The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continues to rank and review the 43 songs competing in Eurovision 2018. Next we head to Bulgaria and check out the American-Bulgarian supergroup common framework Equinox and their song “Bones”. Were we feeling their darkness and light? Read on to find out!
Equinox – “Bones”
“Bones” reviews
William: This is a weird one — on first listen I love it, on second listen I don’t get it, on third listen I’m thinking WTF, and on fourth listen I’m loving it again. Musically and visually it toes the line between Halloween and high art; depending on your mood it’s either existential or simply self-indulgent; it’s meditative or monotonous; it’s magic or just a bit much. What it means to Eurovision voters will come through in the live performance, where voice and visual will clarify all these blurred boundaries in a make-or-break moment. As for now, I’m loving the risk. The overall package is daring and the song doesn’t feel of this universe. That alone makes it a potential winner in my eyes.
Score: 9/10
Bogdan: While I do appreciate the voices and the melody, there is something off-putting about this year’s Bulgarian entry. Equinox is obviously a made-for-Eurovision act that won’t stay together after May and this transpires in the song as well. While the message of “Bones” is positive, its mood is unnecessarily dark. Bulgaria has clearly overthought this and the final product is not convincing enough to become a contender for the win.
Score: 6.5/10
Cinan: This song is the sister of Loreen’s “Statements”, which I am very glad about. The song is unique — five beautiful and distinct voices merged in one and the Bulgarian folklore motifs just blow you up in the heart. I have huge expectations for the stage performance in Lisbon. I hope very much after last year’s success that this song has even more success. And why not win it? Let’s do this!
Score: 9/10
Robyn: There’s something magic happening here. Despite a clanger of an opening line (“Love is like a blackhole – everything is dark”) the Equinox quintet completely sells it and deliver a song that is moody and delicious. It sounds like the staging of “Bones” is important to Bulgaria, but regardless of that, the song stands on its own. It wouldn’t be hard to expect another top-five finish for Bulgaria, at a minimum.
Score: 9/10
Renske: They really were eager to repeat the success of “Beautiful Mess” by trying to make a “Beautiful Mess 2.0”. “Bones”, however, sounds too manufactured. The audio track sounds very polished but also extremely autotuned. The fact that Equinox is a dubbed as “common framework” — not a group — will be a disadvantage because that just underlines the individuality of the artists rather than the cohesion of a group.
Score: 6.5/10
Steinunn: This is dark and twisted and captivating and I can‘t get enough of it. It‘s like Equinox wants to put me under their spell and I just want to obey. It all comes down to the staging now. Good staging and this is a top-five contender for sure. Crossing my fingers that the Bulgarian team manages to avoid the mistakes of Switzerland 2006 and Armenia 2015 and just put five soloists on the stage and let them belt out until everyone‘s out of breath. This song is too good for that to happen.
Score: 9/10
In the Wiwi Jury we have 20 jurors but only have room for six reviews. The remaining scores are below:
Angus: 7.5/10
Anthony: 6.5/10
Antranig: 8/10
Bernardo: 7/10
Chris: 6.5/10
Deban: 8.5/10
Jonathan: 7/10
Jordi: 9.5/10
Jovana: 8/10
Kristin: 8.5/10
Luis: 9/10
Padraig: 7/10
Ron: 9/10
Sebastian: 8/10
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 6.5 and a high of 9.5.
Wiwi Jury verdict: 7.94/10
What do you think of this song? Share your own score and review below!
Well said Robyn. We appreciate you all in making the Eurovision experience very enriching and especially so as volunteers. That means that you, like all of us Eurovision junkies, do it for the love of it. Take plenty of rest after this 2 weeks though!
This is the most layered song this year. Composition at its finest. It grabs you and hold you for a full 3 minutes. That being said, my only “issue” is that it does not feel like it was meant to be a 3 minute song. It feels like it ends in it’s most climactic part. It is the most played song in my playlist this year and I could care less if they are a common framework or whatever they wanna call themselves. The song is good. I just wish there was more time for it to develop and truly… Read more »
Musically speaking, this song seems like the most accomplished entry this year and is definitely my most played ESC song this season. If you want magic, serve polyphony. Very, very good, I would even say enchanting. Minor minuses to me are the lyrics perhaps, especially in the pre-chorus parts, but I will gladly overlook this. My number one this year! 10/10
Hi guys. There are some very interesting and provocative theories in this thread, none of which are actually true. In reality (1) I don’t trawl through all the comments, as I’m too busy working full-time so that I can pay to keep the site up in the first place. The bigger a site becomes, the more expensive the server. I am solely responsible for funding this site. However, we do take the mental health of all of our bloggers very seriously and when they are targeted moderators totally have the right to remove comments (2) We are currently undergoing a… Read more »
Thanks William. Earlier in the year I e-mailed about this to offer my help. The offer still stands if you need it. Best wishes. x
What’s even worse is that the number of “hate comments” have increased on the latest two sections. Could it be possible that Wiwi have lost control of their own website?
