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 Sweden, where Melodifestivalen winner John Lundvik has “Too Late for Love”. Was he right on time for us? Read on to find out!
John Lundvik – “Too Late for Love”
“Too Late for Love” reviews
Antranig: “Too Late for Love” may be slightly generic but John Lundvik has so much charisma and injects his heart and soul into the performance. His energy is palpable. As a result, he transforms a decent song into one that is truly captivating. As much as I would like to see Sweden take some musical risks and send something other than generic pop for a change, when the quality of the music is as high as this, why fix it if it ain’t broken? While it won’t reach the heights of “Euphoria”, John Lundvik will certainly deliver Sweden another amazing result.
Score: 8/10
Barnabas: Sweden took a slight detour from overproduced male pop songs, and infused a bit soul and gospel flavor into their selected song. Even though many people might remind last year’s Austrian entry when hearing “Too Late For Love”, it still sounds fresh and dynamic. John is a great vocalist and seriously the only challenge for the Swedish team will be to have the same gospel choir effect of the backing vocalists with the given limitations of the six-person rule. And since Austria hasn’t had problems with this, Sweden will probably secure another good result.
Score: 7.5/10
Lucy: Someone who stormed the results at Melodifestivalen this easily was never going to be a poor entry were they? Jon has such a fabulous stage presence where you believe every word he’s saying, and with such an uplifting message it’s not hard to see why this did so well in the national final, as well as he is in the bookies now. Controversially (and as a Brit I swear I’m not being biased), I do think Jon’s other penned track in Eurovision this year is better — “Bigger Than Us” — is just… well, bigger. I do completely adore “Too Late For Love” though, how could someone not love a gospel chorus?
Score: 7.5/10
Tobias: This is so good! It’s a catchy song, radio friendly and has interesting staging. “Too Late For Love” is both a joy for my eyes and for my ears. There are moments of excitement during the whole performance. The song starts with a big rectangular LED light above John and then slowly builds up with the clapping from the audience to then explode in a majestic gospel, to then slow down again and explode with the visual of the choir. The performance keeps my interest and it is an interesting journey for the viewers. I do believe this will be in the top five in the grand final.
Score: 9/10
Pablo: “Too Late For Love” is an explosion of carefree, big-voiced pop made to simply let your hair down and enjoy. But at time it feels a bit distant. Nevertheless, the key difference between this and Benjamin’s song is that this grows exponentially live. The studio version lacks thrust, and John may fall to the background compared to his backing vocalists, but once the stage lights turn up and he sings, it’s a hit. John really needs to shake off the perfection facade and let us feel it; make us believe that is really not too late for love.
Score: 7/10
William: The first time I heard this I was thoroughly underwhelmed. It somehow felt too light and ethereal for my liking… it was as if it wasn’t of this Earth. On subsequent listens I’ve realised that it’s not — this song is sent from the Heavens! John owns every note and shot, playing to the camera while putting on a stunning vocal display. His backing vocalists are more than just backing. They bring voices but also attitude of the first order. Unfortunately our scores were locked before I came around to the song. But even in my haterade mode it still earned a solid six.
Score: 6/10
In the Wiwi Jury we have 29 jurors but only have room for six reviews. The remaining scores are below:
| Angus: 7.5/10
Anthony: 8.5/10 Antony: 8/10 Bernardo: 7.5/10 Calvin: 7/10 Chris: 6.5/10 Deban: 7.5/10 Essi: 7/10 Florian: 9.5/10 Izhar: 8/10 Jack: 8/10 Jonathan: 6.5/10 |
Josh: 7/10
Julian: 5.5/10 Kristin: 9/10 Luis: 8/10 Lukas: 9/10 Mikhail: 6/10 Oliver: 6/10 Renske: 7.5/10 Robyn: 9/10 Ron: 8.5/10 Sebastian: 8.5/10 |
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 5.5 and a high of 9.5.
Wiwi Jury verdict: 7.61/10
What do you think of this song? Share your own score and review below!
This song sucks. Another pop trash over-rated song.
The song still gives me bad Andy Abraham vibes. Sorry.
