The Wiwi Jury – our in-house panel of music unprofessionals – is continuing its journey around Denmark. Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2016 is a little under two weeks away and we’re here to review the ten finalists. Yesterday David Jay’s faux funk left some of us in an actual funk. And with a title like “Blue Horizon”, it looks like Sophia Nohr won’t be raising our spirits either. Or will she? Read on to find out…
Sophia Nohr “Blue Horizon”
REVIEWS: Sophia Nohr with “Blue Horizon”
Deban: Sultry, seductive and smouldering — “Blue Horizon” delivers my orgasmic sunset. I love the ebb and flow of this track, and could have it on repeat all day. It’s nostalgic, yet so contemporary. It takes the best from Lana Del Rey, and leaves her aloofness at the door. Furthermore, it smacks a catchy chorus. What’s not to like?
Score: 9/10
Josh: “Blue Horizon” is my least favourite entry in DMGP this year. The song lacks the pizazz needed to make it a quality entry. In fact, I’d be more open-minded towards the song if it were being entered into the selection for Switzerland and not Denmark. It doesn’t build into anything and Sophia Nohr’s vocal doesn’t suit this style of song at all. A bit of a miss for me.
Score: 3.5/10
Sami: Like all the songs in DMGP 2016, “Blue Horizon” is really well produced. But for me, it’s the weakest song of the bunch. It’s calming and sweet, but also quite boring and forgettable. Sophia’s voice is pleasant and well suited for this kind of music, but it’s just not something we need at this year’s contest.
Score: 5/10
DMGP 2016: Our top three
William: The cowgirl opening works well, leading to a sultry, wistful chorus. Unfortunately that’s where things stall — the chorus seems to loop for the remaining three minutes and there’s little else to keep my interest. The tempo makes the whole thing sound sluggish and confused — not fast enough to make me move, not slow enough to move me and play on my emotions. For me the sun has set on this “Blue Horizon”.
Score: 5.5/10
Antranig: “Blue Horizon” is a very good song but the competition is so strong in Denmark that this is relatively forgettable. The verses are dark and edgy, exuding a sultry sexiness that the chorus just does not live up to. I wouldn’t object to this winning but the chorus needs a complete facelift before going to Stockholm.
Score: 7/10
Bernardo: “Blue Horizon” is a relaxing mixture of so many musical styles. Sophia’s voice is compelling and the chorus reminds me of a perfect summer afternoon chilling on the beach. But it lacks the much needed wow factor and will probably finish mid-table at Melodi Grand Prix.
Score: 6/10
Edd: Sophia Nohr brings us possibly the most interesting production of the whole national final season so far. “Blue Horizon” sounds like a hundred year-old Texan folk hymn, while simultaneously being an uber-modern scandipop song. With an interesting stage performance I would say that this is the entry with the biggest potential of the lot. [PS the Facebook notification noises in the chorus need to go… I was fooled every time.]
Score: 8.5/10
Luis: “Blue Horizon” sounds like an updated reject from Malta’s sugary years at Eurovision (“On Again, Off Again” to “I Do”). Sophia wants to be elegant and sophisticated, and she certainly achieves that goal. But as a result, she seems a bit distant. It’s too demure for my taste, and the million different styles featured throughout the song doen’t make it any better.
Score: 4/10
Padraig: Fusions are supposed to be exciting, they should make you feel something. Sadly, Sophia lacks the gusto to pull it off. “Blue Horizon” possesses all the markings of an album filler track. It passes by pleasantly but unnoticed, acting as a palate cleanser for what’s to come. Such songs aren’t designed to standout, and sure enough that’s the case here.
Score: 6/10
Robyn: Some Adele, some Lana Del Rey, and lashings of country, rock, and pop. Yeah, there are a lot of influences feeding into this song, but it all comes together with a particularly luscious chorus. I’m not convinced this would do well at Eurovision, but it’s one of the stand-out tracks at DMGP this year.
Score: 7.5/10
Our jury consists of 22 people, but we only have room for 10 written reviews. Here are the remaining 12 scores.
Anthony: 6/10
Bogdan: 8/10
Cristian: 7/10
Dayana: 6.5/10
Denise: 6/10
Gökhan: 7.5/10
Kristin: 6/10
Liam: 3/10
Mikhail: 8.5/10
Patrick: 5/10
Ramadan: 5/10
Sopon: 2/10
WIWI JURY AVERAGE: 6.08/10
To reduce potential bias, we drop the highest and lowest scores prior to calculating the average. We removed a low of 2 and a high of 9.
SEE OUR CURRENT DANSK MELODI GRAND PRIX 2016 REVIEWS AND RANKINGS.
Photos: DR
