The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — is in Latvia to review the acts competing in Supernova 2019. Today we are looking at Laika Upe and Edgars Kreilis. Have we found a potential winner? Read on to find out!
Laika Upe — “Listen to the Way that I Breathe”
“Listen to the Way that I Breathe” reviews
Oliver: This song is definitely experimental but not completely in a positive way. Yes, it is bringing something unique, but the music and text do not seem to blend well together – almost as if they were from two different compositions. What’s more is that the song seems to lack a strong and definite beat to give itself structure, making it a little bit difficult to listen to.
Score: 3.5/10
Jordi: Chaos and more chaos. Laika Upe’s offering is thrilling in its instrumental but doesn’t stand out lyrically with their arrangement. As the song flows, the hook – if any – soon falls, wanting the song to end in a shorter time than expected. Somehow, the base doesn’t fit with the voice at a point and it can turn out annoying. However, it’s indisputable the passion with which the band sings.
Score: 4/10
Jack: “Listen to the Way that I Breathe” sounds like the sort of song you’d hear while shopping at an overpriced clothing store at the mall. It’s nice background music and you probably won’t hate it, that is if you notice it’s playing at all. The chorus is forgettable and becomes repetitive very quickly. There is something fun about this entry, but I suspect it has more to do with the backup instrumentalists than the actual song.
Score: 3.5/10
Florian: The track kicked off with an interesting arrangement but the lead singer’s voice was definitely surprising. The chorus unfortunately didn’t do much for me. It gets a bit too repetitive and would likely get lost in a load of other national final songs.
Score: 3.5/10
Antranig: “Listen to the Way that I Breathe” may be the first unusual fetish of the Eurovision 2019 season. I find it hard to take the song seriously with a title and lyric such as that. Musically, it has some interesting moments and flourishes but that does little to disguise the weaknesses of the song. Overall, it’s very average.
Score: 5/10
Deban: Rocking out an experimental britpop vibe, Laika Upe keeps the music experimental. “Listen To The Way that I Breathe” may not be breaking the mould, but it spins out in a cool, laid back fashion. Visually, this is metrosexual and totes millennial.
Score: 6/10
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:
Sebastian: 5/10
Bernardo: 4/10
Edgars: 3/10
Robyn: 7/10
Natalie: 1.5/10
Luis: 4/10
Kristin: 6/10
Lukas: 5/10
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 1.5 and a high of 7.
Wiwi Jury Verdict: 4.38/10
Edgars Kreilis — “Cherry Absinthe”
“Cherry Absinthe” reviews
Kristin: Well, Edgars is definitely back and delivering. “Cherry Absinthe” gives the same strong elements as “Younger Days” did last year and it might even be a tad better. It’s upbeat, catchy and Edgars, despite being on an empty stage and dressed like he just came from Sunday supper with Nan, is giving his all and some more and is selling me every single note and every single move. This pre-stage is dull and lifeless but Edgars is bringing everything to life and does so with a smile on his face. Edgars to Tel Aviv? Yes, please.
Score: 8.5/10
Lukas: Edgars has been getting better and better each year and this time I think he might have a shot at winning it all. I really like this song and with his rusty voice it sounds very unique and different. In this year’s competition, it seems like one of the strongest entries and it doesn‘t need much work put into it because it works as it is now. The beat is catchy, the song is easy to remember and it kind of reminds me of Justs’ song “Heartbeat“. For me this is one of the stronger songs in this year’s Supernova.
Score: 8/10
Oliver: Modern, well produced and instantly grabbing, Edgars is one of the stand outs in the competition this year as he is bringing something current and fresh to the stage. While the song does build nicely, the chorus feels to be somewhat of a let down and becomes a bit repetitive the third time around. Nevertheless, it is one of the better entries this edition.
Score: 7/10
Jordi: Edgars’ “Cherry Absinthe” isn’t as fiery as expected considering the original song title “Fire”. But it totally has potential. On one hand, the song has its own quality. It’s vibrant, modern and flows pleasingly along the three minutes. On the other hand, the instrumental lacks power to some extent. When contrasted with his voice, it lacks presence, mostly in the chorus. As a result, the production needs a revamp and when joined with a great performance, it could make this song a banger.
Score: 6/10
Jack: People like Mariya Yaremchuk and Juliana Pasha have become immortalised throughout the Euroverse for being able to turn trash into treasure through their game-changing revamps. Now Edgars Kreilis has gone a step further by turning “Fire” into “Cherry Absinthe”. But the name change is hardly the only revision that the track has undergone. The whole song has been reworked and while the modifications may feel subtle at first listen, the effects are enormous. Kreilis has a star quality on stage that immediately sets him apart from his competitors, and now he finally has a song worthy of his charisma and swagger. “Cherry Absinthe” is the modern, up-tempo banger that the 2019 national selection season has been lacking and the track lends itself perfectly to massive staging in Tel Aviv. Edgars Kreilis is a star on the brink of eruption and “Cherry Absinthe” may be just what this star needs to reach its Supernova.
Score: 8/10
Florian: The song has a really interesting vibe. Unlike many of the other songs in this year’s national selection, it does sound current and doesn’t get too repetitive. I guess that a little work could be done on the vocal delivery but there isn’t any major issue letting this song down.
Score: 6.5/10
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:
Antranig: 6.5/10
Deban: 9/10
Sebastian: 7.5/10
Bernardo: 6.5/10
Edgars: 6/10
Robyn: 7.5/10
Natalie: 6/10
Luis: 5.5/10
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 5.5 and a high of 9.
Oh, so “Fire” has been renamed to “Cherry Absinthe”. Better now I must say. This one is the clear contender. Though I don’t see it clearly qualifying in May with the standard quality of other years
dislaika upe’s lyrics were clearly written by someone with first-grade knowledge of the english language. the other one i never thot it would be a favorite, it’s the textbook definition of bland and forgettable, the more you know…
I don’t think Edgars will win. The fight is between Dzi?i Violets and Double Faced Eels, with Edgars finishing in TOP 5 alongside with L?ga R?dere and Markus Riva. Samanta Tina, Kris & Oz and either Adriana or Carousel finishing the top 8. But you never know – live performances may change everything.
Edgars is the best. But I think that Markus Riva will finally win.
Edgars is the best choice for us, hopefully he won’t mess up the staging and performance, because I think he is the contender(and the act) for Tel Aviv. Laika Upe is the definition of monotonous, in my opinion, so don’t care about them at all. Also WOW someone in this selection got a 7, I’m SHOOK. I thought a 6 was impossible, but thanks Wiwibloggs for giving me hope for Latvia this year.
Listen to the Way That I Breathe – In many ways a totally average pop-rock song, but the instrumental is quite jarring. Also, they overact so much I am starting to wonder whether this was secretly meant to be a joke entry. The lyrics don’t suggest so, but their attitude does. – 3/10 Cherry Absinthe (formerly Fire) – Sleek and with a nice hook, this is probably the song to go if they want to qualify. Edgars looked like a pro on stage and the revamp did wonders in polishing the song and making it stand out. It’s a tad… Read more »
Give me Cherry Absinthe or nothing <3
Lol, I listened to “Cherry Absinthe” just a few seconds ago 😀 The revamp did its magic and I would not mind to see this in Tel Aviv <3 And Jack's first sentence in his review gave me life, because it is so true: Juliana Pasha stays the queen of delivering a fantastic performance out of the dark! <3