The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — has reached the end of their Estonian journey where we have listened to and ranked the 20 songs competing in Eesti Laul 2018. Last is Elina Netsajeva with her operatic song “La Forza”. Was the force with us? Read on to find out!
Elina Netsajeva – “La Forza”
“La Forza” reviews
Antranig: “La Forza” is beyond epic. This is otherworldly elite popera that should blow the competition out of the water. This must be the winner of Eesti Laul 2018 because nothing comes close in terms of quality. It doesn’t stand out as a traditional Eurovision entry but neither did the last two Eurovision winners. I could see Elina winning Eurovision and taking us back to Tallinn and it would be well deserved.
Score: 10/10
Barnabas: “La Forza” is definitely a standout track, and it is, (despite being a crossover opera track) a fan favourite as well. The vocal techniques are amazing, and if someone, then she will hit those high notes! Eccezionale!
Score: 9/10
Deban: A soaring pop-opera ballad with an impressive crescendo. When listening to “La Forza”, positive adjectives pour out of my core. It is grand, epic, serene and beautiful. Elina’s voice takes you on a smooth journey to soprano’s heights. Even though this genre of music isn’t the main course at Eurovision, when it’s cooked well, it deserves to come out of the kitchen.
Score: 9/10
Lukas: Opera isn’t my cup of tea but Elina makes me really start to like it. From the start her voice just captivates and brings you into the journey of this song. Elina has a voice of an angel and she shows it in this song. Her high notes give me goosebumps. In recent years opera-inspired songs have done well at Eurovision. If Estonia chooses this act I think that the final is guaranteed for them.
Score: 8.5/10
Rick: “La forza” sounds like it was recorded on another planet. Mystical, magical and very professional. Not only because of Elina’s angel-voice, but also because of the production. It grabs your attention immediately. This would never be my personal overall favourite, but I’d still like to see it at Eurovision to have some variety.
Score: 8/10
Robyn: The song will appeal to people who like vocal theatrics. If big “Sound of Silence” money notes are out of fashion in pop, a song like “La Forza” is there to pick up the pieces for people who like ladies with lungs. Full respect to that audience, but this just sounds like a bunch of vocal tricks to show off the singer’s range.
Score: 4.5/10
In our Eesti Laul Wiwi Jury, we have 15 jurors but only room for 6 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:
Angus: 8/10
Chris: 4/10
Cinan: 4.5/10
Jonathan: 9/10
Josh: 7/10
Jovana: 6/10
Luis: 6/10
Sebastian: 7.5/10
Steinunn: 5.5/10
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 4 and a high of 10.
Will definitely do as well as Amaury Vassili and Malena Ernman a few years ago – and doesn’t deserve a higher ranking. Heard a thousand times. At least this is the song for all those with a high need for ostentatively displaying their pseudo culturalism since they perceive it as something like classical music. Conclusion: that girl’s definitely a gifted singer – but that’s it. The song is nothing
Diva Plavalaguna from the “The Fifth Element” would be an amazing operatic act in the ESC. This one is just plain boring.
We need more Russians on Eurovision stage! Go Alekseev and Elina!
Opera is always a risk at Eurovision and this is no exception. It’s also obvious that if it wins, it will be a polarizing enrty.
Personally, I’m not a fan of this genre, though I loved Il Volo in 2015.
“La forza” is a beautifiul song and Elina can definitely sing. I’m not sure if it’s the best choice but I’ll wait for the live performance to have a clearer opinion. Sometimes, you can’t understand much from a strudio version.
7/10
Very interesting indeed. Polarising songs can win Eurovision (look at last year)!
I believe in everyone being entitled to an opinion but sometimes, people are just flat out wrong. This is brilliant. I would have thought its qualifying was a mere formality and was already thinking about whether Salvador’s points record was in trouble. However, after seeing the UK’s abysmal choice, I am not taking anything for granted anymore.
Best choice for Estonia, but it isn’t Il Volo Part II.
Brilliant choice for Estonia, and it’s clearly better than Volo
that’s, for the moment, the only possible contest-winning song heard this year (so, nope, not esamiba, even if i hope latvia sends madara to lisbon) – even if there’s plenty more to come.
epic, soulful, time-stopping and, well, kinda universal. that’s, also, what we (have to?) request from a eurovision contestant. 9/10 imo.
