The Wiwi Jury — our in-house team of music unprofessionals — is reviewing and rating the 37 competing songs in Eurovision 2023. Next we review Georgia, who have chosen Iru with “Echo”.
Were we loving it … loving it … loving it … loving it? Read on to find out!
Iru – “Echo” (Georgia Eurovision 2023)
Review: Iru – “Echo”
Diego: Everything about Georgia’s entry this year feels experimental and unique. This is the kind of Georgia we want to see in Eurovision every year and it feels a continuation of their Junior Eurovision entries. Iru herself gives a powerful aesthetic with a memorable interpretation of her song. If I could change one thing, it would maybe be to switch to the Georgian language, which could give even more power to the song. But with the proper staging in Liverpool, this won’t just be in the final, it will also become a piece of art that lives on in the contest’s history!
Score: 8
Renske: Iru is by far one of the strongest vocalists in this year’s contest. “Echo” is like the love child of Georgia’s top Eurovision entries “Visionary Dream” and “Warrior”. It is reminiscent of the unique Georgian sound that we have missed in the past few years: the instruments, the boldness and the risk-taking experiments. Though, Eurovision has moved on from ‘stage songs’ like this one since streaming services came into play. But all and all, still Georgia’s strongest effort in about a decade.
Score: 5.5
Simon: Iru has gotten me quite conflicted, because I do like the grandness in the music and her powerful voice, but I’m quite lost at the clunky lyrics and made-up words. This is not a song that connects to listeners the first time and it didn’t catch me either, but I’ve come to embrace it more over time. So my conflicted soul makes my score half good and half bad, with anticipation of a killer staging in Liverpool.
Score: 6.5
Antranig: “Echo” is musically captivating and explosive, which is bound to stand out. However, we have to talk about the elephant in the room – lyrically, this song is like a butcher with a cleaver. I can forgive a Eurovision entry for some grammatical errors or eccentricities – there are plenty of them – but “Echo” is complete and utter nonsense for three entire minutes. The song ends up being completely meaningless as a result, which makes it very difficult to listen to. Such a shame, Georgia, this had SO much potential.
Score: 3
Jonathan: To quote RuPaul’s Drag Race’s Trinity the Tuck: “I don’t know what the f*** she’s saying but gurl, I am living”. Georgia have never been afraid of doing their own thing, but Iru has managed to combine that experimental nature with a dramatic backing to keep listeners engaged throughout. Iru has a powerful vocal delivery, but the softer verses are enough to prevent the entry from crossing the line into ‘singer screams for three minutes’. Admittedly, some more comprehensible lyrics could have given “Echo” more emotional depth. But compared to where they have been of late, Georgia are now firmly back in the big leagues.
Score: 7
Georgia Eurovision 2023 ranking
In the Eurovision 2023 Wiwi Jury, we have 20 jurors but only have room for five reviews. The remaining scores are below:
|
Cinan: 9 Dayana: 8 Deban: 7.5 Forrest: 4 Kristín: 2 Lucy: 7 Luis: 7 Oliver: 4.5 |
Pablo: 7 Rick: 7.5 Ron: 7 Ruxandra: 6.5 Samuel: 5 Tom: 7 William: 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 2 and a high of 9.
Wiwi Jury verdict: 6.44/10
What do you think of Georgia’s Eurovision 2023 entry? Share your own score and review for Iru’s “Echo” below!
