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 France‘s internally selected artist Tom Leeb and his song “Mon Alliée (The Best In Me)”. Did he think it brought out the best in him? Read on to find out!
Tom Leeb with “Mon Alliée (The Best In Me)”
“Mon Alliée (The Best In Me)” reviews
Esma: Tom Leeb, a good-looking Frenchman singing a bilingual ballad on top of the Eiffel Tower. Yes, “’The Best in Me” might be considered a cliché, but what’s wrong with that? France is plagued by too high expectations of the audience. I think we should look further than the open doors in the English part of the lyrics. The melody really builds up to climax and the French lyrics are actually meaningful. Tom’s vocals are flawless, and the song is catchy. “The Best in Me” deserves to be viewed in its own entirety.
Score: 7
Deban: Tom Leeb is a sight for sore eyes, and with his flawless breathy vocals, he makes France’s 2020 entry beautiful and almost irresistible. “The Best In Me” swims between French and English seamlessly. Then there’s the unmistakably iconic French architecture cradling this entry. This song is about love and the fullness of love. It bears a universal theme written by established composers and performed by a charismatic entertainer. What’s not to love? This comfortably shoots into my top ten.
Score: 7.5
Florian: Upon the song reveal, I had high hopes for this year’s French entry. Unfortunately, “The Best In Me” did not live up to my expectations. While it feels true to Tom Leeb’s discography, it also sounds extremely dated and even somewhat cliché. There’s little creativity in what is a very calculated and foreseeable effort. And while it was impressive to perform it on the Eiffel Tower, he wouldn’t have been able to recreate this incredible scene live, either.
Score: 5.5
Oliver: This song is just an unmitigated disaster in my eyes. After having built up a string of contemporary, well-received, and, most importantly, unique entries, France returns with one of the most uninspiring, soporific ballads in a year filled with songs of the same style. The lyrics come across as vehemently cliché and overused that it makes the song feel almost disingenuous and fake as opposed to the heartfelt message it claims to promote.
Score: 2
Lucy: I was so excited to hear Tom Leeb’s entry for France… until I heard it was written by Jon Lundvik. The Swedish songwriter has some great tracks such as his top five Eurovision entry “Too Late For Love”, but he absolutely wrote the last-placer too for The UK. Tom’s track is in the same vanilla-y vein as “Bigger Than Us”, except Michael had the vocal runs to still give it credit. Yes, Tom’s vocals are fantastic, but they just make this song very beige.
Score: 4
Tom Leeb with “Mon Alliée (The Best In Me)” rankings
In the Wiwi Jury we have 22 jurors but only have room for five reviews. The remaining scores are below:
| Angus: 2
Antranig: 4.5 Åri: 1 Barnabas: 7 Bernardo: 2.5 Calvin: 2 Jonathan: 5 Luis: 2.5 Natalie: 3 |
Pablo: 3.5
Renske: 6.5 Robyn: 3.5 Ron: 5 Sebastian: 2 Tobias: 6.5 Tom: 6.5 William: 3 |
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 and a high of 7.5.
Wiwi Jury verdict: 4.18/10
What do you think of this song? Share your own score and review below!
I will give a 4/10 for this. Such an average song
France – 6/10 (29th/41)
The revamp is better – France 4/10
I wish the delegation could bring him back next year. I don’t like his style but I’m convinced that he could do something with a song à la “J’ai cherché” with guitar and all, un uptempo radio-friendly song.
With the contest cancelled, I think France avoided last place or potentially even nul point this year. Thinking they announced that their song would make you forget about all other songs, and then delivered this… Oh the irony.
This song does NOT deserve a ‘1 point’!!!!! It’s a great song.. What’s not to like… ARI, hang your head in shame!!!!!
France dodged the bullet this year.
I personally like this song. Your personal grievances against it should be addressed to the broadcaster, the HoD, and maybe to Lundvik for deciding Tom Leeb to sing it. Tom only sang this after all and that’s just it.