It sounds super incomplete to my ears, it basically only has two choruses.
Meh. I want a Eurovision winner that will conclude his/hers/their career, but this group was only formed for this song so yeah no. The song is also very mediocre.
#SOFIA 2019
Mine hasn’t turned-up either. Wrote it about 14 hours ago. I just wrote and posted a completely new review, similar to the previous one.
With me ii’s funnier, in some post the comments around mine are deleted and I’m the only one left, talking by myself looking plain crazy. Which of course I am.
Here’s what happens with Bulgaria this year. I like the song, it’s dark and mysterious, but I don’t quite get it. It’s not a masterpiece, nowhere near 2016 and 2017 for me. However, happy for Bulgaria because they brought their A game and show they want to win it.
7/10
Like someone posted a video link saying Austria’s chorus is copied from this song. I couldn’t play it then cause I was at work. By the time I come back home it was gone. That’s some really bad moderation work.
And I’ve seen moderators here taking sides of some commenters against others.
I know… I’ve seen comments disappearing too. And that too innocuous comments that were said with purest intentions.
Hope it doesn’t start happening to mine too
Dave Benton with the most underrated winner ever, “Everybody” in 2001 with Tanel Pader and 2XL.
Oh, and it was Estonia.
Morose, stagnant, New Age to a fault, overrated.
After Polegend lowered my expectations accordingly I was ready to dismiss this, but honestly it’s not that bad. Definitely overrated, by bookies and fans alike, but I do like it. Too intense though, trying too hard to replicate the sound of Beautiful Mess but being too showy about it. It’ll probably qualify, but I can think of many entries I prefer. I give it a 7.5/10, perfectly good but not a keeper.
I loved the song from the first listening. It has beautiful ethnic elements and all the voices sound great together! But is it just me or has Zhana not yet memorized the lyrics? It looks like it by just watching the “live” performances…
BULGARIA – Duets are very tricky, vocal groups even more. One misstep and it sounds like a bunch of cats stepping on each other’s tails. Luckily, Bulgaria managed not only to avoid that, but to send a group of professionals who harmonize very well with each other. The song is like a black hole indeed, it’s dark, mysterious and pulls you into it’s never ending powerful instrumental. Once it’s done, you cannot tell whether it lasted for a minute or ten minutes. It has that cold, spacey feeling. The lyrics are clean and decent, but I’d wish if the picked… Read more »
BULGARIA – Duets are very tricky, vocal groups even more. One misstep and it sounds like a bunch of cats stepping on each other’s tails. Luckily, Bulgaria managed not only to avoid that, but to send a group of professionals who harmonize very well with each other. The song is like a black hole indeed, it’s dark, mysterious and pulls you into it’s never ending powerful instrumental. Once it’s done, you cannot tell whether it lasted for a minute or ten minutes. It has that cold, spacey feeling. The lyrics are clean and decent, but I’d wish if the picked… Read more »
This is one of my favorites this year, maybe even my winner. I generally don’t like groups and songs created just for Eurovision because it often sounds pretentious and calculated but I don’t get this feeling here. I actually like it much more than “Beautiful Mess”. I love the fact that it’s so dark and mysterious and how they voices blend together. But the thing I like the most about this song are the lyrics – they’re simple, yet deep. They make me think of this moment in your life, when you deeply fall in love with someone for the… Read more »
the song does feel made alright but it’s high quality pop, with a dark touch in it. not every song has to be sugar coated idol pop, the way it is it’s perfect right now and will slay on stage. the two Americans don’t bother me at all, if the producer finds what fits the song then it’s great.
the song screams winner material but I’d say no. they’re good but look what happened to last year Azerbaijan.
The verses are nice enough but overall I have a sense of style over substance. Not really that big on the chorus and I find the lyrics nonsensical and frankly pretentious. Not something I’d listen to on repeat but alright while it’s on.
Middle of the pack for me personally although it’s a nice enough song. Even if it is pop trying to pass for indie.
Will it qualify? Yes. Will it shake thinks up in the final? … until I’ve seen the stage show I think that’s an unknown.
We feel the same about it, though I probably ranked it a little higher than you.
