The Wiwi Jury — our in-house team of music unprofessionals — is reviewing and rating the 40 competing songs in Eurovision 2022. Next we review Greece, who have chosen Amanda Georgiadi Tenfjord with “Die Together”.
Did we come together in agreement? Read on to find out!
Amanda Tenfjord – “Die Together” (Greece Eurovision 2022)
Review: Amanda Tenfjord – “Die Together”
Josh: Greece’s entries in the last four years have always ended up high on my pre-contest ranking because of their ability to tap into emotion and send you on a journey. Wash, rinse, repeat for 2022. The simplicity of the production at the beginning just focuses you in on Amanda’s emotional delivery. It expertly swells through the first chorus, then dials back and reflects the story of someone experiencing the flood of emotions we feel when a love comes to an end, but we don’t want to let it go. The emotion explodes in the final chorus, as one final spark of desperation hits. I am here for every bit of her windswept ride. Simply glorious!
Score: 10
Deban: The human race has endured deep struggles in recent years, so the message here is particularly pertinent. Potent, poetic, and tugging on a range of emotions including the meaning of life, solitude, commitment, and death. This is a touching entry with multiple dimensions. Amanda Tenfjord emotes, delivers and executes a simple message. “we die together”. The moral of the story here is clear: let’s make living together count. This isn’t a recycled tale of world peace. It cuts much deeper than that, and its message would resonate beyond Turin 2022.
Score: 8
Renske: Greece likes to go strong on young talent from its diaspora. “Die Together” is a very small song compared to the Greek entries we have seen in the past ten years. The song has a good mix of flavours. It’s melancholic but it’s not overly dramatic, and rather soothing than overly sweet. It’s good to see the Greek broadcaster step away from sending a song that has all the Greek Eurovision clichés and choose a contemporary track with a strong international sound.
Score: 5.5
Natalie: This is easily my winner pick for this year. It’s modern, fresh, exquisitely produced, beautifully sung, and oh so poignant. I can barely keep from crying while listening to it. There are always so many ways to take a song, but given how difficult everything has been the past few years with Covid and climate change, it’s hard not to relate to Amanda singing “it’s been a hell of a year… if we die together”. I can’t wait to see this performed live. I think it’ll be a superb surprise package in Turin.
Score: 9.5
Angus: “Die Together” bristles with dark intensity. The heavy vocoder and stuttering synths work to produce something of real electropop excellence here. And without a doubt, Greece will be in the Saturday night grand final. All that said, the heavy effects and production do end up leaving you rather cold: For an emotional ballad it lacks a certain fragility, but it is likely the live performance will add the requisite feeling we’re looking for here.
Score: 7
Greece Eurovision 2022 ranking
In the Eurovision 2022 Wiwi Jury, we have 18 jurors but only have room for five reviews. The remaining scores are below:
|
Antranig: 10 Cinan: 8.5 Jonathan: 8 Lucy: 6.5 Luis: 9 Oliver: 9 Pablo: 8 |
Robyn: 6.5 Ron: 7.5 Sebastian: 7 Suzanne: 5.5 Tom: 7 William: 9 |
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 10.
Wiwi Jury verdict: 7.88/10
What do you think of Greece’s Eurovision 2022 entry? Share your own score and review for Amanda Tenfjord’s “Die Together” below!
We don’t want any more deaths! We had enough the last 2 years with Covid and now with the war. Respect life!
The message of the song is too creepy for me, sorry
Love her vocal tone and the song. Undoubtedly qualifying and placing left side of the board. Whether or not this can challenge for the win would depend on how well Amanda emotes and how intimate the staging is.One of My favourite studio cuts.
9.5/10
One of my favorite studio cuts this year. It’s like Imogen Heap meets Sigrid (unsurprisingly), which I didn’t know I needed. The potential drawbacks: the subject matter and the stage presence. I’ve seen a few who have bristled at a song that, on the surface, seems to promote death. I don’t think that’s an accurate reading of the lyrics, but I could see that being a problem for televoters reacting in the moment. The stage presence is my main concern. I’m not sold on her ability to deliver the impact and emotion of this song like I want her to.… Read more »
Really love this entry! I never normally know how to feel about ballads but this is definitely one I enjoy. Thank you Greece, this better be in the final
Too much drama and way overrated.
9/10 Such a unique sound! I love how the emotions are shown here, hope that we can see that translated well on stage in Turin!
Once again the girls from the wiwi hating Greece ?
Same! Out of curiosity. What is the other song(s) you have as your favourite this year?
If Fokas somehow manages to mess up the staging for Amanda, he really needs to take a break from ESC, permanent one even.
