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 search takes us to D’sound with the song “Mr. Unicorn”. Are fairytales made of unicorns? Read on to find out.
D’Sound — “Mr. Unicorn”
“Mr. Unicorn” reviews
Robyn: Despite first appearances “Mr. Unicorn” turns out to be a cute, funky number that tells a sweet story. How it does at MGP is all going to depend on the staging — just how unicorny will it be? It’s a tough sell, but the song has a lot of potential.
Score: 7/10
Oliver: With a funky and experimental intro, D’Sound’s entry starts off rather strong, instantly grabbing the attention of the listener. However, as the chorus arrives, the song began to fall apart in my eyes. The rhythm feels a bit jittery and the backing overwhelms the vocals at some points. The whole ensemble is a bit hard to follow but perhaps with creative staging it could be elevated a bit.
Score: 6/10
Sebastian: Channelling the inner depths of Daft Punk, D’Sound (as cringey as that name is) have tapped into something unique. And while it probably doesn’t suit a Eurovision stage, it definitely has a certain appeal to it. I’m interested to see how they can transform this obviously heavily-vocalised track into something special live.
Score: 7/10
Deban: “Mr. Unicorn” is as plastic as dance-pop is ever going to get. The distorted computer-generated refrain starts to grate on me after a bit. Although there’s nothing terribly tragic about D’Sound or indeed their entry, there is nothing particularly worth holding on to here either.
Score: 5/10
Florian: “Mr. Unicorn” doesn’t sound much different from what is hitting the airwaves lately. And while that isn’t a bad thing, it’s more or less a safe option. That might not be enough to grab the Eurovision ticket to Tel Aviv. Inoffensive and possibly appealing to a wider audience, this could go further in the results — unfortunately not so much on my list!
Score: 4/10
Pablo: What were the guys at D’Sound on when writing these lyrics? And can I have some? This is the one really weird Norwegian candidate we get every year, even if it is lighter this time around. The Daft Punk style shines through, but with the amount of effects and processing there is, I am not really trusting this would translate well live. A big party moment for MGP, but little to zero chance to fly to Tel Aviv.
Score: 5.5/10
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:
Luis: 6/10
Renske: 7.5/10 Steinunn: 6/10 Bernardo: 5/10 |
Izhar: 7/10
Julian: 9/10 Antranig: 6.5/10 Antony: 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 4 and a high of 9.
Mr. Unicorn is my best. It is just what Norway needs for ESC. Pop and Funky style
I have been following this band since 10 years ago or so and I am happy that they are still going strong. Also the fact that they have made this song that’s one of their modern and timely songs so far. Great development from this band.
My 2nd favorite behind KEiiNO in MGP this year
Mr. Unicorn – I’d say there is too much overproduction in the chorus and that this not in my style, but come on – They are singing about a unicorn! It’s funny and charming in a way. – 7/10
It’s decent. I mean, it doesn’t do much but borrow from Daft Punk, but there’s nothing bad about it.
I like their earlier song from years ago, “People are People”, back when I was in high school (2003/2004) so this is a huge change for me. I do like it though. Very funky and retro but still sounds contemporary. 😀
This is my favourite from this selection. 8/10
It sounds like a Monstercat release song. But it doesn’t really click with me.
6.13 i-
this is the most annoying song ever
It’s better than all but the 2 favourites. It’s a fun retro funk number. My brother absolutely loves it.
When can we expect a review on Ukrainian NF?