The production and arrangement of this song are WOW! Undeniably epic vocals, loud percussion, heartbeat sounds, choral effects, breathing noises, electro voice effects, sirens, orchestral strings – this is absolutely trying hard to be at the biggest music contest in the world. On top of all that, Iru has a voice that is loud and penetrating; enough to fill two stadiums. This song’s Chorus appears to consist of four dramatic chords: Gmin, E-flat7, F, Cmin9. There is a lot of Chorus and Extended Chorus in this song; the Chorus appears four times and is twice extended. Yet somehow, despite the… Read more »
I’m actually a huge fan of Georgian entries at Eurovision. They’re possibly amongst my most looked-forward-to countries each year. After last year’s brief diversion, they’re back with the “The Voice” winners getting the ticket and having a song written for them. What’s different this year, is that they’re throwing their JESC songwriters behind the effort and what we’ve ended up with, is something quite special and definitely worth getting excited about. The structure to this song is unlike most that you’ll hear anywhere, and is especially avoided in Eurovision songs. It opens big, brash and loud with its chorus. Pretty… Read more »
I too look forward to Georgia’s entries every year. I didn’t know it was the JESC songwriters that wrote it this year, so thanks for that.
Just wanted to say I’m happy to see someone knowing The Gathering around here. “Nighttime Birds” is one of my all-time favourite album.
While I understand lyrically this song isn’t a masterpiece, they can fix that. Plus, the point of this song is her vocals, not the lyrics. This song has really grown on me, becoming my 6th favorite, 9.5/10
The lyrics are progressed, a wordless and definitely lord. They’re also the easiest part of “Echo” to evaluate, whether you consider them a poetic echo of infatuation or a distant echo of poetry. Georgia’s entry knocks me down like a giant boulder of sound – immediate, loud and perplexing. On the production side, it’s impressive, especially for a song conceived in a matter of days. On an emotional level, I’m deeply confused by it, feeling like I’m reading a detailed map full of foreign names. Fingers crossed that the live performance will clear things up.
6/10
I’ll just pretend the lyrical content is a deliberate choice and treat this as some kind of Belgium 2003 case (easily the best entry of that edition, by the way), since in terms of production, arrangement and vocal performance I actually find it one of the most interesting of the year overall, it really stands out in that quite underwhelming 2nd SF so Georgia should have no problem finally returning to the grand final after 7 long years, one of the very few I’ll be considering to vote for in that 2nd SF honestly.
Georgia has this thing for making it difficult to rate and rank their entries, right? Usually because they’re so different from everything else to the point we keep forgetting they’re competing. But this time it’s also because of the nonsensical lyrics. Where to put a song in my ranking if the lyrics are just an excuse to give the singer something to belt, while I like everything else about it? The unsettling beat, the vocalizing, the dramatic strings punctuating the bridge… the production of this track is so lively, it never holds back for even a second. If they find… Read more »
Georgia I think also missed some places in my top due to the lyrics. If it had at least solid lyrics with a good enunciation it would have been in my top 10. Because everything else actually works. Thing is known though (couldn’t help myself here) : first time viewers won’t be paying extreme attention to the lyrics. And for this reason I think Georgia will do good, given an impactful staging.
Same here. Georgia could be in my top 5 with coherent lyrics (I’m not even demanding good ones!), but they’ll narrowly miss the top 10 because of the nonsense surrounding them. For example: when both songs were released back to back, I was ranking Georgia in front of Armenia. But while I got past the clumsy lyrics in the beginning of “Future Lover” to find a lot of meaning behind the rest of the song, the lyrics of “Echo” keeps me bothering for hurting what could be a perfect package for an epic Eurovision performance.
I just re-read the Georgian lyrics and they are even more incoherent than I remembered 🙂 . Yes it feels like a tremendous missed opportunity because the musical artistic vision is there for Echo. I am glad you also like Armenia as it’s in my top 10 as well! At least in Armenia’s song, there is a certain feeling that is being transmitted. Maybe some word choices could have been better, but the central point of the song is easily spotted.
A Youtuber talked about how the last Georgian entry for JESC (“I Believe” by Mariam Bigvava) also had some nonsensical lyrics and the song was also written by Iru. Considering her spoken English is excellent, I wonder if she did that with any sort of intent in mind?
What could the intent be? Perhaps show some sort of confusion, or madness caused by love? Or show the illogical of the subconscious? Or maybe I went a bit too far
No I think you’re on to something actually with that explanation.
