The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continues to rate and review the 41 competing entries of Eurovision 2019. Next we turn to Germany, where the duo S!sters have their song “Sister”. Did we feel their connection? Read on to find out!
S!sters with “Sister”
“Sister” reviews
Ron: There is something special about “Sister”. The melody, the lyrics and the beautiful harmonies all fit together very well. The entire production of this song is on point, quite dynamic and rich. I especially like the use they’ve made of the music box sounds. In addition to that, S!sters aren’t just standing and singing, you can tell they really mean every word they sing and I am totally convinced. The girls just need a bit of work in order to get perfectly synchronised, but I’m sure they will shine on the big stage in Tel Aviv.
Score: 8/10
Angus: “Sister” is a smart song for Eurovision. It charts how women — from lullabies as children, to the adult relationships they form — are taught by society to tear one another down instead of celebrating each other’s success. It is a message for our times and one gamely delivered by the S!sters themselves. The staging at the national final was a little dour at times, and the performance appeared a bit aimless, but Germany has the elements here to be competitive in Tel Aviv.
Score: 6.5/10
Anthony: Deeply haunting and full of emotion, their national final performance wiped the (rotating) floor with the competition. “Sister” is a grower after several listens, but it’s a matter of whether Carlotta and Laurita can make an instant impact in Tel Aviv.
Score: 8.5/10
Deban: The obvious summary here is : “non-biological sisters with little synergy shouting at each other.” This entry holds minimal appeal on first listen, and with repeat spins, it unpacks diminishing returns. Germany is often wronged at Eurovision — even when they send good entries. However, S!sters with “Sister” can happily resign in the fact that regardless of ranking they’d get to perform in the grand final.
Score: 3/10
Julian: “Sister” is a good song. It is a good song performed by two very talented women who fit the song well. Yet Germany’s entry is one of the few songs where I don’t dare predict where it will place. I can imagine anything from 10th place to 26th.
Score: 6/10
Robyn: On paper, “Sister” shouldn’t work. A put-together duo with a name spelt as frustratingly as O’G3NE who are singing a song about sisterhood and — gasp! — they aren’t even real sisters. But yet it works. “Sister” isn’t about biological siblings; it’s a powerful ode to the strength of female friendships. Carlotta and Laurita each bring different styles, starting as individuals and eventually coming together in harmony, especially that big chorus. “Sister” isn’t a sexy, cool Eurovision banger, but it doesn’t need to be.
Score: 7/10
In the Wiwi Jury we have 29 jurors but only have room for six reviews. The remaining scores are below:
| Antony: 3/10
Antranig: 6/10 Barnabas: 5.5/10 Bernardo: 6/10 Calvin: 4/10 Chris: 5.5/10 Essi: 6/10 Florian: 6.5/10 Izhar: 3.5/10 Jack: 2.5/10 Jonathan: 7/10 Josh: 6/10 |
Kristin: 3/10
Lucy: 3/10 Luis: 6/10 Lukas: 7.5/10 Mikhail: 4/10 Oliver: 5/10 Pablo: 1.5/10 Renske: 7/10 Sebastian: 2.5/10 Tobias: 4/10 William: 5.5/10 |
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 1.5 and a high of 8.5.
Wiwi Jury verdict: 5.17/10
What do you think of this song? Share your own score and review below!
I feel really sorry for the girls and can’t see where a single point will come from.
Sorry, but in my opinion this year remark the absolute lowpoint of the german selection for a long long time.
The only interesting thing about this song is the possibility that it may receive the first nul points in history with the new voting system. I see many reasons why it will fail. First, trying to double the female empowering message of Toy will flop big time- copying last year’s winner never works in eurovision. Second, that shouting match between the girls will give audience a headache. Third, nepotism that led to its selection in Germany, like Carlotta’s mentor being in the selection panel will surely turn off some voters. Finally the song is not radio friendly, and unless Germans… Read more »
See, now that you have written this comment, certain jury members may now have to give Germany one point just to be annoying. 😀
Your theory is plausible though – this may be an inevitable 26th place finish.
No this will do better with juries than just score 1 point , maybe 2 points even
Literally, the worst song in the German NF. I still don’t understand what the televote and the jury saw in it. Everything looks so artificial here: the lyrics, the performance, the staging, etc. They are trying too hard to be something. Sorry but I really think this is bottom 5 material, not awful, but very average. It’s sad because Germany could have chosen any other song; they had an interesting line-up this year. Germany is my 29th and could be lower, because at this point is hard to placed them as I don’t really LIKE any song below my 17th… Read more »
Pretty music box melodies etc, let’s pretend I have finished and moved onto what really matters: the message. Do I relate to it? No. But that’s fine. Others relate to it, and I respect and appreciate what has been written here. I don’t agree with Colin about the revolving staging turning the song into a shouting match – I thought it was touching and good melodrama. Good luck to them on the night.