Not really sure. Good voice of course but the song itself sounds to me a bit over-perfected or too much polished. I don’t know how to say, but I miss kinda something authentic.
Nevertheless, this is indeed polarizing and I think this and Stig’s song could make the race.
I like that perhaps the first time the “other language” songs aren´t just english. wait, have we had any other languages before, I think not, at least not on Eesti Laul
but it gets a little sleepy after a while
There’ve been a bunch of French songs from non-French-speaking countries (Cyprus and Austria come to mind), Italian has been in the game a bunch (Croatia just last year, Latvia), a few Spanish. Some do a ton of languages (Romania in 2007). But yeah, English is usually the default “other language.”
Actually Eesti Laul has had a French entry before. It was Lune Sournoise.
yeah I thought we might have had something, but I couldn´t remember
Guys! You’re forgetting our estonian “Leto Svet” XD
I like to keep my mom updated on what’s going on in Eurovision and when this song was released I told her Estonia is gonna win. Hearing this gave me the same feeling as hearing Occidentalis Karma for the first time. Dunno if that’s a good sign or not.
The song is easy to understand and vocal manustupration aside, it doesn’t come across as overly pretentious. Italian obviously tends to do well at Eurovision and so does Northern sterility. I’m not sold on the dress yet, but that might very well change.
Some people told me that Estonian juries doesnt like opera ? The same people told me that estonian jury destroyed every opera entry who was in ESC ? is that true ? So this can give a chance to other songs
Really overrated, IMO. People are going crazy for this simply because it’s an opera song in a contest usually full of pop music. In an opera contest this would be just average. People tend associate opera as being highly superior to pop.
Reminds me of 2011 when France sent an opera song which everyone was convinced would win, but eventually it wasn’t even in the Top 10.
I don’t think this would do very well at Eurovision because as we have seen many times, especialy with Il Volo, the juries hate opera for whatever reason.
”Hate’ is the wrong word…. Il Volo was still ranked at 6th place with the juries. That’s not ”hate” lol.
… and journalists who attended the jury show in 2015 attested that Il Volo’s vocals were not on point that night
loool
Honestly am I seriously the only person that hates this song? And I wouldn’t consider it a Eurovision winner at all, in fact if it was up to me, this would be staying in the semis. I’m genuinely convinced I heard some other song than what everyone else heard because I don’t see where the hype is coming from at all.
You are not the only one 😀
why she sings in Italian, lol
This actually finished quite high. I expected it to be lower.
It’s quite a divisive song and not as good opera pop as Opera Skalla. But better opera obviously. I like her vocals and it will be a different song for sure. I’d be happy if it won in Estonia but for me it’s not a standout favorite. It’s tied with another song but the odds seem to suggest that she has probably already won. As soon as the semi-1 show was recorded Estonia jumped so much in the betting odds.
An 8/10
You know that not every song have to include pop elements to be good, right?
They have tried making this opera pop….its just not enough pop is what I wrote
and it doesn’t have to be “enough pop”. wth
La forza is a great song and has potential for great staging but for Eurovision’s sake I hope this doesn’t win the competition. Although Jamala and Salvador both delivered good songs with soulful presentation this current trend of winning songs does worry me a little bit. For ESC’s mainstream appeal it would be crucial to have a winning song that tops the charts in Europe and all over the world. Last time we kind of saw that was in 2012 with Euphoria. There’s always a place in Eurovision for these so called “timeless” songs, but for the brand, a more… Read more »
What is a Chart succes against a Eurovision victory? Nothing. There are hundreds of Mainstream Songs every year, but it takes more to be a Eurovision winner! At Eurovision you have 3 minutes to cause a Magic Moment… To create a timeless Moment. 3 minutes to make Europe feel the Eurovision Feeling. Eurovision winners don’t have to be Commercial, they just have to be that special Moment once in a year. That’s what it’s about, if you ask me!
Chart success is the measure of the ability of the song to capture people’s mind much after the contest. And by success I mean longevity and not the highest point the song received. Eurovision wins have happened by fluke just because people like the staging/performer/hate Russia.etc
Chart success is what determines how successful a song has been and it is pertinent that we as voters help the longevity and credibility of Eurovision by voting for songs that have longevity beyond one three minute performance and even being performed by a different singer .