I think ‘illogic of the subconscious’ is close to it– that’s my interpretation of “life is love/thing is known/like in dreams.” I would translate this lyric to normal English as “love is the essence of life, but it is only truly understood on an intuitive, illogical level.” And then “words getting worthless/love is a wordless” points in the same direction. Words aren’t going to cut it, so we get this enormous musical backdrop and Iru sings in tongues– elements of the song that are closer to the thing itself. All the other lyrics are supplementary– they tend to express the… Read more »
It may be so. If that’s the case then I have to say that it is a smart idea. But it’s possible that people won’t get it as it is. Maybe something in the staging can help transmit this
This is 100% my kind of music, and I honestly love it. For me, music is more about the feeling it gives me than the meaning behind the lyrics. I’m used to listening to metal bands from countries who sing in English but don’t speak it well and the songs are full of terrible grammar, and it just doesn’t bother me as long as it feels right. The percussion in this song is my favorite element, the drums are amazing. I can understand why this entry isn’t for everyone, but it’s my favorite of this ESC. 0 points from America… Read more »
Pretty sure we can vote this year. 🙂
Rest of the World, baby! Please check this thread, Ellie, Iru deserves some votes.
I just checked it out and you’re right! Honestly didn’t think this would ever happen. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for their instructions.
What a serve this banger, what a queen
10,0
Stunning
I guess everyone had high expectations from Georgia this year. Does Iru’s song live up to that? I feel no. It’s a good song, and I loooove the weird sounds she makes in the song. My general impression (And that of a few more people I played the song to) is that it is very loud, she sings very high and loudly, and that makes the song too “in your face”. Also, the production sounds a bit flat with not much depth. I feel that they did not have much time to polish the song. It may have had potential,… Read more »
Forgot to comment on the lyrics: what on Earth? They don’t make any sense and they feel off.
I like this kind of dark electronic pop. Some verses might not make sense at all and there might be some grammatical mistakes but it sounds good from a musical perspective and Iru has demonstrated she can sing. Paired it with a visually frenetic staging and the audience won’t have time to think about the lyrics. 6. Germany (7.5) 8. San Marino (7.25) 9. Azerbaijan (7) 10. Ireland (7) 11. Armenia (7) 12. Georgia (7) 13. Serbia (7) 14. Moldova (7) 15. Estonia (6.75) 17. Australia (6.75) 18. Cyprus (6.75) 19. France (6.75) 21. United Kingdom (6.5) 22. Malta (6.5)… Read more »
The first time I heard this I woke up hungover. Needless to say I dont recommend it lol. Then I gave it another go and I loved the style and her voice and the darkness. Then I saw the lyrics. It’s been a ride with me but I still love it.
If we actually pretend Iru is singing in an imaginary language, this is simply great. Gets good parts from Maria Celin’s “Freya” and Mariam Bigvava’s “I Believe” (the latter is no surprise since the writer is the same). But it’s actually great apart from the “lyrics”. Epic, with a great voice and such. It still will be enough to make it to the final (reminding that one of the worst set of lyrics of the competition aka Norway 2018 qualified FIRST).
Rating: 8/10 (12th)
The Belgians had Sanomi, the Dutch had Amanbanda and now Georgia has this. Cringe
Making fun of stupid english is great, hope UK will be so offended they withdraw next year pls
I barely have any interest re-listening this one, I heard it once and it kinda feels enough. Why lie, it just isn’t doing anything for me. I wouldn’t let this into the final, since there are more suitable songs available.