I am a sucker for rn’b and gospel sounding tunes, so I think I cannot be very objective with this one. True, it is a standard pop song with all that it needs to be radio-friendly and it does not innovate a bit. But the delivery is fantastic. John has a great voice and his presence is stage is realy captivating. The back-up singers are also great and there is a real good chemistry among them. The difference between this song and the two or three previous Swedish entries is that this comes from the heart and connect to people,… Read more »
I have no idea how people rate this entry so high. John is a great vocalist, but this isn’t Idols or The Voice – this is a song contest and his song is average at best. I already mentioned before that the United Kingdom have a very similar cheesy song (also written by John Lundvik, among others I believe), sung by an excellent vocalist and yet people rate it so much lower than the Swedish entry. Why is that? Is Sweden really constantly overrated just because it’s Sweden, or are people simply fond of John Lundvik because he’s good-looking?
Good singer. Mediocre song. Overrated entry.
I think this could be the winner. It’s not my personal favorite, but I think it is the song most likely to score equally well with both juries and televoters. It may not top either, but that won’t matter – a win by default is still a win. It’ll be nobody’s favorite, but have the broadest appeal…it could be a repeat of 2015, Sweden clinching the victory out of Italy’s hands because of the juries.
No, hon, this is NOT going to strike a chord with televiweres as the song is just good. He may be the first with the juries but being 3d with the fourth with the televoters is a gift for him.
This is not Jamala 2.0 – there’s no way he scores second in the televote. Jamala had a unique gem, Lundvik is just good and positive.
I’m not so sure. This song is too reminiscent of last year’s 3rd-place finisher. Cesár Sampson’s “Nobody But You”, which won the jury vote but was sidelined by the televoters. On top of that, there are parts in this song that make it sound like a radio edit of a song that was meant to be a lot longer.
Maybe 6-10, but I think someone may have to fall on their face or have a lousy stage setup for John to finish top 5.
Again, that saying require that people actually remember Cesar Sampson and that they can compare the songs. They don’t. And even if they do John Lundvik is much more charismatic and energetic than Cesar who had the personality of a shoe, meaning John could get more votes. I think that is why Cesar didn’t get more votes, he was a bit cold and stiff. You oculdn’t connect. With John Lundvik you at least feel something which is better than feeling nothing.. And even so, Cesar still got more votes than Benjamin. If that happens we still would be satisfied with… Read more »
Fortunately personality wasn’t the only thing last year’s jurors were looking at when they gave tons of points to both Cesár and Benjamin. Otherwise Benjamin would have probably got more televote points, if what you say is true about their personality. Showmanship matters as well, and the jury rewarded them (more so for Cesár) for their showmanship…
John will undoubtedly be rewarded for his showmanship as well, but again, if the SONG is too reminiscent of what was presented last year, there will be jurors and/or televoters who hesitate to give him and that song high scores.
That requires jurors and audience to remember last year so that they can compare just how reminscent the two songs are. Most forget the songs the day after. Therefore it isn’t that important if a song reminds of another because except fans no one would remember Austria had a gospel song last year.
And even so, that was last year. People vote for this year. Its two different songs. Nothing says this gospel song wont do well because one didn’t do well last year.
Probably come top 5 but can’t see this winning unless all of the other favorites screw up their performances. Song is too generic and the staging isn’t particularly interesting because it’s just John and his backing singers singing underneath some flashing lights. This could possibly win the jury vote but I can’t see televoters going for it en masse and sealing the victory for Sweden this year.
BTW, I’m sure Denis is going to attack me for not praising Sweden.
Another entry that I think is overrated by everyone. For me, John is a good singer but the song is just average. I’m more interested in the backvocalists tbh. Should I talk about the fact that Austria’s Cesar Sampson came before him? It doesn’t even sound original. As usually, Sweden’s entry feels too artificial but somehow will managed to be voted in mass by the juries. So I suppose Sweden will place in the top 10, even top 5. It only slayed in Melodifestivalen because this edition was so weak. Sweden is in my 20th place. 2. Belgium (8.5) 3.… Read more »
Something I forgot to mention: I love how this song stops and starts. It’s as if he has asked the question and not got an answer, so then instead of walking away, he ramps up the emotions and tries and tries again to ask the question. Now that’s a boyfriend I would want to have. 🙂
Well that’s what my ex did. I literally asked: “Is it too late for love?”, to which the answer was “Yes.” 🙁
(No, I didn’t start singing.)
It depends on whether it’s “not like this” or “not ever”. Human relations are complicated. One shouldn’t quit on love when obstacles come. When the other person genuinely doesn’t respond and says a definitive no, it’s certainly a time to close that gate.
We had tried for a while but both our lives had changed so much. I wanted to find the “spark” again, but I got shut down. It was sad.
