The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continues to rate and review the songs competing in the grand final of Sweden’s Melodifestivalen 2019. Next up, we listen to Idol stars Hanna Ferm & LIAMOO with “Hold You”. Were we feeling their chemistry?
Hanna Ferm & LIAMOO – “Hold You”
“Hold You” reviews
Robyn: I wasn’t sure how to approach “Hold You”, but I’ve decided to just embrace all the melodrama that the song contains. Hanna brings sweetness and vulnerability to the song, while LIAMOO has sex and swagger. Yes, they have chemistry but it comes with the tension that it might not be a long-lived thing. So that’s the trick — embrace this saga of two lovers who are just really into each other right now.
Score: 7/10
Tobias: Hanna Ferm & Liamoo were one of the big favourites to win and not surprisingly they qualified to the final. But I don’t find this song good — it’s just another cheesy power ballad about love. I even found the flying sheets in the background more exciting than the song itself. There was a good chemistry of the two of them on the stage but I felt the voice of Hanna wasn’t strong enough for this song.
Score: 3/10
Anthony: Seeing them into the final was expected but not quite what I had in mind. The harmonies between LIAMOO and Hanna looked strained and felt more like two former Idol stars going head-to-head against each other, not with each other. They have potential, but needs to up their game if they’re to live up to the expectations as one of the pre-contest favourites.
Score: 6.5/10
Deban: As far as Eurovision duets go, this is a dull one. More juxtaposed than exhibiting harmony, even the staging here looks like shredded tissue blown by strong winds. Lacking in magic, unfortunately. there is very little to love here. The shouty key change by Hanna towards the end elevated my resentment.
Score: 4/10
Bernardo: LIAMOO and Hanna walked a thin line in the semi-final that almost transformed the performance of “Hold You” into a car crash. A lot of potential here if they improve the vocals and the harmonies. The production of the track is probably the best we heard in the first two semi-finals. Not surprised with their result and they are strong contenders in Stockholm.
Score: 6.5/10
Lucy: I watched Melfest a day late and after the Twittersphere had exploded over this the evening before I was expecting nothing short of magic… hmm. These two have great chemistry and I definitely prefer this to LIAMOO’s efforts last year but I find it rather plain and a bit safe. The staging is just absurd to me too, it looks cheap and doesn’t have relevance in the song. Really not a favourite of mine.
Score: 4/10
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: 5/10
Antranig: 3/10 Cinan: 7.5/10 |
Florian: 8/10
Luis: 5.5/10 Ron: 7/10 |
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.
Sweeden 0 point ;(
Thanks to the wiwi jury for actually having taste. This song is boring and dull, a 5/10 if we’re being genereous. The staging is the definition of tacky and old fashioned. I only save the performers, they are obviously talented, but the song is just…not there.
Nope, seriously what was with all the bed sheets flapping about and the song was just a complete non event.
Wow I’m surprised I thought everyone would love it. I really like it. I can’t really expand on that but I think the staging is beautiful, it might not make sense with the song itself but i think it looks good. Hanna’s key change is a bit off but I think that’s what makes it seem powerful like she’s deep in her emotions and not really thinking about how she’s sounding. I thought Liamoo was great I just feel like there is something missing between them though they do have good chemistry.
The song is very generic and unremarkable especially when you compare this to Eurovision duets such as Goodbye to Yesterday, Calm after the Storm, A Monster Like Me etc.
You literally named three 10/10 masterpieces of last decade duets. Yes, compared to those it doesn’t stand out. But compared to, let’s say, Azerbaijan’s winning duo of 2011, this holds it’s own pretty well. It’s also much better than this year’s “love” duets in Croatia and Serbia.
what duet in serbia did i miss lol
Unpalatably boring
Why is Liamoo’s talent being wasted in such a trite song like this? It’s to 00’s pop duet, and the girl singing thinks she’s like she’s a Whitney or Christina or Celine or Mariah; her notes are too shrill!
I really thought it was going to be better because people were overrating it when their SF took place. Now I can’t really get the hype, I like LIAMOO, but the song is too generic. She sings about chemistry, but I can’t see any. The staging is a bit bland too. This will be mid-table in the final.
Definitely agree with the reviews. Totally overrated by the audience.
