The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — has travelled to Norway to review the songs competing in Melodi Grand Prix 2019. Ten years on from their last win, we are looking for the next Norwegian “Fairytale”. Our first stop is Ingrid Berg Mehus with her delicate yet powerful song “Feel”. Are we feeling it? Read on to find out.
Ingrid Berg Mehus — “Feel”
“Feel” reviews
Sebastian: Complimenting soft, elegant vocals with a banging backing track can often not work. But to Ingrid’s credit, she seems to pull off this contrasting blend — just. The violin itself is what brings power to Ingrid and the song but whether this would work live is another question entirely. I’m not too optimistic about this package, but I appreciate its efforts.
Score: 6.5/10
Deban: Ingrid’s delicate offering is compromised by its heavily produced chorus. “Feel” starts off gripping, but quickly loses its hold on the listener. Ingrid is not the problem here, and for the most part, her voice shines through the clumsy arrangement. With a bit of tidying, this track could regain impact.
Score: 5/10
Florian: This track has all the potential to give Ingrid a great moment, but instead it is somewhere in between. The intention behind it is to be welcomed, but some of the elements don’t work for me personally. Ingrid pulls off a great vocal delivery which definitely needs a shout out!
Score: 5.5/10
Pablo: The fairy can tell the tale on her own! Ingrid combines the violin we all know and love with 21st century electropop beautifully. The verses are not as strong as the chorus and the breakdown, but when that violin solo comes in, we’re sold. I really hope she dances and prances around Lindsey Stirling-style while on it, because it is important to sell “Feel” as more dynamic than it may be. It doesn’t quite reach 100% but there is potential for something grand.
Score: 7/10
Luis: “Feel” is a subtle and delicate effort that is too demure and shy to bother you, and ultimately, passes unnoticed. What you feel here is a subtle breeze — it is welcomed, but it doesn’t really stir anything inside, and it’s not particularly interesting. If Kylie Minogue did an album with a symphonic orchestra, this is what a filler song would sound like.
Score: 5/10
Renske: In the instrumental parts, I wouldn’t be able to tell Ingrid apart from Lindsey Stirling, but I don’t know whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Dubstep was a genre that was big at Eurovision five years ago but has died its lonely death. The song is typically radio-orientated, and I am therefore not really sure about Ingrid’s stage capabilities as she does not seem a naturally-born entertainer. Nonetheless, a good debut effort.
Score: 6/10
In our Melodi Grand Prix 2019 Wiwi Jury, we have 14 jurors but only room for 6 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:
| Steinunn: 3/10
Bernardo: 5/10 Izhar: 5/10 Julian: 2.5/10 |
Antranig: 6/10
Antony: 8/10 Robyn: 7/10 Oliver: 9/10 |
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 2.5 and a high of 9.
I really like it, it’s dreamy. Shame on Wiwi for such low scores.
no more violins on stage unless they are played live… I really want a petition for that…
To Renske: where do u hear the dubstep in this song? U r obviously reviewing a completely different song!!!
she was the first girlfriend of AlexanderRybak and she became the inspiration for “fairytale”. Norway is so smallll
Underrated. It’s true the chorus kills it, but the verses and the instrumental parts are so beautiful!
Wow, this is gorgeous. I’m stunned by your low ratings. Try turning the volume up.
This is awesome and underrated as hell! It’s really inspiring and energetic. Hope the performance will be interesting. For me, it’s 9/10. The break of the instrumental in the end let me wanting more.
For me, I think this is a new take on the Indie Dance and NuDisco genre that actually works.
It’s an interesting concept and I really like it.
10/10
Very interesting and becuase this combination of vocals and instrumentation are very unusual. Good entry, but I don’t think this is Norway’s best option (that is keiino ofc) 7,5/10
Underrated by Wiwi. While the verses are extremely low-key (pardon the pun) the development after that is engaging, and the Choruses contain extremely beautiful music that is enhanced by the light electro dance and the violin. There is also a Secondary Bridge which, rather unusually, appears after the 2nd Primary Bridge, and before the Reprise. That’s an usual song structure, and it made me sit up and listen to the 3rd minute. I was left wanting more. Add to that a haunting vocal and some sensual lyrics, and this would get a high score from me (if I were allowed… Read more »
Sigrid’s Strangers comes to mind. So it’s not a particularly original entry.
Check this out: https://youtu.be/cIriwVhRPVA
This is the entry that screams (or rather, tenderly sings) “modern Norwegian music” to me. It has the pop appeal of Annie and the electro-melancholy of Röyksopp. However, she’s a captivating performer and makes it her own. There’s an impressive video on her Instagram profile. A hidden gem, utterly underrated.
Feel – Since Ingrid is immortally described as a ”Fairytale”, she stays true to her image and delivers this enchanting tune. It’s really magical and brings something genuinely calming. I can feel the snowflakes in the air and the soft breeze around me. It’s a very nice, atmospheric song. I love the English lyrics, I just wonder would it be even more magical in Norwegian? – 8/10
This is actually my favourite song in the Norwegian selection. For some reason, it’s quite low in the betting odds though.
It’s in my top 4. I’d love if Ingrid, Morland, Adrian Jorgensen and KEiiNO would reach the superfinals. From that point on, I’d know Norway would have a good song on ESC. 🙂
Not bad but I REALLY don’t like Adrian’s song. Give me Chris instead. 😉
Okay, but Chris is somewhere in the middle grounds for me. I don’t really dislike any MGP song, but his didn’t grab me so far. Then again, I will listen to it again before rating it, because now it’s MGP time apparently. 🙂
Boring. Next!
Your username will have so much potential, if you combine the “ESC” and the “celebrate”, because of the c: “ESCelebrate19” 😀
I like that idea! Stolen and thank you!