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 the iconic Samir & Viktor with “Shuffla”. Did they make us want to move our feet? Read on to find out!

Samir & Viktor – “Shuffla”

“Shuffla” reviews

Angus: “Shuffla” is a surefire summer smash, but it’s not a Melfest winner nor a Eurovision contender either. The song is tired, trades on notes the dynamic duo have hit in previous singles, and relies on the decade old riff from “We No Speak Americano” to drive it forward. Samir & Viktor’s appeal is that they’re anti-Melfest: they aren’t polished are performers and are only in the competition for a good time. That’s all. This song falls between two stools: too self conscious to cash in on their appeal and not serious enough to actually challenge for the win.

Score: 5/10 

Bernardo: It’s anthemic, it’s current and it’s fresh. Samir & Viktor may not be the best vocalists, but you can see they clearly improved from their last two entries. “Shuffla” is — by far — their best Melfest entry and has “summer hit” written all over it. While you expect slick and polished performances from Melfest, the duo brings what Sweden needs at the moment: authenticity instead of 100% perfection. I wouldn’t mind seeing this one in Lisbon.

Score: 8.5/10

Deban: “Shuffla” feels shuffled — but it works! Samir and Viktor have done away with attempting to sing in tune, and slick choreography. Instead, they have prioritised fun over substance. As much as I like “Shuffla”, I can’t help but critique it as their weakest Melodifestivalen entry yet. Still, it gets me moving.

Score: 6/10

Josh: Melfest needed a breath of fresh air come the second heat and along came Samir & Viktor and absolutely smashed it. People will be quick to compare this to Sunstroke Project given it’s infectious dance beat and saxophone hook, but “Shuffla” stands on its own. The Swedish lyrics are a welcomed change and overall, it’s just a fun, memorable and danceable package. If this went to Lisbon, it’s plausible Sweden will be going for another top-five finish.

Score: 8.5/10

Robyn: “Shuffla” is good. The first evidence for this is that Samir & Viktor went direkt till final and won’t have to battle it out in andra chansen. But the even stronger evidence is that it’s just a really big, fun and totally enjoyable pop track. It doesn’t even need knowledge of Swedish to work. And if “Hey Mamma” could work for Moldova at Eurovision, perhaps “Shuffla” could do just as well for Sweden in Lisbon.

Score: 7.5/10

Tobias: This is a typical Viktor and Samir song. It’s catchy and it’s fun! The song itself is nothing wow but these guys know how to entertain and give a good show on the stage. This is the first time the duo got directly to the final and I’m not surprised. They were the only act that gave a great show, had a lot of energy as always and it is a catchy song. It’s not winning material but these guys are not here to win, they are here to have a good time and give a good show.

Score: 4/10

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

Anthony: 8/10

Antranig: 9.5/10

Bogdan: 4/10

Chris: 7.5/10

Cinan: 7/10

Jordi: 8/10

Luis: 7/10

Natalie: 8/10

Ron: 6.5/10

William: 8/10

 

 

 

 

 

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 9.5.

WIWI JURY VERDICT: 7.11/10

Read all our Melodifestivalen 2018 Wiwi Jury rankings here

Read more Melodifestivalen news here

28 Comments
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AngieP
AngieP
6 years ago

This song is so enjoyable! Makes you want to move! Current, up-beat and these guys give the song life with their performance!
8/10

Safiya
Safiya
6 years ago

Well, IMO it’s a bit tacky and it seems to be inspired by “Party Rock Anthem”, but hey are like 7 years late???

Mattias Sollerman
6 years ago

With their participation in MelFest, Samir & Viktor have told us the story about a country where everyone is (supposed to be) welcome. In 2015 they sang “We huddle together, no one is excluded … no more selfies, we take a Groupie”. Bada Nakna featured the most iconic image of celebration in Sweden, bathing naked at Sergel’s Square. “We cherish what life has given us, Sweden is our headquarters, there’s a place for everyone here, no matter who you are.” This year they shout to every corner of our oblong nation. “Come Stockholm, come Malmö, come Karlstad, and Göteborg, Ö-vik,… Read more »

Ben005
Ben005
6 years ago

This song gets me moving and with so many ballads these days at Eurovision I wouldn’t mind to see them in Lisbon.

sdad
sdad
6 years ago

such a bad song, but gays are beautiful

Weißbrot
Weißbrot
6 years ago
Reply to  sdad

”gays” lol what? 😀

Andy
Andy
6 years ago

If something wild happens and it ends up winning, I can see them doing something similar to last year with Robin, where they had dancers who also served as backing singers.

Lady Goodwin
Lady Goodwin
6 years ago

As fresh as recycled junk

CookyMonzta
CookyMonzta
6 years ago
Reply to  Lady Goodwin

Given that they finished at the bottom-half in their last 2 appearances (LAST in their most recent appearance, if I remember correctly), I see no reason to believe they will win now, if the jury still thinks their act is still more of a novelty than a serious attempt to win.