Georgia is giving us a very captivating track with a lot of percussion, dynamic drumming and a high-pitched lead vocal which is contrasted eerily by a very deep (synthetic) backing vocal. When in the last chorus, the strings join in, everything is brought to an elating finish. I can understand anyone who thinks, this is a slight sonic assault, but I think it’s a brilliant track that is undoubtedly up there with older Georgian entries like one of my all-time favourites “Visionary Dream”. Lyrically, I don’t mind the slight obscureness, in my opinion not all lyrics need a narrative, this… Read more »
“Visionary Dream” is one my all time favourite songs in ESC. The definition of experimental but elegant at the same time, and so beautifully performed. Criminally underrated imho in the dark days of the late 00s.
I agree, Sopho Khalvashi should have finished higher – and probably would if she entered the exact same song today. To my ears, it still sounds fresh fifteen years later.
It’s a song that defies time. Would be fresh 30 years ago and it will still be fresh 30 years later. Top 10 was mostly occupied by diaspora voting back in the late 00s so I’m confident it would have done better if entered any other time really.
I like Echo too but it’s no match for Georgia 2007 personally, Visionary Dream is easily one of the greatest debut entries ever and a serious contender for entry of the decade when it comes to the 2000s, great taste!
You’re right, I was being generous, who knows if “Echo” will have the same staying power as “Visionary Dream” had. At the moment, “Visionary Dream” is still my favourite Georgian entry ever, but Iru is definitely a candidate for second place in this ranking.
For me it sounds very amateurish and pushed. She is capable and interesting vocalist but the song is all over the place and this lyrics are horrendous. Its a NQ for me.
Agree!
I would much rather hear this song without lyrics and whatever enunciation is going on within it. It reminds me of Latvia’s “Something” in 2013 with regards to utterly bizarre lyrics. Though that had a worse backing track and better enunciation.
Lithuania’s “Something” you mean. Bizarre lyrics indeed but coherent and proper English.
12. Iru – Echo (Georgia)- 7.5/10 – almost like a chant with a catchy chorus and dramatic speedy drums mixed with eclectic sounds, this sure is a mesmerizing and intoxicating ride from Georgia. I am looking forward to its presentation in the contest perhaps more than any other entry. The song feels like it could be a veritable visual feast.
Georgia this year is a bit less ‘Georgia’ than in years prior, in a sense this actually sounds decently palpable to the regular ear… if you don’t mind how the song goes full force from start to finish. While I like the general idea the entry goes for, I think I speak for everyone when I say the lyrical content is as nonsensical as can be. It’s one of those kinds of songs where it sounds good if you only listen to the sound, not the actual context. It’s a 7.5/10 for me. If this is performed well, this could… Read more »
Georgia: A commendable effort after quite a lengthy non qualification streak. It’s great to see Georgia being talked about again as a potential and for some, expected qualifier with this explosive entry. In terms of the visuals, the music video looks very professional, some really beautiful and striking imagery. I hope Georgia uses some of those ideas in their staging because I find it quite effective. In terms of the song, there are both positives and less positive remarks for me. We don’t have another entry quite like this one this year and I think it. ertsinly had the potential… Read more »
certainly has the potential*
The song struggles on enunciation and lyrical quality, but I have to admit there’s a captivating experimental vibe to it.
It’s the kind of song where the lyrics don’t really matter. Not stylistically – but it kind of reminds me of the Cocteau Twins where the lyrics can be pure gibberish but the music somehow still remains capitvating.
Spain have sent someone screaming so Georgia are in good company
Borderline qualifier, will depend on staging. Lyrically it’s a mess but the music and instrumentation is actually really good
it will qualify but that doesn’t change the fact this song is a hot mess
Agree with Antranig, if you’re going to sing in my language pls have it make sense otherwise I’m offended
Aww boo hoo, ur offended lol then do not watch this contest
Is there a possibility for this to NQ because i’m a little bit worried
For me it’s a remarkable song with strong vocals but i don’t feel it because i feel like this is meaningless.
For me it’s a clear 6 out of 10
0 chance it non qualifies from that semi
I don’t know, it’s like way too much of a diva with all the possible vocals and looks in the world over substance, so the whole package feels really hollow and soulless. Not really feeling too much of experiment and uniqueness either.
