Eurovision You Decide 2018 poll UK

In just a few hours time, the UK’s Eurovision: You Decide 2018 will decide the country’s act for Eurovision 2018. Ahead of the show — hosted by Mel Giedroyc and Mans Zelmerlow — the Wiwi Jury has been reviewing the 6 competing songs. Now that it’s all said and done, we have our winner: Asanda, with “Legends“!

She may only be 16, but Asanda serves up attitude like a seasoned performer. Part Whitney and part Mariah with a little Nicki Minaj thrown in for good measure, she’s got it — and she’s givin’ it good. With a score of 8.39, she’s a runaway winner with our Jury as well. See what we thought about her and all the artists below:

Wiwi Jury: Eurovision: You Decide 2018 Reviews and Rankings

1. Asanda – “Legends” (8.39)

The best: Alright girls! It looks like United Kingdom is heading back to the top 5 this year — but only if they choose this song. Absolutely blown away with that sound (which is at once totally out there and yet so mainstream). It’s easy to imagine this on radios all around Europe and to see the audience dancing in Altice Arena. Get it, gurrrl. (Cinan, 10/10)

The worst: It’s easy to see why people would get excited over this. By the UK’s standards, this is modern, poppy and fun. But look at “Legends” for what is it. It’s a 16 year old girl singing lyrics like “we be legends” and “I’m feeling fame”, performed to a mishmash of an instrumental that can’t make up its mind on what genre it wants to be. (Josh, 4/10)

2. RAYA — “Crazy” (6.89)

The best: RAYA oozes personality and she has all the makings of a pop diva. “Crazy” might not be the most original of songs, but sometimes you don’t need to change the battlefield to win the war. The song achieves everything it sets out to do with aplomb and this will get fans across the UK on the dance floor. (Antranig, 9/10)

The worst: “Crazy” may take you to the dance floor, but it brings nothing new to the pop-music table. Raya sings well in the studio version. However, it springs up a few concerns as to how she might deliver this live. Nonetheless, the chorus here is seriously catchy and that is a great sign for a Eurovision entry. (Deban, 6/10)

3. Goldstone — “I Feel the Love” (6.39)

The best: Okay, so it’s effectively just an early-era Little Mix song, but that’s not a bad thing. The entire thing feels identifiably British in production and style, which might resonate well with juries and televoters alike. The song is missing a final big “moment” towards the end, but if the Goldstone ladies can nail their harmonies live, that could be enough of a wow factor alone. (Chris, 7.5/10)

The worst: “I Feel The Love” reminds me of the British pop trio, Stooshe. Unlike Girls Aloud, who ripped up the British charts for over a decade, this effort is bubbling under the chart radar. Shouty in parts, and frantic in others, “I Feel The Love” loses steam with repeat spins. (Deban, 4.5/10)

4. Jaz Ellington — “You” (6.11)

The best: There´s some serious Sam Smith vibes going on here. Jaz is smooth, yet a strong vocalist and the song just floats without effort and leaves a warm feeling. True, the lyrics are bittersweet, and perhaps a little bit mean. “I’m going to tell her how perfect she is. I´ll just do it in the morning, and add the fact that she´s not you, which will suck..for her.” Such a dreamboat. (Kristin, 9/10)

The worst: Vocally, Jaz is almost flawless. But “You” is one of those songs that is incredibly divisive. On this end, it sounds like generic and ‘soulless’ gospel soul. Lyrically, it’s so full of cliches, made all the more cheesy when delivered by Jaz’s strong vocals – the only redeeming feature. Without sounding too shady, it’s a B-side to a modern day Mariah track. Not good. (Sebastian, 4/10)

5. SuRie — “Storm” (5.61)

The best: There’s something brewing in “Storm”, certainly. It’s just whether or not the live performance will help unlock some of that. Right now, there’s lots of good ideas – particularly with the verses – but it does feel like there’s a missing link in the middle. The UK has proven they can revamp a song by now though, so if SuRie delivers something great live with this version, it could only get better. (Chris, 7/10)

The worst: Clean Bandit meets Malta’s MESC. There are good ideas here, but they’ve flirted too much with clichés and common places and the result is an average lovechild. This doesn’t make any impact, it just passes you by and two minutes after it ends, it’s gone forever. The UK can do much better than this. (Luis, 4.5/10)

