The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continues to rank and review the 43 songs competing in Eurovision 2018. Next we turn to Poland where DJ Gromee featuring the Swedish singer Lukas Meijer have their song “Light Me Up”. Did we feel their glow? Read on to find out!
Gromee feat. Lukas Meijer – “Light Me Up”
“Light Me Up” reviews
Renske: Is this really the Polish Eurovision entry? I’m stunned and jealous! This song is proper quality and so radio-friendly. It could potentially be the commercial winner of this year’s Eurovision. I don’t understand how this song is so criminally underrated at the moment. It’s fun, modern and it has a great instrumentation.
Score: 10/10
Antranig: Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the most generic song of Eurovision 2018. This is so predictable and boring and the instrumental section is just unoriginal. This wouldn’t be out of place on the radio and it’s certainly current but I’ve heard it all before. It could certainly use a lyrical overhaul because anyone could list a hundred songs containing the lyrics “light me up light me up” or something to that effect. This is the sort of “fast food music” we really don’t need. Better luck next year, Poland.
Score: 3.5/10
Bogdan: Poland’s song reminds me of Rita Ora’s “Anywhere” — just when I think the chorus will drop, it goes to instrumentals only. However, that’s exactly the part that I like most about both “Anywhere” and “Light Me Up”. I’m not sure it has any value musically, but it does make me feel good and I simply can’t help dancing along. Modern and catchy af, Poland’s entry is testing new waters, and I’m curious to see how it will do in Lisbon.
Score: 6.5/10
Jordi: Entries like this year’s Poland are super necessary to avoid a heavy ballad edition. And both Gromee and Lukas Meijer serve it. A dancefloor hit is a reward for the audience who wants to jump, dance and live a moment going footloose. But the overall result of the Polish offering is good yet not perfect. The electronic vibes are there, voices as well, but the hook is hard to find. Proper happy feeling is absolutely appreciable, but its catchiness not so sure – maybe as it’s not as original as what we could hear in the current electronic market today.
Score: 6.5/10
Luis: “Light me up” could be a valid answer to this question if it was in an exam: resume in three minutes the music of the 2010s. This is feel good, careless and happy. It does no harm, it doesn’t broaden any horizon, and you’ve probably heard something like this before. However, it’s a decent effort from Poland, and while it may lack personality, it’s not something that directly harms it. It’s good enough to make the final, and then repeat Kasia Mos’ fate.
Score: 6.5/10
William: The song has a naff Ibiza Weekender feeling. It’s totally disposable, it’s not particularly original, and it definitely feels like I’ve heard it before. But the more I hear it, the more I heart it, owing to Lukas’ sincere delivery and a rather gravely and inviting voice. The goofy shots of Gromee — who looks like Moby’s long-lost librarian cousin — make me smile and the song screams to be looped. It’s also Poland’s most contemporary song in a very long time.
Score: 7.5/10
In the Wiwi Jury we have 20 jurors but only have room for six reviews. The remaining scores are below:
Angus: 3/10
Anthony: 7/10
Bernardo: 6/10
Chris: 6/10
Cinan: 6.5/10
Deban: 5/10
Jonathan: 6/10
Jovana: 8/10
Kristin: 7.5/10
Padraig: 6/10
Robyn: 7/10
Ron: 7/10
Sebastian: 7/10
Steinunn: 5/10
We have removed the highest and lowest scores prior to calculating the average. This is to remove outliers and potential bias. We have removed a low of 3 and a high of 10.
Wiwi Jury verdict: 6.36/10
What do you think of this song? Share your own score and review below!
I love this song! It may be unoriginal (well, many Eurovision songs are like that lol), but it’s uplifting, fun, positive and so enjoyable! And our guys are such an amazing people, they captured our hearts immediately. They are already our winners, even though if they won’t win
#TeamGromee <3
Good, but very, very generic. The live performance I’ve seen was horrendous so I don’t know how this will go. In my top 20 where it belongs.