Yep, Fokas is in charge.
The lyrics are not my cup of tea. It’s like they contradict the sound. To be dramatic you don’t need to be so literal; it lacks a little of poetry. At least that’s what I feel, that a pop song shouldn’t pretend to be that deep in such a cringe way, and a proper ballad needs better lyrics to make people feel emotional. But she’s stunning; Amanda has a BEAUTIFUL voice and is very talented. If the lyrics weren’t so creepy I would love it.
I’m with the Netherlands in the battle of intimist female ballads. But I get why this song is loved by so many people. I find her voice very interesting and pleasant but I’m not that much into the instrumental. Might be a grower live though, I’m waiting for the rehearsals. That could make it climb up some positions in my top. Greece stands in my 16th place: 3. Denmark (7.75) 5. Portugal (7.75) 6. Australia (7.5) 8. United Kingdom (7.5) 9. Czech Republic (7.5) 10. San Marino (7.25) 12. Serbia (7.25) 13. France (7) 14. Norway (7) 15. Armenia (7)… Read more »
17. Greece – Amanda Tenjford – Die Together – 7.5/10 – I find the distorted voice at the start a little unsettling and I feel uncomfortable about the central metaphor in the lyrics. However, I do enjoy and admire the moodiness of this track and the journey that the song takes me on is is engaging and satisfying. The crescendo towards the end is perhaps the best of any song this year.
So much to love about this… the lyrics , the mood- it works so well…. as a Recording- I just hope her over engineered voice actually shines on the night, otherwise it could be a disaster. Nevertheless- a beautiful track. Perfect for our times.
As I am a big fan of Amanda Tenfjord’s music anyhow (please do check her YouTube channel out), my review of “Die Together” would naturally be heavily biased. So I won’t review this one in detail. Sufficed to say I think Amanda is a huge star, and this song is perhaps the most personal one to her that she has written so far. I’m not a fan of the weird electro vocal sounds at the beginning, but this takes away nothing from the song itself, which is a beautiful expression. Some small notes: The clash chord on the word “Die”… Read more »
Exactly…this B-Flat major seven !
one of my favorites.
The 1st minute of this song may be one of the boldest moves we’ve ever seen in Eurovision. If we discount the voice modification (which I believe won’t be used in Turin), it’s practically a capella. It can make it or break it, but if Amanda manages to hold people’s attention during it, the potential for “Die Together” is huge, since there’s a nice organic build-up from then, leading to my favorite bridge of the year. The lyrics are unsettling to some and too fatalistic for my taste, but don’t hurt my admiration for the full package. 8.5/10
Which voice modification ?
Now Suzanne….girl…
Gold star.
Okay. Listen to me. I love everything about the song and the artist. I also love the acapella part at the start. But reallisticaly, this could go two ways. Either the viewers will be mesmerized by the acapella, her beautiful voice and the long pauses (Staging will be very important) or they’ll not pay much attention cause the song takes a while to build.
Overall, I think the build up of the song is its advantage. But that might not be the case for everyone.
It is easily in my top 3.
Josh in his review says about the simplicity of the production in the first verse, but I disagree. There is not simplicity at all, there is an edgy minimalism, maybe for a first time in an ESC song. It is a different thing, because there have been a lot of sophisticated production work in the background, which isn’t simple at all (the layers of the vocoder, harmonies, robotic voice effect, synchronization etc) in order to to give that specific result. And the less minimalistic when starts, the more impactfull in emotions becomes when the song culminates.
So, here is some fresh RuZZian propaganda from Serbia’s entry.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/ucbi1b/official_promo_image_for_the_serbian_eurosong/
Wow… I wonder if it was just a coincidence? Konstrakta doesn’t seem like the type of person to support Russia’s actions.
Coincidence. RTS already deleted it and posted an apology along with some photos that show they’ve been using these tables as props for several years.
Greece – What a great song! I’m an awfully fond fan of a vocoder when it’s used right, and I think it’s lovely here. I really hope that the staging properly suits the song well, because I surely don’t want to see another Greece 2019 happening, 8/10
This score is well deserved, cause it is a good song. And she can live…..
