The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continues to rate and review the 41 competing entries of Eurovision 2019. Next we take a look at Azerbaijan, where Chingiz has “Truth”. Did we buy it? Read on to find out!
Chingiz – “Truth”
“Truth” reviews
Angus: Look, Chingiz is a beautiful man an’ all, but Azerbaijan’s appeal is more than skin deep this year. First of all “Truth” is among the most radio-ready hooks of the year. The “Shut up about it” riff sticks in your brain from the first listen one. Add on top the modern production – with added ethnic elements for good measure – and you have an entry that feels designed for mass appeal with due respect to the Land of Fire. Azerbaijan has spent six long years out in the sticks, but this year they may be riding back into the competition.
Score: 8/10
Bernardo: You can hear some traditional influences in Chingiz’ voice and in the instrumentation of “Truth”, perfectly blended with a modern pop production that, despite being very current, is also a tad generic. Ultimately, the music video makes the song more interesting than it actually is. If they’re able to create a story on stage, I can see it having success. If not, people will probably forget it.
Score: 6/10
Deban: Chingiz dives into deep waters in his music video. However, his entry leaves me firmly in a shallow puddle. Completely stripped of the heritage sounds we’ve come to expect from the Land of Fire, “Truth” seeks validation with a radio-friendly sound. However, just like the music video that fails to capture Chingiz’ torso in totality, this song fails to ignite my emotions. Also, it doesn’t ring true.
Score: 5.5/10
Josh: The upside of Chingiz’ “Truth” lies in the blending of the traditional instrumentation and vocals with more modern and driving techno sounds. The opening is something you really feel, and it really gets inside. As the verses progress, you feel the pain of someone who realises he’s been used, and yet still must find a way to move on. However, towards the end of the song, the pre-chorus/chorus/post-chorus structure gets a little too repetitive, and the song stays on one level most of the time. As a result, the song becomes a good standard pop song that doesn’t quite get taken to the highest highs it could have reached.
Score: 7.5/10
Oliver: When the snippet for “Truth” came out, I was positively intrigued as to what was to come and luckily when the full version dropped, I was not disappointed. The dark spiritual and ethnic undertones to really give this song a unique edge and the thumping bass in the background give it more depth and texture as a whole. When the chorus comes, though, the song goes in a completely direction and becomes much more anthemic. Unlike other entries that we’ve heard this season, Chingiz manages to make the transition work and overall “Truth” is a pretty seamless and air-tight entry
Score: 10/10
Pablo: This is so good. This is completely different from what Azerbaijan has sent before. “Truth” is the parallel of “Skeletons”, the mainstream clubby to the latter’s edgy and avant-garde, but both in the same coin. The calm verses mix perfectly with the booming and memorable chorus, and Chingiz transmits a Robyn-like pop ambiance while mixing it up with just the right amount of middle-eastern flares. Azerbaijan is not only back on their high-roller ways, they are speeding over them.
Score: 9.5/10
In the Wiwi Jury we have 29 jurors but only have room for six reviews. The remaining scores are below:
| Anthony: 9/10
Antony: 6.5/10 Antranig: 6.5/10 Barnabas: 6/10 Calvin: 8/10 Chris: 7.5/10 Essi: 8/10 Florian: 6/10 Izhar: 7.5/10 Jack: 9.5/10 Jonathan: 7/10 Julian: 7.5/10 |
Kristin: 9/10
Lucy: 8/10 Luis: 8/10 Lukas: 7.5/10 Mikhail: 8.5/10 Renske: 6/10 Robyn: 8.5/10 Ron: 8/10 Sebastian: 6.5/10 Tobias: 6/10 William: 5/10 |
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 5 and a high of 10.
Wiwi Jury verdict: 7.46/10
What do you think of this song? Share your own score and review below!
I’m Armenian and I like this song. Probably will vote for it
Chingiz is the best
Their song was one of my favourites last year and failed to qualify. The year before, I hated their song and it qualified pretty comfortably. I’m obviously not going to predict how this one is going to do! As for my personal response to the song, it didn’t do much for me at first but now, I like it quite a lot. It’s going to be very performance-dependent though as it is not a groundbreaking type of song on its own.
