The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continues to rate and review the songs competing in the grand final of Sweden’s Melodifestivalen 2020. Next up, we listen to Melfest 2018 star Dotter and her new effort “Bulletproof”. Did we feel her firepower? Read on to find out!
Dotter – “Bulletproof”
“Bulletproof” reviews
Åri: This is, without any exaggeration, my favourite Melodifestivalen song ever. If it wasn’t for the fierce Czech selection, this would also be my favourite NF song of 2020. Lyrically and melodically, “Bulletproof” is brilliant, and while Dotter isn’t impeccable live, she was the best singer of the semi and dealt well considering the difficulty of the song. Perfect staging, love the lasers, love the hairflips, love the outfit. This is much better than the admittedly fantastic “Cry”, and totally earned this direkt till finalen. This certainly can and should win Eurovision! Sweden, do us all a favour and choose this masterpiece.
Score: 10/10
Lucy: When I heard Dotter was partaking in Mello again, I couldn’t have been more excited. “Cry” is one of my all-time favourites from Sweden’s selection and I hoped she’d be the winner from the word go. Stating the obvious, Dotter has some exceptional staging, and she performs it very well. But removing the performance element, this song is above average, but not as spectacular as I expected it would be. I truly think she’ll win, but I won’t be taking a Sweden flag to pre-parties as I’d hoped when I heard Dotter’s name in the line-up.
Score: 6.5/10
Pablo: Immediate highlight of Melfest right here. A fusion of Sia and Karin Park, Dotter returned after her failure in 2018 to take no prisoners. Taking the polished tropes of modern pop and repackaging them in a fresh new way, and using some really smart staging to achieve that “bullet bouncing off” effect, she truly has embodied the best that pop music has to offer, both in the Eurovision and international contexts. With some tweaks on clothing (black pants would be an amazing look), we really could be seeing a contender to go to Rotterdam.
Score: 9/10
Tobias: Wow! This is one the best songs and one of the most interesting performances so far in Melodifestivalen 2020! I like the mysterious and interesting staging and how she works with the laser to create different light effects. The most memorable part of her performance is when the laser reflects on her dress like a disco ball — it looks great! A memorable performance that stands out is important and Dotter clearly ticks that box. The song is really good with a lot of inspiration from Sia and a touch of Florence and the Machine. However the staging lifts up the song a lot. This is winning material.
Score: 9.5/10
In our Melodifestivalen Wiwi Jury, we have 14 jurors but only room for four reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:
| Angus: 8/10
Antranig: 10/10 Barnabas: 6/10 Florian: 7.5/10 Jonathan: 9/10 |
Luis: 8.5/10
Natalie: 8.5/10 Robyn: 7.5/10 Ron: 9.5/10 Tom: 6.5/10 |
Before calculating the average score, the highest and lowest scores are dropped. This is to remove outliers and reduce potential bias. We have removed a low of 6 and a high of 10.
I’m rooting for The Roop, but this entry is potential ESC winner this year
I wonder what Swedes think and what opinions they hear among relatives, friends and colleges? I love dotter and hope she will win but I have a bad feeling.
I know people in their 50’s wanting Dotter to win. I know people in thier 20s wanting Dotter to win. I know people in their 30s wanting her to win. General consensus among Swedes is that Dotter will be the winner
Hoppas du har rätt. Min mamma 65 år, suck.. men Robin ser ju trevlig ut. Har ju trott att det är tonårstjejer som röstat fram alla killar, men tror tame sjutton det är tanterna.
Well I love her and most of the people I discuss melodifestivalen with loves her song too. I’ve only heard good reviews oh her song
She is now on her way to become the most watched MF video of the year! She surpassed Hanna Ferm!
The high notes are not completely succesful. Performance lack some sweetness. Otherwise a very fine song.
Just based on the coments I’m a bit surprised actually. Yes, this is a nuance better than some of our previous years, but personally my favourites (in esc 2020) are elsewhere. Maybe it would be more fair to place our recent five entrants (this one included) somewhere in between “the winner” and “trash, generic”. What we send is either deeply hated or strongly adored by the wiwifans. There is maybe nothing in between that.
/Confused Swede
Ari, Anna Bergendahl was in the same semi. You can’t be serious when you claim Dotter was the best singer in that semi.
I bet he is very serious
Dotter did struggle on some parts of the song.
Sweden can win with her
It has the pop polish we all associate with Sweden but there’s emotional sincerity as well, which is why I think people are taken with it.
Yups. Probably she put alot of heart and soul into this song after her NQ in 2018. And she came back stronger than ever.
