The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — travelled to Iceland to review the acts of Söngvakeppnin 2018. Up next is Þórir Geir Guðmundsson and Gyða Margrét Kristjánsdóttir performing “With You“. Is the Wiwi Jury with them in their pursuit of Eurovision? Read on to find out!
Þórir Geir Guðmundsson and Gyða Margrét Kristjánsdóttir – “With You”
“With You” reviews
Jonathan: A nice country-tinged song, “With You” is a pleasant listen while it’s on. However, I wouldn’t choose to play it again and 30 seconds after it’s finished I’ve already forgotten the melody. There’s been a number of similar songs in Iceland’s selection over recent years. None of them have gone on to win, and it’s unlikely that this one will break that trend.
Score: 6/10
Aline: The rhythm of the song is really interesting and cute, but the lyrics of the song are just so mainstream and unoriginal. Because of the majority of love songs that already exist, I think that the audience will only go for if the song comes alive on stage. Create some La La Land atmosphere and it will slay. At this moment I find the song average, but I’m curious about the staging.
Score: 5/10
Barnabas: A chilly duet this time, which is a perfect song for singing at a campfire or around the holiday season. A decent effort.
Score: 7/10
Chris: If there’s anything I’m a sucker for, it’s a good country duet. This is actually very sweet and the two sound lovely together. Although there’s a slight issue that Þórir does slightly overpower Gyða at times, but this could be a quirk of the vocal mix. It doesn’t try anything revolutionary, but you could see this fit in nicely with some good staging. Oh, but please, get rid of that damn harmonica.
Score: 6/10
Luis: That felt like ten minutes and it’s one of the least boring entries in Söngvakeppnin. Go figure. There’s this nice country vibe here, that wouldn’t surprise anyone in Lisbon, but that’s easy on the ears. Props for them, their voices match so well that you don’t even notice the cheesy lyrics. It’s not that you notice the song much more either.
Score: 5.5/10
Natalie: A chirpy guitar, some drum beats, chords, and a girl and guy sing a lot of romantic words that rhyme a lot (strange/rearrange, lol) – that’s basically this song. It’s only really remotely interesting once the harmonica comes in, and even then it’s impossible to remember anything creative after it’s over. The title isn’t even memorable. I guess it’s charming and sweet, but really can anyone imagine this doing well in an international competition?
Score: 3.5/10
In our Söngvakeppnin 2018 Wiwi Jury, we have 10 jurors but only room for 6 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:
Antranig: 5.5/10
Bogdan: 6/10
Robyn: 6/10
Sebastian: 6.5/10
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 3.5 and a high of 7.
I actually like this one. It’s sweet. Nice harmonies. Reminds me of Ed Sheeran songs.
6.5/10
I really enjoy the song, it is a nice modern duet. Their voices are well matched. Easy listening and inoffensive. One of the best in this year’s selection in my opinion.
Very slow build ! Slept in the middle lol! A 5/10
They should’ve kept this dirge within their church club.