None of the Eurovision songs are “something new” and you hear that somewhere.. for example you say word light me up is easy and can hear this everywhere same as Malta “sticks and stones won’t break my bones” or Australia “we got love so don’t give up”. Same when you say this kind of songs are not new and but dated but then Estonia is suddenly wow? Go to opera and you will hear that for 3h. Every of this songs not supposed to be new (come on) in this entry is all about fun and that what is it,… Read more »
Word!
Pure piece for this particular style of club EDM. Everything is popped out, banging well and routing to fun. In general drops like this usually leave song of any other possible appeal, regardless of what lyrics were put into it. However, here they fit the purpose, thankfully. It’s just out of my loop a little.
4/10
Had two other cool songs in their selection for my taste, yet both better performed.
GO POLAND @@@ Thank you for your points WIWI !!! we love Light me up !!!
Love it! Full of energy, up-beat, it makes my day.
7.5/10
For me it is a copycat of Norway’s entry last year, but not as good.
I guess Lucas should stop wearing hats and Gromee should stop being a DJ to avoid comparisons. And if you think those 2 songs have similar melody you must be deaf or delusional.
so many sad people comment in the below lines… dislike this, dislike that. GO POLAND! you guys are positive, smiling, with good, energetic vibes:-)
You’ll be all surprised to see it in Top 10.
Poland – Gromee feat. Lukas Meijer: “Light Me Up” Keys: D major Time Sigs: 4/4 Song structure: Verse 1 – Pre-Chorus – Chorus – Pre-Drop – Drop – Verse 2 – Pre-Chorus – Chorus – Pre-Drop – Drop – Reprise – Coda Harmony: Four chords Influences: Modern Pop, Electro House / Deep House, Alternative Dance Music comments: A well-produced, radio-friendly four chord song. The counter-melodies in the guitar during the Verses add an important extra layer, and the electronic dance melody in the “Drop” is the stand-out highlight of this song. However, the music is extremely repetitive almost to the… Read more »
This will sound amazing in the arena and it’ll create a great atmosphere. I don’t really like the lyrics. They sound like they’re being made up on the spot. However, musically it is a decent song and I like the good vibes. I see this qualifying, especially because it’s in a weaker semi. I’m not sure how it will do in the final – possibly top 15?
Great and uplifting entry, This should qualify and do relatively Well.
9/10
Such a refreshing and uplifting song, I’m an EDM lover so I just can’t help it. One of the most modern entries this year. I wish EDM made more appearances at ESC. “Grab the Moment” was amazing and “Light Me Up” is definitely a worthy follow-up. This should definitely improve it’s live though. The performance at Krajowe Eliminacje was less than stellar but there’s a lot of time to polish that. It’s good that Poland selected a fresh and solid song instead of another boring ballad. It should be an easy qualification for Poland, unless something crazy happen. Go Poland!… Read more »
Yeah. I don’t like anything about this one so sorry to everyone who likes it. To me, It sounds like the sort of music that drunken British tourists would listen to abroad. The instrumentation is beyond annoying and the performers come across as those predatory, too-old-to-be-there prowlers at the edge of the dancefloor. So yeah, definitely not for me and one of my lower-ranked songs.
6.0/10
Another fast food entry, but this one has some rawness that makes it strangely stand out. Maybe exactly because it is not so polished and sophisticated as other entries, this entry brings some freshness to a very dull ESC edition. 6/10
It’s a weird feeling that I share with you about this song. It’s much more enjoyable being like this, unpolished, then it would be if one of the “Eurovision moguls” decided to make this sound more apt to the contest.
Yes it is definitively weird, but for some reason this one is indeed more enjoyable… But I guess for the ESC they will polish up and the freshness and authenticity might disapear. Let’s hope not, though…
NF performance is painful to watch, they better step up because live singing and overall staging was bottom worthy, tbh. Studio version is way more enjoyable, but still nothing outstanding
I’m happy Poland ditched the dreary and went for a bop this time. Is somewhat plain jane, but enjoyable. It might get lost in the big picture, but alternatively, the familiarity of the tune may appeal to casual listeners everywhere. It’s a 50/50 with this one.