I may be a bit biased but I LOVE OUR ENTRY THIS YEAR! It slowly builds itself through a magical atmosphere in complete silence to gradually grow and allow the emotions to absolutely explode in the end! Amanda’s voice is definitely among the strongest female artists of 2022 and she has proven that hitting all of the notes won’t be a problem for her at all. Many may feel unattracted towards the lyrics of this entry but in the end, it’s simply another (more original) love song that has a poetic aura accompanying it behind (greatly reminds of love promises… Read more »
The staging leak was April Fool’s. This has been cleared up by the site that spred the joke like 100times already
Oh well, THANK GOD! I really hoped it wouldn’t be like that because it doesn’t fit with the theme of our entry AT ALL! (At least the “most probably” part saved my original comment from humiliation X)
Your first paragraph was gold nevertheless
I like it and it’s currently 9th on my list, bit it will depend a lot on the staging. As someone referred already it feels way overproduced and I would prefer a simpler version of it… It is what it is though, and it will do well but I don’t think she has any shot at winning even in an open year like this
Eurovision fans are almost every-time unhappy with what Greece has to offer … it’s a ballad , it has no Greek elements … it has Greek elements , it’s another cliche Greek entry.. it’s pop , it’s generic … it’s in Greek , why not in English.. it’s in English , why not in Greek … oh come on guys … just enjoy the song and don’t always try to find the downsides just to be regarded your opinion as a value one.. if you like it it’s ok, if not it’s also ok! Duh ?
Sweden, Italy and Netherlands are the only ones going for that 8+ score
No way, Spain will squeeze in there as well 🙂
Probably yes. I think it will be sth like 7.9-8.1
Shouldn’t a song have a tune or be faintly interesting to make it to a Grand Final? This is one of the weakest songs in the entire contest. I’m also confused by the fascination with the lyrics. If the music isn’t there, no verbal trickery can turn it into a good song!
Whaaaat? You have no clue or musical taste
Sussane ranking Greece with 5.5 and Norway with 8.. LOL
She looks like she’s starting to get it! If Greece was around a 3, she’d have nailed it.
Wow! This is the first time ever that Greece will be in wiwijury’s top 10.
And very deservedly so
I liked the demo version of this that was floating around the web. The final version has been Eurovisionized, made more bombastic with a big finale. To me this has ruined the song. It just doesn’t work, it doesn’t suit her voice and it doesn’t suit the song. The opening is marvelous though.
Oh, and what’s up with those lyrics? ‘You’re in fully control’, ‘It’s been a lovuhly year for us’, those are pretty basic errors.
I loved the leaked version’s ethereality, but this final product is great nevertheless!
Susanne again the bitter Betty
this song does nothing for me. takes forever to build up, dodgy lyrics, could represent any country… i smell a katerine duska level flop.
I preferred Duska much more than this.
same here, at least her studio version had replay value
True, but it will depend on her staging… What killed Duska was that trainwreck…
By the way good job nicky – heaven is sin proposal for esc 2022 is out. Please listen to it and tell us which one you prefer. I’m really curious.
I liked it a lot. I am happy that Die Together is representing Greece, but Nicky’s song would also likely be somewhere in my top 15, perhaps even top 10. You should definitely consider sending this man internally next year, and give him time to make something so punchy that nobody would forget it.
I love it! I would’ve been torn had both participated in a NF, I hope Greece chooses him next year
7,5/10 A very well produced piece of Norwegian-Greek melancholy, certainly one of the best songs Greece has presented since they won in 2005. In the category “sad songs/ballads”, I prefer the Netherlands and Sweden over this, but much will depend on the live performance. I suspect Amanda will do very well.
The first thing that stands out is that this is one of the best-produced Eurovision songs ever. The sound design of the entire song is just spectacular. You can get away with having a simplistic song structure if you’re getting the absolutely maximum amount of impact out of your sound stage, and they absolutely do. I’ve written about this song in detail in so many different places but honestly, there’s just not enough time to list everything that it gets completely right. The opening is masterfully-crafted. I am so curious about how they’re going to manage this section live because… Read more »
Rating: 9.5/10.0 (And it’s CLOSE, so close).
I am so happy to see you writing so passionately about your winner. It always brightens my day to see someone glow when reviewing their favorite songs. Even in cases when I personally disagree with their review. And in this case, i agree with everything. On my list, it’s currently 10th, but I can see a way up with an impactful performance. (On the other hand, the performance would have to be Georgia 2021 level of simplistic for it to fall down the list). If it’s anything remotely professional (and I’m sure it will be), it has a spot in… Read more »
If we know anything by now, it’s until we see them do otherwise, assume that Greece have no idea what to do with their staging.
With a song this strong, I don’t know exactly how badly it could go…but Greece 2018 was a thing.
Greece 2018 was certainly a thing, but even that didn’t completely removed the song from my playlist. It did, however, objectively justify its NQ in an incredibly strong line-up of semi 1.
