Today the Wiwi Jury – our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — travelled to Rome to admire the beauty of the Colosseum whilst trying to avoid being pick-pocketed. After we realised we still had all our belongings, we breathed a sigh of relief and got together to review the Junior Eurovision 2017 entry for Italy, “Sclelgo (My Choice)” by Maria Iside Fiore. Did Maria’s choice make us consider our options? Read on to find out…
Italy’s Junior Eurovision 2017 song
“Scelgo (My Choice)” reviews
Angus: You don’t get much more inspirational than “love will kick all the fear away”. Such an earnest message might sound odd coming from a teenager, but Maria pulls it off, flitting seamlessly between Italian and English. You do have the sense the bridge could do with more oomph (a la “Cara Mamma”), but that’s something they can hone on stage in Georgia!
Score: 6.5/10
Chris: Italy seems to have found a formula for Junior Eurovision, and it’s certainly present in “Scelgo”. Bring a talented performer with a song designed to pull at heartstrings. So far, that’s resulted in a win and a third place. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Maria reach a similar result, either. The song feels less saccharine than “Cara Mamma”, although the English seems more stunted in “Scelgo”. For what it is though, Maria’s not going to do Italy any disservice.
Score: 7/10
Jordi: Once again, Italy has proven how the Italian language is so beautiful and lyrical. As also seen with last year’s entry by Fiamma Boccia, Maria brings tenderness and emotion to us. Again, the song blends Italian and English together well and it keeps building until putting us on cloud nine. Matched with an enchanting melody, Maria delivers a truly powerful message about “make a better day”. Love is the answer, and love as much as you can. Beautiful! She’s really sweet and inspiring – and will probably stand out live!
Score: 8/10
Jovana: “Scelgo” is a perfect mixture of current trends in contemporary music and of sweet-natured children’s pop. It apparently was a good choice from Italy and the right choice for the song’s performer, Maria Iside. She co-wrote it and delivers the lyrics as if they were coming from the bottom of her heart – when she sings in Italian. The inclusion of English is the reason I didn’t give 10 points to this song. Another minus to it is that, if not coupled with the right staging, it may come across as a bit dull to the viewers.
Score: 9/10
Robyn: The only way this could be more Italian is if it was sung by a middle-aged singer with a gravelly voice, straight outta Sanremo. But instead, we get Maria who brings a lighter, sweeter touch to the song. It feels longer than three minutes — which isn’t necessarily a good thing — but the strength and purity of Maria’s voice make it very enjoyable to listen to.
Score: 7/10
William: Living, singing, dreaming, dancing…and slaying it vocally! It’s clear that Maria will have one of the voices of the year. On top of that she oozes confidence and poise — whether splashing on the beach or hitting those high notes in the studio, she seems totally unfazed by the cameras and competition.
Score: 7/10
Our jury for 2017 consists of 20 jurors, but we only have room for 6 reviews. The remaining 14 scores are listed below.
Antony: 4/10
Antranig: 9/10
Bernardo: 7.5/10
Cinan: 6/10
Deban: 7.5/10
Jonathan: 6.5/10
Josh: 6/10
Luis: 6/10
Marek: 9/10
Mario: 6.5/10
Natalie: 8.5/10
Renske: 8.5/10
Rezo: 8/10
Sebastian: 5.5/10
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 4 and a high of 9.
I liked it but it is really Sanremo. The chorus sounds more like a bridge and there is something missing from the composition. The last minute or so was good, however!
Nice song. But that’s kind of all. There’s nothing really special about it. But it’s child-friendly, so I give it a 6,5/10.
It grew on me. Very cute and inspirational. I think it can be a dark horse.
7/10
It’s my country’s song and personally I’m not feeling it at all… it sounds like it was made for an Antonella Clerici show from the 00s. You guys are generous with kids’ scores! 🙂
This song actually reminds me of Cara Mamma. The song is well sung by her, the message was really well delivered, and overall a good song!
9.5/10
I like the song!! But last year’s song was stronger. She’s also not very fluent in English it seemed and that shows in how the emotion vanishes in the English bits. A 7/10 nonetheless.
My issue with the song upon first listen was the English lyrics. Not that I dislike bilingual songs per se, but compared with Cara Mamma last year, the English parts are quite an odd fit as they don’t seem to blend well with the rest of the song.
It could be a grower but for the time being, Italy will have to win me over with the live performance.