Over this past week we’ve had Eurovision 2018 song reveals (and leaks) from the likes of Croatia, Belgium, Australia, Austria and Ireland. Yet despite all this new music coming our way, the Eurovision fandom has also had its focus on two specific songs released back in 2016.

The first song in question is “Cool Me Down”, which Melodifestivalen 2018 finalist Margaret competed with in Poland’s Krajowe Eliminacje 2016. The other is “Party Shore”, a song off the debut album of Germany’s Jenifer Brening, who will compete for San Marino at Eurovision 2018 along with Jessika from Malta.

Margaret — “Cool Me Down”

Many have drawn similarities between the two songs. However, while “Cool Me Down” was released in February 2016, “Party Shore” was released later that year in November. Owing to the nine-month difference in release dates, this has led to questions regarding the latter’s originality.

The issue caught fire after a number of Polish media sources including onet.pl, eska.pl, radiozet.pl and party.pl reported on the matter.

Jenifer Brening — “Party Shore”

During this past week several comments have been made by a number of sources and it’s important to take a step back and review the entire situation. Thus, here is a run-down of what we know so far.

Tuesday 6 March

It all started when wiwiblogger Jonathan decided to listen to Jenifer’s back catalogue after she was part of 1 in 360’s winning act. Going to her debut album Recovery, “Party Shore” is the first song to come up.

After clocking the similarities between the two songs, Jonathan took to Twitter saying: “Just casually sifting through the back catalogue of Jenifer Brening from San Marino’s #1in360 and listened to “Party Shore”, the first song of her Nov 2016 album. Does it remind people of a #Eurovision national final entry that they know?”

Looking on Jenifer Brening’s official website for the writer credits of the song, Jonathan also noted in another tweet that it says “All the songs on this 14 track collection were written by Jenifer in collaboration with Producer Andre Müther”.

Songs released within the same year often follow the same trends, so it’s very possible that it’s just a coincidence or that they used a similar sample as Robert Uhlmann, Arash, Alex Papaconstantinou, Anderz Wrethov, Viktor Svensson and Linnea Deb. The word plagiarism is, of course, frequently overused. But these similarities have made some fans very uncomfortable.

Wednesday 7 March

At the time of this news breaking Margaret was beginning rehearsals for her appearance at the Melodifestivalen 2018 final. After wiwibloggs met up with the Polish star for an interview we played her Jenifer’s song “Party Shore” to gauge her reaction.

In the video below, posted to Twitter and Instagram a few days after the interview, Margaret immediately recognises the hook of the song and begins singing the lyrics to “Cool Me Down” over the top. She also jokingly says, “So I’m going to be at Eurovision”.

Thursday 8 March

As the news spread across social media many Eurovision fans also tried to get Margaret and the songwriters of “Cool Me Down” to hear the song. Eventually retweeting and replying to a tweet by user @ales_falahee Margaret commented “Someone’s brave”.

Saturday 10 March

While things quietened down on Friday 9, “Cool Me Down” songwriter Linnea Deb spoke out publicly on Saturday morning. Posting on Facebook she wrote, “Helt sjukt faktiskt. Ändå kul på nåt sätt.” (“Completely sick, actually. Still fun in a way.”)

Helt sjukt faktiskt. Ändå kul på nåt sätt. ?

Posted by Linnea Deb on Saturday, March 10, 2018

While this comment may have struck a slightly hard line, Margaret took a more positive tone later in the day.

Immediately after her seventh-place finish at the Melodifestivalen 2018 final, wiwiblogger Kevin asked about her current thoughts on the situation (scroll to 1:14 in the video below). She replied:

We talked yesterday with all the writers about that and we all agreed that we are flattered. Thank you. We really admire that someone can be so inspired by our music. It’s great, thank you.

She also jokes that if someone was to ever do a copied version of “In My Cabana” that it could include the lyrics “Let’s go eat some banana”.

Where do we stand now?

It is of course up to Margaret and the writing team if they wish to pursue the issue any further. Whilst there may be behind the scenes conversations between the two record companies that we do not know about, at the moment it seems like the “Cool Me Down” team are happy with the current situation.

Although Jenifer, her record company or producer Andre Müther have not commented on the issue publically,  wiwibloggs has reached out for a comment.

It is also important to note that this controversy does not put into question Jenifer’s eligibility to represent San Marino at Eurovision 2018. San Marino’s entry “Who We Are” perfectly meets the EBU’s requirements of a Eurovision song (perhaps bar the mention of Twitter’s brand name), and Jenifer’s previous releases do not impact this in any way. You can find our thoughts on 1 in 360 and its shortcomings separately here.

We look forward to seeing both Jenifer and Jessika in Lisbon and falling in love with their own personalities as much as we have with Margaret during her time at Melodifestivalen. Fans will also be able to meet both Jessika and Jenifer at a number of running events across Europe over the next ten weeks. They’ll be raising money for anti-bullying causes to tie in with the theme of their song, which is an “anti-bullying anthem informed by Jessika’s personal experiences”.

This will culminate with a run in Lisbon where they’ll present a cheque for the money they’ve raised to the Diana Award, a charity supported by the Royal Charities Forum of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry dedicated to the Princess of Wales’ belief that young people have the power to change the world.

