The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — is in Latvia to review the acts competing in Supernova 2019. Our journey today takes us to Alekss Silvers and Carousel. Have either of them got the quality needed for Eurovision? Read on to find out!
Alekss Silvers — “Fireworks”
“Fireworks” reviews
Jack: Aminata Savadogo never fails to deliver musical quality to Supernova, and while “Fireworks” isn’t her best work, it has massive glow-up potential. The backing instrumentation, with its strong beats and clever use of guitar, female vocals and strings, is one of the best in the contest and has the capacity to deliver a massive “Fireworks” spectacle live on stage. Alekss shows signs of confidence, but he’s going to need to turn up his charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent if he wants to let his fire burn in Tel Aviv.
Score: 6/10
Florian: There’s an issue with your song when it doesn’t feel like what it’s about at all. Fireworks? Not in this house. There was potential with the verses but it completely got lost throughout the rest of the song. On the other hand, this could be worked on with a revamped version. But with what we’re being shown right now, this doesn’t do enough for me.
Score: 3/10
Antranig: This is borderline infuriating. Alekss has good stage presence and vocals but this song does not match his vocal range well. He delivers the chorus in a shouty manner as though he is in physical pain. I see a lot of potential in him as a performer but he needs a different song. It must also be pointed out that the song itself is quite weak. The only fire burning on is the one Eleni Foureira started in Lisbon.
Score: 3.5/10
Deban: Stable boy realness! Alekss’s mid-tempo blandness is upped by his fashion choices. His husky tones provide a breadth of vocal range, and his somewhat expressive body language gives this limp-wristed entry some much needed dynamism. However, it has to be said — this is one fire that fails to ignite.
Score: 4.5/10
Sebastian: “Fireworks” is a simple rock track we see at every national final. And while Alekss sings of fireworks, his entry is more of a party popper — coming out strong at the chorus, but ultimately, the song goes nowhere. The repetition of the word ‘fire’ with the over pronunciation of the ‘e’ ends up becoming slightly grating, leaving the song needing more. Props to his style and high waist pants.
Score: 5/10
Bernardo: I kept waiting for the fireworks but they never showed up. Alekss’ vocals are decent but not anything special and the song is disposable, with no dynamics. “Fireworks” reflects what is happening with Supernova in the past two years — just bland.
Score: 3/10
In our Supernova 2019 Wiwi Jury, we have 14 jurors but only room for 6 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:
Edgars: 3/10
Robyn: 4/10
Natalie: 6/10
Luis: 4/10
Kristin: 4.5/10
Lukas: 6/10
Oliver: 4/10
Jordi: 4/10
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 3 and a high of 6.
Wiwi Jury Verdict: 4.29/10
Carousel — “That Night”
“That Night” reviews
Edgars: After hearing this song for the fifth time, I finally remember the melody and lyrics. Actually, this song is better than most of this year’s Supernova songs but it’s so boring and simple that most of the TV audience could forget it just a couple of seconds after seeing it for the first and last time in their lives. Nice try — good luck next time!
Score: 5/10
Robyn: Look, I’m all for pleasant folk-pop songs, but there’s such a thing as being too pleasant. “That Night” suffers from lack of dynamics. It just chugs along at a very sedate pace but doesn’t go anywhere. The song lyrics suggest a person distraught at a missing lover; the performance suggests she’s not really all that bothered.
Score: 3/10
Natalie: You can picture this song being performed by a busker at a train station. It’s got a warm, cuddly charm about it. It’s performed so effortlessly that the performers almost seem to just want to have fun on stage and enjoy the ambience with no concern for the results. It’s sweet but it’s not really built for the competition. It’s a nice relaxing addition to Supernova but I don’t see it winning.
Score: 6/10
Luis: Zoe’s brunette sister needs a bit of the poivre her sister oozed in 2016. There are many good intentions behind this entry, but they are completely watered down by a boring and plain tune. It’s got no drive whatsoever, there’s nothing to retain from these three minutes. I’m not sure how “That Night” was, but if it had anything to do with this song, then I would rather stay at home reading than living it.
Score: 3.5/10
Kristin: I appreciate the folkie feel here and that they are definitely trying to create some sort of a cosy atmosphere, but apart from that, this was excruciatingly boring. Forgettable and uninteresting. As for a silver lining, there is a juicy tone in the singer’s voice but I feel like she is not using it at full force. That’s because, let’s be honest, for the entire performance, she seemed just as bored as I was.
Score: 3/10
Lukas: This entry is very cute and charming but it feels a bit boring and platonic. I really like lead vocalist’s voice and how calm and relaxing it sounds but yet again the song just needs more power and energy. This kind of song can work very well if all other songs would be pop and upbeat but otherwise it can be very forgettable. In this year’s Supernova it does stand out quite well and I can see it doing pretty well here. However, at Eurovision, it might not be as successful.
Score: 7/10
In our Supernova 2019 Wiwi Jury, we have 14 jurors but only room for 6 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:
Oliver: 8.5/10
Jordi: 4/10
Jack: 5/10
Florian: 4/10
Antranig: 4/10
Deban: 4/10
Sebastian: 5/10
Bernardo: 3/10
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 3 and a high of 8.5.
Alekss’ song was clearly meant for a female vocalist. His voice doesn’t suit it at all.
LMFAO did you really take a screenshot and post it as an article photo? i mean, really? at least you would have cropped those internet explorer netflix thumbnails LOL. this is beyond amateur LOL
“Fireworks”: It’s trying to be modern but it is not. Average.
“That night”: It has sth vintage in it. It’s relaxing but I’m afraid it gets boring at some point.
P.S.: Many good voices generally. But most songs are not that good.
As a side note, Alekks is a very handsome man, but he really needs to change his hair-do. that Justin Bieber like haircut looks a bit silly on his 30-looking face. he could be like 10 times hotter if he had a haircut that matches his age. Asa side note to my side note, why do singers still go to Eurovision with a self-empowerment pop song? like really? since 2016, this is a safe recipe for being ranked last.. people already crowned a self-empowerment pop song in 15′ , this will simply not happen again (If you don;t blieive me,… Read more »
what? the haircut is what makes him look this good and it’s a lot different from Bieber’s, lol
That Night is actually my favourite in the whole selection, which proves how weak it is…
Are you guys reviewing the audition versions or the final versions?
doesn’t matter what they are reviewing, live shows can change everything
Meanwhile in Spain Maria asks her fans to vote for Miki. What the actual F*! Even though I love the song I swear in case she gets chosen she’ll be my dead last with 0/10.
Fireworks – This has potential, but not like this. He seems constipated on stage, struggling with the notes. The chorus repeats ”ay-ay-ay” in the similar annoying way like Walk Along did. But if Alekss makes a better connection to the song, this could be better. – 4/10
That Night – Ten seconds of it brings you to nostalgic French streets at sunset. Three minutes of it could tranquilize an elephant. Too bad a song which starts as lovely as this one is so one-note and boring. Even her singing is so quiet and monotone. – 4.5/10
Ugh….agreed, that ”ay-ay-ay” is super annoying. Especially because his voice is not that good, which makes it even more painful to listen to.