Wiwi Jury: Robin Packalen — “Girls Like You” (UMK 2023)

On February 25, Finnish eyes and ears turn to the city of Turku for the grand final of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2023 — Finland’s national selection for Eurovision. Seven acts will perform, but only one will walk away with a ticket to Liverpool.

Ahead of the show, the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — have listened to and rated each of the songs. The panel for this jury includes 10 people, who hail from Finland, the U.K, Australia, Germany, Romania, and the United States.

Next up is “Girls Like You” from Finnish megastar Robin Packalen. His name has been on the lips of Eurovision fans for years. Does his entry into the arena have us fan-girling? Read on to find out…

Robin Packalen — “Girls Like You” (UMK 2023)

Suzanne: Ben reminds me of a modern-day Edward Cullen who draws in all the girls. This is a fun, clean come-hither song. But it’s a bit too predictable to climb my scorecard. 

Score: 5.5

Calvin: The slickest production in this preselection oozes an international, American flair. While you can argue that it’s a bit too mainstream, you can’t deny the broad target group “Girls Like You” will find. If the dance break at the end is well choreographed, this may upset the many people overlooking it right now. I really enjoy listening to Robin, but I think there are more daring alternatives in UMK.

Score: 8

Tom With hints of disco and Charlie Puth, “Girls Like You” is a quality song and another ready-for-radio track. This could be in the charts right now. Robin is clearly an intelligent artist who knows what people are listening to — and he is giving it to them. But isn’t that also an issue for Eurovision? It’s nothing we haven’t heard before. Unless his stage performance is full of surprises, it will get lost at UMK — even if there aren’t that many songs. I don’t doubt the quality, but it’s just nothing out of the ordinary.

Score: 7.5

Dayana: It’s sweet and catchy, and something that we will definitely hear on the radio this year. The “girls like you-uh-uh-uh” gets stuck in your head, so I’m pretty sure it will do well at UMK, and possibly Eurovision.

Score: 7

Sebastian: Unfortunately for Robin he doesn’t quite stand out in this sea of really strong entries for Finland. Part Charlie Puth, part BTS — Robin’s smooth vocals complement the song, which is particularly strong in the verses. But the chorus doesn’t quite lift off into something memorable. He has charisma and a stunning look, but “Girls Like You” is quite forgettable otherwise.

Score: 6

Samuel: Robin, along with Benjamin, was another artist in this year’s UMK line up that I was already familiar with having stumbled across Robin during the peak of his teen stardom, of which he only sang in Finnish. It is so refreshing to see him grown, singing in English (although I’m sure Finnish would have been just as good). “Girls Like You” is a really nicely produced entry. You know a song slaps when I’m willingly singing about girls. However, it has very strong competition, and so I am very intrigued to see how well this will do on the night. 

Score: 8

Rick: I can totally imagine this being the song for a fashion commercial. It’s stylish, it’s fresh and it’s easy to listen to. But is “Girls Like You” competitive? I don’t think so. Robin’s vocals don’t give me the energy I want to see from Finland and the song just doesn’t stand out that much. Still a great production. 

Score: 7

Ruxandra: I am amazed by the quality of UMK’s songs this year. It seems that everyone took this competition very seriously. I like this one too… It is a little bit generic but it gives a great energy and a retro party vibe. With dynamic staging (I would give up on that sofa), this could do well in ESC. For sure, Robin’s voice matches this song perfectly.

Score: 8

We have removed the highest and lowest scores before calculating the result to weed out any potential bias.

The Wiwi Jury Average: 7.19

Do you girls and boys like you like Robin’s song? Will this elevate live on the UMK 2023 stage? Let us know down below.

Our overall rankings:

1. Benjamin — “Hoida mut” 8.5
2. Käärijä — “Cha Cha Cha” 8.13
3. KUUMAA — “Ylivoimainen” 8.07
4. Robin Packalen — “Girls Like You” 7.19
5. Lxandra — “Something to Lose” 7.13
6. Keira — “No Business On The Dancefloor” 6.75
7. The Portion Boys — “Samaa taivasta katsotaan” 6.63