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 Bulgaria‘s internally selected act VICTORIA and her song “Tears Getting Sober”. Were we toasting her tune? Read on to find out!
VICTORIA – “Tears Getting Sober”
“Tears Getting Sober” reviews
Deban: “Tears Getting Sober” tackles mental health issues, but the swelling production is dreamy magic. Production team Symphonix and Victoria have forged a great collaboration here. Qualification in any year with this song would have been certain, but in 2020, it would’ve definitely peaked in the top five. What I love the most about this entry is that I keep finding new reasons to love it more. Bravo!
Score: 8
Luis: “Tears Getting Sober” is one of the best-crafted songs in this year’s Eurovision. Victoria excels in creating magic with her lovely and melancholic voice, while the instrumentation creates a cosy and moving feeling. Despite its sad lyrics, Bulgaria’s entry sets up a comforting mood, which is just the thing we need during these strange times.
Score: 9.5
Natalie: I really love the fact that this year there a slew of properly good songs about mental health. It’s a really important topic and it makes me very happy that it’s getting attention (so to speak) in music. Bulgaria’s song is perhaps the best of these. It’s a dark, emotional, magical journey, with disturbing, ethereal tones – a bit like depression and trauma itself. Victoria’s gentle, mystical voice fits perfectly as well – it’s beautiful and solemn. The lyrics are pure poetry, the music is wonderful, and I love this song.
Score: 9.5
Ron: “Tears Getting Sober” is a beautiful ballad with a unique voice and some great lyrics, but it’s just not my cup of tea. I understand what others might find in it, but for me, it doesn’t really leave a strong impact — perhaps because its build-up is very slow and subtle.
Score: 6
William: Bruises, scars, wounds, sugar — they’re not words that typically come in a bunch. But with “Tears Getting Sober”, Victoria brings them together in a package that’s at once sweet and dark, uplifting but laced with melancholy. It’s a twisted and indeed slightly jarring offering — but one you can’t help but dive into again and again. Victoria’s delicate voice — which trembles as much as it roars — has a captivating quality. Eerie, haunting, mysterious — each layer compels another spin. It’s a shame Covid-19 robbed us of Eurovision 2020. This could have been Bulgaria’s year.
Score: 8.5
VICTORIA – “Tears Getting Sober” rankings
In the Wiwi Jury we have 22 jurors but only have room for five reviews. The remaining scores are below:
| Angus: 8
Antranig: 5 Åri: 8 Barnabas: 8 Bernardo: 8 Calvin: 7 Esma: 8 Florian: 8 Jonathan: 6.5 |
Lucy: 10
Oliver: 6 Pablo: 8 Renske: 7 Robyn: 7 Sebastian: 9 Tobias: 7 Tom: 8 |
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: 7.75/10
What do you think of this song? Share your own score and review below!
I will give a 7/10 for this
Bulgaria – 9/10 (8th/41)
Absolutely beautiful, by far and away my personal favourite song of the year , only song that I listen too on repeat
6/10 Too laidback for my taste. It lacks “Boom”.
“Your lie-i-i-i-i-ies burn like su-gar in my…” BOOM! (Cue evacuation alarm.)
P.S. Sometimes a boom just doesn’t work. 😉
Oh and, music is not fireworks and all that, except for Katy Perry.
I also think it was top 5 material, but not a winner- simply because it did not have the climax almost all Eurovision winners had (maybe with the exception of Amar Pelos Dois). I also think it borrows a bit too much from Billie Eilish (even Victoria’s styling). I always felt like this was the year for a bold crazy uptempo song (hello Lithuania, Russia, Iceland). Nevertheless, I am sad that we will not see it live on stage. I can imagine they had something very special in mind.
Some questions regarding the WiwiJury :
1. Why are Edd and Suzanne featured in the videos yet their scores don’t appear here ?
2. Is the score for Australia 7.65 as mentioned in the video or 7.73 as mentioned on the website ?
3. Are there more than the 22 wiwibloggers mentioned here that participate and if so why not include them ?
Bulgaria 8/10
Masterpiece !
I couldn’t really connect with this song from the start. I can’t fully explain why. In a way (without listening to the words) it sounds to my like an overly sweet/melancholy-sweet lullaby . I was very suprised that this song leaded the odds. Without Eurovision I would never have listened to it more than once.
