The Wiwi Jury — our in-house team of music unprofessionals — continues to review the songs competing in the grand final of Sweden’s Melodifestivalen 2018. Next we look at John Lundvk with “My Turn”. Were we ready for him to take his turn? Read on to find out!
John Lundvik with “My Turn”
“My Turn” reviews
Angus: Afrodite sang “The Boy Can Dance” and this boy can sing. Sadly it’s his song that’s the problem. “My Turn” sounds like a B-list Andrew Lloyd Webber ballad: it’s tired and uninspired. In the grand tradition of Melfest finals, this song’s going to be used as cannon fodder to make the real contenders look better.
Score: 2/10
Anthony: When the Swedes aren’t delivering slick pop tunes, they can also do killer ballads — à la Sanna Nielsen. Sadly, “My Turn” isn’t in the same league as “Undo” and sounds more like an X Factor winner’s single from a decade ago. A real shame as there could’ve been so much more from his soulful voice. Even Martina Bárta’s namesake song outshines John with her elegance.
Score: 5.5/10
Chris: At Melodifestivalen, you need more than just a great voice to stand out. Unfortunately, that’s all John really has here. There’s simplicity and there’s dull, and this is certainly in the latter camp. This feels like an updated “It’s My Time”, with just enough added gloss to make it feel relevant for 2018.
Score: 5.5/10
Luis: Look, let’s be straightforward: why should Sweden send to Eurovision 2018 a song that’s identical to the song with which Norway flopped in 2010? John’s voice is beautiful, and he’s a compelling performer, but this kind of ballad doesn’t have a place at Eurovision, even less so under the Swedish flag.
Score: 4/10
Natalie: It’s difficult reviewing songs for Melodifestivalen, because everyone holds Sweden to such a high standard. “My Turn” is a beautiful and very well-produced ballad and I’d be very excited if it was representing many other countries. But for Sweden it leaves me cold… simply because this is a country that aims for a win, not just a top-10 placing. There’s so much to like here, the gospel influences are impeccable, John has a great soulful voice, and the production is powerful and emotional without overdoing it. But it’s difficult to see it representing Sweden in Lisbon.
Score: 7/10
William: Man at piano, mandatory shot of the crowd holding white lights, a pyro shower at the end — this is Eurovision by-the-numbers. The overly sweet sentiments scream “wedding entertainment” and the gospel choir, while a nice touch, smacks of an X Factor winner’s single. To make matters worse, they’ve made John wear a cruise ship waiter’s evening attire. While his voice is beautiful and his charm undeniable, this ultimately feels very middle-of-the road.
Score: 6/10
In our Sweden Wiwi Jury, we have 16 jurors but only room for 6 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:
Antranig: 6/10
Bernardo: 6/10
Bogdan: 8/10
Cinan: 6.5/10
Deban: 6/10
Jordi: 7.5/10
Josh: 5.5/10
Robyn: 5/10
Ron: 6.5/10
Tobias: 6/10
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 2 and a high of 8.
John Lundvik is, in my opinion, the best live vocallist that Sweden has to offer this year. Unfortunately, “My Turn” sounds to me like a rejected X-Factor winner’s single. It has moments of musical goodness, but it is all too held in at the start and then forced out at during the third minute like a Louis Walsh grand gesture. I love Lundvik’s voice; I just wish he had another song to sing. 7/10
Singer is excellent and only his perfomance elevates this boring song..
This song is so bad. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was generated by a computer program. Absolutely awful. The incredible thing is that Jon actually sings it sincerely and actually (almost) makes you buy into it – if the can bring this Frankenstein to life, I can’t wait to see to what he may do with a decent entry. Come back next year!
I absolutely love this song! So beautiful.
One of my favourites!
8/10
Jon seems like the kind of singer who would have a lot of older female fans like moms and grandmas. Which isn’t a bad thing its just a observation. Some people have a certain audience.
kk but if Yuliya from Russia had sent this it would be ranked 10/10. We should stop holding sweden to such a high standard
Melfest is a show for the whole family and definitely has a place for a song like this. I can see it doing well in the televote but the international juries aren’t going to be impressed with something that does sound like an X Factor winning single. It’s a shame because John really does everything well here.
Ughh, i just LOVE it 😀 nothing new here, but its good. Wont win, sadly
This (together with Party Voice) is trad-MelFest of the very highest calibre. The song gives rise to emotions of familiarity and stability, while maintining some modern flavour with it’s evolving tempo. The staging works as a comfort blanket, telling you at every stage what to feel. I can’t wait for the audience shot in Friends arena. John provides a splendid narrative with the “now I can finally call myself a performer” schtick. He’s a very inspirational character, competent and confident, yet humble. Such moments, when a relationship emerges between the Swedish public and an artist, are an integral part of… Read more »
I find this one of the worst moves you can possibly make: Starting out the performance pretending to play an instrument and at some point during the song just getting away from the instrument, as if the instrument would play itself. I know it’s all fake but you don’t have to go out of your in pointing it out.
Also, personally, I’d like for a country like Sweden to send a blonde guy.