But have you actually listened to the Songs that are in the Charts nowadays? They are all completely generic, boring and Sound the same. This is totally NOT what a Eurovision song should be aiming for.
I do agree that some of those chart friendly artists have really generic songs such as Drake and Post Malone, at least IMO. BUT there is a quite good diversity of songs in the charts nowadays. I would more than happily hear Havana, Shape of You or Despacito on a Eurovision stage as they have the required catchiness to create a great song.
“For ESC’s mainstream appeal it would be crucial to have a winning song that tops the charts in Europe and all over the world. Last time we kind of saw that was in 2012 with Euphoria.” 1. I’m from the “rest of the world”. Conchita and Salvador made more of a dent here than Loreen. Not saying they’re topping charts or whatever, but at least they’ve been mentioned and have fans. The only thing we heard about Eurovision 2012 were the russian grannies. 2. If you wanna hear radio-friendly songs, you can just turn on the radio. If Eurovision wants… Read more »
Loreen was literally the reason eurovision became real. She is said to have brought on the modern Eurovision. She won with a song not a back story.
Salvador and conchita obviously make more headlines than loreen cause they won due to a backstory.
Amar pelos dois and Rise like a phoenix didnt make more headlines than Euphoria though!
sorry for the fans but I don’t understand the hype about this kind of classic song, nothing new here, ok good voice but what else…….. pretentious and not in native language of estonia….. so next
La Forza video that you guys have shared has been blocked because it went against Estonian Broadcaster’s CC rights. Insted you guys should share official lyrics video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k-8O0QQhlk)
Certainly not a winning SONG. But then again, so many have won without having a winning song, unfortunately.
Estonia: if you know what’s good for you, SEND THIS SONG. I’ve been having a hard time deciding my favorite song so far, but I’ll have an easy #1 if this goes to Lisbon (actually, no: if Esambia goes for Latvia, those two will be duking it out for me until the semis). Side note: when’s the last time two of the hottest countries in the game were Estonia and Latvia? 2002?
2015?? With Stig and Elina from Estonia and Aminata from Latvia
Oh right!
I don’t remember people caring about Love Injected until the semi-final, and by that time no one expected Estonia to win anymore… and when Estonia was favorite to win in 2015 pre-rehearsals, no one cared about Latvia! lol
Never lol, Latvia was a surprise winner in 2002! Possibly in 2000, but again I don’t think Latvia was expected to get 3rd. In 2015 it was the close again but, no one expected Latvia to win until after rehearsals, which is when no one expected Estonia to win! So I don’t think they’ve ever been faves to win at the same time
I agree with you though, if this and Esamiba win, this might be the first time Estonia and Latvia will battle it out against each other as favorites to win 🙂
remember amaury wassily from france with the same kind of song, big favourite of bookmakers in 2011 and out of the top 10 at the grand final, I predict the same for this.
Estonia is currently 3rd in the betting odds to win Eurovision and I’m 100% certain that this song is responsible. Both Elina and her song are stunning and I hope this makes it to Lisbon! 10/10
This song is the reason why Estonia is 3rd in the betting odds.
All said.
Who’s first? Latvia? I don’t know if my brain could handle Esamiba and La Forza at the same contest (but I wouldn’t complain!).
Sweden is 1st, as always. Bulgaria is 2nd because of its recent success, but if they actually knew the mess they’re gonna send it’d be 30 places below.
But we haven’t even heard all of Sweden’s songs yet. Or Bulgaria. Or Russia. They could be the worst songs in the world but they’re topping the booking just cuz of their track records?
yeah! Because these are the succesful countries. There are always bets even in the early Season, maybe not many but they are there. And when almost no song is selected… isn’t it much smarter to bet on Sweden, australia, Bulgaria or Russia than to bet on Macedonia or San Marino?
