The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continues to rate and review the songs competing in the andra chansen round of Sweden’s Melodifestivalen 2019. Next up, we listen to three-time Mello star Lisa Ajax with her ballad “Torn”. Did the song tear us apart? Read on to find out!
Lisa Ajax – “Torn”
“Torn” reviews
Angus: Lisa Ajax has always looked the part, but never really landed the pay-off. “My Heart Wants Me Dead” sparkled at the semi and fizzled out at the final. “I Don’t Give A” was flashy and modern, but became monotonous. “Torn”, on the other hand, is all about progression, focused power and the big pay-off. This is a class effort, which for the first matches Lisa’s potential and has glimmers of winning song about it. The only weak chink here is staging. The song is about progression, and lighting could reflect that better. That aside, Lisa should be in a strong position to challenge in the final.
Score: 9/10
Antranig: When I heard the snippet, I was convinced this was winning Melfest. It sounded like it was building up to an epic climax. When the full version came along, I was mortified to discover that the three minutes was over and it was still building. There is so much wasted potential here — it could’ve been epic but it’s missing a climax. It’s still extremely high quality but it could be a lot better. That can be remedied as Lisa Ajax is one of the best performers we have had at Melfest in recent years and she makes this song special.
Score: 8/10
Cinan: Lisa performs this so well! I’m so impressed with Lisa and the way she sings the song. She had grown up so much and now she’s ready to slay! I’m 100% sure she will be one of four qualifiers to final from andra chansen this Saturday. You go, girl!
Score: 8/10
Florian: This song has clearly been produced for the likes of Loreen. And while Lisa Ajax isn’t up in that league yet, she does put her emotions into the track. This feels more mature than her previous entries and vocally she’s also improved from her previous Melodifestivalen appearances.
Score: 7/10
Luis: “Torn” is a great surprise on behalf of Lisa. A passionate power ballad which she performs whole-heartedly, delivering some top notch vocals. This feels like a huge step on her career and it sends a major statement: “Do not underestimate Lisa Ajax”. She might have been a generic popstress in the past, but she’s not playing anymore. Despite being in andra chansen, “Torn” remains a candidate to win it all.
Score: 8/10
Ron: Lisa Ajax almost managed to break me into pieces, it was so so close. She did however make me feel her sincere emotions through her voice. “Less is more”, they say, but this act felt a bit too minimalistic and it needs more in order to get the maximum impact. Lisa has a great voice and I love how she’s belting out the chorus, but the verses weren’t that perfect and her pronunciation could be improved as well. Unfortunately, in the climax moment Lisa let me down as she missed the right note. It was quite upsetting since when your performance is so minimalistic you must sing it as perfectly as possible and missing the right note just can’t happen. I hope that improvements will be made in order to turn this performance into a real contender.
Score: 7.5/10
In our Melodifestivalen Wiwi Jury, we have 12 jurors but only room for 6 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:
| Anthony: 8/10
Bernardo: 10/10 Deban: 9/10 |
Lucy: 10/10
Robyn: 6/10 Tobias: 6/10 |
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 10.
Torn – Wow, the girl can sing for sure! The song is very stripped down and intimate and she has the charisma to pull it off. I am, like many here, puzzled how this isn’t DTF. She might not gave a… last years, but this one she certainly does and this is absolutely fantastic! – 9/10
This is amazing. Lisa and Wiktoria, one of them has to be in Eurovision
I think if Loreen perform this song on Mello, i would have goosbumps.
I simply love this. One of the best songs of the year so far for me.
I think it can easily make the final. Even if Swedes don’t get it they will still find it more interesting than Martin’s song. I hope Lisa and Wiktoria won’t cancel each other out in the final.
Only downside is there will (likely) be two strong ballads in the finals. Between her and Wiktoria, I think I like Wiktoria’s SLIGHTLY more but Lisa’s is equally amazing! Would be happy with either going to Eurovision.
That is a high rating. Honestly, I just don’t think she’s THAT good a singer to pull this song off. I like it but I don’t think it’s one of the best five songs in Sweden.
Absolutely, nothing stands out in this song.
Generic, next!
generic but still very, very VERY good.
Agree! As long as the song is good i do not mind if it is generic. People seem to see music different. For many people here on wiwibloggs it seems like it has to be strange as hell otherwise it is not good..that is really weird way to see music in…
Has she filmed a music video for “Torn” yet? Or will she film one after Melfest?
I really thought this could win the whole Melfest, and it still can, but given the low response from the Swedish is going to be hard for Lisa. She may be able to pull out a Robin Stjenberg and win though.
no gimmicks no win, u should kno how it works in sweden
That is how it works in Eurovision too, you are not wrong though
isa 2.0 ? Hopefully not, Lisa is my winner with Jon Henrik, Wiktoria and Mohombi
This song leaves the singer incredibly exposed to the audience, which means that Lisa has to be able to act well as well as sing well. For that reason it’s not easy to watch, and it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. But that Refrain “I am Torn, I am Torn…” is one of the best musical moments of all of MelFest this year. Bravo.
This is my favourite entry to win melfest, it’s actually the only song in this Eurovision season that got me emotional. It’s really good. But yeah, John Lundvik or Bishara will win with their dated entries lmao, see you next year Sweden.
… still you guys rated KEiiNO higher than this. Omg.
tea. upvoted
i feel like she’s tryin too hard to be zara larsson but her voice is what it is
i feel like she is blonde, has an amazing voice and passionate, therefore similar to zara larsson, but why should Lisa Ajax change?
It would be the best entry for Sweden since Loreen but watch boring Bishara or generic pop/gospel Lundvik winning instead
The best thing that Sweden could send this year. Nothing stands close to this.
Absolutely the best ballad in any NF-final. It’s so beautiful. If Loreen entered Mello 2017 with Torn instead of Statements it could have won. Because Statements was to experimental for Mello although I loved it. Lisa’s voice is a bit too “thin” and live she yells in some parts more than sing. Needs more power and voice control. And perhaps fix her staging. They should keep it simple but something lacks.
both songs are great, but loreen made the right decision as an artist, as she and lisa are completely different singers
This is the best song of this year’s melodifestivalen. Was the kind of ballad I was expecting from Wiktoria. Don’t get me wrong, Wiktoria is my second favorite, but that place is all thanks to her performance, songwise, I could’ve had it tenth if it were someone else. Lisa is a great performer, I just don’t know if she connects well with the audience emotionally. Still hope she wins.
One of the strongest song in this MF with Wiktoria’s one. For me one of those 2 girls must win.
I’m surprised: this is 8.05 on the verdict, one of the highest I’ve seen so far.
There were a few over 8 is a last couple of years, but if I’m not mistaken, it’s the first one this year. (But wait for KEiiNO’s score in 20 minutes).
Bishara passing DTF over this offended me beyond belief.
It really surprised me as well!
Bishara placing top 5 in the final will be even worse..
How ESC finals are going, let’s just hope he doesn’t win. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a talented kid with a bright future in singing. However, his song is obviously meant for an adult which makes it ultra-cringe in that combination.