6. Liam Tamne — “Astronaut” (5.25)

The best: From that Scandinavian anthemic melody, to the Alan Walker style post-chorus, this really is “generic Eurovision song” at its best. My only issue (other than the atrocious lyrics) is that the song is simply too Norwegian to be representing the UK. (Edd, 8.5/10)

The worst: Liam has a gorgeous voice — it’s smooth, silky, sexy and soothing. When he says “let me take you far away,” who could refuse? And while his talent is top-notch, the song feels beneath him. The lyrics are cringe and the melody generic, so much so that it renders colourful Liam into something more black-and-white. He deserves better. (William, 5/10)

The six acts will compete in You Decide tonight, live from 20:30 CET. You can watch the show live on BBC2. Acts will home to impress the public at home, whilst there’s also a panel in the arena who will give their critiques.

What do you think of the You Decide acts? Do you think Asanda is a lock for victory? Let us know all your thoughts here in the comments section!

Read more UK Eurovision news here

44 Comments
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Charli Cheer Up
Charli Cheer Up
6 years ago

I feel like half of the voters who watched You Decide last night preferred simplicity over stage production. I just pray that we don’t end up like Germany’s Levina with Simple Life. I hope SuRie can use her ESC experiences with working for Belgium to help the UK.

E.r
E.r
6 years ago

i really thought had we sent Asanda, and Legends with a bit of vocal practice, she would of got us a brilliant result, her vocals were the only thing wrong with the performance. its different, unique, and would of got a lot of votes and she had my vote for sure. Surie can definitely sing, but if she is going to get us a good score on the scoreboard, she’s got to do more than standing still and really interact with the audience, and make sure shes not forgotten. however the song is definitely a Eurovision type song, and the… Read more »

oldschool
oldschool
6 years ago

Asanda the big winner 8.39 lol surie 5.61 ! very very good prediction wiwi !!

Colin
Colin
6 years ago
Reply to  oldschool

It’s not a prediction. It’s an aggregator of their personal opinions.

oldschool
oldschool
6 years ago
Reply to  Colin

Biaised thanks to mr antranig as usual

SadButTrue
SadButTrue
6 years ago

UK again on the bottom 5! Hahah

Sabrina
Sabrina
6 years ago

After watching every performance, I still think that’s a pretty bad selection of songs. So I hope at least they pick one of the most talented singers of the group (Jaz, SuRie or even Goldstone) and do a great revamp just like they did last year with Lucie’s song.

PS: Mans is funny as hell!

Escfan96
Escfan96
6 years ago

My top 6 after the live performances:
1. Jaz – “You”
2. Goldstone – “I feel the love”
3. SuRie – “Storm”
4. Raya – “Crazy”
5-6. Asanda – “Legends” – that was such a dissapointment, she can’t sing
5-6. Liam – “Astronaut”

Leo M
Leo M
6 years ago

SuRie has to win, she absolutely nailed it. Asanda and Jaz were very underwhelming

Colin
Colin
6 years ago

The positive about everyone is how they all come off really in love with their entries. Whatever WE think of them, THEY seem to love them, and that’s always a plus.

Alex
Alex
6 years ago

I would vote Asanda still. Don’t be fooled by the crowd

Alex
Alex
6 years ago

Goldstone killed it but the song just didn’t get the crowd riled up as much as Storm.

Sabrina
Sabrina
6 years ago

SuRie killed it. Such an expressive singer. I even forgot I didn’t like the song!

Colin
Colin
6 years ago
Reply to  Sabrina

Surie was amazing. Song is a mixed bag for me, but with that performance / charisma and public response, I think it actually may win.

Personally I’d still send Jaz Ellington, but I’m afraid that comments did him no favor.

Sabrina
Sabrina
6 years ago
Reply to  Colin

I’m here wondering if there’s a way to save “Storm” with a revamp. But I would also pick Jaz, because his song is better. Or even better than that, I would invite them to perform a duet with a new song. 😛

Alex
Alex
6 years ago

Storm is coming up especially cheesy to me, and I personally don’t understand the crowd reception at all. I wish Surie came with a less generic song.