I’m with Ron. It’s pretty, it’s cute…it’s nice on the ear but that’s it. It lacks edge and penetration…..I prefer Switzerland and Romania.
I like it, and I usually dislike Symphonix stuff. I just think they mess up at the end when the song tries to reach a climax intentionally for Eurovision.
Boring.
It’s one of the best songs ever. X
Good song but I doubt it would of won. 7/10
She is trying to copy Billie Eilish because I looked back at her performances on the X factor Bulgaria and her voice sounded different. Her voice and style in this song is very similar to what Billie does.
A potential winner though the outcome would have depended on her abitity to grab the audience for the 3 minutes. I appreciate the quality of this entry and the fact that Victoria believed in this song so much. It follows the current Billie Eilish’s music style trend and way of singing, and that’s the problem for me; I’m not into Billie’s Eilish songs. Anyway, as I said I have to give credit because it is quality for the contest. That’s the reason I ranked Bulgaria this high. 2. Australia – Montaigne – Don’t break me (8) 4. Romania – Roxen… Read more »
Why is this about mental health issues? Its a breakup song.
This is my 5th favourite. Something my mother pointed out to me recently: It has been 50 years now since Dana won for Ireland with “All Kinds Of Everything,” on 21 March 1970; that contest was even held in The Netherlands! A sweet-sounding tuneful song, sung by a solo young woman, won for a country that had never won ESC before. The parallels between 1970 and what would have been 2020 are striking. There are important differences with Victoria, however. Her song is much more poignant, being about mental health issues. The melody of the song is deliberately not fully… Read more »
Very good review, Purple 🙂
So, your top 5: 1) ??? 2) North Macedonia, 3) Italy, 4) Romania, 5) Bulgaria
I am very much interested in knowing your winner. 🙂
The reason no experts mentioned that is because billie eilish is not a genre. She is not the first one to make those songs. Leave please
I’m pissed this didn’t get above an 8
I like it. It is in my top five but honestly, on my first listen, I found it underwhelming. I think instrumentally, it is rather weak compared to songs of a similar standard. In terms of the contest, I was also worried where the points might be coming from. I don’t think it is vocally challenging enough to get a lot of jury support but at the same time, it is a sound that is definitely, almost exclusively aimed at the younger demographic (which is probably why it had a lot of support pre-contest from online fans). Another negative would… Read more »
I appreciate you pointing out the entry’s areas of weakness, that’s commendable and I am sure is something I will be doing with entries still to come! I disagree though about it is almost exclusively for the younger generation. I am certainly not in that demographic but yet I really like the song. If anything, I would say there is an old school vibe which will very much appeal to the older population. The subject matter is very modern, but the music presentation is not – this diversity of approach is something I actually like about it.
BULGARIA – A beautiful dark ballad with very relatable and smart lyrics. Seemingly, it builds really slow, but progressive, throughout offering a lot of little musical sparks that keep it interesting. The instrumental is both calming and eerie, which gives it a haunting impression. It would be well suited for one of the darker Don Bluth animated films. It’s not only skillfully crafted, but also composed and written as a passion project. It matters to the people who made it and thus, makes it a lot easier for it to matter to us. For me, this song is absolutely stellar… Read more »
Funny how you mentioned animated films as I do think there is a Disney-esque quality in the instrumentation at times. As you know, I’m also a fan of this and although a 9/10 is slightly generous, you do tend to grade more generously than I do so I think you’ve got it moreorless evaluated correctly.
