Sveiki…or should that be Hola? Our Wiwi Jury may be in Latvia, but today’s entry has some definite Spanish flair to it. Our team of music un-professionals are reviewing Jenny May, with her track “Soledad”

Fans of national finals gone by may remember Jenny from her attempt to represent Latvia in 2006. Since then, she’s been nominated for “Best Pop Album” in 2010, as well as “Best Song” awards. Her next album will be Latin-influenced, as seen in “Soledad”.

Jenny May — “Soledad”

“Soledad” Reviews

Robyn: “Soledad” is such a shameless “Despacito” clone that it’s only really missing a Bieber guest verse. This isn’t a case of plagiarism, just some songwriters who have taken a whole lot of inspiration from 2017’s massive international hit. But while they’ve managed to capture the technique of Luis Fonsi’s hit, it’s sadly lacking any of the attitude of the original. The sunny Latino vibe is an odd match for the breezy Baltics, but here it is.

Score: 4/10

William: We’ve heard it before and we’ve heard it better. “Soledad” is derivative, monotonous and gets lost in the very long shadow of “Despacito”. This feels less “Altice Arena” and more “Cinco de Mayo BBQ where you drink too much and wake up in your neighbour’s yard”. Even so, it is a bit of a mood-lifter….

Score: 5.5/10

Kristin: Nope, nope and nope. After a whole summer of “Despacito” everywhere in all versions possible, there comes a point where you just can´t take it anymore! This is just a bit too much of a worn out copy and paste.

Score: 3/10

jenny may supernova 2018 2Antranig: Not sure if it’s Riga or Malaga, but Jenny May is delivering Iberian flavour to the Baltics. “Soledad” is distinctive and vibrant. It’s an easy, “forget your worries and have some fun” track. It feels like a better incarnation of Mirela’s “Contigo”. Everything works here and if it comes together with a colourful performance on stage, this could be a bold but ambitious choice for Latvia.

Score: 10/10

Jonathan: The first “Despacito” rip-off in the 2018 national final season, and no doubt it won’t be the last. “Soledad” is one of the more interesting songs in this year’s Supernova line-up and definitely has some personality to it. Yet, while I am all for international music reaching as many people as possible, surely some of the home audience should be able to speak the language. How else would Latvians be able to relate to this if it was their entry?

Score: 5/10

Edgars: Sure, “Soledad” sounds very much like “Despacito”, but so do 90% of latino songs. It’s not a valid argument to use to criticise this entry. But that’s not to say the song is any good. We’ve faced some difficulties before with a Latvian accent on English songs. Now, Jenny is ready to take it to the next level with a Latvian accent on Spanish.

Score: 3/10

Chris: To give Jenny credit, it’s not like she’s taking an easy option with “Soledad”. Her back catalogue includes Spanish-language songs, so this is no big curveball for her career. Yes, it’s very weird for it to be in a Latvian selection, but that’s not the real issue. “Soledad” just lacks either energy or anything to make it “cool”. Fine for a three minute bop, but not much more.

Score: 6/10

In our Latvia Wiwi Jury, we have 14 jurors but only room for 7 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:

Luis: 3/10 

Jordi: 5/10

Bernardo: 5/10

Natalie: 6/10

Lukas: 7.5/10

Jovana: 5/10

Steinunn: 3.5/10

 

 

 

 

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 3 and a high of 10.

WIWI JURY VERDICT: 4.88/10

So our jury aren’t suffering from a case of Spanish fever with Jenny’s entry. Let us know all your thoughts on the song in the comments section below!

Read all our Supernova 2018 Wiwi Jury rankings here

Check out more Latvia Eurovision news here

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blondboybc
blondboybc
6 years ago

Deserves to stay in the semifinal….clearly not a match for the likes of “Esamiba”!

Héctor
Héctor
6 years ago

Wow! Antranig? A 10, really? My god. That music style isn’t even Iberian, it comes from Latinoamerica. I could understand someone likes this bland, uninspired, cheesy and weak song, but give it a 10. That’s almost a crime.

I’ve talked many times about this song, so I won’t do it again. I just only hope the “Despacito” fever doesn’t carry this song to the Supernova final or to Lisbon.

1/10

Carll
Carll
6 years ago
Reply to  Héctor

Don’t be so hard on him. he’s probably never head Despacito and can’t recognise Soledad as a rip off

Antranig Shokayan
Editor
6 years ago
Reply to  Carll

I can assure you I have heard and dislike “Despacito” with a passion. Just because it’s in Spanish doesn’t make it a “Despacito” rip off!