I mean, fair. Estonia isn’t a safe bet yet, I’d say, since we don’t know their entry. I’d put them that high if we knew for a fact that La Forza was their entry (here’s hoping!), but they haven’t qualified for the last two years. The rest I get, especially for Australia (since I know enough about their choice of artist to say that she’ll probably make it to the final). Holding out for poor lil’ San Marino though. I hope this 1 in 360 thing works out for them (helps that their songwriter managed to get Austria a spot… Read more »
Why you watch betting odds only in february ? Its too early. Look they place Sweden and Bulgaria first while we dont know their song. They also place Spain 6th and France 15th O_o Its stupid. The most stupid thing is the odds on Switzerland entry Stones, last of the odds 😮
Switzerland is not expected to win. And towards the end of the show Stones had become 3rd in odds with a lot of bets going on Redlights and Compass causing lot of people to lose money and hence odds for Switzerland crashing.
I’m afraid the Eesti Laul jury is going to stop this masterpiece on its way to represent Estonia at the Eurovision, since juries tend to vote for the most generic and stereotypical songs in every national final. But I’m glad I had the opportunity to listen to this extraordinary song. 9,5/10, hope thay Estonia will prove me wrong and see Elina at Lisbon in May
It seems that you haven’t seen enough Eesti Laul. Usually jury in Eesti Laul is the one that tends to vote for more unusual entries and public is the one that keeps making generic choices..
Yeah, but still their votes tend to be quite awkward. Still can’t go over the fact that “Meiecudimees uks Korsakov laks eile Latti” was FOURTH at the jury votes! Moreover, Italy’s Il Volo (another opera act) literally FLOPPED with the Estonian jury back in 2015
“Meiecudimees uks Korsakov laks eile Latti” should’ve won that jury vote, and the public vote too. Would have been amazing to witness that performance at the Eurovision semi-final (and again in the final, because it definitely would have qualified!!) ^__^
Estonian jury is the weirdest thing ever! In 2014 Sandra Nurmsalu won jury in semifinal and was 2nd last in final with the same performance and no bum notes.
Kui tooled poorduvad
She is currently winning Eurovision 2018.
I’m not the biggest “La Forza” fan, but when “Legends” get a way higher grade than this one… sorry Wiwi Jury, but I have to feel there’s something very wrong about it.
I agree with what Robyn wrote though. I would give it a good grade, but I have the same feeling that the song was built around Elina’s vocals as opposed to Elina’s (extraordinary) vocals serving the song. Anyway, I think it will be a deserved Eesti Laul winner if she can show the same strenght and passion when performing live.
La Forza is simply a magical experience! It reminds me of Plavalaguna’s song in The Fifth Element. To put it short – my kind of music! I am simply in love with everything about this song. If it gets picked, it’s a serious contender for my ESC winner, and judging by a lot of reactions, actual ESC winner as well. Tallinn 2019?
10/10
Colin, totally agree with you. Same as you, I also had a clear preference for ‘Song for dad’ previously for Malta. Body, seems like we have similar good taste in music 🙂
BTW did you like Ermal Meta’s song in Sanremo by chance? This would be my favorite as well
Thanks 🙂 Yeah, seems like we do have something in common. I haven’t heard Sanremo ’18 entries yet. Most of them usually tend to be good.
Are you kidding? Plavalaguna was a great act to watch and the song itself was amazing. This one is just too boring.
Estonia’s only shot this year. I don’t love it, but it’s pleasant.
I don’t know why, but I love this song. Her voice is so high and clear that it sounds like an instrument.
I have to agree with others lmao La forza is far superior than Legends… miles ahead really!
Agree. But somehow Wiwbloggers almost always prefer uptempo songs. It’s fact I just accepted in time. Ballads and slow tempo in general are most of the time about a point lower than uptempo entries of similar quality. Sure, it’s not a rule, but it usually turns out that way.
Just have a look at how low Amar pelos dois was last year…
Yeah, but I don’t think Salvadors score he received from the wiwi Jury was that good. I actually don’t take the wiwiblogg scores as a scale… They aren’t often right. Say Yay also totally failed, right?
I think so. They can come close (Sweden came second in their 2015 poll, behind Estonia) but looking back, they’ve only gotten it right once (naturally, with Euphoria in 2012, the Grand High Priestess of Obvious Winners). A lot of their favorites don’t even qualify (San Marino was their second-favorite in 2013! I mean, good song, but when in Eurovision history has anyone put SM that close to victory?).