There is a nice question raised on what do the ratings mean to each person. Two people can have the exact same feelings towards a song with one giving it a 5 and the other one 7. I’ve seen lists giving their 37th favorite a 7/10 and those giving their 4th a 7/10 rating. As recently discussed with Tibor, it also depends on how strong do you perceive the whole selection. Then again, it also depends on what do you mean by your numerical rating. Honestly, as you put descriptions without a rating, I have no idea how would each… Read more »
Like you Colin, I have also found contributors scoring fascinating. From my perspective, I am disappointed with myself if I don’t award a 10 each year – I feel like I have to fully commit to at least one song each year. At the other end, I would never dream of giving an artist a 0 – these guys are really talented and put a lot of effort in – it would have to be the sound of a vacuum cleaner for 3 minutes for it to get a 0. I view 5 as my middle ground – then a… Read more »
I pretty much share most of your sentiments, Kosey. 5 would be a rating I give to a song I am absolutely neutral about or the one I have completely conflicted feelings for. My average would also probably be around a 7, because I tend to like more songs than not. Since 2012, each year I gave at least 2-3 songs a 10. As for the zero, it’s extremely rare, reserved for those songs I personally dislike, see no quality whatsoever in lyrics, delivery or production. Last such song in the main contest was in 2011. Usually, there are one… Read more »
Thinking about it, “Vegan” in Ukraine would have been pretty close to a zero for me! I am normally into the wacky entries, but there was something really grating and even a little bit nasty about that one. As well as it coming across as really amateurish on the night.
I didn’t like Vegan at all (it feels mean, I agree), but my annual zeroes were Svadba velika from Beovizija (besides very annoying music, it had misogynistic lyrics) and 10 minuni in Moldova (I thought it really lasts for 10 minutes and the delivery was painful. The lyrics, however, aren’t about 10 minutes, but play off as a failed tourist pamphlet about listing stuff that are nice to see in Moldova).
In the main contest, my lowest rating is a 2.5/10 for San Marino. Last year, it was a 3/10 for Montenegro.
My winner <3
I love it but I don’t think it would have won,
I love this one, great entry! It starts slowly, immediately captivates to you to follow Victoria’s journey and ending beautifully. What I love the most about this is twisted combination – dark lyrics are paired with Victoria’s sweet voice and holiday or fairy tale melody. Call me strange, but I can easily imagine this track as a soundtrack to horror or drama movie ( for example Carrie 2013 “Will you still love me tomorrow” or Girl, Interrupted “End of the world”). In 00’s era teen stars were presented like “perfect” cheerfull, flawless, I don’t think many could connect with that… Read more »
While this isn’t my winner, it definitely is one of my favourites. Usually anything that has the power to make me cry (not in pain, before you ask!) scores highly with me, and I could’ve definitely seen this winning. Hope Victoria brings out something similar and even better next year.
A beuatiful, dreamy, melodic song. I know the comparisons but I can’t help but really like this. It was a grower, not love one the first listen. It was very close to my 1st place, but I awarded it my 2nd (couldn’t help but award the great Mamas and their uplifting and cosy song “Move” my 1st place). A solid 9/10.
This would’ve had a big chance to win btw.
Really frustrated. A heartfelt (and long!) explanation got stopped by the bloody filters. Sufficed to say, I’ve had anxiety and low mood in the past and this song accurately depicts those feelings. I also love how it offers hope that time is a great healer. It is quite beautiful to me.
I sympathise with that, Kosey. I’ve been going through a lot of internal anxiety and pain, and I feel as though this song really expresses that (especially the sugar in my wounds bit, because for me at least that really depicts how having anxiety is horrible, but people seem to care more about you when you have it so it is harder to let your anxiety go; i.e. sweet wounds). It may sound cheesy but this song has actually really helped me a lot. I can’t believe some people don’t have this in their top 26, but I guess opinions… Read more »
Sorry to hear that Ashton, but I’m pleased that you find comfort in the song. My personal view is people have different experiences, and that’s fine. I just think it is a little inappropriate to deny that the connection is possible. There are some songs that I personally don’t connect with, but I can accept that the connection is there for other people.
With most Eurovision fans, once you’re out of their bottom tens, you’re into songs that they like to some degree so it really does become a matter of personal taste. I remember, last year, I got savaged because I had Soldi ranked 20th or something. I really had to remind people that I actually didn’t dislike the song!
With a song like TGS, it is trying to be an emotive song and not every listener is going to make that connection with it. I don’t think the “quality” that you’re alluding to is so obvious that it can overcome that.
I think the problem is when commentators question the connection that someone has. It’s fine to say you don’t connect with a song, but not fine to question someone else’s connection. I try to focus my comments on what I feel, not comment on what someone else might feel and whether that feeling is reasonable or not. I had the same with Duncan, it was 14th for me, I quite liked it but didn’t feel deeply for it, but I wouldn’t question those who had a deep connection to it.