The revamped acoustic and slightly Frenchier version saved France in the end. It still sounds like part of the BSO of a 90s Disney movie , but it’s something. 2. Australia – Montaigne – Don’t break me (8) 4. Romania – Roxen – Alcohol You (8) 5. Spain – Blas Cantó – Universo (8) 7. Bulgaria – Victoria – Tears Getting Sober (7.5) 11. Italy – Diodato – Fai rumore (6.75) 13. Slovenia – Ana Soklic – Voda (6.75) 14. Cyprus – Sandro – Running (6.75) 15. Belgium – Hooverphonic – Release Me (6.75) 16. Georgia – Tornike Kipiani –… Read more »
This is the worst song of the year and maybe the biggest dissapointment of Eurovision since I’ve watched it since 2014. What a boring song, and what huge mistake from the French delegation to go with Lundvik and G:son. France has one of the best music scenes of Europe, why ever go with a song like this. They really need to step up thier game big time next year. This would have been a BIG contender for null points, even in the new system. 2,5/10
Sorry wiwibloggs and wiwibloggs readers but even if me too I don’t like the song, I admit that there’s an audience for this song , so to say it’s a bad song as William or Robyn said or others, it’s just disrespecful for those who like it. Wiwibloggs is not the audience for this song and we all understand why, but to be so arsh and hateful moreover during this time, it’s not appropriated. I’m with Deban and Edd on it, This song would have done better than all here thinks. I am going to be arsh as some people… Read more »
To answer your question in the subject heading, Eurovision is love of music, drama and a good time. I realise that William and some others here can come across as “hateful,” but the truth is we are all here because of Eurovision and so is William’s blog, so there must be some love there somewhere. Evidently I can only apologise for myself, not for others. But if it helps, I for one apologise.
You’re so right…. thank you
What an overdramatic comment. I re-watched the video and re-read the post, and none of the negative comments are addressed to the singer — they are all about the song. You, on the other hand, are directing your words at actual people. Do you see the hypocrisy here? You seem to think that disliking a song is disliking the singer — but if you rewatch and reread you’ll see they only say nice things about him!!!
Wow, so many haters for this song. I actually really like it, a lot. I liked it from the start & really like the revamp even moreso. Guess I have no taste then……
No you only have an opinion and a brain unformatted on the contrary of some people here.
I just don’t understand why people have to be so harsh in their dislike for a song. I always like to see the best in a performer and the music. There are several songs that I am not keen on but I don’t think I’d ever feel the need to be so rude about it. If I’m not keen, I just think, ok, its not for me but I appreciate that many other people may like it. Guess I need to stop coming onto this blog, I don’t belong here…….
Wiwibloggs itself is pleasant and the most complete blog about esc, but the toxic part of it is very well shown here, William the first in the video unfortunately and all the others in the comments section. When it is about France bashing, everybody is happy to come here to spread their hatred like it was a sport, last year it was the same with Bilal, yeah it’s becoming definetely toxic here ….
This song sucks, bye.
I think the bit you are perhaps missing is that it is a contest. By definition, there have to be points of difference and therefore comments have to be differentiated in order to put across where one views a song in the context of the contest. I’m sorry if I’m harsh, I don’t mean any personal attack, it is all a bit of light hearted fun, but I do think if you only commented on the things you found nice, it would be very bland and not really a contest.
But when people like your song , they do also come out in full support for France. I don’t see comments saying the supporters are trolls……
So why only negative criticisms makes people say this. This year’s French song is not competitive. It is not anywhere close to winning. Ergo it’s not a great song.
France in 2016 , 2017 , 2018 sent competitive songs. With the right performance , staging and story they could/would have challenged for the win.
While I dislike it, I don’t totally hate it. In fact, I love the revamp more than what was originally presented. The issue many had with this song was that: 1. After years of sourcing song entries from French songwriters (and promoting the heck out of them as support for the local music industry when they had Destination Eurovision), the delegation decided to buy a song elsewhere. 2. France set a pretty high standard on the songs they send in recent years. The last thing fans expected is a song that is painfully Eurovision-by-the-numbers. 3. A possible mismatch between song… Read more »
I’m one of the very few who actually likes the (original version) French entry this year, but it definitely suffered from the ‘select the song before the artist without letting their artistry shine through’ – it sounds very manufactured. I definitely agree that this would’ve been contending for last place and would’ve totally gotten lost in the shuffle. Just like a lot of other big 5 songs that weren’t bad (Germany 2015 & 16, UK 2019) but couldn’t stand out amongst a sea of 26 songs, this would’ve suffered the same fate. At least the French listened to criticisms and… Read more »
by far the most forgettable song of the year, even now i still don’t remember the melody, and i’ve played the eurovision playlist 8 times (but i never felt the desire this song on its own). unless by miracle the jury supported this, this wouldn’t have escaped the bottom of the scoreboard.
