comment? 2. Just because it’s my country doesn’t mean I have to bow down in front of the song. I liked Sebalter and Mélanie René, I just think this one is a bit weak-ish (as were all songs in our national final). That’s not “disgusting”, that’s called objectivity. Moreover, as I said, no one in Switzerland knows that Timebelle exists, and their song is a… Read more »
”Moreover, as I said, no one in Switzerland knows that Timebelle exists, and their song is a reject from the Azerbaijan’s selection from 2 years ago. So it’s not like this entry is the national pride of Switzerland or anything… ”
So this is all about. You dislike it because is foreign. Why don’t you write a song to save your national pride?
lol… I said several times that this song is nice, but apparently you read “I dislike it”. Fine, think whatever you want, it’s not like I care. How many times do I have to write “Have a nice day” for you to understand? GO AWAY, go knitpick on someone else’s comment. Jeez! 😀 Have a nice day!
Why do you insist that I should have a nice day? Leave my day alone. And you like it or not, the ”unknown” Timebelle will show your country how to qualify.
(Sorry, it doesn’t make me reply on Gato’s comment from mobile)
Gato, go get a life.
5/10
I don’t think they will qualify, SF2 is too hard, but they can do it because Switzerland has “good friends” in that SF.
The whole selection in Switzerland needs a revamp, maybe use internal selection for a while until some better ideas come up. Eurovision is changing and average pop songs will have no future competing against well-produced ones.
The Netherlands, Belgium, Latvia, Austria and now FYR Macedonia learned the hard way.
I really like Apollo but I am not sure if they will reach the final. Semi 2 is very competitive so they will need some good staging to stand out from the crowd.
I don’t get Tobias’ score of one. Okay, I respect your opinion. But one!! That is like hearing to an utter failure. I don’t get it and never will.
Someone could check but I am pretty sure Tobias gives 1s or 2s to almost half of the songs. Impressive how someone can out-Antranig Antranig.
Great great GREAT. This should geth Switzerland to the final again, I love it so much 😀
8.5/10
Also Wtf Tobias why an one?
The melody of this song is nice… But the instrumental is not that powerful… I don’t know if they will make the final, but they deserve it.