5/10
Not a fan of Poland’s song…
Its even from my least liked songs in this year’s contest…
3,5/10
This is certainly a change of pace for Poland after 3 ballads. It’s a happy feel-good love song, harmless and quite enjoyable. It will qualify with ease but can it make a big impact in the Grand Final? I don’t think so. Its lack of originality won’t help it stand out.
7/10
It was hard for me not to think about Norway 2017 when I watched this one on polish national final. Let’s see: it’s EDM, the singer has a friendly face and a warm voice, there’s a DJ on the spotlight (though JOWST and Gromee couldn’t be more different from each other) and the song is very radio-friendly and somehow doesn’t seem to fit what we would normally expect from a pop song on Eurovision. Some things separate those two acts and the comparisons aren’t much flattering to Poland 2018. While Walmann proved to be a great vocalist, Lukas vocals didn’t… Read more »
If Polands song is like JOWST, then every ballad is a copy of Sobral…Let’ take Germany for example: 1. A man 2. He’s sad 3. He sings a ballad 3. He doesn’t move so much on the scene.
Oh, come on! The similarities go a lot beyond that with Poland 2018 and Norway 2017. Those are definitely two very separate songs, but clearly within the same genre. Germany 2018 and Portugal 2017 are not even in the same genre.
I also thought of JOWST when I heard the first time. So I think the comparison is a valid one.
Ann, I guess maybe you took my comment as an accusation of one copying the other, when this hasn’t even crossed my mind. I just listed some similarities between those acts and from there I set them apart. Not just one from each other, but also explaining why I think this is different to the more traditional pop acts we are used to see on Eurovision. From my point of view, on an Eurovision context, they share a lot of things. Including the fact they are the kind of music we are used to listen outside the contest for quite… Read more »
Wiwi jury
1)AZE 7.22 2)ITA 7.17 3)SLO 6.58
4)ARM 6.39 5)POL 6.36 6)BLR 6.36
7)MLT 6.31 8)CRO 6.19 9)DEN 6.17
10)MDA 6.08 11)GBR 5.97 12)LTU 5.83 13)IRE 5.67
Modified Score
1)ITA 8.81 2)AZE 8.19 3)MLT 8.13
4)DEN 8.00 5)SLO 8.00 6)MDA 7.75
7)CRO 7.69 8)POL 7.63 9)BLR 7.50
10)ARM 7.50 11)LTU 7.44 12)IRE 7.06 12)GBR 6.94
Total:
1)ITA 15.98 2)AZE 15.41 3)SLO 14.58
4) MLT 14.44 5)DEN 14.17 6)POL 13.99
7)BLR 13.92 8)ARM 13.89 9)CRO 13.88 10)MDA 13.83 11)LTU 13.27 12)GBR 12.91 13)IRE 12.73
Very current sounding and manages to light me up! However the vocals in the NF were quite pitchy and if that remains the case Poland will depend entirely on the jury for points.
A 7/10
I meant televote… Lol
As Michal Szpak’s example showed, Poland must rely on televote anyway 😉 Juries just ingnore Poland in the grand final
That is textbook generic, but makes me happy everytime I hear it. Borderline qualifier. 6/10
Bravo wiwiblogg, you gave bigger notes to Azerbaijan than to Poland. It’s just unfair.
A) That’s their opinion, it’s fair and fine
B) In my opinion, Azerbaijan is better than Poland this year
Both are pretty much the same anyway, generic with no soul in it
Generic, but still enjoyable. Perfect for a relaxing time in summer! We are talking about Poland and the SF2, so they most probably qualify, a borderline qualifier I think.