I’m with Bogdan on this one. Bulgaria has overthought this entry, trying to replicate “Beautiful Mess” success. The outcome is a very pretentious song, excessively dark (I love dark songs, but there has to be a reason for them to be dark) with cringy lyrics. All of that made on purpose for Eurovision. Even the group, they sold it like they are a family, but they aren’t going to sing together after all of this. Also, two Americans? Really, Bulgaria? So everything looks too artificial. Probably the most terrible crime is Zhana wearing a Sia wig pretending to be her… Read more »
These guys aren’t slowing down! While I’m not sure this is gonna top last year’s result, I still think it’s a very good entry. Yes, it’s a pop song, and it’s half-produced by Swedes, but it still has what to offer. I like the production on this one. It gives like a Coldplay meets Sia kind of vibe, which is apparently a combination that works quite well. I don’t know if I’m just saying that just because Zhana is wearing a Sia style wig in their group photographs, who knows. It also has a dark edge to it that works… Read more »
All I have about this one are mixed feelings. Bulgaria was very successful with two conventional pop songs in a row and I appreciate the fact that, even if they could just stick to the safe radio-friendly path, they decided to take some risk. But the final result here lies between a quality act made just for a special occasion (nothing wrong with that, see the Grammys) and a pretentious pop song trying to pass as high art. This couldn’t be more distant from Spain’s entry (the genre, the mood, the performers and the way they were brought together), but… Read more »
Isn’t there 2 Americans in the BULGARIAN entry? I mean, a country that byes the song, the staging and even part of the performers abroad is a country that literally says “WE DON’T HAVE GIFTED AND CREATIVE PEOPLE AMONG US”. That kind of things should be forbidden by Eurovision rules as instead of developing local musicians, those countries spend tons of money on foreigners just because they are desperate to win. For me this whole Equinox thins is a sweaty and sad attempt to win the contest.
Interesting how you’re mad about this but were perfectly fine with Kristian Kostov who is Russian… Fun fact: EQUINOX are more Bulgarian than Kris with him being 50% Bulgarian and them 60%. Keep on hating for no reason, I’m sure it makes you feel happy.
Blunder I didn’t mention Kristian and never said weather i’m fine with him or not, whatever was last year is irrelevant and pointless for now, just like your hysterical respond to me. If you have anything relevant to say about the point that I was actually making, you’re welcome.
To prove my point further, Alekseev isn’t Belarussian, Rybak isn’t Norwegian, Lukas Meijer isn’t Polish, Eleni isn’t Cypriot and the neither Jessika Or Jennifer Brening have even been to San Marino in their life. How come I don’t see you complaining about any of those?
I was talking about the phenomenon of outsourcing the Eurovision acts in general, Bulgaria is the best example as they are actual contenders for the win (what you can’t say about any of the people you mentioned above). I won’t bother to complain about San Marino when they are expected to end up last. PS. Rybak and I guess Kostov too are citizens of the countries they represent. It doesn’t matter where they were actually born. I am a citizen of a country that I wasn’t born in aether, as many others. I really doubt that the 2 Americans from… Read more »
WTF, how is this song outsourced? in the general team that create the song are more Bulgarians than any other nationalities. The idea is of a Bulgarian author, the song is composed by the same BULGRIAN person, Out of 6 people that will be on the stage (4 Bulgarians (3 main + 1 Back-vocal) and 2 Americans). The lyrics – American + Bulgarian.
So, again… how is this outsourced???
Please, check before saying nonsense.
Also it is an ethnic song with very very typical Bulgarian folklore elements that even resemble very well known folklore songs in Bulgaria (Devoiko Mari Hubava and Izlel e Delio Haidutin). There are elements of this song that only a person trained to sing BULGARIAN FOLKLORE can perform. I don’t mind people disliking the song, but people saying that it’s not Bulgarian just to discredit it, are simply wrong!
This song can be performed by 5 Americans and it will still sounds BULGARIAN!
I can’t follow your unique logic, if it’s such a “BULGARIAN FOLKLORE” song why there are 3 foreigners and only 1 Bulgarian among the people who wrote this? Why only the Americans sing the verses, meaning ONLY THE AMERICANS get the solo parts of this song while the Bulgarians are functioning only as back vocalists. Among the 7 MILLIONS BULGARIANS there were none who could sing the solo parts of this “Typically Bulgarian” song? I’m asking a really simple question. Why are there ANY americans and swedes needed on stage and off stage while your country have tens of thousands… Read more »
The song is made from bulgarians, there are 3 singers from Bulgaria but if you don’t get it the Eurovision logo this year is all abroad…
Maybe you have missed 2017 – ,,Celebrate diversity”
The chorus is an over-sung mess. They hold the notes for far too long in places that didn’t need them just to show off their range. Shame because the verses are pretty suspenseful. On a side-note, I have no idea why this is not a song for one singer with backing singers. I feel like they wanted a group so threw a group together. Not feeling the chemistry or authenticity in this act. Still, I think as a whole, I like the song and it could win….but to me, it is a step down for Bulgaria.