Thanks for reading!

Mana
Mana
6 years ago

90% of latino songs sounds the same? Really? Omg…

Ulului
Ulului
6 years ago

Horrible song. What’s with all these artists trying to do Reggaeton at Eurovision: Norway’s Alejandro and now this. Both sound like tired copies of Despacito. Please don’t bring Reggaeton to Eurovision. Keep it where it belongs and sounds authentic — in Latin America.

Jeff
Jeff
6 years ago

W t f . How can this song can be related to decpacito? Tell me?! Every other latin song is now being titled as ‘decpacito’ ? Cmon peeps, it’s not a bad song, but also not the best. No need to be so critical

Mana
Mana
6 years ago
Reply to  Jeff

Robyn is right. Soledad is VERY similar to Despacito. Yes, it’s not a bad song, but it’s just a copy. Btw, songs of Shakira, JLO or Enrique Iglesias doesn’t sound like Despacito and they are latin songs. So not, not every other latin song is now being titled as Despacito.

Omar Deniz - Mexico
Omar Deniz - Mexico
6 years ago

I was reading the reviews before listening to the song, and I was thinking “come on, those despacito comparisons are only because the lack of knowledge of latin music” but IT’S EXACTLY like despacito.
Really bad song imo.
AND, who was in charge of her music video? They made terrible spelling mistakes!!! (I found at least 4 mistakes)

AngieP
AngieP
6 years ago

Does it sound like “Desspacito”? For real.
Not a fan of the song. It’s not powerfull and it’s not for Latvia. I wouldn’t want them with this song at Eurovision.
4/10

Yellowman96
6 years ago

It’s just as cringe as Contigo from Mirela

AB
AB
6 years ago

I can’t make it past 1:00, and I do try. It’s so predictable, and I’m not a fan of latin music anyway. I didn’t get the fuss over “Contigo” and I never got the appeal of “Despacito” and I definitely don’t feel the vibe of this. Sorry…

Roelof Meesters
Roelof Meesters
6 years ago

VERY lazy, if it would be catchy I wouldn’t mind, but This is really bad and I really cant listen to it past the first chorus.
2.5/10

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
6 years ago

Far too similar and not even an interesting imitation at that. Simple song with not much room for improvement with a surprising live performance. Feels like a lazy effort.

One of the jurors gave this a 10/10? While I am all for personal taste….

Kris
Kris
6 years ago

I don’t like Despacito and i don’t particularly like this one either. Buy it’s not the worst too.Seems catchy as a non-spanish speaker though

A 6/10

Ewan Reynolds
Ewan Reynolds
6 years ago

I literally can’t bring myself to listen to more than a minute of this without clicking off and I have really tried.

I wouldn’t mind the obvious rip-off as much if something else had been brought to it to spice it up but it’s really just a low-rate despacito and nothing more.

3/10

Colin
Colin
6 years ago

I actually like it. It’s undoubtely a simple song, but it’s very catchy. It’s like Mirela’s Contigo indeed: sunny and gets stuck in your head, even if it’s not the sharpest in the lyrics department. 6.5/10

As for the Despacito references; I definitely see the resemblence in genre and language, but it’s not a ripoff. We hear about plagierism way to often compared with the actual cases.

Kris
Kris
6 years ago
Reply to  Colin

What?? Bye- la la la
If you think this and Contigo are remotely of the same quality

.
.
6 years ago

Antranig always has the worst taste and opinion. Wish he was fired already by now. So many people hate him, including myself.

AB
AB
6 years ago
Reply to  .

Last year’s slogan was “Celebrate Diversity” so you clearly missed that memo.

Daniel Slater
Daniel Slater
6 years ago

I love this song
I think it’s something so different from Latvia
9/10

Richard
Richard
6 years ago

It’s fun to hear all the ”Despacito” comments. Maybe the drums are similiar but the rest? A good choice for Latvia!!! ? 10/10.

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
6 years ago

A four-chord song that takes the Despacito formula and does absolutely nothing original with it whatsoever. There’s a bridge near the beginning, but there’s lazy repetitive harmony after that. Also, lazy word-only lyric video. Some catchy Spanish lyrical rhythms are the only aspects that save this from a 2 mark. 3.5/10