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 Marija with “This Love” and Monika Marija with “The Truth”. Could we handle the truth? Read on to find out!
Marija – “This Love”
“This Love” reviews
Barnabas: Marija gave her all, but she couldn’t elevate the song above average. There’s literally nothing I could highlight about it, except the intro which only raised my expectations. Better luck next year, gurl!
Score: 5/10
Lukas: For her first solo song, Marija has done a very good job. “This Love” is modern and very easy to remember. Marija has a very good voice and even if the staging was simple it worked very well overall. She looked very sexy with those leather pants. In the last heat, this was the biggest standout and could do well in the preselection.
Score: 8/10
Natalie: There is something appealing about a classic pop song, even if everyone’s heard these chords, beats and structure a million times before. It just feels like a fuzzy, friendly upbeat song about complicated love, and there’s nothing wrong with that at all. All the same, I would probably be happier if Lithuania picked something better as there are a lot of good songs this year. But hearing “This Love” does make me happy.
Score: 6.5/10
Robyn: Left is right, up is down, dogs are cats and this song is better than many of the songs in the first semi-final of Melodifestivalen 2018. And yes, it does have a very Swedish sound to it and it’s verging on a generic pop tune. But it’s well executed and Marija is a confident pop vocalist. This could polish up very nicely.
Score: 7.5/10
Sebastian: Top marks for staging – which creates pulls you in from the first second and keeps you hooked. Unfortunately the song is general Swedish pop — which the stunning Marija vocally cannot quite master. If she was to work on her vocals to sound more poppy, as well as invest in backup singers who match the tone of the song, then this could be a powerhouse of an entry. It’s a big ask though.
Score: 6/10
In the Lithuanian Wiwi Jury, we have 13 jurors but only room for 5 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:
Anthony: 7/10
Antranig: 6.5/10
Bernardo: 6/10
Jonathan: 6.5/10
Luis: 6/10
Raphael: 5/10
Renske: 7/10
William: 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 5 and a high of 8.
WIWI JURY VERDICT: 6.27/10
Monika Marija – “The Truth”
“The Truth” reviews
Barnabas: Some people might call this dated, but Monika simply elevates this song into a higher level with her voice and stage presence, and also those superb harmonies by the backing vocalists have their part in the package. I don’t see this faring to a Eurovision final, but it should soar easily into the final of Eurovizijos Atranka itself.
Score: 7/10
Lukas: Monika Marija has a very strong voice and can deliver any kind of ballad amazingly. But this song just doesn‘t really fit her that much. It’s just like two different things: the song and the singer. Another thing that did not work is her wardrobe. Whoever dressed her like that should be fired immediately! She just looked ridiculous with that coat thing.
Score: 7/10
Natalie: I feel like I should like this song a lot more than I do. It’s creative, powerful and somewhat anthemic. But there’s something that I can’t gel with. Maybe it’s the jacket (at least I think it’s a jacket), but I feel like it’s something to do with the song. Monika’s voice just doesn’t feel genuine to me, and the beats grate on me after a while – it’s all kinda repetitive and uninspiring. By the end, it even felt a bit messy too, and the emotion was really lost. I can see great ideas here, it just needs more polish.
Score: 5/10
Robyn: It’s not a good sign when the most memorable thing about this song is Monika’s eye makeup — and even that’s only because it alarming makes her look badly injured. The song is depressing and despite the intended uplifting message of the song, it doesn’t have that effect on the listener.
Score: 4.5/10
Sebastian: Damn, that eye makeup is on point – as is the volcano-esque dress that Monika has going on. Unfortunately this doesn’t rectify a poor song, which relies on cliches about ‘the truth setting you free’. We’ve heard it all before. But props to Monika for having the chops to deliver this vocally. Please come back next year.
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:
Anthony: 6.5/10
Antranig: 7/10
Bernardo: 4/10
Jonathan: 4.5/10
Luis: 5/10
Raphael: 6/10
Renske: 6.5/10
William: 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 4 and a high of 7.
“This Love”: Good voice. Not a fan of the song. It lost me from the chorus and on.
4/10
“The Truth”: I don’t like the outfit, I really like her voice. The song itself is good, but it doesn’t go anywhere.
5/10
The fact that Marija gets a higher average score than Kotryna is an ABOMINATION!
This love: 6/10
The truth: 6/10 (why is she wearing a potato sack?)