So in that way, Lundvik’s song is a bit like reminiscence. Or maybe it’s because I keep wanting to ask the question over and over until I get a “yes”? 😛
Ross and Rachel too.
I don’t see why there is so much hate for this song! I think it’s a really good song and something Sweden don’t typically send which people usually complain if it’s a similar pop song but this year it isn’t and there’s still hate?? The live performance in my opinion is better then the studio and if the staging the same as Melodifestivalen then it’s going to be great at the ESC! 9/10
As i said before. You CANT judge a country for the last 5 years. Its a NEW contest every year with different arrangement. Each year is different from the year before
Nothing new, but feels organic and it has a soul.
It doesn’t have the “winner factor”, but has the perfect formula for success (jury voting on lock + decent televoting score).
I can’t see this being out of the jury top 3, most likely winning that voting or finishing very close to that.
7.5/10
This song suits the most recent break-up in my life so well. If John Lundvik really feels this stuff then I would want to date him myself, lol. There are actually two “versions” of this song, since the studio track and the Melfest live versions are in completely different keys. The studio track sounds like it’s on steroids – the key gets ridiculously high for John’s vocal, and the energy levels are at athlete-pro standard. However, the Melfest live final recording is much better because it’s much more realistic in the lower key, the live singers are great fun and… Read more »
I’m glad someone else noted how much better the live version is compared to the studio version. Considering the amount of good songs that are internal selections, all it would take is a couple of these not to translate well onto the stage for John to be amongst the forerunners in the contest.
I love John! He can sing, he seems like a nice guy and he is quite handsome. Songwise, it’s just there. It’s a good song but doesn’t seem memorable enough. If it wasn’t for the fact that Sweden is overrated every year I would be calling this song a borderline qualifier. We will see how it goes. It’s a nice song, performed well by a talented singer. But Sweden I think you are running out of steam these past few years. You can do better Sweden. Perhaps another NQ would knock them back into shape. Like it did in 2010.… Read more »
Vintage Sweden. Immaculate and pander-y, yet altogether unpretentious, it straddles the line between universality and mediocrity. Whenever I watch the performance it always feels like three very short minutes, but I can’t decide whether this is because the song is so captivating I don’t register time passing, or if it is because the song is so featureless my mind starts wandering elsewhere.. Lundvik and his entourage’s much praised likability-factor will surely help us soften those ever present suspicions of cynisism, but our patented brand of calculated spontaneity has no doubt overstayed its welcome. At least for now.
Improvement from last year, but still too safe.
The contest has been since 1956. What is new to you? Everything has been done. Your opinion is not valid
Lol, people like Swedish songs. If they represent Cyprus or Switzerland or any other country. Just not Sweden itself. Because it’s Sweden. Then it’s overrated:)
Oh well, at least it is written by John himself. In Sweden. Just how much Cypriotic is Cyprus?
Of course the racist supramcist Swede Denis striking againg with his superiority complex.
Well, it’s Sweden hello! No matter what junk they send they’ll get the highest scores, right? 😉
2019 John Lundvik 7.61 (5th)
2018 Benjamin InGroSsO 7.75 (6th)
2017 Robin Bengtsson 7.58 (6th)
2016 Frans 6.29 (24th)
2015 Måns 8.44 (2nd)
2014 Sanna 8.35 (2nd)
2013 Robin Stjenberg 6.92 (9th)
2012 Loreen 9.25 (1st)
I guess we’ll have to wait until they send junk one year to find out…
I agree that Sweden never sent a ”junk”, but Dance You Off was certainly not a top 10 material, so there is some discrepancy. Too Late For Love is, on contrary, a good song no matter who sent it. Should do well.
Of course, Colin. They have definitely not always sent masterpieces. Still, there is a difference between “junk” and not being top 10 material, although both concepts are always argueable. Still, none of the songs that Geo has listed is junk, imo.
Geo pretty close to the real results. However Frans was underestimated. Loved by the Swedes and became an international hit.
Ukeain. Portugal and Israel sens ceap, and they Winn. When they help Cypres, UK, Azerbajdzjan. Russin, its OK.