Hi Tibor, that is absolutely fine, if you don’t connect with a song, you don’t connect with a song. There are a couple of very popular fan-favourites that have not come yet which i really don’t connect with. And that’s fine, everyone’s different. I have suffered with anxiety and low mood in the past and so the lyrics mean a lot to me. “Great, now my head is taking over. 10 deja-vu’s a day” immediately sucks me into that mindset where you can feel your mind repeatedly taking you to a place you don’t want to go to. There is… Read more »
Bulgaria bringing class for another year. The only country being in my top 10 since 2013. Excellent song the only thing I don’t like is the music in last 3 seconds. Apart from that nothing else.
Overall: 9.5/10 (5th)
Nothing more nothing less than a Billie Eillisch wanna be. So I prefer the original one, sorry….
If you want a wannabe, look no further than Cyprus 2020.
And what do you call this one!? Original? Get real !!!
It is original. It has different words, different melodic structure, different voice, different format to most Billie Eilish songs, and a different subject matter. The only thing similar is the genre. Whereas Cyprus lifts the exact cords and structure of Meduza’s Lose Control. So I’m not the one that needs to ‘get real’, Stephanie.
The comparisons to Billie Eilish are lazy. I have only ever heard one Billie Eilish song (the James Bond one) and I really like Victoria’s effort. Please just accept the song on its own merits rather than trying to compare it to what might be popular at the moment. It is clouding your judgment.
Let us agree to disagree, shall we. So this being said I am ready to start my shift at the hospital, to save as many people we can. So therefore PLEASE stay at home, if you have to go outside keep social distance,it can save you and others. Stay healthy and take good care of each other.
Don’t agree with your opinion Stephanie, but you’re doing a great job, thanks for all your hard work! These are truly unprecedented times that we find ourselves in!
Eurofan hears dark pop ballad “iT’s BiLliE EiliSh!”
Give me this anytime over some pretentious empty messes.
Happy Easter, everyone! And what a way to start it – “Tears Getting Sober” is a soothing, old school, masterfully produced and beautifully sung ballad and one of my favourite songs this year. The music video is dark and somber, yet the lyrics seem surprisingly hopeful and optimistic, telling us that time heals all wounds, and that we can always start over. I also love how the song itself symbolises the growth of protagonist – with a slow, lingering beginning, showing their vulnerability, weakness and exhaustion, tentative and short chorus – their previous unsuccessful attemps to fight the illness, grim… Read more »
This year’s most overrated song. The lyrics are great and the message is good, but that’s all. After listening i can’t even hum the melody. And her voice isn’t that unique or has the ”wow-factor”. It’s a good voice, but not memorable.
My winner. It has so many subtle intricacies, the way the instruments swoop up and down, the way her voice resonates and how layered it is, a tinge of chanson-style early Eurovision but made modern, and deeply affecting lyrics. Switzerland cuts an extremely close second for me, but Bulgaria is my winner. I’m so excited for what Victoria will bring next year.
4. Bulgaria – 9.5/10 – from the first bar of the lazy, distorted vocal and sparse piano, I am transported into a dreamy, unsettling world where Victoria’s lyrics hint at a jet black darkness. I love that a Eurovision entry tackles such serious and difficult topics. As with Alcohol You, she could be talking about a relationship failure but she could also be talking about a plethora of other mental health problems, in my case, I prefer to think that through the song she is talking to the problems inside her own head. I like the universality and variation in… Read more »
My 5th this year great song and with very good lyrics!!!
I once asked Victoria whether or not her song was partly based on ballads from the 60s (I wasn’t the only one who got a retro vibe from the song, so I thought it was worth asking). She replied that, yes, it was “partly inspired by the sound of the 60s classic ballads, artists like Shirley Bassey and Aretha Franklin.” I can definitely see it, it has the same timeless qualities as other songs from that era, like “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” It is, of course, given a modern dark-pop twist that brings it into 2020. I feel this… Read more »
It’s amazing how old school Soul legends like Aretha Franklin & Shirley Bassey are still influencing younger musicians over half a century later.