Breathtaking, alternate music and incredible high notes by Iru, the song itself reflects a unique, almost royal aura that I’m absolutely blown away with. I cannot understand the people that say Iru is just screaming the high notes, clearly her voice is excellent and her vocal/breath control abilities are fantastic. My only concern is the vague but even worse, grammatically innacurate lyrics but with instrumentation and atmosphere SO PERFECT AND SPECTACULAR like this entry has, they can go a bit unnoticed, especially if we take into consideration how Iru wants to portray a message about her heart’s echoes behind the… Read more »
10) Georgia – While yes, the lyrics are a bit of a mess, musically I think this is wonderful. There’s a really cool battle-like sound to it which is something I personally enjoy, and for me this takes over the lyrics so I don’t mind as much. I really hope this qualifies, purely because Georgia like to do whatever they want for Eurovision and I’m always here for it. 8/10
My dear Georgia. Well, when I first listened to “Echo” I was on a train getting back home from work and I was so impressed that I felt this can be a winner. The melody is epic, I love all the transitions and variations that keep me excited for the whole duration of the song, and Iru has an amazing voice belting this out for 3 minutes. And then I listened to it again and again and noticed the lyrics… Or what’s left of them. I’ve read so many theories and interpretations about trying to keep them abstract and artistic… Read more »
My 14th, also with an 8/10. This is uncanny! Moreover, I’d also have it in top ten had it been in Georgian or if it had a more coherent translation in English.
Exactly that! It was in my Top 5 after the first listen but my annoyance with the lyrics brought it a few places down. We must have very similar rankings which is fun. I scored UK a bit different today though haha
It is ok.
Somewhere between pure garbage and just bland and unseasoned. If you don’t know some proper English stick to you own language. 3-/10
Georgia 5/12
I like the music and Iru ‘s voice very much but the lyrics is pure nonsens.
A few years back – Netta got away with quite a bit of lyrical nonsense and still managed to win with a catchy vibe. What Iru has done here is multiplied that by 10. The lyrics are barely recognisable- but the song itself( and her vocals live, by the way) are way ahead of almost all the entries this year. This track soars and dips and soars again to create something really crazy but at the same time really, really good. If ESC decides to go back to ‘quirky, odd and random ‘ and wants to take itself not too… Read more »
11th place: Georgia will always, no matter what, offer something alternative to us and I am always looking forward to their entry for this exact reason. ‘Echo’, although it may be less out of the box than previous Georgian entries still manages to incorporate interesting, modern elements. It reminds me I think of the 2007 Georgian entry in some ways. I am confident that the staging will also be good, as Georgia rarely disappoints in this sector. However, one big disadvantage of the song is the lyrics. They are almost (if not completely) nonsensical, and at many points even grammatically… Read more »
Another match, Thanos! (UK is currently my 27th, so that one isn’t far off either.) Georgia is currently my 14th. Upon hearing it, I made fun of the lyrics, but I had a need to hear it again and again. This is in my top 4 of semi 2. I really hope they finally qualify.
Of the remaining 9 songs, 5 are in my top 10 (a lot of stellar ratings incoming), two more are well rated, one is in the middle, and one is not rated the best (you know…).
Georgia is my 5th place in semi final 2. I have a strong feeling we will mostly agree from now on!
I have that feeling too. My winner of semi 2 is yet to be reviewed, but Estonia, Armenia, Georgia, and Cyprus are top 5.
Austria or Slovenia? That’s 2 of my Top 5 in semi 2, along with Armenia, Estonia and Georgia, while Cyprus is 6th 🙂
One of them is my semi winner, the other one is in top 7, together with Australia. Then we have a rather unexpected 8th place, and these are basically the ones I really want to see going through. Places 8-11 are fine, and negotiable at this point. 5 other entries are NQs, all rated under a 5/10.