On the other hand, I kinda liked the 2019 staging (even if it was a bit much), and even the 2021 staging was fun, and gave me nostalgic vibes (the unfinished effects on that hand were hilarious, though). 🙂
This is how *I* would stage Die Together: Intro: The stage is almost fully in the dark, only a small ray of light covers over Amanda, who is in a semi-lying position on a stone-looking bench wearing an airy white dress (long, but not long to trip over it). She sings A-capella, with her intense look accompanied by semi-close camera angles. First chorus: She is still on the bench, but fully sits, and it bent forward. Her intensity is accompanied by more dramatic shots, and a slightly brighter light. Second chorus: She slowly goes off the bench, and starts walking… Read more »
That’s actually a very beautiful staging concept. I always catch myself thinking how I would stage a song (perhaps the fact that I love cinema and always wanted to become a director plays a part in this). The key here I think is to go for a minimalistic staging and to focus on Amanda herself. The lighting and camera angles must be the most important technical aspects of the performance. We don’t need excessive use of props, pyros or more people on stage. We certainly don’t need a blue hand ( 🙂 ) . The movement on stage must be… Read more »
I totally agree that this is one of the best produced Eurovision songs. The final product (still?) doesn’t touch me as much it as it touches you, but every little thing they did with this one feels well thought and delicately handled. Ironically, this makes me fear for it’s result. The televote will need some eue candy and the juries not always respond as we expect to more elaborate songs.
I do worry that the subject matter might be a bit on the dark side for the televoters and definitely worry about how the Greek delegation will present it on stage. It could struggle here.
But, I stand by my point, that Eurovision juries as musical professionals, should be rewarding this song hard for the amount of quality that it has in all technical aspects. Not saying that’s how it will work out.
Honestly, I don’t know how the overall result will go. Greece is usually hard to predict.
Glorious? Is it? Generic, I’d say. I skip it every time!
I do as well, but apparently our opinion is not important, haha
7.88 is veeery niiiice… if you plus 1.5 to every country that is not sweden or italy then is 9.38 that is almost record points!!! amazing aahahah
32.Greece – This song is weird. A bit of a moment. Minimal instrumentation from the start. Turns into this big epicness.
GREECE – This year, Greece has decided to remind people that besides being a land of sun and good time, they are also home to some of the greatest literary tragedies of the past. Die Together really feels like it comes from Antigone or Iliad. It’s poised, impactful, and somber. It starts slowly, and then builds into the powerful climax, which contains all the Nordic polish, as well as all the Mediterranean passion. The transitions feel very well paced, and musically engaging. The lyrics are sad, sometimes even downright depressing. Unlike other sad songs of this year, Greece leaves little… Read more »
I purposely did not get into these aspects of the song in my review because otherwise, I’d start writing pages, but YES. All of this. The flavour of proper Greece tragedy just drips from this and I do find something so fatalistic and resigned in both the sound choices and the poignant lyrics. Yet, the silver lining in the song is that resignation to fate. It’s hard to explain but there’s something tragic about it yet there’s something like defiance, too? Feeling-wise, it’s hard to put into words…but seeing the song as a response to uncertainty doesn’t seem a million… Read more »
This will be Malta of 2022, calling it now
I don’t think they ll go for such a tasteless staging as Malta last year. There are rumors for an artistic and heartstopper staging. We’ll know soon I guess.
If it gets 7th in the finals I think everyone would be happy 🙂 Let’s not forget Malta did great last year
I think it will not get 7th place like 2021´s Malta.
je me casse’s flop was surprising because she’d been topping polls left and right before the contest. die together is flopping in polls (eurojury, ogae, infe) as well as preview shows like the one in germany where the public ranked it 8th out of 10… given all these circumstances, you shouldn’t expect them to do too well.
Italy last year was like 8th in OGAE and 15th in infe. In Germany they ranked Moldova higher than Greece (ridiculous) and in eurojury it is doing pretty well! Honey those are just polls. I remind you that Las year Cyprus, San Marino, Sweden and Azerbaijan were in the top 10 in the OGAE poll, while Russia and many other countries weren not in the top 15! C’mon
Citing Germany with that national final and that taste of music is a bit sad.
Beautiful song and singer. She will certainly be on top 10 in the final!
As a Greek I’m touched that people really love our song this year. I must say I didh’t like it at all in the beginning but it grew on me a lot after a lot of listenings. I finally understood the message and Amanda’s voice live is even more phenomenal than in the music video. Really hope we can get a top 10 again, even top 5. I can’t even express what it would mean to me if people vote for this to win. Thank you for the appreciation everyone and I wish the best of luck to all artists… Read more »
The question marks were emojis of a heart from Greece to all but it appears that you cannot express yourself through them on this platform
The song is good but this score is ridiculous.