Considering other Big 5 countries sent out belters this year, this is easily the most forgettable entry in a while, let alone the most forgettable French entry. Last year, Roi was quite a grower on me, but there’s just nothing interesting about this song that will allow it to do what Bilal did for me. It’s not downright terrible, but unsurprisingly it’s in my bottom three.
I consider France the luckiest country of the year… as this was a real contender for “Null points”
Vous pouvez faire mieux, mes chers.
I think my message was filtered.
“Release me…” 🙂
I’m interested in what will you say, but for me, it just has to be bottom three, with Belarus and San Marino. It’s so unimaginative that MESC 2018 wouldn’t accept it’s application. On the bright side, this was my last *bad* review. From the remaining 12, five are in my top ten, two more within my top fifteen, and probably two more who’d enter my ideal final. 😉
I still have one terrible (at least to me) entry to come…
I also only have 3 top 10s left which worries me as Wiwibloggs usually leaves what the jury considers the best to last. I have quite a few spaces left between 26 to 33 – I have a feeling I am going to be against quite a few fan favourites this year!
That’s okay, Kosey. You don’t need to go with the flow. I usually don’t. Arcade was actually my only favorite of the decade to win. Retroactively, through, I believe no bad song has recently won. Back to 2020 – Yes, Wiwi usually leave many of their highest scores for the end, but not only. Be assured there will be one or two bad ones yet to come. I think I sense which dud you are talking about. And if it’s the song I think it is, I find it very – mediocre, actually. 🙂
“I never imagined the power, I never imagined the need…”
Here’s an extract from my review:
“It is as if the composers have swallowed an encyclopedia of uninspired metaphors about love.”
An extract from mine is: ”it feels as made of wax as the candles it uses as props”. 🙂
It will be interesting to see if you disagree with what I consider to be the dud. I also have what I think will be a surprise in the top 10, the other two are fairly predictable. Looking at what is going to come, I think I will be upsetting people on at least 4 of them! Oh well!
I think that two of my remaining top 10 could be considered big fan-favorites, two underdogs and one is somewhere in between. Two songs completing my top 15 are definitely fan-favorites.
Hi Colin. My original comment has now been released. See further below.
This is just autroucious. I can’t even listen to the song. Unless Tom Leeb’s contract was worse than MARUV’s and he didn’t have a say on what to perfrom then there is no way this song should’ve been taken to studio to record. This is bland and cheesy and a waste of talent. If the french team and Tom himself thought this was the best song out of all the possibilities then he needs to get a new team and rethink his life choices. I think this would’ve been the first nil point entry with the new system. If he… Read more »
Truth be told, it’s not a terrible song. Granted, it feels like a soulless product, so unoriginal and bland that I’m not even sure why it was written. I do dislike the fact that it was made by foreign songwriters and that it lacks any sort of French identity whatsoever. And I would prefer any song from Destination Eurovision 2019’s final over “Mon alliée”. But I don’t want to kick France when they’re down. On its own, it’s a very sweet, pleasant track, with just the right amount of cheese (and I don’t mean camembert), and to my surprise I… Read more »
Well, you’re talking to a person who had Denmark in their top 10 last year.
Oh yes, Kate Bush is one of my favourite, if not THE favourite artist of all time, and “Never For Ever” and “The Dreaming” are fricking masterpieces.
I guess that’s true. I mainly listen to ’70s music and French songs from the ’60s, but I try to “taste everything”. Besides Kate Bush, I really like Talking Heads, The Doors, Carole King, Jethro Tull, Cesaria Evora, Genesis (Peter Gabriel era), David Bowie, Pearl Jam, Massive Attack, Elton John, Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Bjork, Siouxsie and The Banshees, and a lot more artists I forgot about at the moment.
Which one? “Black Tie White Nose”? (Mine is probably “Low”.)
“Outside” is a bit too experimental for my taste, but I still quite like it. Cool choice! 🙂
OMG Skiwalko I love your taste in music <3
Thanks. What do you listen to?