Poland stands in my 18th place:
11. Italy (7.25)
13. Lithuania (7)
15. Denmark (7)
18. Poland (7)
21. Armenia (7)
23. Slovenia (6.5)
24. Ireland (6.5)
26. Croatia (6.25)
30. Azerbaijan (5.5)
31. United Kingdom (5.5)
35. Malta (4.5)
40. Moldova (3)
43. Belarus (2)
3/10 I don’t like this; this is more for I dislike modern attempts at summer anthems, especially ones that fall flat. I think they could change my mind live but currently just not for me. Soz. xx
The truth is that regardless of what song Poland sends to Eurovision, it is always rated as “boring”, “generic”, “weak”. This is because it is Poland. If Gromme were to represent Belgium, France or Sweden, everyone would be delighted. The rating would be 10/10. Why is this song worse than “chicken” from Israel or Sia from Bulgaria? Poland presents a song on a world-class level that you can listen to anywhere. I keep my fingers crossed this year for Poland!
Actually, Israel and Belgium songs are more original then Poland, that’s for sure. I just think that it’s unfair and unprofesdional to call polish song “generic and dated” and not point out the same “flaws” while judging other songs, most of which are also generic and dated, if we put the same measure to them.
It’s Azerbaijan, of Course it’s suddenly awesome duh… I agree, it’s kinda dumb. There are some generic Songs I like more than others tho.
To be honest, Azerbaijan, Malta and Finland sound almost the same to me, maybe because it’s a genre of music I really really hate and cringe whenever I hear it (this sort of eurovisiony electro disco non-melodic souless shouty pop). So this would be ‘bad’ generic for me. However I like some other generic songs like Australia, Cyprus or Poland. So yeah, there are different kinds of generic
It reminded me of Malta’s entry in 2014, and mt first thought was that they needed better backing singers. Also, the main singer was off-key. He’ll need to stop up in his fine tuning if he wants to have a chance.
It’s crazy that this is the first time since they started doing National Finals that Poland has chosen a song I actually like! This is my feel good entry of 2018. Every time I listen to this I’m filled with joy and forget all my problems and it makes me want to get up and dance away. Sure it’s formulaic and it has a beat that has already been done time and time again, and the lyrics do nothing for me, and that’s what brings it down in my rankings and score, but it’s kind of hard for me to… Read more »
Other ESC 2018 songs you could call “dated” using some people’s judgement of “dated”: Azerbaijan, Iceland, Albania, Belarus, Macedonia, Austria, Finland, Ireland, UK, Norway, Romania, Serbia, San Marino, Denmark, Russia, Moldova, Netherlands, Australia, Georgia, Malta, Latvia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Ukraine, Germany
Songs one could call “generic”: Azerbaijan, Iceland, Albania, Belarus, Austria, Finland, Ireland, UK, Norway, Romania, Serbia, San Marino, Denmark, Russia, Moldova, Netherlands, Australia, Georgia, Malta, Latvia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Ukraine, Germany
Agree in 100%!:)
One more thing: Belgium was compared to Bond songs, Czech Republic was compared to J. Timberlake, Israel was compared to Missy Elliot, and these countries were praised for it, and it was seen as a good thing. Whereas it is seen as an unforgivable offence for Poland to sound like 2010s electropop. Some people are seriously biased and have double standards depending on which country they are judging.
But… we’re still in 2010s…
So basic. How many times have we not heard this song before? Fun but that’s about it.
I have the same feelings about like half of th ESC songs, so to be fair it’s not just Poland
When I try to remember all the 43 songs, then I keep forgetting Poland. Like I really don’t remember the song, it doesn’t impact me at all. Antranig took my words. But I find it funny and strange how they scored this one lower than sister song X My Heart. They are literally in the same category. Only this one’s lyrics aren’t THAT cringy. It just falls into another filler song for me.
