On Monday Switzerland’s Italian-language broadcaster RSI revealed the acts competing to represent the broadcaster in Switzerland’s internal selection. The revelation that Eurovision 2014 finalist Sebalter was among the acts has had the Eurofandom working over time on social media. A lot of you have been talking about his song “We’ll Carry The Light” and how it stacks up against his Eurovision 2014 entry “Hunter of Stars”.
And today we’ve decided to throw ourselves into the action. Below a handful of wiwibloggers offer their assessment of the track, and sound off on how it compares to his previous Eurovision entry. Have a read. And then vote in our poll to let us know which song you prefer.
Renske: People who immediately said that “We’ll Carry the Light” is disappointing compared to “Hunter of Stars” clearly forgot how much polishing it took to help “Hunter of Stars” reach its full potential. “We’ll Carry The Light” is a nice track up to the same level as his 2014 entry, even if it still needs polishing. It is clearly the strongest of the bunch in RSI’s selection and would make a great entry for Switzerland.
Pablo: “Hunter of Stars” is far better. That song had a homemade quirky charm and no doubt deserved to do better than it did. “We Carry the Light” sounds like Sebalter is trying to go for that Sunstroke Project feel, but falling flat on its face. His voice is slurry, the beats are unexciting and the production value just sounds… low-tier Belarusian. If you want to return, fine. But not with this.
Robyn: “Hunter of Stars” was such an uplifting bop that there’s always been the risk that any Sebalter follow-up wouldn’t seem as good. And indeed, that’s what’s happened here. But “Carry the Light” is still a good song and stands on its own. It has a cheerful, uplifting spirit and plenty of hooks. It may be a little clunky in places, but so was the original version of “Hunter of Stars” before it was polished into its perfect final form. But most importantly, “Carry the Light” is a Sebalter song — he is an incredibly charismatic performer and his stage personality has the potential to distract from any minor flaws the song may have. Let’s have him back!
Chris: There’s definitely positives in “Carry the Light” — namely that, unlike some returning artists before him, Sebalter isn’t simply rehashing what worked in “Hunter of Stars”. Not only that, but lyrically it’s a vastly improved piece. But like others have said — this isn’t as good as the final version of “Hunter of Stars”. Whereas there was a joyful quirk to his previous effort, “Carry the Light”‘s hook feels just a little too generic. There’s obviously plenty of time to improve though. Given how impressive Sebalter’s recent efforts are — “Weeping Willow” and “Better Not” in particular — this does feel a little bit of a let down at this moment in time.
Luis: One thing that’s in favour of Sebalter’s 2019 entry is that he is not trying to repeat what worked with “Hunter of Stars”. Instead, he’s bringing a very pleasant song which lacks the immediacy of his 2014 piece, but offers a more mainstream sound. In a way, “We’ll Carry the Light” reminds me of Stig Rästa’s “Home” from last year’s Eesti Laul — a strong artist with an impressive history at Eurovision returns with a quality song that’s more intimate and slightly less interesting. In short, Sebalter may be able to carry his light to Israel, but it still needs lots of polish and a bit more direction to work as a Eurovision entry.
Josh: In the battle between Sebalter’s “Hunter of Stars” and “We’ll Carry the Light”, “Hunter of Stars” is the clear winner for me. While “We’ll Carry the Light” does have a more modern pop sound like you would hear today, the lyrics in places are a bit contrived and trying too hard. Although the title lyric tries to be the catchy hook of the song, there’s no driving beat or catchy interlude for the listener to latch onto to really make the song memorable. The drum beats and Sebalter’s charismatic whistling wizardry in “Hunter of Stars” just immediately caught your attention and made you listen and gave that entry a uniqueness you won’t find in many Eurovision entries. He’d do well to think about what little tweaks or moments in the composition he could add to make it stand out more, otherwise he’s destined to go middle of the pack or worse at Eurovision, if he even makes it out of the Swiss national final.
It is so typical for Eurovision fans to prefer the actual Eurovision entry of an artist instead of any other song at all by the same artist. If “we carry the light” does not get picked the fans will say – of course it wasnt, because “hunter of stars” was better. Truth be told i didnt like “hunter of stars” much at all and I dont rank it high of that year at all, but it has grown on me and I like it better now than then. On a first listening i prefer “we carry the light” waaaaaaay more.… Read more »
Switzerland is quite high up on the list of countries who haven’t sent a returning artist for the longest time (backing vocalists are not included). 1. UK (last returning artist: Cheryl Baker of Bucks Fizz in 1981) 2. Belgium (last returning artist: Stella in 1982) 3. France (last returning artist: Guy Bonnet in 1983) 4. Switzerland (last returning artist: Mariella Farré & Pino Gasparini in 1985) 5. Italy (last returning artist: Mia Martini in 1992) Albania, Australia, Belarus, Czech Republic, Georgia (however, Tamara Gachechiladze had been a member of Stephane & 3G in 2009), Hungary, Montenegro and Serbia (however, one… Read more »
We Carry the Light just seems a bit depressing. And Sebalter goes to prove that for some weird reason, the Italian-Swiss have the strongest accents. “Swim against the strim, following your wolders drim”
This has nothing to with Sebalter but what would be the minimum score needed for a country to win if there 43 countries in the contest? Just came to me earlier and now I’m really curious
ESC Insight has an in-depth article about how many points a song needs in order to win comfortably, especially in relation to recent changes in the counting of points.
http://escinsight.com/2018/04/29/how-to-win-the-eurovision-song-contest-2018/
You can win Eurovision with a minimum score of 117 points (11.33 % of available votes). Meaning a perfect tie in the jury vote and a perfect tie in the public vote + 1 point for the winning song.
I loved Sebalter in 2014, but please, it is Scilla’s time now! So unfair that she will lose against the NAME Sebalter and not against his SONG. Playground is much better than We’ll carry the light. Switzerland, please choose the SONG and not the NAME…
Unlike Norway 2018 then, eh?
Ah, I see what you are doing here because of our chat in the last article 😀 Well, Rybak was indeed chosen cause of his name but I also liked his song. Sebalter is great, I really love Hunter of Stars, but I do not prefer his new song. But I love Playground because of the song and not because of Scilla, I did not know her before.. So the best song for me is Playground.
It’s all about the song for me. If I don’t like the song, it does not matter who sings it. I won’t root for it. I genuinely like Sebalter’s song and the fact that he is handsome will be a big plus visually. Now, I like”Playground” but it might not be Switzerland’s best bet regardless of Sebalter being chosen or not. Entries that (are perceived to ) take inspiration from last year’s winning song already lost. There’s no way it would not be linked to “Toy”, were it selected.
Playground really is a worse version of toy… Copying last years winner never works.
@Frisian: No, Playground is the better toy! Better lyrics, more class, more sophisticated, more charming. “I am not your toy, you stupid boy” is so cheep against the pure poetic language of Playground. I liked Netta, really, but at the moment I am angry that she won, cause Playground is the better “MeToo”-Song and it should take Netta’s place 🙁
Sorry, but I hate “We’ll carry the light”. Just so corny!
well carry the light needs a revamp so its hard to judge it now
“Hunter of stars” ,even the first version, was catchy. The whistling, violin and drums. It was an earworm. I remember nothing of “Carry the light” and i listened to it few minutes ago. Here was no catchy chorus, which was “Hunter of stars” best part, strong chorus is needed.
Might be the novelty but I’m already rooting for “We’ll Carry The Light”. It makes me feel cheerful and optimistic. Cancel the competition, Switzerland and just select Sebalter already. He is such an excellent start to this Eurovision season.