I listen to Carole King, Billy Joel, Percy Sledge, Kip Carnes, Kate Bush, Toto, the Buggles, Aretha Franklin, Elton Joh’n, Ràdy Crawford, Dionne Warwick, Hall& Oates, Talking Heads and Genesis, amongst others, so quite close to you 😛 and apart from that, ot’s essentially classical music (Debussy, Fauré, Gounod, Rossini, Smetana, Ravel,…) 🙂
Yes, surprisingly close! I listen to classical music from time to time as well, my favourite composers are Debussy, Satie, Schumann and Liszt 🙂
Skiwalko wrote: “But I don’t want to kick France when they’re down.“
See, this is part of my problem. France had it good with it’s’Destination Eurovision’ showcase, so it really had no reason to be “down” in 2020 in the first place. I just don’t get what France 2, HoD France and the team were thinking this year. Je ne le comprends pas.
Can’t understand how a country with such a beautiful language decides to add lyrics in English. The song is really boring, nothing special. Good thing there are french. I couldn’t agree more with the French minister of culture: this song is not good. Learn from your mistakes, France. If destination Eurovision was still a thing, you’d probably have Gjon’s tears as your representative now!
Overall: 2/10 (33rd)
Normally I would just wish Tom all the best for the future. I see no reason to change that tradition now. It just hurts that two of my favourite ESC songwriters from Sweden can write this ballad for France. The best in Tom? Hardly. Also, why? Tom is himself a songwriter! It’s almost as if France was trolling ESC for 2020 and wanted to have a good laugh by belting out a mainly English song from La Tour Eiffel. Maybe they wanted to shout: “S’il vous plaît le Royaume Uni, ne partez paz l’Union!” – Too late.
I really dislike the revamp. It serves no purpose. The original at least managed to get into meh territory for me. I liked the over-the-top instrumental but like the UK’s “Bigger Than Us”, I was left thinking that this would only really work as a Eurovision entry if it had John Lundvik singing it. His warm charm can make something with this much…cheese…be tolerable. At no point, did I dislike, “The Best In Me” but I just don’t think anyone can get excited enough about it to put it in a top 26…and as a result, it didn’t really have… Read more »
Tbh this is the only entry where I was considered to give 1, simmply as a punishment for this lazy thinking. I cringed at those lyrics “you are, you are the best in me”, jeez, have some self-respect! 😀
Still it’s listenable, but lack of imagination and effort is almost disrespectful to the audience. Such a disappointment..
4/10
FRANCE – The words “boring ballad” have been thrown around here for every down-tempo song under the sun. In this case, however, I couldn’t find a better description. Not only that the lyrics are cheesy and bland, but the melody feels like it doesn’t go anywhere. I see no attempt at making this stand out in any way except mixing English and French lines. Since both lack originality and depth, the fact there’s a mix makes little difference. The revamp feels a bit less artificial, but it’s perhaps even duller. Tom is a charming man and they should keep him… Read more »
Well it’s not as bad as everyone says, it’s at least pleasant to listen to, but there is no doubt that it is generic and completely unimaginative. My top so far: 1. — 2. Italy 3. Romania 4. Bulgaria 5. Croatia 6. United Kingdom 7. Norway 8. — 9. -–10. Denmark 11. Russia 12. Australia 13. Albania 14. Israel 15. — 16. –17. Ireland 18. Moldova 19. — 20. –21. Belgium 22. — 23. Poland 24. Georgia 25. Czech Republic 26. — 27. Slovenia 28. France 29. Portugal 30. Armenia 31. Spain 32. Austria 33. North Macedonia 34. Cyprus 35.… Read more »
This song feels so good in my body.
40. France – 2.5/10 – oh Tom, what can I say? You look nice and I really want to like your song, but my goodness this one plumbs the depths of the emotional wilderness. I feel absolutely nothing but disdain and disinterest whilst this song is playing. The lyrics are simple in a bad way and I get an awful smell of contrivance. Can someone tell me how the abomination of “forever eternally” made it into the final cut? The language switch feels tokenistic. The folky twinges of the revamp marginally improves it but it still has the very irritating… Read more »
Deban is deluded, liking this but NOT Repondez-Moi, ugh the clownery
Agreed. And I thought that Antranig was bad. Oh boy I was sooo wrong.
Your obsession about répondez moi is a clownery too.