Today the Wiwi Jury – our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continued our tour of Switzerland by visiting the beautiful city of Geneva. Whilst feeling empowered after seeing the Palace of Nations, we took a break to review “Compass” by Alejandro Reyes – his entry for Die Entscheidungsshow 2018, the national selection for Switzerland at Eurovision 2018. Is Alejandro’s compass guiding us in the right direction? Read on to find out…
Alejandro Reyes – “Compass”
“Compass” reviews
Bernardo: Alejandro’s voice is very sweet and inviting and “Compass” doesn’t disappoint. It may not explode in a huge pop production but its extremely well produced for what it is. The Latin vibe is there but the composition is very different from the “Despacito” rip-offs we’ve been hearing this season. It’s an earworm. Lisbon with him!
Score: 8/10
Bogdan: It’s difficult not to review this song without referencing Justin Bieber. Alejandro’s song and singing style are clearly inspired by the Canadian megastar, and herein lie both its cons and pros. Cons: it’s not highly original, it’s un peu passé, and some lyrics are downright dumb. Pros: it’s impeccably produced, it hooks you instantly, the singer’s brilliant in every way, millennials will eat this up, and it gets even better with repeat listens. The “Compass” clearly points to Lisbon!
Score: 9/10
Josh: Alejandro Reyes is bringing some Latino-reggaeton slayage to Die Entscheidungsshow this year. “Compass” ticks all the boxes for a quality summer hit. Alejandro sells the heck out of this song. He’s got a great voice, great style and a cute smile. I wouldn’t mind grabbing his compass and heading south. (To Australia, of course. Ya filthy animals.)
Score: 8/10
Jovana: “Compass” is a song that could easily pass as a song by Ed Sheeran. At the same time, it manages to be the best feature and the biggest flaw with this entry. It is contemporary and well-produced, and sounds like an instant radio hit. However, many viewers might think it sounds a little derivative from a lot of the radio hits from last year.
Score: 7/10
Robyn: If this had been entered in last year’s Swiss national final (0r 2016, or 2015…) it would have been the sure winner. But this year there’s some tough competition and “Compass” is under pressure. Alejandro is a brilliant performer, exactly the sort of act that Switzerland should send to Eurovision and “Compass” is largely a good song. But song is let down by its chorus, especially with its minimal, repetitive lyrics. This would easily get Switzerland into the final, but it won’t guarantee a good result once they get there.
Score: 7/10
William: If we’re talking studio cuts, then this is 100% my winner. Yes, Alejandro nods to Justin Bieber and Shawn Mendes. But he also serves on-point English, smouldering vocals, a feel-good guitar riff and the non-cringe use of the phrase “GPS” in the lyrics. As the song progresses it takes more shapes than I initially thought it would, building and weaving to keep things sufficiently interesting. While I’m not sure about the oh-oh-oh backing, this is generally looking promising.
Score: 8/10
Our jury for 2018 consists of 16 jurors, but we only have room for 6 reviews. The remaining 10 scores are listed below.
Antranig: 7.5/10
Barnabas: 4.5/10
Chris: 7.5/10
Deban: 8/10
Jonathan: 8/10
Jordi: 6/10
Luis: 7.5/10
Lukas: 8.5/10
Rick: 9/10
Sebastian: 8.5/10
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 4.5 and a high of 9.
His “Compass” is the part of his body that points to the person he fancies. Think about it, but not too hard. 🙂 This is a good composition, but is up against some stiffer competition. 7/10
Good song, pleasant to the ear. Not bad at all.
6.5/10
The unanimity of the jury is baffling to me. It reminds me of every bs song in 2017 entry that left you feeling “meh”. Dragged verses, non-existant chorus and predictable, uninspiring “beat” after simply stating the title of the song. The compass is showing the wrong direction music is heading towards nowadays.
A generous 5/10
switzerland has a huge chance to qualify with this and I hope swiss voters realize that
Another overrated entry. It’s enjoyable but we have listen hundreds of songs like this one.
6.5/10
My Swiss favourite this year. Go Alejandro!
This is contemporary, modern and very 2017. Yes, 2017, not 2018, but 2017. This would do AMAZING on the charts if it where sung by Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Shawn Mendes etc. But it’s also something we have heard before. Switzerland needs to take risks if they want to be in the frinal again, and this is just not the one. (Secrets and Lies is the best choice). Still, this has a great production, great singer and potential, but it’s not risky enough.
7,5/10
Kinda boring…
I love it! This is the best song they have in National Final
So overrated
Pleasing to the ear, though I can’t say I love it. I really want Switzerland to qualify, this year.
Clear winner of the Swiss selection! <3
The best they have!!! I love it and hope it will win <3
7.75 is too much guys….It’s nothing new. 6/10
Yeah….I agree.
I like the song for the first 2 mins!! The last minute not so much…..they should work on that a little I guess. The song is based on current radio trends and definitely not a bad listen.
A 7/10
This is like, a blatant ripoff of Shawn Mendes’ There’s Nothin’ Holdin’ Me Back, which would actually be a nice entry if Alejandro could sing more than one note. I’m excited to see your average for Redlights and Stones!
I will be throwing Stones if the wiwijurors give a blasphemous score to it.
Yeah, someone’s getting lashings if Stones didn’t get a higher score than Crappass.
Yup….Zibbz got a song with attitude and are the clear public favorite too!! And they have the possibility of making Switzerland qualify….like really.
This is my winner in Switzerland SFs