Anabela
Anabela
6 years ago

Oh God.. Asanda were terrible live. She won’t do well if they are gonna select her

Alex
Alex
6 years ago

Jaz of course killed it vocally. Absolutely phenomenal vocalist. I want to repeat my comment from an earlier thread though: I think his songwriters have let him down with such a basic melody and chords, and he really deserves to go to Eurovision with a more interesting R&B track than this.

Alex
Alex
6 years ago

I thought Liam had amazing vocals. I realize now his song reminds me of “Most Girls” by Hailee Steinfeld. A good song to be inspired by, and a good performance.

Asanda seemed to be out of breath a fair amount but she still had a convincing performance. And she’ll have plenty of time to refine her performance if she gets selected. Still a top song.

oli
oli
6 years ago

You can’t watch outside the UK? bye, girl…

KE2018
KE2018
6 years ago

Asanda sounds amazing live!

Salvadorable
Salvadorable
6 years ago
Reply to  KE2018

She wasn’t good vocally. She was out of breath before the first chorus. She needs to take jogging. :p

Matt
Matt
6 years ago

People should remember this is supposed to reflect Wiwibloggers opinions not the general consensus. Asanda is the runaway favourite, but Raya being so much lower doesn’t reflect the general consensus I don’t think, but at the end of the day it isn’t really supposed to, it’s an incredibly small sample size

Colin
Colin
6 years ago

Does anyone have the link to the stream? Also, is it 19.30 or 20.30? It says differently on different places. Thanks in advance.

Mark C
Mark C
6 years ago
Reply to  Colin

20:30 CET (19:30 local time), and I don’t know if people outside the UK will be able to watch. (Certainly not through the official BBC site at least.)

Joe
Joe
6 years ago
Reply to  Mark C

To me, the most exciting thing is checking Wiwibloggs the day of a final and seeing the site’s crashed. That can only mean one thing: we have a new entry!

Marc
Marc
6 years ago
Reply to  Colin

You can try this site out https://tvcatchup.com/watch/bbctwo ?

Colin
Colin
6 years ago
Reply to  Marc

Thank you 🙂

frenchbaguette
frenchbaguette
6 years ago

i am not looking forward to anything for the UK this year, we’ll see !

btw slovenia started to release snippets of their songs , and it’s pretty cool 😉
4 snipets by day so 12 so far 🙂

beccaboo1212
6 years ago

I thought so! 🙂

Eve
Eve
6 years ago

Only Asanda and Jaz stand out, don’t like the rest.

Colin
Colin
6 years ago

International jury seems to be the ‘it’ thing to do on national finals last few years. Personally, I believe there are pros and cons to using them. PROS – More objective, stepped-aside look to the contest, not being influenced by someone’s local status, likely to be professionals in their job, a good preparation for actual ESC, where foreign juries will be looking at songs. CONS – Less likely to have sensibility towards local language and culture, rather advancing ‘safe’, English-language pop songs that can be heard anywhere, as opposed to more specific, ethnic songs. Also, unlikely, but still a possible… Read more »

NickC
NickC
6 years ago
Reply to  Colin

Good point Colin, but for the UK, we will have an English song either way 🙂 So they better use an international jury….:-)

NickC
NickC
6 years ago

Legends will flop harder than Emanecer or Glorious. Who wants to bet?
This is the worst selection of the year, by far, with only Jaz bringing something interesting to the table.

Laburnum
Laburnum
6 years ago
Reply to  NickC

Malta and Norway’s selections are much worse, could be because they are more disappointing though

Oci
Oci
6 years ago

Will there be a live stream on YouTube for viewers from outside the UK?

Stephanie
6 years ago
Reply to  Oci

If so, brace yourself for people talking about Spain every two posts like during the Swiss final

Marc
Marc
6 years ago
Reply to  Oci

You can try this site although im not sure if it works outside the uk or not. https://tvcatchup.com/watch/bbctwo

Weißbrot
Weißbrot
6 years ago

8.39…. Best joke ever lol.

Weißbrot
Weißbrot
6 years ago
Reply to  Weißbrot

I like ”You” better than ”Legends”. While I think that ”Legends” may be the best choice, I don’t get the Hype neither do I think Legends deserves such a high score. (I don’t dislike it tho…)

mad-professor
mad-professor
6 years ago

Apparently there is a voting segment tonight (songs being awarded points from 1 to 6), so we’ll finally have some drama!

Kris
Kris
6 years ago
Reply to  mad-professor

How do you know?