The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — has travelled to Denmark to review the songs competing in Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2019. With nine songs out of the way, we travelled to Greenland to get a taste of Julie & Nina with “League of Light”. Is this Greenlandic realness made for Eurovision? Read on to find out.
Julie & Nina — “League of Light”
“League of Light” reviews
Antranig: A bit of Greenlandic is just what the doctor ordered. This is a respectable pop entry with a very catchy chorus and an otherworldly feel. It’s Emma’s “Circle of Light” but with more polish, maturity and finesse. It may not have that same wow factor but it builds an identity for itself over the course of three minutes. My only question… what on earth is a “League of Light”? Is it a high-end exclusive society, a Pokémon League or a cult — or all of the above?
Score: 9.5/10
Jordi: This is proper Nordic realness! Julie & Nina’s “League of Light” is vivid from the first beat. But it definitely has this celestial yet epic quality happening. Both voices match perfectly and the production is slick. This might be a contender, in a similar way to the Nordic vibe Rasmussen also brought last year in Lisbon. With a nice revamp, somehow creating an improved momentum, it’s ready to go.
Score: 6.5/10
Oliver: I am revelling at the fact that another country who has recently always sung in English has opted to explore and showcase their minority cultures much more openly. Julie & Nina create such a wonderful blend of voices and the addition of a language as melodic and beautiful as Greenlandic is such a refreshing quality. The song is well-produced, it bears an important message and is lovely to listen to — it has it all.
Score: 9.5/10
Patrick: Now I have to admit, when I heard that Julie is in the selection, I was already fangirling! These two ladies are bringing something so unique to the Danish selection, something refreshing, powerful and breathtaking. For me, it is the first time hearing Greenlandic and boy I am hooked! The mystical flair and the pure emotions mixed with the voices of both Julie & Nina makes this act the clear winner for me. Now Denmark, if you want to succeed and want to make me happy too, choose them — you will have my vote for sure.
Score: 9.5/10
Cinan: Loved this! This is the song Denmark should send to Eurovision this year or they are cancelled. The voices are so beautiful with the way they sing and the chorus is so catchy. The song has a Scandinavian vibe, which I’m totally here for. It has a message and I’m 100% sure Julie & Nina will give us an amazing live performance. Good luck girls!
Score: 9/10
In our Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2019 Wiwi Jury, we have 11 jurors but only room for 5 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:
| Luis: 6/10
Natalie: 7/10 Julian: 6/10 |
Robyn: 6.5/10
Florian: 7/10 Deban: 8/10 |
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 6 and a high of 9.5.
The song is good, but a 7.67 might be too much (?). More like a 6.75. But probably the best option for Denmark.
1. Julie & Nina
2. Simone
……..
If they changed the title to ‘land of light ‘ as opposed to the derivative “league of light” , it would be so much better . It’s a lovely song but that weird title lets it down , and ‘land’ even sounds better in the verse ?
After what me and my cousin call last year’s “Klingon” song (Rasmussen’s “Higher Ground”), this Greenlandic entry “League of Light” is a very natural sequel. From Klingon men to Klingon women, as one might say. I do like it, although it is my personal second favourite in the selection behind Leonora. Still, I am anticipating that this will win, because it is the once-in-a-blue-moon opportunity to represent Greenland. That’s very special.
Finally a true standout song in DMGP. 🙂
After all reviews, I can say this is my Top 10 DMGP list: 1. Rasmus Faartoft: Hold My Breath – 9/10 2. Julie & Nina: League of Light – 7/10 3. Leonora: Love Is Forever – 7/10 4. Marie Isabell: Dancing with You In My Heart – 7/10 5. Simone Emilie: Anywhere – 6.5/10 6. Leeloo: That Vibe – 5.5/10 7. Humørekspressen: Dronning af baren – 5/10 8. Jasmin Gabay: Kiss Like This – 4/10 9. Teit Samsø: Step It Up – 3.5/10 10. Sigmund: Say My Name – 2/10 So, while there are some bad songs, the situation is… Read more »
Same top two, same order.
Like this one a lot!
Its sad that we do never send a song like hold my breath.. Its my favorit this year and will vote for it but i dont expect it to make it to the top 3 so afterwards.. Everything depending on the show on stage and live vocals but if Julie and Ninas voices are as perfect together as it is on the studio version the my vote in the final might go to these 2 ladys
Im just sad about how underrated hold my breath is love that song and hoping a perfect staging maybe will change peoples minds
League of Light – Following the footsteps of Circle of Light and Solju’s Hold Your Colours, it gives us another authentic Nordic song with strong cultural vibe. The melody is really nice, the voices blend well, and the Greenlandic is truly great to hear. What is the “League of light”, though? While the message is nice, it can step into a “sounding magical rather than fully making sense” territory. It still is among the best DMGP entries, but considering *another song* from Norway, this one might end-up with the shorter end if chosen. – 7/10
I understand why people are excited about the Greenlandic lyrics, but remove them and you have a simplistic earworm with absolutely nonsensical lyrics (“Flying away from darker sides over mountains over ice”? Huh? “We are more than an echo of the past, we’re a feeling that will last…” Who/what is this ‘we’?). This falls in the same vein as Rasmussen: people will eat it up, but that doesn’t mean that it’s art. It’s as corny as Kansas in August.
I guess they are talking about the native culture/people from greenland or atleast that’s how I have interpreted it the first time i heard it.
They probably are, but it still doesn’t make sense — “[People from Greenland are] a feeling that will last”? They clearly just went for whatever cheesy lyric would fit the beat and rhyme with the cheesy lyric they’d written the line before.
I agree. While the song as a whole is nice, I do find the lyrics cringey at times
Yeah I didn’t think the lyrics were that “nonsensical”, it’s fairly clearly about the survival of an old indigenous culture in the modern world, no? I took the “we are more than an echo of the past” to mean “our ancient Greenlandic culture is not a museum exhibit frozen in time, it’s a culture that is alive today and has a future, it stands alongside other world cultures and deserves equal respect”… or something? I mean corny, yes, but how many songs in the ESC these days can really survive the ‘Love Love Peace Peace’ test? 😉 Is this that… Read more »
If the songwriting team are not first-language Anglophones, I guess it’s understandable. But as someine who speaks ESOL, as long as they can send the message across to me and the audience, I guess we can give it a pass.
I do agree the main selling point is the Greenlandic lyrics and that’s alright because the song becomes more than your standard modern-day safe ESC entry. It adds a more genuine and heartfelt element that could really make people fancy this song. 🙂
Having lyrics in another language doesn’t make a song any less “safe,” especially if that’s what everyone likes most about it.
Most of the viewers don’t listen to lyrics. English is not my native language so for me it never bothered if lyrics make sense or not. And I guess 90% of viewers think the same.
The Greenlandic sets it apart from other entries and for that alone this song deserves to be the winner. The ESC is about embracing and celebrating the diversity of music across Europe and this song does exactly that. I think the live performance will further enhance the impact of this song.