Wtf, John Lundvik is Swedish…Why should he not be allowed to participate just because he’s black? That’s such an intolerant way of thinking…
I said nothing about not being allowed. I said “personally” and “like”.
Why tho? If your Country can send a black guy, Sweden can too. Are you racist or what? I don’t see the reason for such a Statement. The days where everyone in Sweden way blonde and everyone in Spain was black haired are over. Let’s just celebrate the diversity of People instead of believing in such cliches.
I never said that I support my country’s broadcasters choice.
So you actually are racist, is that your message here?
Honey, i stated a personal preference of mine (which merely stated that I prefer Nordic countries to send Nordic-looking guys), which you don’t seem to be able to tolerate. That’s okay. For the record: If someone comes along with a really good song that I really like, I’ll gladly take it.
Yeah, you got me right! I don’t tolerate this opinion, but you keep it if you want to. It’s just that I really don’t understand your opinion ^^
That’s okay, I don’t force my opinion on others, unlike some people who claim to be oh-so-tolerant. 🙂 Peace
Ari, I support you. You are right!
Your personal preference is racist, just so you know. Racist af.
Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. Just so know.
Cool, if your opinion is being racist…. You do you. Not that I’m not used to that Kind of thinking by Austrian People… I’ve seen so many complaining about their entry 2018 being black, it’s so sad.
If you think accusing everyone who does not fall in line with your way thinking of being a racist, then we have nothing to discuss here, because it is quite obvious you choose not to understand. I always stand by everything I say and I am ready to have a discussion with people who disagree but I don’t waste my time with people whose only argument is immediately jumping to accusations. So we are done here, honey.
There’s nothing left to understand, I got your message. So we actually are done here.
Okay, even if we accept that you are not racist (for the sake of argument), it is still absolutely ridiculous to to set such arbitrary parameters.
Where are you from Ari? Why should the colour of his skin be an issue with you at all. The comment did appear quite rude and offensive at first glance. I understand you may not have mean’t to offend but you comments like colour of his skin and preferences will offend some readers. I am a white British guy with part Black African heritage and i am very proud of this. We are the children of the world after all.
Would you care to expand on your logic? I mean…”blonde guy”…no women? No brunettes? If Jon dyed his hair blonde would that satisfy you? What about Danny Saucedo (of Polish/SouthAmerican descent)…does he pass?
I am not sure if logic has anything to with it. As I stated, it is merely a personal preference of mine. Given that I love the Nordics and that I feel attracted to people with a typically Nordic appearance, I would personally like to see those countries sending more of those. Again, just a personal wish of mine. Of course, one could argue that the Danish entry this year is Nordic and I find that one horrible as hell and I’d actually prefer John Lundvik over that, so you see, it’s not all that black and white (no pun… Read more »
Fair enough, you like blonde guys – so wouldn’t it follow that it would be your preference for every country? Blonde guys are not exclusive to Scandinavia, and the fact you link the two is what lead me to believe that it your preference is based on race.
This really is a ridiculous conversation.
@Jonas This is exactly what I wanted to write…
@Ari Would you also say that to Italy? Would you also say ”I’d rather want Italy to send two blonde guys”? I don’t think so..
Sure, Jonas, they are not exclusive to Scandinavia but you they certainly are typical of countries like Sweden. And while I usually despise stereotypes, this happens to be a stereotype I like. Now, i gotta watch Saara Aalto, another non-blonde Scandinavian.
I still find the comment offensive. I’m physically attracted to men, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t like any women to participate in the ESC.
Erm yeah, good to know. I never said anything about woman participating in Eurovision. I can’t even… respond to that… I’m officially out of the conversation but feel free to pile on more stuff I never said. 🙂
You don’t seem to get the Point. What Pasadena said is the same logic like your comment. she/he just wrote an example to Show you how your comments don’t make any sense.
(I thought you and I were done here a long time ago.)
As Weissbrot points out, it was an example to show the flaws in your arguments.
Well, last name “Lundvik” would pretty much suggest a Nordic origin. I find it funny how people equate race and ethnicity with nationality. This is 21st century and people travel a lot! John is Swedish, Aminata is Latvian and blond Ell is Azerbaijani. So what?
Why on earth is color of relevance? I take offense at this comment.
Thank you, Logic.
This is a song contest, not a declaration of nationalism. One day, people will understand that and reject the whole notion of countries being represented at song contests.
I can’t believe that Wiwi Jury gave such a low score for this song *pretending to be surprised*
It is a pleasant surprise to see a ballad in Melfest final at all. Swedes usually push for uptempo. I agree that this is just an average uplifting ballad, but John sings so well, and there aren’t many better options.
7/10
My guilty pleasure. I realize this is so dated, but he sells it well.
This ballad just comes without any feelings or anything special to it. Does nothing for me at all. The score is well deserved… I love ballads, but this is just a big meh.
I’m a sucker for big ballads and I definitely love this. The song is so emotional it gives me chills and almost brings me to tears. John is a fantastic performer.
I have noticed the Wiwi Jury constantly bashes common ballads but when it’s a common upbeat pop song it’s all fine. Double standards, I see.
9.5/10