Is 24th good ranking to you? For me its not. So your comment is silly
How is any of these songs junk? You disliking them doesn’t make them junk
SWEDEN – Melfest always brings very polished pop songs and always does well with the juries. This year, I actually like the winner. It’s still within the expected parameters of what Sweden does on Eurovision, but still feels fresh. It’s is likable and melodic. Backing vocals are so good and they only amplify John’s already strong charisma and energy. The song does borrow elements from Cesar’s success with a gospel entry last year, but still makes the best out of it. Although it’s not in my personal top 10, it’s a good song and this year they deserve to qualify… Read more »
Yey. 🙂
I think you have Sweden a little lower than I do but not a million miles off. Think (at this current time) somewhere in the 8-15 range is about right.
I like Swedish song this year, and in contrary to what some people say I think it would do well representing any country, but I have to admit, that I got a bit tired of it, which I think is a result of EOS (Eurovision Overload Syndrome – when you listen to so many ESC tracks, that they don’t give you as much pleasure as usual). Nonetheless it’s a great tune with a catchy chorus, top level production and perfectly performed. I also have to point out, that the staging we got in Melfest was top notch – excellent example… Read more »
overrated
Once again, Sweden is bringing us quality but playing it safe. But, hey, why not? It usually works for them, although they have had some struggles with the televote. I like all the individual elements of “Too late for love”, from John’s nice voice and smile to the absolutely superb mamas. The main issue I have with the song is that, as AndersP very well pointed out in an earlier post, it sounds like a 4 minute song chopped into pieces and put together again to fit in 3 minutes. You cannot have a gospel choir singing for just a… Read more »
Outdated late nineties gospeldancepop.
This is one of 4 sure qualifiers from the second semi. Nothing about it is borderline.
Just face it that not all the people have to love without limits the cr@p you send every year.
I wonder what the score would be if John Lundvik gave “Too Late For Love” to the UK. I can guarantee you nowhere near as high because Sweden…
Out of the John Lundvik songs this year I have to say that Bigger Than Us is the better song.
I do realise it may be controversial for some people.
Well, I slightly prefer Bigger Than Us too. It used to be the other way around, but BTU grew on me a lot and TLFL basically remained on the same level of good, so now the UK song is a bit higher on my list. However, difference is only 0.5 rating.
The full package is very tasteful, even if the song plays too safe. Imagine if they paired these production values with bolder musical choices… At least, the gospel elements give it some character. It’s a great example on how to play with lights and camera angles. The wonderful backing vocals (love them!) coming and going, that gorgeous golden light rising over John, the close-ups… While “Dance You Off” was slick and distant, John is inviting, relatable and warm. I hope the announced “huge tweaks” on its staging don’t mess the balance here. 7.5/10
Two identical scores for us in a row! I also gave Belgium a 7 and Sweden a 7.5. I still need some push to develop my love for Malta the way you (and many others) have, but it’s still a solid 7 for me. You can check all three reviews when you have time. Now, after three good reviews, there is still five left. I’ll just say that out of them, three are on my playlist, which means 8+ reviews. You can guess which three!
I think Malta will get a higher score in my post-ESC list than that I gave her originally (a 5.5). Not that “Chameleon” is really a big vocal challenge, but she very much sounded like in the studio version during her live performance yesterday
Her vocals are very solid. My concern is if she has what it takes to perform a dance song, since she stocked to ballads in X-Factor.
I have Malta and Sweden pretty much in the same place. Whereas Malta are a bit more daring, Sweden bring a bit more polish. Both good entries in my opinion!
By the way, maybe it’s time for Sweden to send a female singer with something more sassy. Though the last Melfest attempts on that lane weren’t that interesting.
Would be nice but to be fair, they haven’t had a NF winner-worthy female entry since 2017.
I believe I’ve read all your reviews so far, Colin. We may not agree every single time, but I see that when this happens it’s usually because we have different tastes about some things. I guess your 8+ are Australia, Italy and the Netherlands. If so, our ratings will be close about them too.
Sweden isn’t gonna win this year. I like the song while listening, but nothing makes me serach for it. Because there are better songs involved.
Whilst I enjoy this song now, my initial reaction when I heard Too Late For Love in SF4 was that I felt like it was a 4 minute song that had been chopped to ribbons to fit into 3 minutes and felt somehow compromised. It did sweep the board at Melfest, but considering this was one of the weakest years in a decade it doesn’t say much. I would like this to do well, but I’m just not sure it will.
Weakest years? Are you sure you are not talking about last year? Cause 2018 was weak.
General consensus here is that 2019 is a strong year, perhaps the strongest since 2016.
I had exactly that same feeling!