Yes, that’s what I thought as well – how is “X my heart” judged so differently from “Light me up” – for me they are quite similar in style (only for me Light me up is better). So I don’t understand how can someone call Light me up generic and dated but love X My Heart and don’t see the same “flaws” in it
Yeah, I don’t have a really strong opinion about this. In comparism to the other hella generic Songs from Australia, Azerbaijan, Uk and so on, this is actually much better. It sounds like every song we’ve heard on the Radio the last couple of years, but it’s uplifting and I kinda like it. Lukas ain’t giving me a good vocal Performance here tho, maybe Alekseev and Lukas should do vocal Coaching together 😀 Not the most original, but whatever. Should qualify in semi 2.
6/10
Yes, this is a good type of generic – melodic, uplifting and kind of minimalistic
One of Poland’s best entries in years! It’s also criminally underrated in the odds. They will qualify people as they have qualified with far worse before. So far so good though, but I hope they won’t ruin it with the staging. In my opinion this is the first Polish entry since they came back in 2014 that doesn’t rely on a gimmick (Slavic Girls), shouty Captain Hook (Michal Szpak) or an emotional thug at the heartstrings (2015). This is all about the song and rightly so. Well done Poland. 6-10 in the Final. 7/10
Most Eurovision songs are generic and somehow dated, I don’t understand why some reviewers only bring it up when it comes to Poland? So when it’s a polish song, it’s “dated, crowd pleasing and unoriginal”, but when it is a song from other country, the same qualities magically transform to “charmingly and intentionally retro”, “a banger”, “catchy”. We could call 70% of ESC 2018 songs dated, unoriginal and generic, because that’s what aopeals to most viewers.
It’s not that easy to rate my own country’s song (I’ve heard this one many times) but I’ll try to be objective 🙂 This is not the type of music I normally listen to, however I think it’s a really good entry. It stuck in my head immediately. I know sometimes it’s compared to Norway ’17 – to my mind it’s totally unlike but even though, I liked that entry, so it’s a good sign. And I’m really glad that Poland sent something different than usually (not a ballad). I guess I like it less than “Color of Your Life”… Read more »
More like “dated and generic af”. Has its moment, but it’s just a cheap copy of Grab the Moment (plus it’s terrible live). 3/10
Copy of Grab the moment?! Did you actually hear the song?
Because of a guy in a hat and a DJ on a stage? 😀 Musically it’s nothing like it, maybe genre is similar, but that’s it
To me this song just seems plain pointless. It’s basically “Light me up, light me up, oho…” ad nauseam. Music, lyrics, vocals… all elements of this entry don’t seem to form a coherent unity while at the same time, it’s not “crazy” or “strange” in an artsy kind of way. It’s just… there. My personal ranking: 4.5/10 (38th overall) My prediction: 1-5 in the first semi final, 11-15 in the grand final ______________ 10th IE (8.5) | 13th HR (8.5) | 16th LT (8.0) | 20th DK (7.5) | 28th IT (6.5) | 29th AM (6.5) | 33rd BY (5.5)… Read more »
Not at all relevant but Jamala had a little boy called Emir a couple of weeks ago!
Top 10 highest scoring Eurovision songs from Wiwi jury 2012-2017
1. Sweden 2012, 9.25
2. Italy 2017, 8.96
3. Russia 2016, 8.70
4. Belgium 2017, 8.67
5. France 2016, 8.59
6. Hungary 2014, 8.56
7. Bulgaria 2016, 8.51
8. Estonia 2015, 8.50
9. Sweden 2015, 8.44
10. Norway 2015, 8.37
TIE Iceland 2016, 8.37
Remember, these are before any pre-parties or rehearsals.
POLAND – A catchy, very radio-friendly song, certainly different from a ballad streak they had recently. It’s uplifting and easy to remember. It’s also cool how it balances the fast and slow parts in a way most people can enjoy. It’s certainly crowd-pleasing and unpretentious. At the same time, it doesn’t push the envelope and there are quite a lot of self-empowering songs each year on ESC. It is a deserving winner of Krajowe Eliminacje, but then again, the bar was set really low this year. On ESC, the bar is higher, even in semi-final 2. But, if they manage… Read more »
If boring kasia could qualify last year then this will surely be in the top 10