Meanwhile, if you’re still loving Margaret’s “In My Cabana” then you can try out her new mobile game, available on iOS and Android. Try and guide your player past obstacles and apes in order to reach Margaret’s Cabana at the end.

Let us know what your high score is in the comments below and let’s see who can come out on top!

In My Cabana – The Game

www.InMyCabana.comI've got a little surprise for you!Download, play, share your scores, and let me know what you think!

Posted by Margaret on Friday, March 9, 2018

So, what do you think of the similarities between “Cool Me Down” and “Party Shore”? Do you think Jenifer and her team took inspiration from the song…or were they simply following a trend? And will you be going out to support Jessika and Jenifer during their series of runs? Let us know in the comments below!

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25 Comments
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Harvey Skuse
Harvey Skuse
5 years ago

Party Shore >>>>>>> Cool me down

Jen Brady-licious
Jen Brady-licious
6 years ago

i think that ‘influenced’ ‘inspired’ and ‘similar’ are fine to be used – but brandishing words like ‘plagiarism’ around the internet in such a way could be considered libellous and WiwiBlogs need to be more careful about making such accusations on Twitter – whether it be by the corporate account or one of the linked bloggers. That’s a dangerous game.

Sure the songs sound a-like, but release dates are rarely an accurate reflection of the dates songs are registered.

MESA
MESA
6 years ago

They don’t sound alike, they sounds exactly the same.

Napaw
Napaw
6 years ago

Even if they decided to take legal charges, I doubt that there’s any money to get.
Margaret instead decided to be the bigger person and say she’s flattered. Admirable.

miramax09
miramax09
6 years ago

At the moment I am not very sure about the whole 1in360 thing. maybe all this is just a PR-Stunt to gain more attention for san marino this year. Look at all the scandals around the production… it’s quite strange in my opinion!

Ann
Ann
6 years ago

“it’s very possible that it’s just a coincidence”
Man, they’re almost IDENTICAL! It could be a councidence if the melody was quite similar, not when nearly the whole song is almost the same…It’s not “following a trend”, it’s stealing.

Napaw
Napaw
6 years ago
Reply to  Ann

Lol That would be a three minute long coincidental similarity xD

Napaw
Napaw
6 years ago
Reply to  Ann

Plus, it’s adorable how it says it’s “very” possible.

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
6 years ago

Well-handled. Let management and lawyers worry about this sort of thing.

Miguel
Miguel
6 years ago

I find suspicious that someone like Jenifer would copy a eurovision song, but who knows… We should look at the people involved in each song also, not only the singers.
Either way… neither song became an international hit. Far from that. I won’t lose my sleep over this.

Colin
Colin
6 years ago
Reply to  Miguel

Actually, you can hear Cool Me Down in shopping malls in Croatia two years after, and it didn’t even win it’s NF, so…

Yellowman96
Yellowman96
6 years ago
Reply to  Miguel

I know Cool Me Down received a lot of international recognition across Europe. It even charted on the US Billboard for a week I believe.

azaad
azaad
6 years ago
Reply to  Miguel

Might not have charted worldwide but it was a European hit. Peaked at number 4 in Poland and made the top 40 in Sweden.

Polegend Godgarina
6 years ago

Girl it’s basically the SAME song… get her money

Amor
Amor
6 years ago

I don’t really like to accuse people of plagiarism but damn…. she straight up plagiarised.

MESA
MESA
6 years ago

This whole story reminds of the Eurovision episode of Father Ted.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLtgbAoy27Q

1Israel 2Moldova 3Australia
1Israel 2Moldova 3Australia
6 years ago

@Charles – ”I can see fans being empowered by this … not women.”

”Charles” you were supposed to hide you are a straight woman. Really, why don’t you have a neutral username? You wanted so much this ”Charles”.

1Israel 2Moldova 3Australia
1Israel 2Moldova 3Australia
6 years ago

I’m not from Israel and have no link with the country (except that my parents wanted to go there to see the tomb of Jesus), but ”Toy” is in a genre of its own. What really bothers you? The chicken or metoo? Because many claim is the chicken, but then is metoo haters avalanche.

Weißbrot
Weißbrot
6 years ago

Me for example, I like the song. It’s in my top 15, but I just don’t want it as a winner. Not because of the message, just because I think there are better Songs.

D
D
6 years ago

Release dates mean nothing. Jenifer’s song could’ve been written a year before Margaret’s and only released then. They sound strikingly similar but there are more things that go on behind the scenes that the public doesn’t know about.

Joe
Joe
6 years ago

As Pablo Picasso once said, “Good artists borrow. Great artists steal.”
I mean, calling either Margaret or Jenifer “great artists” might be pushing it, but it’s nothing to get your knickers in a twist about.

Weißbrot
Weißbrot
6 years ago

I’m a woman, I don’t feel that empowered tbh…. And while I’m not as negative about that song as you, I wouldn’t really want to see Israel as a winner either…

Polyna
Polyna
6 years ago
Reply to  Weißbrot

> I’m a woman, I don’t feel that empowered tbh…

#metoo

Er… I mean… I feel more amused than empowered by that song.

Rory
Rory
6 years ago

Hope we’re not gonna see Israel winning because it would be TOO MUCH. The hypocritical ESC fandom at its height.

Escphbelgium
Escphbelgium
6 years ago

I guess copying is a sincerest of flattery….