Steve
Steve
6 years ago

Reminds me of Iveta Mukuchyan and Aram MP3’s song. Very weird…Take a listen

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pelCi7iBQMU

Leah
Leah
6 years ago

My favourites in Sweden this year! Would go straightly to my no. 1 spot, together with Hungary (not kidding!). They are amazing and they offer their best song this year, compared to their other participations. This would stand out in Lisbon. We already have quite a lot solo male artists, so at least for me Benjamin, Felix or Liamoo would not be memorized enough in the grand final, especially since their songs are just too okay-ish. S&V bring a high quality fun entry, what we still lack of for Eurovision 2018!

Suffle
Suffle
6 years ago

This is exactly what ESC 2018 needs at this moment. We need a fun entry, uptempo, danceable, catchy and entertainment! Eurovision is going on wrong direction with ballads and old-fashioned entries (looking at you Iceland..).

Many people don’t watch ESC, because they say “just a ballad after another”.

Mark
Mark
6 years ago
Reply to  Suffle

You don’t know s*** These type of songs are why people make fun of the contest.

Weißbrot
Weißbrot
6 years ago
Reply to  Mark

It may be a song that is fun, but it’s not a joke or a troll entry. It’s as serious as ”Hey Mamma” or ”What’s the pressure” or something and I don’t think People made fun of these Songs. Sure, the lyrics and the composition are no lyrical/musical masterpiece, but it’s a good fun song that could wake People up and spread some positivity. Yeah, I’m a big fan of deep, mysterious, serious Quality Songs, but Eurovision is also a big Party! Let’s bring some fun to the Party, why not? ^^

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
6 years ago

I would not mind this winning. I really thought more countries would take inspiration from Sunstroke Project’s placing last year and go for a similar style but S&V have come the closest. Considering their style, the addition of a sax is one of those moves that has you wondering why they hadn’t done this earlier. It all works and I surprisingly prefer it over some of the “favourites” in Sweden.

Kris
Kris
6 years ago

It is a fun number and makes Sweden wanna shuffle. And is their best song ever but still Not the best song in a song contest.

7/10

CRAIG
CRAIG
6 years ago

I preferred them getting wet with their shirts off last time around to be honest…..

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
6 years ago
Reply to  CRAIG

🙂

Eve
Eve
6 years ago

I will say only two words- shuffla, shuffla 😀
Don’t care if they will win, they’re already in my playlist.

Weißbrot
Weißbrot
6 years ago

I just realized that this got 7.11 and ”La Forza” got 7.12, well… Would have been funny if they would have gotten a higher Rating 😀

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
6 years ago

It’s fun. But in principal, it shouldn’t win a song contest. This is a dance craze set to comedy music. That’s all. 6/10

Mark
Mark
6 years ago

This song is absolute garbage. They can’t sing, they can’t dance. Viktor looks like a deer staring into headlights.

Just horrible.

Weißbrot
Weißbrot
6 years ago

I’d just LOVE them to win Melfest. They might not be the best singers, but they definitly improved and there are actually worse vocal Performances (Talking to you, Mendez!). Sweden should just try something new and stop playing safe. Shuffla is fun, catchy and ,in my opinion, it’s actually a pretty good song. It’s not a polished, perfectly calculated swedish production again, it just feels honest and simple (in a good way). In the very unlikely case that Sweden sends this to Eurovision, I’ll definitly vote for S&V…. And I never ever voted for Sweden before! I was about to… Read more »

Ari
Ari
6 years ago

Shuffla shuffla!
I love saying that, it could become a nice catchphrase if they were to go to Eurovision. Personally, I would have liked to see them with “Bada nakna”, as Viktor’s body was fun to watch. Sending something fun is the best option when your serious songs fail to make an Impact. Only if it is fun, of course, not if it’s supposed to be fun, like that Armenian transvestite.

Kris
Kris
6 years ago
Reply to  Ari

Get a filter bud. That ArmeNian trasvestite was doing path breaking stuff in a generally backward country wrt sexual expression and was a quality song disguised inside a joke act. Had it won I would have a different
Top 31.

Ari
Ari
6 years ago
Reply to  Kris

Quality is debatable. Dressing up as clown, jumping around and letting your backing vocals do all the work is hardly path breaking though, many have done that before.

sage anderson
sage anderson
6 years ago

Hey, when are you guys finally gonna write an article about belgium’s song being out now? (it was leaked early)

Colin
Colin
6 years ago

My favorites to win in Sweden! The song is catchy, fresh and very fun! It would be such a pleasant surprise from usually predictable Sweden. I listen to them very often and will be cheering on them on Saturday.

8/10