Ja vaikka voittais Mellon ni Ruotsi pääsis silti top 10…
Could have been better but this whole thing isn’t working. 🙂
5.6?! I hope you can see why literally no one thinks you have any credibility..
5.6? It sould be at least lower than 4
I really like this song. They have chemistry and are great singers.
Inorganic chemistry
I see some of the points, but I am with Robyn, Ron, Cinan and Florian here: It is definitely a 7-8/10! Hannahs strong voice, the duet parts and even the staging are all very good aspects! The harmonics could be a bit better, but this is a very current, emotional duet (“Dusk till Dawn”, anyone?)
This is ridiculous. Taste level below zero.
Bit harsh….
Wow it’s my favourite from all the Eurovision season and since all the comments during their semifinal were so positive I thought they would have better reviews and marks. So dissapointed… 🙁
Error 404 Taste not found
5.6? LOL! 10/10
This song is basically hot people singing mediocre pop in front of windmachine 2.0
Malou pritz is way better
Hold You – Liamoo and Hanna are both great vocalists and capable performers. They need to work on their dynamics to make it more romantic, but it’s certainly dramatic and catchy. Sure, this is not re-inventing the wheel (Running Scared, Waterfall, Tu cancion…), but Sweden hasn’t sent a ballad for five years now, so this would be a novelty. It’s not the strongest ballad in the contest, but it’s good nonetheless. – 8/10
Swedish Amaia and Alfred 😛
Off-topic but hot topic: Rumour has it that Ireland might be represented by Johnny Logan again this year!
He still sounds fantastic, so if he has a good song then it’s possible.
gosh not this cheesefest.
Think a lot of guys have got this wrong .. least a 7.5/10 .. could be a little more original but it’s well produced and preformed with both have genuine chemistry, something we rarely
See from duets in recent Eurovision history ..
Wiwi juries don’t have the best history is rating entries , let’s remeber that ..
well, my score was dropped 🙁 it’s a good song and Hannah is the best vocalist of this year’s Melfest!
Such a Strange review. This Could actually win the eurovision this year. Reminds me of the azerbaijan winning song But with much More power. Should win in Sweden to be able to take the best position in the final – and i actually Think this Will win the jury votes on saturday.
You rated that outdated trash from Norway above 9.0 but give a current 21st century pop song less than 6??
Y’all trippin
y’all please remember I gave it an 8 :(( definitely one of the standouts this year!
Florian is always slaying 😀 And Julian, too, to be fair. Love my German bloggers, although I don’t care about nationality, but a bit pride is there lol *_*
I can see where the reviews are coming from but this song has seriously gotten under my skin with time. I think it’s really good but it takes that time to love it. Not something you want with a Eurovision entry.
you want tomatoes wiwi jury lol
It’s pretty far fetched but everytime i hear this song i think about this one: https://youtu.be/T4SimnaiktU
I do want it to win though xD
I actually agree with you guys, I just don’t connect with the song, it’s supposed to be a power ballad but it lacks of the strength and the emotions required to reach my heart.
If it wins, I will be glad for all of those who support it (it seems to be a big fan favourite here) but I will not share they enthusiasm.
As far as what goes below me, it is, indeed, looking more like a Voice’s Battle Rounds rather than a duet. For my taste, there should be more intimate choreography and eye contact between them, and those flowing sheets aren’t making any changes. Alas, the song is great, it has good proportion of each singer’s part and a good feeling of millenial love. Wirh the support it has now in Sweden it would do very well in the televotes, I believe.
Agree with you, looks like Hanna is trying to overpower Liam all the time, that ruins the whole number, instead of them trying to sing in harmony it is like you say some kind of Battle of the voices haha
My 2nd favorite from Melfest I don’t agree with you but that’s ok!
Now these reviews made me mad. It’s like the opposite to what’s being said in Sweden about the song and how they perform it. If it would be some other country then this would “slay”. And the song itself is better than Not with me. Now I think the absolute favorite John Lundvik, as it looks, will get an even lower score.
Wtf is this article lmao this is so underrated..
One of the most underrated reviews that I´ve seen in a long time.
Will do extremely well in the final, and might even win it all.
“A bit” underrrated. Will do well in the final