Lol at this average. Fanboys being fanboys as always. This is an over produced, somewhat generic, nothing special song.
Come on people,this is not a bad song. It’s not a winner, but it will do well, as it should, and if i might say so way better than overrated Switzerland…
THIS IS THE BEST TRACK OF THE YEAR.
TOP 10 from Honduras
1. AZERBAIJAN
2. Greece
3. Switzerland
4. Netherlands
5. Belgium
6. Slovenia
7. Russia
8. Italy
9. Sweden
10. Malta
Azerbaijan needs to perform at a Pre Party soon because its dropping on my tops as most of the contestants are performing live. And most of them are VERY good live, Czech Republic anyone… no okay.
Anyway well done Azerbaijan on the great entry, you will do well. After last year’s disappointment of an entry and the poor result, you knew Azerbaijan would come back with a fight and boy the did!. P.S. Chingiz is a SNACK
Czech Republic boys are so professional and strong live.
I like the chorus, the sound and his voice, but the verses are too Markus-Riva-ish, I can’t even…
The video doesn’t help either
5.5/10
When Azerbaijan achieved their first ever NQ last year, I just knew that they wouldn’t take it lying down. Boy, did they come back fighting this year. I love this, it’s so modern and catchy, with a cool Azeri ethnic vibe. Is it the 100% Azeri production that I hoped for? No, they’re still looking abroad for their entry. However, it doesn’t matter here! This is a modern yet ethnic bop that I gave on repeat. This makes up so much for the ludicrous “Luna moon me up!” Which really infuriated me last year. Chingiz is also a great charismatic… Read more »
y’all have a weird idea of modern. songs with this production haven’t been seen on the charts since 2016 really.
I know we live in a fast changing world, but it doesn’t change dramatically in just 3 years Polegend.
In terms of Eurovision….this is a modern song.
Azerbaijan always give us good songs mixing styles and influencies, except last year… “X My Heart” was cheesy and too poppy for me. But I really loved Skeletons back in 2017. This time Azerbaijan brings us another good song, with a lot of potential for staging. I like it when a song keeps it modern but adds some traditional/ethno sounds. I’m a bit more concerned about his live performance in terms of vocals as these songs are very difficult to sing: untempo, a lot of key changes, movement, etc. There is one flaw though, writers may have abused a little… Read more »
Top 10 for me, and now I’m a fan of Chingiz, as I’ve been listening to other songs from him and they’re really good.
And if anyone from Azerbaijan reads this- Don’t take it bad, but you should go ethnic at least once someday. As I say, I’ve been listening to Chingiz ethnic songs and there is amazing stuff in there. I’ve found a couple which would have make it on my Top 5 easily.
my number one of my ranking, and next to this bop Truth, i also like all of Chingiz his other songs and covers
9.5/10
Lol , how is a song you rated 9.5 higher in your ranking than one you rated a 10?
THIS IS THE BEST AZERBAIJANI ENTRY TO DATE. I am in loveee with this songgggg! yeah the lyrics aren’t AMAZING but everything else is! My number 3 right now! 10/10
Besides him being hot, I still reckon this song to be way underestimated. It shan’t be the winner of ESC19, but it is a perfect pop song that should do well with the audience. But, as always: it also depends on staging. Not too much freaky stuff going on and some good light-effects should help it along imho. A solid 8/10 (for now).
This song is peppered with a lot of fancy melodic “hooks”. Considering that there were six different songwriters involved in writing this one, I fully understand how this happened. The main reason I love this song is because it has a fully extended 16-bar Chorus, just as “X My Heart” also did last year. And the two straight notes set to the words “shut up” are brilliant – they work both as a hook and as a crunchy bit of harmony. Where I am less convinced, so far, is with the live acoustic performance that was released. Sadly it sounds… Read more »
AZERBAIJAN – Lights! Focus! Action! Azerbaijan knows very well how to polish anything and make a great show. With rare exceptions, their stagings are among the most thrilling ones and judging by the decorative video, it’s gonna be the case here too. Behind these shiny effects and handsome singer there is a rather typical pop song with a short and repetitive chorus which cannot even be properly heard due to too much sounds simultaneously. The ethnic instrumental parts are nice and considering the production value, I believe this will turn out okay, but it’s still the visuals to carry the… Read more »
I was disappointed with the staging last year. I did like the song and still do, but I my bad, I had very high expectations about the staging.
