The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continues to rate and review the songs competing in the andra chansen round of Sweden’s Melodifestivalen 2020. Next up, we listen to returning artists Ellen Benediktson & Simon Peyron, with their duet “Surface”. Did we discover their hidden depths? Read on to find out!
Ellen Benediktson & Simon Peyron – “Surface”
“Surface” reviews
Åri: This one initially plays out like a cheesy attempt at a cheesy ballad duet. That’s probably why I initially didn’t care for it one bit. However, upon careful reconsideration, I saw something in it. While still being a relatively bad choice for Sweden, I appreciate the lyrical quality and the fact that the song does actually progress makes this melodically bearable. I hope we see it in the final — especially considering its andra chansen draw.
Score: 7/10
Lucy: Laurell Barker is back on the Eurovision scene with style this week with one song going direkt till final, and this effort from Ellen Benediktson and Simon Peyron going to andra chansen. However, I can’t help but think “Surface” is significantly better, with a more original sound. Something about it reminds me of Greta and Jonsi but brought into 2020. Ellen and Simon’s voices work fantastically together, with a cute chemistry between them. The song is exciting and outright more enjoyable than many songs in Mello this year.
Score: 8.5/10
Pablo: On paper, this was the act that intrigued me the most and had me the most excited. I only had one fear about the final product, which was confirmed… kind of. While “Surface” is blatantly close in concept to that one famous song you have heard, the execution and melody are fairly enjoyable. Ellen and Simon tell a nice story in a rather unique performance for a duet, and their voices work well together. I don’t predict this is going to become a contender, but for a concept that I feared the worst of, it’s decent
Score: 6/10
Tobias: The overall package is good. It’s a beautiful duet and their voices go very well together. But that’s about it. The staging is a bit dull, there’s no mystery created on the stage, which I think the song needs in order to really get that magical moment. I am comparing it with The Common Linnets from Eurovision 2014 which has wonderful staging. Ellen and Simon need something similar. To me, the whole staging is too bright. I would prefer something darker and something more visually appealing.
Score: 6.5/10
In our Melodifestivalen Wiwi Jury, we have 14 jurors but only room for four reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:
| Angus: 7/10
Antranig: 7.5/10 Barnabas: 6/10 Florian: 6.5/10 Jonathan: 7/10 |
Luis: 7/10
Natalie: 6/10 Robyn: 7/10 Ron: 7/10 Tom: 8/10 |
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 6 and a high of 8.5.
I absolutely love this song, probably my 2nd favourite after “Bulletproof” this year. “Surface” is like a blend of “Shallow” “Obstacles” & “Hold You” dark, mystical, emotional and softly driven yet powerful, the chorus is instantly memorable and easy to sing along, Ellen & Simon both execute so well together and pour in a lot of feels on this track which I’m expecting to be robbed this Saturday on 2nd chance round but I still hope they’ll make it to what is set to be a hotly competitive grand final of Melfest.
So underrated.
Worthy of victory on MF.
There are elements here which should work. I usually like duets with dark ballads about a broken relationship. Some of my favorite ESC songs would go into that category. But something just feels pedestrian here. The repeated title “hook” is actually the only memorable part.
I hate the combination of their voices, I don’t think they’re a good pairing
I wanted Molnijus to Andra Chansen istead of this song :/
Probably won’t win against Anis but should’ve gone DTF. They easily had the best overall package in the fourth heat if song, vocals and staging are considered together.
Actually like this a lot.. So catchy! I hear people make the comparison to Shallow – Gaga/Cooper a lot but nothing’s alike to me.. Hope it goes to the final where hopefully Dotter will win..
I like them as a duet. They look good and they sound even better. However, the song is pretty atrocious. Don’t really know where Lucy is finding this “original sound”. I couldn’t.