I think you are underestimating Sweden just because it is Sweden. Seams like you are tired of Sweden and have higher standards for Sweden than other countries. Both Malta and Switzerland are mainly Swedish generic products and they are estimated higher without even knowing how they will transmit to the stage and audience. Even if this song is generic it is his own song. Hence it is genuine.
On the contrary, I think we are overstimating Sweden just because it’s Sweden…. It’s an average song, not bad, but just average, I bet it would not reach even 7 if it were from any other country.
No one is overestimating Sweden on Wiwibloggs. Its more rule than exception to bad mouth Sweden on here for whatever reason. Try to say Sweden deserves top 5 and you will get like 30 downvotes
I am not trying to say that it is the best Swedish entry or the best song this year. I am saying is that it is genuine and performed by the person written the song himself just like Mahmoud and Duncan. You don’t give John credit for that. Last year it was the same with Benjamin who writes his own songs. You appriciate others that buy Swedish songs. I just don’t get it. You like the copies not the real thing.
Ufff, so sorry but Italy and the Netherlands this year are masterpieces. This is on the contrary an average song. Heroes’ year I had no problem in saying that Mans was the best by far. Euphoria is probably the best song in ESC 21st century… and Waterloo the best song ever. It does not mean that Sweden submits always a brilliant song. But we are all biased by its past. You just have to check the first odds (before countries submits their actual songs), Sweden is always at the top without even knowing anything about it.
Isabella I am not talking about masterpieces here. I am talking about genuiness. Someone has something to say and express it through music. Written by themseleves. That is genuine. And Duncan and Mahmoud did that as well as John lundvik. Of course all there are different kinds of music. I agree that and Netherlands snd Italy might be more likeble. However none of them are in my opinion masterpieces. It is not like Mahmoud invented rap. However good luck to them all. Switzerland, cyprus and Malta are however not genuine at all. Especially Switzerland is cringy. The lyrics- how can… Read more »
So the last 10 years of Swedish results dId not happen? However being Swedish i do not take anything for granted. Each year is different. This year we might stay in the semifinal – who knows?
Interestingly, no one gave this a 10/10
Because he sings about love and true emotions, not about sex
It’s a beautiful entry: good song, charismatic singer, one of the best voices this year, emotional and slick performance at the same time, everything is on point here.
I think the score 7.61 is too low for such a good song and a great, charismatic singer if Malta has got 8.2 for that much weaker song and a singer with no charisma at all.
She is just hiding like a chameleon.
Chameleon is so much stronger than Too late for love…
Malta’s strong is much stronger , can’t comment on her charisma but yeah she probably has a balladeer personality as did John lundvik last year .
Una, besides of Romania, is there any other country you can say something good about?
Way too high, 4.61 would already be a high score for this uninspired generic gospel pop.
Quite disturbing that you guys think “Dance You Off” is a better entry than “Too Late For Love”. On EVERY level, this song is better (well, maybe not on an LED level). I think Sweden get back to the top five with this, despite how much stronger 2019 is shaping up to be when compared to last year.
I see this has some production value . John can sing . However none of the songs from Sweden’s NF clicked with me . His expressions and lyrics don’t match.
My favorite was ‘Who I Am ‘ as a studio cut. This will qualify and do great with juries but maybe the televote won’t be higher than Robin did. A 7/10.
The running order is good. Adds a point. This will get high jury support adds another point. This is qualifying 100%.
I love this one, the gospel vibes used are extremely uplifting abd with better staging (more light and different outfits) this could be Sweden’s return to the top 5. And the backing singers are to die for: I love their sass and interaction with John. I know Sweden has been reusing the same format yearly (male singing a well produced song) but honestly it works for me, Benjamin was my favourite last year and I love this one as well. 10/10
I love the gospel element of this track and when the backing singers come on towards the end, it really builds to a crescendo. My favourite bit is when John sings “Hear me”. Well, I hear you John!
Agree, I love this song, especially that part! Also when he says ”maybe I would lit your world with just one spark” 🙂
I love his voice and the song is beautiful.
it’s pretty much a john legend tribute act and blatant jury bait but it’s cute
I actually agree
The bhest this year.
Says the one who just called Arcade a generic pop song…
Arcade is no less generic than any of the songs competing. Its the kind of song you hear on the radio, by Coldplay and Imagine Dragons.. Its good of course but no need to pretend that it’s original.
But of course it’s the favourite so you can’t criticize it…
Jealousy jealousy