I want to love this song more but something keeps me from doing it. The song itself is pretty good and Amanda’s vocal is believable unlike a certain Swedish woman’s. The big elephant in the room for me with Die Together is that nearly the entire first half of the song is a capella (or at least sounds like it). How does the Greek delegation intend to retain viewer interest for that moment? When the song blooms in the end it’s beautiful, but for me it takes too long before it reaches that point. It’s a 6/10 for me.
well Amanda is the upper class elite, and Cornelia isn’t
there is the difference
The strange thing is that the opening has NEVER felt long to me. On any listen. Every time I find it absolutely gripping and captivating, even moreso when I know where the song is going to go next.
Should it have something visual during the opening? Sure. Does it “need” it? I don’t really think so but maybe I’m seeing something in it that others just aren’t?
I definitely think it will need the visual thing right. People were dead certain with Yianna Terzi’s entry 4 years ago and it failed to qualify because there was no moment on stage that really made people retain interest in the performance. If Die Together suffers that same tragedy, Greece might even take a sudden plunge in the rankings. I hope it won’t, but I do think the possibility is there. Greece hasn’t always nailed the staging.
Onirou mou is a beautiful song, but it has a chanting repetition structure. It’s beautiful, and it works there, but it doesn’t have ”a moment” to bedazzle a regular viewer on the first take. On the other hand, Die Together does (both in the bridge, and in the last chorus, especially mid-point of the last chours). Thus, its staging would have to be even worse than that to miss out qualifying. At least in my opinion.
Ooo. Let’s have a little disagreement just for a little fun. I *totally* got a moment in Onirou Mou. It’s that music break around the 2.20 mark, all the way through the finish.
I still can’t get over it not qualifying.
18. Greece: I have to say that the expectations I had from Amanda were not exactly met but nevertheless we have a good song this year. “Die Together” is a very well-crafted ballad. The verses sound indie and the acapella start of the song is also something creative and risky. The bridge might be my favourite part of the song. But the chorus sounds less impactful to me and feels like it lacks musical depth. It seems like it’s trying to be powerful but ends up a bit flat. And that deducts from the song’s charm for me. All in… Read more »
I love the Greek entry of 2022. It’s right there among the other *great ones* (2001, 2005, 2006, 2015) for me. It’s currently my 10th on my list.
I am really glad you love our entry! I also really liked your interpretation of the lyrics, involving some elements of Greek tragedies from the past. At the end of every Greek tragedy comes what is referred to as “catharsis”, where the viewer finally lets go of all the suppressed emotion and frees himself from it (according to Aristotle). The climax at the end, being more powerful than the rest of the song, will hopefully do exactly that. But unfortunately for me, I get the feeling of catharsis more from the Dutch entry than from the Greek one. Of course… Read more »
While the Dutch entry sits even higher on my list, I definitely see catharsis from both of them (from Poland too, btw). There is something haunting and freeing in several of this year’s best ballads. I absolutely recognize that the level of personal fulfillment from that is entirely personal.
As much as I’m disappointed that as a Greek you aren’t loving this song a little bit more, I’m happy to cover the amount of love you should be giving it, as I do have plenty to spare.
I really can’t believe you find the song flat. It’s literally one of the least flat songs this year. XD
I am very glad you love our song so much! I like it too and I am really proud of it, I just can’t get enthusiastic about it. I just always get the feeling something’s missing. And I get the feeling the chorus isn’t as deep as it should. The verses are not flat at all, it’s just the chorus that doesn’t really resonate well with me. Nevertheless I have to say that I do like our song. Perhaps I tend to be more strict with my own country. But it surely ranks among my favourite ones we have ever… Read more »
I think you’re being a little harsh on your own entry, Thanos! But don’t feel bad about it. I know that it’s hard to accept that you have something this good.
Some songs will struggle to qualify with a perfect staging (Croatia, Iceland, Romania, Montenegro, Denmark, Ireland..)! Some will definitely make a TOP 10 placement if they do a great stare show (UK, Poland, Spain, Norway). And if Greece does an amazing staging, they can win!! This applies to 2 more songs (Sweden and Italy). So in my opinion, Italy, Sweden and Greece can take the victory if the get the staging right! Don’t want to comment on Ukraine’s chance’s of winning since they are not in my top 10.
I don’t really enjoy this entry. I feel like something is missing. 6/10
0.5
boring lifeless ballad by a privileged rich girl, who was classmates with the famous (and quite annoying) popstar Sigrid
NQ for me, does not even come close to the masterpiece from Ukraine