The way they hold the notes on the chorus is a perfect example of something that can sound annoying or relaxing depending on my mood while listening to it. Sometimes I feel they’re just showing off, sometimes I feel they’re just feeling it and paying homage to ancient genres.
‘Over-sung mess’? – this term doesn’t exist musically, I’m sorry but you are looking for negatives where they don’t exist. What’s wrong with showing your range? This song is not sung by one person with backing vocalists because it’s harmonic all the way through, i.e. you don’t hear the 4 other voices every now and then, you hear them all the time. On top of that the song is inspired by the fifth element and the singers symbolise something(not gonna go into detail). The message of the song is also about uniting differences – what better way to unite than… Read more »
-Good solos, good backing.
-Brings chills to the spine.
-Has a good chance of going to the final
-Halloween love song.
Bulgaria has come back with a vengeance, and this has a high chance of qualifying. I’m neutral about it, but I don’t consider it to be bad.
For me this is the best song of the year 10/10
This group feels Made but idc, they bring a killer song! This gives me Nina Sublatti vibes and I love her so I love This. Their song is just so catchy and I think it might do Well, but I don’t see them winning. 10/10
The song is certainly good, but the chorus is very monotonous, and when I listened to this song several times, it seemed very simple to me from the point of view of music. And I still don’t understand why this song is sung by 5 people? they all have strong vocals, I think one, two or three people would be enough.And it would be better to have an emotion on the stage, there are no emotions now, they look like the colaboration of the best vocalists, that’s all.
8/10
Wow real music, this is art, never seen before. You need at least 120 IQ to understand such complex lyrics and production… ”I love beyond the bones”, damn, very deep and powerful. And those never heard before synths! damn… It’s a very authentic and complex song, you can tell that these 5 people are friends that knew each other whole life, the chemistry is just too good. It’s also obvious that they don’t care about winning at all, they just want to show Europe their talents and their beautiful song…unlike some other manufactured acts…
Lmao thank you for this
Oh boy. You are back. 😀
@William Lee Adams: Is there a hacker or someone trashing the comment section? I have been receiving really nasty attacks, including death whishes. Scary! Is anybody else experiencing that? Is there something you can do about this?
I had complained about the two Americans, but after hearing more I left the prejudice aside and I’m enjoying it. Unlike Austria, Australia or Hungary in 2014, Bones won my heart: 8/10
Ok, let’s agree to something, ”Bones” is special for sure. Does it give winner vibes? No.. BUT….which song gives winner vibes this year? For now, none of them. Staging will give us the winner, it’s 100% sure.Sasha Jean Baptiste as always is going to create a dark and minimalistic staging with some camera effects. Prediction: Bulgaria will be in Top 5. Camera angles will decide if ”Bones” will be the winner of ESC2018.
the song has a nice tune and feel to it. But i don’t get this group.They have no chemistry with one and other on stage.They feel to me too calculated. The two black guys have amazing voices so much so that they eclipse everyone else. The rest of the group might as well be back vocalist. right now the song is 6/10 for me.
Bulgaria has become one of my favorite Eurovision countries lately, they are definitely putting a lot of effort. This song is strong, well thought and mysterious. What I don’t like is their harmonies. If they fix that and do a good live performance I can see it getting a decent result.
7.5/10
oh come on, you know it doesn‘t have anything to do with the country – its just the composer/producer who gave us the last 3 entries for bulgaria in a row. what a miracle that the national television gave him a chance for so long. its an austrian based bulgarian guy and thats it. thats why it has become one of your favorite esc country. as soon as borislav milanov is out, you won‘t like bulgaria anymore, I‘m pretty sure… even with the „voda“-song of 2007 becoming 5th at the finals I‘d say it was quite the exception. bulgaria has… Read more »
Maybe you’re partly right but I did also love Bulgaria’s 2011 and 2012 entries.
