The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — is now heading to Sweden, where we will rate and review the songs competing in Melodifestivalen 2019. We’re starting with the eight songs that will be battling it out in the andra chansen round on March 2. First up is Melfest 2017 runner-up Nano, who returns with “Chasing Rivers”. Did his song float our boat? Read on to find out!
Nano – “Chasing Rivers”
“Chasing Rivers” reviews
Deban: Despite Nano’s seemingly lacklustre conviction, “Chasing Rivers” manages to soar. It is a motivational anthem that remains relatable to many generations, and its true beauty lies shines through an assembly of voices. Memorable, impactful and delivered by a well-rounded voice, the refrain here lingers long after the three-minute mark.
Score: 7.5/10
Anthony: Expectations looks pretty high for Nano following his impressive debut in 2017 that almost won the whole competition. Just like “Hold On”, there’s the gospel element but “Chasing Rivers” feels like a step-down and doesn’t quite make the same impact. His performance on the night felt unconvincing and it doesn’t do his andra chansen hopes any favours either.
Score: 6/10
Tobias: Nano has a strong voice but I have to say I’m not very impressed by this song at all. “Chasing Rivers” has the similar dark and deep feeling as “Hold On” but it doesn’t have the same catchy melody and I keep forgetting the song right after I stop listening to it.
Score: 3/10
Robyn: “Chasing Rivers” is a great song, with four Eurovision-winning songwriters behind it. But Nano’s performance is disappointing. His vocals are lacklustre — he mumbles where he should roar and comes across like a singer trying to save his voice. The song won’t work without an emotional connection between Nano and the audience — and that has to come from him, not just a video of his lookalike son.
Score: 5/10
Bernardo: Nano’s second effort at Melfest comes in the same line as “Hold On”, but unlike his first attempt it doesn’t come with an immediacy that enables it to shine in a sea of songs. “Chasing Rivers” is haunting and well produced but lacks a memorable chorus. While it will probably be one of the best produced tracks of the year, it lacks the competitiveness of “Hold On”.
Score: 6/10
Lucy: Going into Melfest, Nano was what I was most excited for. “Hold On” has become a staple on my playlist, so the fact he was on first even, made me more and more excited for the first heat of Mello 2019. Then “Chasing Rivers” came on. It’s not as powerful, memorable or anthemic as “Hold On” and I struggle to remember the melody without re-listening on YouTube. It’s alright, but nothing fantastic.
Score: 5/10
In our Melodifestivalen Wiwi Jury, we have 12 jurors but only room for 6 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:
| Angus: 3/10
Antranig: 7/10 Cinan: 6.5/10 |
Florian: 4/10
Luis: 7/10 Ron: 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 3 and a high of 8.
Chasing Rivers – How to ruin a good song 101 – Ask Nano! Chasing Rivers is in basis a pretty solid song. It has great lyrics and an interesting beat. The way he performs it makes it boring and dragging. He swallows words and it doesn’t stand out one bit. Pity, because this has potential. – 6/10
I really don’t understand. This is much better than Hold On, for me. This has deeper lyrics and more memorable melody and rhythm. This makes me cry, it’s so good<3
I prefer it to Hold on too :))) It has stuck in my head for days
i don’t want this to come of the wrong way but instead of reviewing already CHOSEN songs.. you guys keep having individual reviews on songs that probably won’t be chosen at all 🙁
expecially for this one since this is andra chance – you could have done joint articles once the duos have been paired
As every year, the reviews for the chosen songs will start once all 42 of them are out.
Lisa Ajax’s song is very good guys, she has to win.
How about waiting until you hear the full song?
At first I wasn’t a huge fan of Chasing Rivers, however in contrast to the AC choices of SF 2 and 3, I think Nano stands a chance of qualifying for the finals.
And speaking of melfest, previews for sf4 are up:
https://www.svtplay.se/melodifestivalen-2019-smyglyssna-pa-latarna
(And Lisa Ajax is winning the whole thing)
Her song is awesome. Defs deserves the finals at least.
“Chasing Rivers” is actually enjoyable, but it falls behind “Hold On” in every possible aspect. Also, the staging is not the most original I’d say and won’t be allowed in Eurovision.
Am I the only one that see some resemblances between Nano and Rag ‘n’ Bone Human?? Physical, but in music style too.
Unpopular opinion: I prefer this song to Hold on :)))
forgettable
This isn’t Lise Cabble’s best work, but it’s not a terrible song. Parts of it feel a bit bland and anonymous. Nano might be an ok singer (even though the SF 1 performance was not good at all) but overall I never really got the hype around him.
Nano has such a lazy approach to performing that it makes me entirely indifferent to his “came-from-nothing” anthems.
Do you expect him to start dancing and getting naked on stage? Is that the type of singer you wanted him to be, really? He does come from nothing … and he sings about it … but anyone who doesn’t understand what that means rather stay hooked on music that is all about nothing …