The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continues to rate and review the 41 songs that had been selected for Eurovision 2020. Next up, we take a look at Austria‘s internally selected act Vincent Bueno and his song “Alive”. Did it give us life? Read on to find out!
Vincent Bueno – “Alive”
“Alive” reviews
Åri: This song is undoubtedly lit. But lit doesn’t win Eurovision. I guess the biggest problem in this one is that it’s far too predictable. Lyrically it’s just what you expect from a mediocre Eurovision track and it never surprises you. However, the production is strong and I do think it could have looked good on stage. I can bop to it but it’s nothing special. A major step down for Austria, having previously sent only good entries from 2013 onwards.
Score: 6.5
Bernardo: Vincent is the strongest feature on a somewhat uninspired entry. “Alive” channels from pop and R&B of the early 2010s but does little to take the genre to the next level. It’s pleasant to hear and Spotify-friendly but lacks competitiveness for Eurovision. Mister Bueno’s vocals and personality saves this entry from oblivion.
Score: 3
Calvin: Vincent is a performer and it was the absolute right decision to give him an upbeat song with funky elements. The arrangement isn’t the most captivating or unique ever, but it fits with the general mood of the song. “Alive” awakens memories of “What’s the Pressure” (Belgium 2016). Both songs aren’t made for a studio but for the stage, where they unfold their full energy. Austria could have ended up surprisingly well!
Score: 6.5
Florian: “Alive” is a decent radio-pop track with some funk and R&B elements. While it’s off to a promising start, it does lose me a bit in the chorus, which is slightly repetitive. Moreover, it would have required a strong live performance — as the track itself needs to be well-executed to avoid vocal issues. Based on the studio cut, though, it’s a solid effort that would’ve placed well in between all the ballads at this year’s contest.
Score: 6.5
Lucy: I didn’t really know what to think going into listening to “Alive”, but I was so pleasantly surprised by the end. This helping of Michael Jackson-tinged funky R’n’B would have stood out in its semi and eventually the final – and I do believe it’d have made it. Vincent’s vocals are so smooth, and the video shows he has the necessary dance technique to make a live performance shine. A polished complete package from Austria!
Score: 8
Vincent Bueno – “Alive” rankings
In the Wiwi Jury we have 22 jurors but only have room for five reviews. The remaining scores are below:
| Angus: 4
Antranig: 5 Barnabas: 5.5 Deban: 5 Esma: 7.5 Jonathan: 6.5 Luis: 5 Natalie: 4 Oliver: 5.5 |
Pablo: 5
Renske: 7.5 Robyn: 5 Ron: 5 Sebastian: 6 Tobias: 5 Tom: 5 William: 5 |
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 8.
Wiwi Jury verdict: 5.53/10
What do you think of this song? Share your own score and review below!
I will give a 1/10 for this. It’s my favorite for the last place before Estonia
My score for this song is 8.5/10
Austria 3/10
Btw, do Austrians love it to run in music videos? Nathan, Cesar, Vincent… 😀
At this moment of reading the article “Alive” is played in my Eurovision 2020 playlist 😀 Not kidding! Well, it’s a good, funky, Bruno-Mars-ish pop track. Sure, not that much original, but as y’all know I stan English pop in Eurovision, because it needn’t be super special crazy for 26 times in a row. I agree, that Laura Tesoro played the card a lot better, but the chorus is memorable and I can shake my … to it! 😀 25th place with 7/10 ^^
Scoring all entries today, I see, I did Austria as well in the past 😀
Formally again:
Austria – 7/10 (25th/41)
It’s a nice track, but it doesn’t really make much impact.
We start off with a man with a hat running to silence. Then Vincent appears and starts singing blues notes and soft jazz. Then we get a bit of “oh-oh-oh-oh, you make me feel like” pieces of a counter-hook, which seem out of place, but then lead to a build-up. My issue is this: The video takes a whole minute to drop the bass line, which is the most important element in funk. Rewind back to Belgium 2016, and Laura Tresoro shouted “hit it” to drop the funk bass line – that’s how I prefer my funk: Bass line first,… Read more »
He’s a talented performer who can do stage musicals- this would’ve really elevated live if they could nail the staging, and Austria have a good track record in that field. A left hand placement wouldn’t have come out of nowhere even if the song is just basic but well executed.
AUSTRIA – I love some cute unpretentious feel-good songs. Alive wants to be one of them, but fails at it, because it feels too polished and somehow void of true charm. That’s a paradox, since Vincent seem to be oozing charm in real life. If the goal is to make people happy, why is the instrumental so bleak and lyrics so repetitive and tedious? The whispers in the bridge are borderline annoying. IDK… it’s not necessarily bad, but I’m just really not into it, which is a shame, considering my love for some other recent Austrian entries. – 4/10 My… Read more »
I really like this, but at times I do forget that it exists… it’s a weird one to rank for sure as generally it’s something I’d be into and is a proper ear worm, but there are more entries I like more.
Tribute act to Michael Jackson, Bruno Mars, Timberlake, dude gotta find himself.
Eurovision is a platform to showcase an artist’s brand to a large, global audience. ‘Alive’ feels like a 3 minute tribute act or compilation of popular male artists, then and now. It feels as if Vincent has not yet identified his niche and unique selling point in the music industry. Austria is really becoming the new Sweden at Eurovision, with very slick-yet-superficial, jury-bait entries, which lack a soul. It’s amazing that this is the same country that once upon a time was edgy and over-the-top, and sent a song in French, a bearded drag queen, and rappers with strippers.
I can understand the criticism towards “Nobody But You”, even though in my opinion it was a very competent pop soul banger, wonderfully interpreted by Cesar. But I really don’t think “Limits” was a “very slick-yet-superficial jury bait entry”. It’s a minimalist non-mainstream electropop ballad, written solely by Paenda with personal, heartfelt lyrics and an extremely emotional performance. And I certainly prefer any of the recent Austrian entries to a song about shaking buttocks.
Not the most original entry this year, but it’s an earworm. And there are actually some pretty good elements in it! The opening is atmospheric and intriguing, Michael Jackson impressions are precious and the funky, upbeat chorus does make me feel alive, even if it’s a bit generic and I get the feeling that I’ve heard it before. Even the lyrics, which are insipid for the most part (“you make me feel alive”, “sticks and stones”), contain an important message about openness and nonconformity, which is sort of ironic, as this entry is blatantly influenced by many (not so) current… Read more »
It’s one of the most forgettable songs. Sounds like smth you’ll listen to a mall. Good vibes though.
Overall:3.5/10 (30th)
The most forgettable entry for me hands down. Mediocre song which I don’t mind it while is playing and immediately forget about that when it ends. Strange, but even obvious MJ r’n’b influence, which I love, doesn’t help to like more this song. It sits comfortably in my bottom 5.
4/10
35. Austria – 4.5/10 – a super-slick production and a super-slick performer which nods to many classic pop performances of the past. Perhaps this entry is too slick for its own good. The sweetness of the vocal and presentation becomes sickly in places and there is yet more jaunty bass, which is big no-no for me. Most importantly (and ironically) I feel largely dead inside whilst it is playing.
It’s in my top ten. You don’t need to overthink this one…it just is good to listen to. I have said before and I’ll say it again, the first 30 seconds of this song is the best opening of any entry this year. The bass line is great. Vincent is the perfect artist for this song and it just works. It is a real shame we’re not going to see this on the Eurovision stage. I won’t go on too long. It wasn’t going to win the contest but I’m sure it would’ve been a finalist.