I ADORE THIS SOOONG!!!! I can’t believe what’s going on in this comment section… but let me explain why it deserves to win. 😉 1. The genre – it’s fresh, probably the best dark pop song in the last few years. 2. The music – so rich and enveloping. The composition is simple but not simplistic. It’s easy to listen and remember but hard to sing. It’s at the crossroad between pop, soul, folk and Christian Orthodox choral sound. The folk songs included are instrumental version of the first accrods of Devoiko Mari Hubava (a beloved Bulgarian folk song) and… Read more »
That’s beautifully written, I totally agree with you. I love the part about bulgarian elements in the song.
Very interesting, especially the insights on Bulgarian folk music.
Very interesting and helpful explanation. Thanks.
Well said! I still don’t understand the hate in this comment section!
George, I don’t get the hate either. It’s true Bulgarians are a threat because they are considered competitive enough to win, I guess. I think the other top 3 candidates are Israel and the Netherlands, but both lack something – probably genuine likability. They’re both cool artists, don’t get me wrong, but there is something in their charismas that is just a little offputting and that’s sad… Not to mention they’re not perfect vocalists: they’re decent but nothing else. It’s gonna be a battle between voices and genres to me. And please don’t forget Portugal either! Their song is incredible… Read more »
It feels like a fast-food song, kind of “let’s make a song only for eurovision”. The fact that it has a dark essence, does not save it, because it is very calculated, very forced to give that dark feeling. What it lacks, is soul and authenticity. Greece’s song this year is dark as well but feels much more original than Bones. Anyway, good luck to Bulgaria, I hope they will be top10 because it is a nice attempt!
How is this a fast food entry? It’s so different from usual esc songs. I would rather say that all those electro-disco songs are eurovision fastfood music..
The greek song si quiet depressive sounds outdated with low quality and weak voice. That’s what eurovision needs – funeral song from Greece. Cheers.
Nope! The greek song is different and dark and with high quality of music.. And the singer has a very beautiful and powerful voice
Only 7.94? Bulgaria pees you all
Hi Eugene.
Can I contact you somehow? 🙂
You can find me on twitter.
CDbjerg..
Pretentious at best.
Ooh, a cool one right here. It’s atmospheric and exciting. The lyrics are a bit repetitive and weird, though. But overall, the members work really well as a group and have great stage presence. Honestly this is nothing short of amazing. I love the chorus and the instrumental. Much better than Beautiful Mess.
Loved this from first listen, and still addicted to it. 10/10
Bulgaria deserve to win as they are country that is taking the ESC to a higher level like Belgium, Australia and the Netherlands do. I hope one of these countries will win this year. It will improve the acts and staging of the contest. I am afraid Netta will be hard to beat though and if she wins it will be for all the good reasons.
My review didn’t appear, so in short – I like it a lot, it’s dark, mysterious, instrumental is amazing, harmonies are great, the lyrics could have been more dark to fit the mode more. 8/10
I am sorry, Eugene. Seems like vanishing comments can happen here. :-\
It’s my review of Bulgaria, Sweden isn’t mentioned at all. It hasn’t appeared since I posted it.
Best song this year. We need something galactic guyzzz
4/10.
Uninteresting music, music of slaves.
can’t see how this can do well with televoters. Who is gonna vote for it?? It doesn’t have the mass-appeal that a winner needs and only a few people will ‘get’ this. That makes it out of contention to win. I find it so funny how they try so hard to be artistic and dark. it feels really pretentious and forced. annoyed that they are using american singers for this, when a lot of bulgaria’s biggest stars are dying to represent their country. Why not go for their local talent in stead??? As for the song, its just average to… Read more »
I agree with you!
Bulgaria is trying too hard and the rest of the contestants don’t.
really???
I think the greek “Jamala wannabe” is trying too hard to be original but she is not.
Whaaaat???? I’m the one and only. (rofl) 😛
This is the biggest mistery for me, of all the Bulgarian choirs , of all the opera singers where the Bulgarian bass and baritons abound, why did they need mercenaris? It’s not hate, I’m really wondering, cam someone explain?
“It doesn’t have the mass-appeal that a winner needs and only a few people will ‘get’ this”
Did the last winner had the mass-appeal to win? No!
And Occidental Karma had the mass-appeal… and did it win… No!
So basically doesn’t really matter!!!
Voices. Fantastic voices. This is definitely the strongest point of this song (for me). The composition itself… I like it but I’m not crazy about it. It’s interesting and “mysterious” indeed, and it makes the Bulgarian entry different. From the beginning to the end, there’s nothing wrong, actually. But does it affect me somehow? No… I prefer listening to other entries.
Anyway, I think they did a good job and I can see what is going on here 😛 I won’t be surprised if they’ll win!
7/10