The artistry is great and Sweden have easily got a chance of top 10 if they send Bulletproof.
the performance is what makes this song so great, the way she eats that stage on her own… imagine having so much stage presence!
She doesn’t need backup dancers. It’s just her and the lights.
exactly. this sets her apart from Anna, who needs six backing dancers to fill the stage, while Dotter looks amazing just by herself
(not to hate on Anna’s song/performance, which i also like)
I feel embarrassed to see how overrated this song is.
Me too!! An average song, not a very good song.
Best song and performance in the whole ESC season. The best song since Euphoria. If Dotter and Bulletproof wins Melfest then Sweden is my favorite to win in Rotterdam. Or should I say Dotterdam.
WTF! Im shocked about this comment!
I am amazed 3 of your reviewers have scored “Bulletproof” less than 7, it is a hugely addicting and fantastically polished contemporary pop song with a neo-noir vibe. Dotter performs it with spectacular execution with her dark shining outfit, hair flickering and hella cool laser visuals that makes the performance a complete contender to win Eurovision 2020. We all know staging is key in this prestige modern era of ESC and I can easily see Dotter achieving the highest televote score for Sweden since Måns. Strange to think during the 2nd semifinal all of us feared she’d be shockingly eliminated… Read more »
Just a reminder of each year’s wiwijury highest scoring melfest song:
– 2019: Too late for love, 8.30
– 2018: Every single day, 7.29
– 2017: A million years, 8.27 (Statements got 8.37 tho)
– 2016: Constellation prize, 8,25
– 2015: Heroes, 8.40
Bulletproof getting 8.33, it then has the most acclaimed entry since Heroes if we put Statements apart 🙂
So that’s only 2 out of 5 rate for predicting the winner.
sounds about right, Grafton
@miskydisky: this is NOT a prediction, just a fan jury ranking, grow up
This is a really good song and probably the one Sweden should opt for in order to assure both jury and televoting points. This staging is a show-stopper and it really fits the song and it’s (for Sweden standards especially – quite deep) message. I am also team #Dotterdam
Is it just me or does Dotter look like a girl that parties 6x a week and just woke up from an all night bender? Maybe it is the hair and facial expressions but that’s the vibe I get.
and that’s okay. a lot of girls around europe will identify with her
1. What’s so special about this song? It’s a bit overrated. But If you say bad things about Sweden, the swedes will just say that you are jealous. Send whatever song, but pls not Felix Sandman. It’s annoying. 2. Next saturday Finland National Final. It will be between Erika Vikman, Aksel and Tika. Outsider is C.Zühlke. Erika is maybe the best choice but it’s cringe if its very sexy because this is a family show. 3. Eurovision might be cancelled. I think that Corona will end tho. Hopefully EURO 2020 football can be played tho. It’s importanter. 4. It’s possible… Read more »
1. It’s a hella cool dark ecstatic trendy radio-friendly song which would be apropos for a James Bond theme, Dotter will bring at least something different for Sweden. 2. Erika is the clear hot favourite but I don’t think her victory is guaranteed, despite her viral success I can’t see international juries going for a dated eurotrash song and my money is on Tika to cause an upset win! 3. Coronavirus maybe a very serious threat across Europe rn but I highly doubt Eurovision 2020 will be cancelled, so far no cases are confirmed in Rotterdam but UEFA Euro 2020… Read more »
Eurotrash works fine with the juries. There are several swedish entries in that category: Robin, Ingrosso, Måns.
It’s the kind of song Belgium would send for instance and get praised for sending it
DOTTERDAMNN 2020!
THE ROOPERDAM 2020
Dont match with the name sorry
Ehm, no.
for me as a dutchie rooperdam sounds just fine.
This article its not about Lithuania though
My fav out of all the songs in this years Eurovision season!<3
9,5/10
I agree with Åri! I am by no means “swedophil” nor “swedophob”, but I totally have winner vibes here. The melody and lyrics are brilliant. She is serving female attitude on stage and being strong and confident. The effects are cool. A modern and impactful package. This has to win Eurovision 2020, I am sorry! <3 11/10
Not a winner, but a 100% qualifer. Probably in the end of the left half in results. So I think place 10-15.
Funny how everyone was less impressed and thought it will finish 4 or 5 in semis, and now everyone hype it
It is the stellar live performance that elevates the song. Everything matches; the lyric, the music, her outfit, the staging and her sincere approach and voice. It is simple but that is the great ting about it. Not too complicated and strange but honest and yet beautiful.
That was before we saw the live staging. Which elevated the song
You know, if your Wiwi judgements had likes and dislikes, all of you who gave this less than a 9.5 would have about -30 from the Wiwi commenters already.
Glad to see there’s some differing opinions on this.