Lithuania: Wiwi Jury reviews Godo and Ieva Zasimauskaite

The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continues to review the qualifying acts from Lithuania’s Eurovizijos Atranka 2018. Next we listen to Godo with “Fire Fountain” and Ieva Zasimauskaite with “When We’re Old”. Did these songs make us feel old? Read on to find out!

Godo – “Fire Fountain”

“Fire Fountain” reviews

Barnabas: Fire shines best in the dark, and “Fire Fountain” proves this well. Godo’s voice is surrounded by the dark, meticulously crafted pop track, a marvellous way to meditate about life in the lyrics. However, while the whole backdrop and the lighting highlight the mystic atmosphere of the song, the whole feeling is ruined by the cellophane sleeves on the singer’s arms, which don’t really seem to make any sense.

Score: 6/10

Lukas: Now this entry took me by surprise in a good way. The staging is very cool and I love Godo‘s movements. It might seem weird at first but the way she does them it just works so well with this song. Godo has a very good voice as well. “Fire Fountain” is an alternative song and it does stand which is always a good thing. Maybe in the end it could have even more power but for now it is one of the strongest songs and performances so far.

Score: 7/10

Natalie: This is minimalism at its best. Godo’s radiant voice and passionate delivery are all we need here to tell this is a really magical song. Although the added soft electro backing doesn’t hurt at all. The only thing I don’t like is that the song struggles to go anywhere, and seems to lack a bit of energy and enthusiasm. It just seems to stop and fall a bit flat towards the end. But, nevertheless, this is a solid song and I really hope this does well.

Score: 7/10

Robyn: There’s a rule of thumb for Eurovision: you can sing, you can dance, but you can’t sing and dance. Godo seems inspired by Lorde, both musically and stylistically, but Lorde never does her trademark daggy dancing while she’s singing. Godo’s interpretive dance ends up as a huge distraction from the song. I’d like to see it given better staging, something that lets the song shine.

Score: 6/10

Sebastian: I’ve been waiting for Godo, and boy, has she delivered something intriguing. From the very get-go, you’re drawn to Godo’s futuristic outfit (who needs sleeves with cuffs like those) and almost dollish, youthful makeup and hair. The performance is visually stunning – however, “Fire Fountain” as a song simmers along and boils a little too late, with the only deviation in her song from about 2:30. But the bones of an amazing track exists, and a revamp could make this something extraordinary.

Score: 8/10

In the Lithuanian Wiwi Jury, we have 13 jurors but only room for 5 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:

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 4.5 and a high of 8.

WIWI JURY VERDICT: 5.55/10

Ieva Zasimauskaite – “When We’re Old”

“When We’re Old” reviews

Barnabas: Here comes the love song which seems to be actually authentic, as it comes with an almost perfect package: Ieva’s voice and stage presence carry such a huge amount of cuteness, that it probably reminds viewers of a special romance. . This is well backed by the soft but precise piano and guitar work, making the whole track very heartfelt, a song that people could really get emotional with. And if there is some improvement to be made, it is the English pronunciation. Hearing “when we’re aaaaald” may take some listeners out of this heavenly mood.

Score: 8/10

Lukas: I love Ieva as an artist and that she always stay true to her own style. For the third year in a row, she has gone with a strong lyrical song. In her performance, Ieva gives a lot of true and pure emotions with her unique voice. However, the song has some flaws and it could be improved. Because so far it is quite monotonous and needs a big climax at the end. I hope that Ieva will do some changes because she has a good chance this year to win it.

Score: 7/10

Natalie: Awwww, Ieva! This girl seriously knows how to build a ballad. I really love this song because it’s pure sweetness. It doesn’t have any glitter or fireworks, there are no gimmicks to convey that this is a beautiful song. It just stands on its own young feet as a really pretty emotional ballad. And yes, it is sung incredibly wonderfully. I’m not sure it could win, but I really wouldn’t mind this representing Lithuania at all.

Score: 8.5/10

Robyn: There’s something strangely captivating about “When We’re Old”. It’s not perfect, but Ieva packs so much emotion into her delicate voice. It’s like a masterclass of how to convey emotional intensity without getting all shouty. It’s a deserved winner of the first heat and it will be interesting to see how it holds up as Eurovizijos Atranka progresses.

Score: 7.5/10

Sebastian: It’s difficult to fault “When We’re Old”. Vocally, it’s near perfect, and the fragility of Ieva’s voice is compelling. The staging is super intimate and compliments the performance well. But, as a package, “When We’re Old” has been done at Eurovision. “When We’re Old” just lingers where Emmelie de Forest’s “Only Teardrops” track started. The latter grew into something anthemic, while the former just plods along without any musical differentiation or innovation. It’s a nice piece, but not memorable.

Score: 5.5/10

In the Lithuanian Wiwi Jury, we have 13 jurors but only room for 5 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:

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 5.5 and a high of 8.5.

WIWI JURY VERDICT: 7.14/10

See our list of Eurovizijos Atranka 2018 rankings

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