The good news is we won’t have to put up with sub par awful Portuguese stage this year which worked for very few in 2018
I absolutely love this one, Chingiz has a great Voice and the hook is incredibly infectiuos. Given that Azerbaijan knows staging, I have no worries that this will be great live. 9,5/10
“Truth” plays safe like most Azeri entries do. Everything about it is simple, efficient and tidy. Maybe too tidy? Possibly too simple? I hope they learned about last year’s mistake, when Aisel’s performance was as professional as unresponsive. I would definitely take inspiration from its cool video. I’m curious to find out what they intend to do with the bridge. It’s so deliberately different from the rest of the track and unconventional to a radiofriendly song, that I believe it’s related to the way they will stage it. 6/10
Didn’t they shortened the bridge when the abbreviated version was released recently?
I haven’t listened to the cut (by the way, it’s weird that it was released in a longer version, since it’s an internal selected entry). So maybe I read too much on the bridge.
This is one of the most difficult songs to rate because of how horrible the acoustic version was. As In if they had to use playback even on an acoustic version it doesn’t really augur well for the singers ability to perform the live version. The studio track is good , sounds good enough , the lyrics are weird though. The hook is not as immediate as it should be for a pop some. A 6/10. The good running order adds a point. The support may not be as obvious for this one , No pain , no gain. A… Read more »
Sexy singer, good voice, good song. Over all amazing
ban
Lmao
i honestly don’t understand the point of azerbaijan at the eurovision. 12 years in and their personality has been ‘let’s send a cheap swedish reject’ in almost all occasions. they should build themselves a personality, this dated imagine dragons mashup ain’t it
the real concern should be the points that are given to azerbaijan. how is it that moldova and the czech republic (two of the lowest eurovision audiences) always give 10-12 points to azerbaijan in the semi despite nearly zero azerbaijanis living there ? to me it’s pretty clear they’re still buyin televotes n it’s unfortunate they’re insecure to the point they have to do this. in 2016 they won hungary’s televote in the semi and then came 16th in their final televote. imo they should’ve been banned from the contest after they were exposed in 2013, the ebu stays sleepin… Read more »
That is hardly an all-embracing “celebrate diversity” and “dare to dream” attitude. Have you both missed the point of the ESC?
An even better question: If you were “in charge” of the ESC, how would you run it?
so by celebrating diversity u mean closing two eyes on a country that blatantly cheats….. k
uhh money definitely pays a major role in this. romania fails to pay its bills ? the ebu punishes them as an example for the other countries. azerbaijan keeps its coins flowing towards the ebu ? k fine they’re in.
You are 100% right.
Because not every country is diaspora-dependent?
Polegend, what happened in 2013? And I agree with you about the votes, very shady.
lithuanians exposed azerbaijan of bribing. it turned out they’d been selling sim cards in 15+ countries in eastern europe n giving money to ppl, mostly students, to vote for them. it’s all traceable thru a google research. the 2012 result is the most obvious example – i love sabina babayeva but she got 3 points from western european countries, and the remaining 147 from eastern europe.
Thanks Polegend, I will look it up. Ridiculous.
Well I don’t see Azerbaijan as a European country geographically speaking and definitely not culture-wise. But they have money and apparently, what EBU wants is soldi, soldi, the more the better. Azerbaijan is so effing far, I feel they want to get closer to Europe so that’s why they are paying for it. And true, what kind of songs are they sending? Most of them have Swedish input IIRC. It’s like they don’t have national talent over there. I liked the Skeletons act for its originality, and Aisel last year because she’s talented and a sweetheart. But that’s it. Sending… Read more »
@ Whisker ..Azerbaijan is a EuroAsian country and has a right to be here.. You can’t change it
I never said Azerbaijan doesn’t have the right to be in Eurovision.
@whisker ?f ?tv doesn’t send songs by Azeri composers ?t doesn’t mean that they don’t have any talent. F?rst think then write
I am thinking. I am thinking it’s problematic – IMO, that Azerbaijan doesn’t send home written songs. Those “generic” pop songs can be from anywhere.
the only time they didn’t have swedes in their team was their debut year, in 2008. ever since they’ve used swedish lyricists every year, and swedish composers every year except for skeletons which was composed by an azerbaijani.
