Lithuania: Wiwi Jury reviews Saules Kliošas and Twosome

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 Saules Kliošas with “Man gaila” and Twosome with “Hello”. Did these songs make us want to say hi back? Read on to find out!

Saules Kliošas – “Man gaila”

“Man gaila” reviews

Antranig: Saules has the look and the voice to go very far at Eurovision. “Man gaila” has some great moments — particularly the instrumental break before the last chorus — and I love Saules’ slightly awkward dance moves. There is a strong Baltic flavour here and I can always support singing in a language other than English at Eurovision. As a whole though, the song feels a bit forgettable.

Score: 6/10

Lukas: A simple, stylish and very chic performance from Saules Kliosas. “Man gaila” is a modern and contemporary song. It does stand out in this selection. The Lithuanian language works so well with the lead singer’s unique voice. If only  the chorus would be just a little stronger, then this could be one of the best entries so far.

Score: 8/10

Raphael: “Man Gaila” is a perfect example of the havoc that a mid-tempo pulse can have on a song. Neither fast enough to be energetic or fun, nor slow enough to be touching, this song only lets Saules’s voice warm, when it could pop or simmer so easily. The synthy chorus definitely brings out the band’s character, but at such a forgettable tempo. Character is unfortunately not enough of a save.

Score: 4/10

Robyn: “Man gaila” has a really cool modern sound, very Baltic. Juste is a good performer, with both the vocal talent and the stage skills to give a commanding performance. But somehow it isn’t all working. I suspect the problem is that it’s too much Spotify and not enough stage.

Score: 7/10

William: This seems like a song in two parts — jazzy, sultry verses that are full of promise and a rather flat chorus that doesn’t live up to what came before. O-o-oh-uh-oh just doesn’t cut it. Worst of all this three-minute tune feels like 10 minutes.

Score: 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 4 and a high of 8.

WIWI JURY VERDICT: 6.59/10

Twosome – “Hello”

“Hello” reviews

Antranig: The best part of “Hello” is that it enables me to unleash my inner nerd and point out every flag as it pops up on screen. The five people on stage appear to be five strangers who met at a bar and decided to take part in karaoke after a few rounds of alcohol. There is such an endearing quality about this entry — it is far from perfect but it is easy to appreciate it for what it is. Simple yet enjoyable.

Score: 6.5/10

Lukas: This is highly annoying and live vocals are quite weak too. However, what helps this entry is that it is very catchy and easy to remember. After just one listen the chorus gets stuck in your head for at least few days. With more interesting and playful staging this could be much better. But now it is just very mediocre at best.

Score: 5/10

Raphael: Novelty acts are always welcome at national selections, but “Hello” just isn’t novel enough. Twosome simply list a whole bunch of different ways to say Hello around the world, which doesn’t tick off any comedy or originality boxes. The odd staging (specifically background dancers in bizarre getups) might be funny in another song, but is very out of place in this context. The chorus is pretty catchy, though, and at least I learned some new words!

Score: 3/10

Robyn: “Hello” is a cheerful, upbeat song, but the lyrics sound like they’re designed to teach schoolkids about the different greetings of Europe. Not that kid-friendly pop is a bad thing (Pollapönk nailed it in 2014) — but it still has to be good music. “Hello” feels too simplistic and sounds like a self-consciously “Eurovision” entry from a decade ago.

Score: 4/10

William: “Everybody talks in different language, but in case you didn’t know, we try to say hello.” I’d prefer goodbye. This reminds me of a song your elementary school teacher would play to teach remedial French or Spanish to a class of six-year-olds. The singers cannot hold a tune and, while they are clearly nice chaps, they have the charisma of wood. That’s why it’s a no —err, non, nein, nyet, không!

Score: 3/10

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 2 and a high of 7.

WIWI JURY VERDICT: 4.45/10

See our list of Eurovizijos Atranka 2018 rankings

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