I know which of the 2 is your semi 2 winner but I won’t say it in case you want to keep it a secret for now 🙂 . For me as of now my winner of semi final 2 is Armenia, with Australia in second place. My third place in semi final 2 is yet to be reviewed, my fourth place is Cyprus and my top 5 is completed with Georgia. Lithuania and Estonia follow right afterwards and two countries that are yet to be reviewed close my top 9 of songs I like in semi 2. Iceland or… Read more »
Interesting! That leaves Romania or Greece as a possibility. I have one of them several spots higher, but neither is in my top 15 or bottom 5. I am curious now.
I will keep the mystery for now (let’s also see which song will be reviewed in about 4 minutes from now). It will be interesting discussing those two entries you mentioned let’s just say that for now 🙂
I have a very tight top 3 in the second semi. Armenia is the one of them too. I’m not saying who the other 2 are haha. Estonia, Cyprus, Georgia, Australia and Lithuania are also in my Top 8. There are 3 songs competing for the last 2 spots. All are very close to eachother and they have been all revealed so far. The other 5 are NQs for me and all below 5/10. It seems that Colin, you and I have quite similar lists this year. 🙂
From the 4 semi-final 2 songs yet to be reviewed, I think Austria and Slovenia will possibly be high in your ranking. And Greece and Romania are perhaps among your NQs. As I said I also at least like 3 out of these 4 songs yet I have to say that my favourite out of these is in my 9th place in the overall top 37 (yet it is my 3rd place in my top of the second semi final). Then the two next songs are in places 16 and 20 (both of them are qualifiers from the semi for… Read more »
Haha spot on Thano! I expect you like Greece more than I do but we’ll talk about it when the time comes. I’m curious to see the rest of your reviews as well 🙂
Same Top 7 then too haha! Lithuania is my 8th. The rest I don’t really care about. I also have 5 songs below 5/10. I like that you’re keeping the mystery much better than me :p
5 of the remaining songs are also in my Top 10. 1 is well rated but the remaining 3 are not and actually in my bottom 10. We’ll get a couple of disagreements there I’m sure haha. Exciting stuff.
Not bad. But I miss their great daring original songs. My favourite country in ESC.
I like it a lot, and the weird lyrics only add to the charm for me and are still better than some impossibly stupid, shallow and/or cliche stuff that you all still eat up because it’s yas queen slay.
I wouldn’t give this entry more than 5/10 because of the lyrics. I still hope/think this is a joke…
GEORGIA – This is perhaps the ultimate testing ground on whether the song needs to have coherent lyrics in order to be good overall. Honestly, I was struggling with that for awhile, but what would a Georgian entry be without making you question things? In most cases, I’d say that having at least a solid lyrical content is a necessity, but if I’d be willing to buy into the scattered words representing our subconsciousness (and not just a really clunky translation), I could get totally lost in this dreamscape of sound. The song feels grand and powerful! The beautifully crafted… Read more »
I’m glad you’re liking this one Colin. Not gonna give a detailed review but even though it has flaws, I just love what “Echo” brings to the table.
Can’t help but notice positive comments about this one are being downvoted to hell, just like Armenia…
Early on in this song’s life cycle, in the first of many arguments I’ve had about its merits, a friend of mine compared the lyrics to 19th century Symbolist poetry. That sounds ludicrous on its face, but actually, I think it’s the right track. This is the stuff of visions, arguing that love is only truly understood on a level beyond words, and describing it in mystical dream-language. Even better, it bypasses the language center of the brain entirely to communicate this with some truly epic music– complex drums, chants, swelling strings. Iru pants for breath, slips into glossolalic ecstasy,… Read more »
When I wrote this entry about visions and dreams, I did not know that there is literally a Georgian entry called “Visionary Dream.” Huh.
Omg I love this song!! It’s orgasmic. It gets me so close to climaxing every time I listen to it. Iru better make the grand final!!