There’s a necessary conversation about sorority going on, which makes the theme of this entry super current. It builds up solidly from the music box intro to the expected climax. I like how it could be taken from a play but still has enough storytelling to make sense by itself. At the same time I’m curious to know how those women hurt each other, I definitely can relate to what they’re singing about. Though I respect it more than it moves me. They’ll need perfect synch on the stage and it bothers me that one of them shows much more… Read more »
Carlotta in the NF was actually quite ill. Both singers have different strengths, and IMO that is part of what makes the duo so endearing. But I feel the same as you about a certain detachment from the emotions, and it’s not just because I don’t have siblings – I suppose it’s because we don’t know the “whole story”, so it’s difficult to pull out an emotional impact from that.
And yes, you are awesome, as Mr. Vanilla Bean basically says. 🙂
Thank you, Mask. 🙂 As I wrote, I don’t see a problem in not knowing their background story. If they’re putting their differences behind, why should I encourage them to relive what caused the trouble? 😀 But even if I can relate to the theme, they’re not moving me (despite all the spinning). So I wonder how those that can’t even relate may feel cold about the whole thing. I didn’t know Carlotta was ill. I hope that it was what was bothering me, because this is shaping to be a contest where very few vocals disappoint me.
Thank you, Bean. 🙂 Somehow, this moved a lot of televoters in Germany (though as Weißbrot claimed, the fandom there wasn’t particularly fond of it), so who knows what may happen next month. What I can say is that it’s midtable for me, so it wouldn’t get my points even if I was part of the jury. But it’s a fine song, even if a step back after Michael’s success.
GERMANY – Dramatic ballad from an imaginary third act of Frozen sequel. It is nicely written song about reconciliation and has a big, explosive chorus which makes it impactful. This should be something I would eat-up in a second. However, the presentation was really messy and turned this into a cheesy shoutfest with little emotional connection with the audience. I love the studio version, but they seriously need to work on everything else. I also wouldn’t market it primarily as a symbol of female empowerment, but rather as a personal story of love and forgiveness. If they polish the staging,… Read more »
OK, can I start off with asking what is this comment section? Mostly the positive comments are downvoted as well as the negative. But I got to say that I’m on the positive side on this. This was my 4th place in the German national selection (no suprise after lilly among clouds, Aly Ryan and Makeda, in that order) and I didn’t think they would win, but I am fine with that. The song is very empowering and the lyrics are great and that comes off very well from the TV screen, the 2 girls are emoting amazingly and that… Read more »
I love Aly Ryan, she will probably finish top 5, and I’m glad Germany pickles her. 10/10!
But in all seriousness, this entry is nice but nothing remarkable. However if Germany finishes last and Israel doesn’t I’ll be furious. I do really like Some parts from this song, but this just isn’t all that interesting to me, and I also don’t see a lot of people picking uo their phone for this. 6,5/10
Off topic: it’s good to see the youth learning nice, lovely messages from the ESC! LOL
https://youtu.be/vkGfH7IllXA
But not less boring than you
Might have some potential but I hope they don’t stage it like in Unser Lied Für Israel by making it look like Game Of Thrones.
… What kind of Game of Thrones are you watching? XD
I’ll take my female empowerment from N.Macedonia this year. At least it isn’t as badly-written as this.
I’m sorry but this is dreadful, dreadful stuff.
I really love this entry, so underrated 🙁
Tear it apart guys, we Germans don’t even like it ourselves lmao
I‘m German. I like it. My friends are German. They like it.
That’s great for you, but most Germans don’t. I don’t know many people who like it.
Weißbrot is right… I’m German, too, and I hate it for being forced on us by Mr Schreiber and his stupid wildcard. I never will get how it won the televote. They had obvious help from the broadcaster – best starting position, most polished performance – but that should never have been enough. All the people I’m talking to – straight or gay, hard-core fans or ESC casuals – are embarrassed and expect a fail. At all the preview parties I’ve been to, they crash and burn equally…
So how did it win the public vote then?
Oh I mean like, the German Eurofans don’t really like it. That’s something I can say for sure. I honestly don’t know why they won the public vote…
Similar thing like in Croatia, then? First The Dream wins the televote, now everyone regrets it and wants Tower of Babylon. As for the German song, I like the song itself, but the presentation is seriously off. Review pending.
Not only the Eurofans didn’t like it 😉 There are muuuuch more and the NDR try all to low the critics.
They win it because of the running order and the bad staging of nearly all other songs. As the Winner of Televoting they didn’t even get 100.000 votes. Thats the worst result for a long time…
I really can’t see a single point for the S!sters (maybe if they get a spot like 21-24th in the running order) and feel really sorry for the girls.
Yes, because these Germans are crying Aly Ryan fan Babys..
Mark my words, this will be one of the surprises of the year.
It is really a touching song that a lot of people can relate to.
Nah… don’t think so.
