The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continues to rate and review the 41 competing entries of Eurovision 2019. Next we head to Serbia, where former Moje 3 singer Nevena Božović returns with “Kruna”. Did we crown her a winner? Read on to find out!
Nevena Božović with “Kruna”
“Kruna” reviews
Josh: The writers of “Kruna” have done a masterful job of blending traditional violin sounds with more modern guitar, with a little bit of electric charge thrown in thrown in by Nevena’s incredible vocal. Stirring that all together, they’ve somehow magically created a song that sounds all at once like a throwback folk-and-rock-tinged ballad, and yet one that is taken next level modern with all the layering of instrumentation. One can peel back each layer and appreciate how each component stands strongly on its own, yet combines to form a song that is a complete heart-tugging vision from beginning to end. This song is a gift, plain and simple.
Score: 9.5/10
Bernardo: First things first — it’s a good vocal from Nevena. Unfortunately it’s being wasted in the typical Eurovision ballad that we’ve been hearing in the past 11 years. “Kruna” is predictable and not even Nevena’s delivery saves it. The production should have peaks and valleys but it just sounds like a huge three-minute peak of Nevena screaming (even though she screams super well).
Score: 5/10
Chris: One thing is undeniable here: Nevena can sing. “Kruna” offers her good opportunity to show off those vocal skills. But there’s a slight sense that the track is underwhelming: it’s certainly not as strong as previous entries in the tried-and-tested “Balkan ballad” format. That means Nevena almost has to over-perform the song, and that’s dangerous territory at Eurovision.
Score: 6/10
Florian: Welcome back to Eurovision, Nevena! As we all remember, 2013 wasn’t Serbia’s best year in terms of Eurovision results. But I do have a very strong feeling that this pattern won’t repeat itself in Tel Aviv. A ballad from Serbia — typical and predictable? Not in this case! The song perfectly combines traditional approaches with modern instrumentation. This could go down as one of the more memorable Balkan entries of recent years.
Score: 7/10
Kristin: It is safe to say that Nevena is a bombshell of a singer and “Kruna” does tick most of the boxes, but for me, it is a little bit neutral. It’s something you can hear on every radio station all hours of the day. That might be the whole idea, but combining this with many previous entries from Serbia, “Kruna” does not stand out and kind of blends in to the background. But I am more than willing to give this the benefit of doubt. Who knows — Nevena might just sing her way into my heart eventually, but for now, this is the middle of the road.
Score: 5/10
Renske: Nevena came to blow us away and we came across a hurricane. “Kruna” has the style of a classical Eurovision female ballad, but this works and stands out from the rest, because Nevena sings every note with the same amount of power and control. “Kruna” shows Nevena’s uniqueness, charisma and talent more than she could have ever shown us as part of Moje 3.
Score: 8/10
In the Wiwi Jury we have 29 jurors but only have room for six reviews. The remaining scores are below:
| Angus: 8.5/10
Anthony: 8/10 Antony: 6/10 Antranig: 7/10 Barnabas: 7.5/10 Calvin: 6/10 Deban: 7.5/10 Essi: 4/10 Izhar: 5.5/10 Jack: 7/10 Jonathan: 7.5/10 Julian: 4.5/10 |
Lucy: 3/10
Luis: 7.5/10 Lukas: 5.5/10 Mikhail: 5/10 Oliver: 8/10 Pablo: 3.5/10 Robyn: 5/10 Ron: 6.5/10 Sebastian: 5/10 Tobias: 4.5/10 William: 4/10 |
We have removed the highest and lowest scores prior to calculating the average. This is to remove outliers and potential bias. We have removed a low of 3 and a high of 9.5.
Wiwi Jury verdict: 6.09/10
What do you think of this song? Share your own score and review below!
While I like the song, it reminds me a lot of what Albania sent in 2008.
And I know this may be an unpopular opinion, but I prefer Albania 2008.
Yes, it leans towards the generic side of the spectrum but for what it is it’s a damn good offering. Never really been a fan of the traditional Balkan ballads so this one that combines both traditional and modern elements is a treat. Definitely my second favourite Serbian entry after 2016
#SRB Serbia chose a pretty good performer with a stand-out voice like Nevena’s. But the thing is that “Kruna” is so bland that I can’t even… Maybe is the English lyrics or the fact is that it’s just another basic ballad, not sure quite. I mean, the thing is that feels uninspiring in some way despite Nevena’s amazing delivery. I think I felt more while listening to “Nova Deca”. It just doesn’t pop at any time, like with Belgium at some point. And I don’t know, I feel I should be amazed already by the end of the song but… Read more »
I like this. Its a good nice song.
Her vocals are great by the way.
Even though it’s not among my favorites…
I’m not really sure if Serbia will qualify to the final to be honest…Even if they are competing in the far less competitive SF 1…
My grade : 7/10
I really like this one ! Nevena’s got a great voice, great wailing. Also it’s been quite a long time that we’ve had such a powerful Balkan ballad in Eurovision. Thus, I really like the instrumentation. I think the rock elements suit this song, make it stand out more and are a very nice association with the violin. The lyrics aren’t mind-blowing but they’re true to Nevena and I like how the two English lines show the idea of the song for everyone who doesn’t speak Serbian. A solid 8.5/10 for me.
5.5/10
It’s nice, but too predictable and kinda cliché ballad. It got better with the revamp tho.
Yeah, ikr that circus from The Netherlands with all the fireworks is crazy! And those dancers in their glitter suits have GOT to go.
Our Queen Nevena is ready to reign over Eurovision, she’s got the crown and only a throne is needed for her staging. She’ll slay in Tel Aviv and will delight us with a wonderful performance and captivate us with her beauty and amazing singing.