I just checked : Salvador got 6.56 from the Jury. Well, they weren’t that Close…. xD I feel like the wiwijury often tends to give strongly overwhelming or underwhelming Reviews. There are kinda too extremes: horrible and amazing. That’s not the case for everybody here, but for some… *cough* Antranig *cough*
The thing is what doesn’t matter is the average ! What matters is the highest points. If a song gets all 8s …its average will be 8 but likely no one is voting for it.
A song gets 4 10s and 6 5s. The average is 7 but 4 people are gonna definitely vote for it . hence 7>8 here in votes!
If people could down vote a song Salvador wouldn’t have won.
WHAAAAAAAT
This masterpiece got 7.12 and Legends got 8.39????!!!
I think that more bizzare is that Stig got 7.5… Eventhough he has most generic entry up to date.
This is the biggest joke ever what are you doing here…
You always overrate western countries and underrate eastern countries.
I like this song 🙂
Btw, do you have any informations about Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro being disqualified from Sanremo? (Plagarismus)
RAI confirmed the song will stay in the competition, thanks God, I love the song and wish Ermal the top success this year
A bit pretentious, but better than Asanda’s song.
Some of the reviews got me like “Whoaat”. 4, 4.5 for this? This is clearly one of the best songs, an beautiful operatic track which is to me a masterpiece even compared to big names classic opera singers degree. Everything from her singing voice to her Italian pronunciation is perfect, and I believe it should win even if it’s not a pop friendly song, but it’s special and it’s not something you can hear every day.
Do you think Estonian audience can do the big mistake of voting for someone else than Elina ? It would be a big drama
well, Estonia is 3rd in the betting Odds. I wonder how the Odds would look like if Estonia chooses someone else….
I fear that Estonian public will keep making dumb choices. It was all thanks to public that Verona got into the Finals and later into the Superfinal. And in the end it didn’t even reach to finals in Eurovision. Tnx public vote 🙂
A beautifully arranged pop-opera aria. This is first class music that is perhaps so good that it feels slightly contrived and snobbish. I adore the Italian lyrics, and Elina’s voice is perfect on the track. My only concerns are that it’s a bit slow and that tge piercing soprano whistle register at the end will irk some people. My second favourite for Eesti Laul. 9/10
Which song is your first favorite?
Misty. 🙂
I love that song.
It’s a good song.
i’m with Robyn on this one- Elina’s vocals are stunning and if she does does go to Lisbon, she could potentially be the best vocalist we’ve ever witnessed on the ESC stage. Yet, I find the song incredibly bland and it does feel like it is purely to show off Elina’s vocal tricks. Additionally, though some say it may win the contest, I have my beliefs that it may not even go there- although Elina is well known, would the Estonian public send a song which is not in one of their native languages?
They send english every year I don’t see why it could be a problem.
That’s a fair point- I think just because it is not a very regular thing for a Baltic country to do, although there have been instances before- Bonaparti.lv for example…. Also I should have phrased the point a bit better.
Because Italian is THE language for opera. And she nails it perfectly. We Italians would be very proud if she brought this to the contest!
According to Italians she nails the language- also she is an internationally recognised opera singer. Her clout is beyond domestic albeit in a niche market which puts her well ahead of most of the competition.
Also she’s of Russian origin so could benefit a lot if Markus doesn’t win supernova.
She will probably benefit from the Italian vote for sure- when Zoe sang in French, she scored highly from the French vote, so don’t see this being any different for Elina.
Oh sure. ”Legends” gets 8.39 Points and this amazing masterpiece gets 7.12? Sorry, but that’s kind of ridiculous. It’s a clear 10/10 for me. This could win Eurovision.
We’ll see which one ends up higher at the contest, since this one seems very likely to go.
Don’t jinx it! I got lucky with Zibbz and Almaia, I don’t want this one to miss out.
You got lucky about a trash entry like Tu crapción, so you’ll get lucky about a quality song to balance it out.
Well gee, thank you. Here’s hoping my terrible taste doesn’t affect your good time.
You know you can disagree with me about a song without making me feel bad for liking it right?
And hey, my 100% satisfaction guarantee has gone sour twice now, although Storm and Taboo will probably be excellent.