I really doubt it
i cant see any non eurofan picking up the phone and voting for 2 girls who pretend to be sisters with a flat song
sounds like it’s straight outta 2009 but it’s my guilty pleasure bc it’s so unnecessarily dramatic
I’m no Superman
Also , for some random reason we agree too much this year dude
talent recognizes talent
That would be amazing!
Not loving this at all, my bottom song . I pretty much echo what Deben said.
They believe every word they sing, because unlike Paenda, they did not write the song themselves, which adds to the authenticity of course. Paenda on the other hand just writes flat songs herself, because she is too smug to accept a song by a renowned Eurovision song writer, and therefore sends in a song as a flat as pancake to Tel Aviv out of utter contempt for the fanbase which considers to be very flat. Therefore, Sisters 10 points, Paenda 0. In your face, Paenda, who do you think you can fool with your generic teary-eyed screechfest, that is so… Read more »
You need to mind your own business.
That sarcasm is unreal , lol
Lol thx
i cant believe there are people who actually like this trash WTF
its a dire frozen wannabee shouty mess. I can’t even bear to watch it. It annoys me greatly that this crap is robbing a far better song of a place in the final
I just dont hate it.
I know there’s a lot of prople disappointed with Germany’s choice, and I understand – it was an awesome show with many good songs, but I absolutely ADORE this one. To me it’s just a perfect track. The contrast between delicate verses and grand chorus is just brilliant – and what a chorus it is. It’s like waves of unspoken emotions hitting the listener, waves that I could just listen on repeat, hundreds of women’s voices packed into 20 seconds. I really appreciate the connection between two singers – they create a story you believe in and want to follow… Read more »
It is so funny how the same song can trigger such different things in different people, isn’t it?
I don’t understand why some people get angry if someone does not like their favourites. It’s just a glimps of how diverse we are for some things. And I love to read other comments and opinions; it helps me analyzing the songs more in depth and (sometimes) discover little hidden gems (I’m afraid not in this case, unfortunately).
Me too. I was not saying the opposite
🙂
2. Greece (9.0/10)
5. Azerbaijan (9.0/10)
8. Russia (7.5/10)
9. N. Macedonia (7.5/10)
10. Estonia (7.0/10)
11. Hungary (7.0/10)
12. Romania (7.0/10)
16. Ireland (6.5/10)
17. Armenia (6.5/10)
20. Austria (6.0/10)
21. Denmark (5.5/10)
27. Finland (5.0/10)
29. Belarus (5.0/10)
31. Serbia (4.5/10)
34. Israel (4.0/10)
35. Germany (3.5/10)
36. Moldova (3.5/10)
37. Lithuania (3.5/10)
39. Latvia (2.5/10)
40. Poland (2.5/10)
41. Portugal (2.0/10)
Since my reviews and scores are kept in quarantine lately, I will try to split them. If it doesn’t work either I guess I’ll better stop posting.
This said, before even knowing that these girls are not related, “Sister” already sounded somewhat fake-ish. You can clearly see/hear that there is no connection between them and this, together with their sometimes slightly screechy voices, makes this song rather unpleasant to listen to. This year Germany has fallen to my number 35 and I wouldn’t be expecting them to qualify if they had to.
I like the background score of the song , this is good drama that does pull me in . The harmonies between the girls aren’t perfect. The chorus is a little shouty. The verses I actually like. A 7/10.
Is it just me , just me , here? All you wanted is wear you love?
Being this is Germany though , it’s unlikely to get televote support. Juries might like this though.
I was Surprised by Surprise on the Night though.
I was hoping for some Surprise, but Sister, there could be only one winner. That’s the problem with good selections – whoever wins they’re gonna leave you heartbroken.
Isn’t the song called SisterS? Lol
The opposite 🙂 Band is called S!sters, the song “Sister”.
Accha, ok
Not brilliant… I mean I prefers this over Makeda’s song in the NF so I was happy about that anyway yea I mean it’s not bad but it also doesn’t have anything special about it. 5.5/10
Whatever you guys are smoking, I want it too.
Since the song received a mixed reception overall, are you implying it’s underrated or overrated?
overated
overrated. This is pure horror for me, sorry German friends.
Ha ha ! Like Israel got a better score than this , I Chuckled at that
and so it should
For me equally bad. Wiwi was generous today.
This one is a trainwreck, derailed with oil spill… my number #40. Using the “!” makes it even worse.
harsh but true
2.0/10
and Romania got 7.04. eh…
I think much of the bad sentiment in fandom is related to Aly Ryan. I don’t think that this is a good entry and will have any chance ranking higher than 20th but it’s not as bad as other entries.
I don’t think it was just a reaction to Aly Ryan, especially because a lot of fans were divided between Aly, Lilly, and even Makeda at the end. Sister was the last-place song in the betting odds for a reason.
Too loud and screechy for my taste