Very interesting indeed. Sweden, the powerhouse – that’s a complement. But NOT to Azerbaijan. As a Eurovision fan, I am deeply offended. I am interested in songs with Azeri flair, as in ethno-pop for example. Even a love song, although I generelly dislike love songs.
But, I guess they’re too insecure of sending their flair. Probably Azerbaijan is trying to build the personality of ‘always sending good quality songs and staging’, but once you dig deeper into this, it would make them look like a wildcard player. I’m sure this kind of image will have its ultimate downfall someday.
Blimey, that discussion escalated.
Thank you all for your replies to my question. 🙂
My opinion: Time to bring in more of the audience, as Una suggests, and win against any future corruption through actual genuine interest in the contest.
From this point of view, Portugal wod have the same problem since the show here is at 8 pm and most of the people arr not at home yet. And not to mention Australia…
What do the good people of Portugal do on a Sat evening then, on Eurovision night?
Azerbaijan… When I first heard this song, it left me rather cold. Little did I know how much it’s gonna grow on me. Is it super original? Of course not. But it’s well produced (as all Milanov’s tracks), and damn catchy! It effectively mixes traditional elements with Bilboard Hot 100 chorus adding some typical femme fatale story lyrics. And as a show closer it’s gonna do its work, cause I cannot imagine people not bobbing their heads to that splendid hook and voting for that one immediately when the show’s over. 7,9/10, and shut up about it.
“Skeletons” was the first ever Azeri entry I liked (‘Running scared” was an atrocious winner) and “Truth” is the firts ever Azeri entry I love. This song is rich and catchy and modern, yet with some 80’s reminiscences, making it an almost perfect combination for my ears. If it wasn’t for the bridge (which I like a little less) I could have placed it even higher, but for now it closes my top 5. For me, Azerbaijan should definitely qualify and finnish within the overal top 10. 2. Greece (9.0/10) 5. Azerbaijan (9.0/10) 8. Russia (7.5/10) 10. Estonia (7.0/10) 11.… Read more »
This is a borderline qualifier for me. 6/10
Do we know who’s doing Azerbaijan staging this year?
I’m curious to see who wins “the Milanov battle” between Azerbaijan and Malta.
Last year everyone was expecting Bulgaria and it was Austria.
He is my winner.
“Just like the music video that fails to capture Chingiz’ torso in totality, this song fails to ignite my emotions.”
What in the freaking world is this supposed to mean? What kinda comparison is that?
It means “objectification”. Or Deban.
I love Deban and William but I got to admit that some of the interviews are a bit uncomfortable to watch because of the borderline sexual harassment towards the artists
I don’t even like them, I’m on this site only for the news and to exchange opinions with other people. They’re always clearly and shamelessly impartial toward certain entries and their interviews are often way too cringy for me. I follow different YouTube channels for that.
Yeah, I subscribed to Alesia Michelle’s channel. Her reviews are very interesting and she usually nails it.
I met so many people from the US none of them “got” Europe. It’s not possible to understand Eurovision without some insight/knowledge. William is an exception. Robyn also from so far away gets it.
I like Suzanne and her energy.
I predict this will do well and snatch at least a respectable place. Azerbaijan will do great unless he messed up the vocals or the staging (which I don’t hope happening). Not really one of my favorites, but a good song anyways.
Aside from that, most of the time, I don’t really love Azerbaijan’s approach to Eurovision. Yes, they gave us great Azeri acts to perform, but they mostly rely on international help on the other aspects (as example, this song is a Milanov production). I read someone stated the lack of good songs or interest from local composers being one of the factors, but I’m suggesting they might’ve not been given a chance, most of the time (hi, Isa Melikov). If it has to stay that way, whether I like it or not, it has to be respected. But, it’s a… Read more »
Azerbaijan has qualified in the past with garbage vocals(2016) , so I don’t think unless it’s absolutely horrendous it will not qualify. Last year was more a case of bad running order and a group of countries that didn’t really favor Azerbaijan.