I don’t wanna brush this one off, necessarily. Whenever I actually listen to it, Nevena’s vocal abilities impress me, and it’s miles ahead of anything she’s sent to a Eurovision event before. It’s personal and powerful. But it’s also forgettable. I can’t really hum it off the top of my head, save for maybe the chorus. It doesn’t bring much new to the table. It doesn’t lean on the pure Balkan ballad realness that made songs like Lane moje and Lejla take off way back when. It’s not as cool and weird as Nova deca. And it isn’t really an… Read more »
“Kruna” is a very well executed conventional ballad. Its lyrics may look too trivial at first, but there’s something fresh in the “I’m guarding you with my life”, which shows the same devotion of the (unnecessary) English verses, but taking a fiercer approach. Nevena’s performance is confident and her body language shows she’s a warrior, not a damsel in distress. The arrangement got even better after the revamp, I love the moment when the electric guitar comes. The question is if being traditional will help or harm in a very inventive semi. 7.25/10
SERBIA – What a beautiful self-penned song! The lyrics are quite heartfelt and honest. You can feel the sincere devotion she feels to her partner. The melody is really powerful too. Interestingly, the word ‘kruna (crown)’ is mentioned only once, but it has a power to be noticed. It does go into the Balkan ballad territory we are familiar with, but gives it’s own spin and feels authentic. The middle part feels a bit long, but it picks up really soon and delivers another strong chorus. The ethnic parts also added a layer of depth into the instrumental. I feel… Read more »
We’re in the same page about this one too, Colin. It’s a pretty good ballad, very well performed.
She is nice, great vocal performer, but I dont feel it. Boring!
One of my personal favourites. I hope Nevena will make it to the final! 9/10
Great voice, nice ballad. Not outstanding, but it deserves more than a 6. I hope she qualifies for the final. 7/10
She has class. Enough said.
Beautiful ballad, but not groundbreaking.
The Wiwi jurors whose opinions I think more highly of scored this song properly…
I’m not going to get upset about the score though. If you give this a 3/10 (or something similar), that’s your right but at the same time, says a lot about you. 😉
this is amazing , why we just cant enjoy a simple ballad ? she deserves more scores
Right! Nevena is slaying in every way! Pure talent and beauty, just REAL!
This is so boring. I prefer her 2013 song. Yes, I LOVED that song!
it’s a nice ballad, and this is one of a kind in semi 1, i can see it as a likely qualifier
7.0 from me
Kruna is one of my biggest disappoints this year. It starts out with a really promising melody line, a great beautiful and charismatic singer, but then the chorus and the guitar kick in and I feel I have heard it many times before with much better and adequate production. The idea of making this a kind of rock ballad is not a good one, because it makes it sound even more passé and don’t disguise the fact that the chorus and main structure is very uninspired. Nevena deserved so much better, as I don’t see this qualifying unfortunately. At the… Read more »
Kruna can come in many guises, laid back acoustic with harmonising vocals , Balkan rock ballad, traditional Balkan ballad with dramatic ethnic musical elements. Nevena will not disappoint with her live vocals that’s for certain. In my opinion her vocals are world class and is one of the best live vocals this year. The translated Serbian lyrics itself have a universal message which can be relatable for the listener. Currently in my personal top five. This is a strong 9/10 from me.
Good enough entry to qualify from SF 1, she sings great and the instrumental is good too. However, the only really stand- out part is the language, Serbian is gorgeous. The rest isn’t as interesting tho. Still, a good entry from Serbia.
7/10
Finally wiwi jury has started 😀
From ex-Yougoslavia this year
Slovenia>Serbia>Croatia>Macedonia>Montenegro
solid 7
I’d give the song a 5/10 and it’s diaspora power+good running order gives it an additional point , so overall 60% chance to go through !! Semi 1 being the semi where it’s more difficult to qualify via diapora alone
Even though that everybody is saying that semi two is harder one, i think that semi one is actually.. Semi two is quite obvious..
The thing with semi 2 is that the 12, 10 , 8 , 7 points from most countries are likely to go to the same group of songs : Netherlands , Switzerland , Sweden , Malta , Russia , Norway . So the other countries will be scoring low and a 12 points for One country due to diaspora alone can likely be the difference between 10th and 11th spot By semi 1 being more open , the 10th place finisher in semi 1 will have more points than the 10th place in semi 2. That’s what I meant by… Read more »
looks servin avril lavigne at her peak, vocals serving jessica simpson in her prime, song serving mariah carey in the 90s….. what’s not to stan tbh this is truly a gift to the world that maybe we don’t deserve
These type of “shouty” ballads are generally not my thing, unless the singer has a very special voice, which is not Nevana’s case, unfortunately. The girl can sing, undoubtly, but there is nothing really memorable about her voice or the song, which is totally predictable. I have the feeling that Serbia will stay out of the final and they are number 31 of my personal list.
16. Ireland (6.5/10)
31. Serbia (4.5/10)
I usually like ballads, but I don’t remember any of this song even after listening to it a few times. Nevana seems lovely though.
Btw I just now discovered that at the end the pyros form a crown in the national performance. Cool touch.
Sorry, 6.09 is way too high for such a borefest…
Nevena has a voice of an angel, and her performances are top-notch (God, she’s just the mistress of expression). But I do not click with the song. It’s too typical of a ballad – the first time I got the chance to listen it, I could already tell where it’s going to go next, in terms of the melody. And in the end, I was just left indifferent. The story behind the song is cute and the instrumental’s quality is very good, so if Serbia went to the final, I wouldn’t have any problem with that, but for now on… Read more »
I’m posting my review around 4 in the afternoon, but if you read my Beovizija reviews, you know I like it and my opinion on it hasn’t changed much. Nevena should qualify this time around. 🙂