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.

WIWI JURY SCORE: 7.75/10

SEE OUR LIST OF SWITZERLAND 2018 RANKINGS HERE

FOLLOW ALL OF OUR SWITZERLAND EUROVISION NEWS HERE

21 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Purple Mask
Purple Mask
6 years ago

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

AngieP
AngieP
6 years ago

Good song, pleasant to the ear. Not bad at all.
6.5/10

Akmens
Akmens
6 years ago

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

mocosuburbian
mocosuburbian
6 years ago

switzerland has a huge chance to qualify with this and I hope swiss voters realize that

Héctor
Héctor
6 years ago

Another overrated entry. It’s enjoyable but we have listen hundreds of songs like this one.

6.5/10

Rich
Rich
6 years ago

My Swiss favourite this year. Go Alejandro!

Roelof Meesters
Roelof Meesters
6 years ago

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

Jo
Jo
6 years ago

Kinda boring…

Adam
Adam
6 years ago

I love it! This is the best song they have in National Final

Marco
Marco
6 years ago

So overrated

Yossarian
Yossarian
6 years ago

Pleasing to the ear, though I can’t say I love it. I really want Switzerland to qualify, this year.

Alex
Alex
6 years ago

Clear winner of the Swiss selection! <3

MACZ
MACZ
6 years ago

The best they have!!! I love it and hope it will win <3

Weißbrot
Weißbrot
6 years ago

7.75 is too much guys….It’s nothing new. 6/10

Kris
Kris
6 years ago
Reply to  Weißbrot

Yeah….I agree.

Kris
Kris
6 years ago

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

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
6 years ago

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!

Kris
Kris
6 years ago

I will be throwing Stones if the wiwijurors give a blasphemous score to it.

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
6 years ago
Reply to  Kris

Yeah, someone’s getting lashings if Stones didn’t get a higher score than Crappass.

Kris
Kris
6 years ago

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.

vis
vis
6 years ago

This is my winner in Switzerland SFs