The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continued its tour of Finland. Saara Aalto is going to Eurovision and her song will be selected from one of three performed in Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu.

Today, the Wiwi Jury listened to “Domino”, Saara’s second potential entry. Is Saara falling like a domino? Or is she hit by a wrecking ball? Read on to find out.

Saara Aalto – “Domino”

“Domino” reviews

Robyn: Love ballads aren’t always good news at Eurovision, but “Domino” works. It creates a sweet, loved-up feeling and Saara seems to tap into genuine emotions (awww…). The weakest part of the song is the chorus lyrics, with evocations of Miley Cyrus’ wrecking ball and the tired stutter style of “domino, domino”. But Saara elevates the song above those lyrical cliches. This isn’t my favourite to go to Lisbon, but if it did, it wouldn’t be a bad choice.

Score: 8/10

Bernardo: Like all songs presented for UMK this year, “Domino” works with Saara’s vocals and personality. You can see it was made especially for her and it gives a certain degree of authenticity we all crave nowadays. Having said that, it’s not my favourite to go to Lisbon, mainly because of the chorus. I wouldn’t be sad to see this in Lisbon, but I wouldn’t be cheering for it either.

Score: 7/10

Raphael: There’s nothing to dislike about “Domino” — Saara and Thomas G:son have gone right for a classic mid-tempo pop song structure, and Saara’s powerful voice only lifts the track. Having heard such similar songs at Eurovision before, though, I’m doubtful whether even the gold glitter or woman-on-woman affection in the music video could make this memorable among 25 other songs. Nobody remembers a “safe” entry — go big or go home!

Score: 6/10

Cinan: I thought that this song would be more amazing than the first one, but maybe I became a huge fan of “Monsters” and my mind does not want to take other songs. Of course, the song is very good, but I do not think that it would have the same or higher success than the first one. Nonetheless, Saara is a great vocalist and can bring this live.

Score: 7.5/10

Anthony: G:son’s done it all before when it comes to making an instant impact as a songwriter, but “Domino” was a bit of a letdown following the high expectations. Things started off promising but waned after the chorus and sounding like a Jessie J/Miley Cyrus mash-up won’t do Saara any favours either. If there’s any room for a revamp, don’t underestimate G:son’s capabilities.

Score: 7.5/10

Jordi: Saara Aalto’s powerhouse ballad offering is such chart-topper material. It has good composition, stunning production and Saara’s very own appeal. It’s all well-mixed and resulting in a very nice well-crafted composition. However, coming after “Monster”, it didn’t leave me with as much of an impact as her first offering did. While the hook is impressive at the beginning, as the song flows it kinda loses its catchiness and ends without really showcasing anything different. Live though, this song could be explosive. And still, a very pleasant song to listen to. Amazing work, Saara!

Score: 7.5/10

In our Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2018 Wiwi Jury, we have 16 jurors but only room for 6 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:

Antony: 8/10

Antranig: 8/10

Barnabas: 5.5/10

Jonathan: 7/10

Josh: 7.5/10

Luis: 6/10

Lukas: 7.5/10

Natalie: 7.5/10

Ron: 8/10

Sebastian: 8.5/10

 

 

 

 

 

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 5.5 and a high of 8.5.

Wiwi Jury Verdict: 7.36/10

Read all our UMK 2018 reviews and rankings here

Read more Finland news here

26 Comments
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AngieP
AngieP
6 years ago

Slower tempo here. It showcases Saara’s voice and has potential in staging.
7.5/10

Héctor
Héctor
6 years ago

I find it very generic. In fact, I couldn’t listen to it fully when it was released.

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
6 years ago

Simple, but effective. If it fails at UMK, Dominoe’s Pizza should use if for their official jingle. Having said that, it’s not as stand-out as Monsters. 8/10

Alex M
Alex M
6 years ago

Typical generic Eurovision song.

Darkpassionplay
Darkpassionplay
6 years ago

I dont understand all the hype around monsters , from the moment Domino was released i was sure that it will win the finish vote and i still belive that this song will smoke the other 2 poppy pooop songs when it matters on the live show.

Amor
Amor
6 years ago

Honestly I think they should have just done UMK. All of Saara’s songs are not up to what I was expecting. I think out of the 300 submitted for UMK, they would have found something amazing and better than what we have now. Also, kudos to the wiwi crew for your professional responses to negative critiques.

Ari
Ari
6 years ago

It’s a solid song and it was definitely made for Eurovision. Which is kind of also my issue with it because it means that it’s a textbook generic approach. These approaches might tick a lot of boxes but they always lack that kind of magic that I am looking for in a song in order to love it and really get behind it. It’s definitely not a winner, in my opinion. As for the complaints about favoring some countries over others: It’s a blog and its bloggers can post whatever they want. They are in no way obliged to be… Read more »

Colin
Colin
6 years ago

A sleak, well produced entry, with a short, but a surprisingly effective hook.

8/10

Månster
Månster
6 years ago

Saara has less songs, and their team gives much more updates. So much easier to do these articles as well.

Kris
Kris
6 years ago

This is a good ballad. But we mah have wah too many ballads this year already than most ESC fans will tolerate after the slowest song ever winning last year. But this is done well and within striking distance of Monsters for me.
A 8/10.

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
6 years ago

I think this is the best song for her. Despite what you guys think of her, she is not the best vocalist and this covers that up well with some nifty production. Would definitely be the safest choice and highest result I think.

beccaboo1212
6 years ago
Reply to  Briekimchi

FYI, Saara’s voice is amazing. 🙂

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
6 years ago
Reply to  beccaboo1212

You think everyone’s voice is amazing. =P

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
6 years ago

This song is written with Eurovision in mind and it’s set for a stellar performance.

West
West
6 years ago

My least favourite of the three and just like with Monsters my opinion of the song worsen each time I listen to it again. But this time my starting opinion was “meh”.
p.s. Saara’s expression is really hilarious in the music video – I know, she has only one, but here it’s soo funny.

pp
pp
6 years ago

Domino best song for me, best choice for Finland and only song who can get many points from juries and televote for Finland .Monster many from televote and not many from juries.

James
James
6 years ago

Considering that UMK is fast approaching, it make sense that the Wiwijury review Saara’s songs in contention.

And in the past 24 hours, we’ve gotten articles about their reviews for some Melfest and Norwegian MGP entries, an update about Spain, the fall-out from Selectia Nationala’s results (plus one seemingly bitter Mihai), bookies odds, and Waylon’s continuing gimmickry of revealing his song entry for the Netherlands, among others.

duckhunter
duckhunter
6 years ago
Reply to  James

Not only UMK is fast approaching 😉

Timo1962FI
Timo1962FI
6 years ago

What do you mean by “only Saara Aalto”? I have seen and read hundreds of other articles here during the last weeks.

duckhunter
duckhunter
6 years ago
Reply to  Timo1962FI

Finn?? Or a fan MF??;)

matt
matt
6 years ago

Where R reviews of polish songs. This saturday Poland choose who goes on Eurovision. 🙁

Rory
Rory
6 years ago
Reply to  matt

Because ALL EYES ON SAAAAAAARA.

Pathetic.

Rory
Rory
6 years ago

I wonder whether you’ll write a piece about FdC’s singers oufit tho.

Hada
Hada
6 years ago
Reply to  matt

I hope you do a mini jury for Festival Da Canção too