Mimi Werner – Europlop!

Saturday Reject: Mimi Werner – Songburning

“That’s a coincidence, my new prog band is called the Disingenous Fireworks.“

Tim: Andra Chansen this year was, to put it mildly, a total farce. For those that don’t know the details, the third and fourth songs from each heat get mixed up and pitted against each other as four one on one duels; this year, two songs vastly better than their competitors got knocked out, there was one pairing where both songs were dull and one pairing where both were great. Here, we have one that lost out to the most tedious ballad the contest has seen since 2014’s Bröder, which for context was a song about the singer’s dead brother.

Tim: I won’t pretend this song is perfect – for starters, I’ve always slightly disapproved of things like fireworks or falling glitter on stage, as for me it symbolises “this has just won” – there are exceptions, obviously, but most of the time it strikes me as a bit disingenuous.

Tom: That’s a coincidence, my new prog band is called the Disingenous Fireworks.

Tim: And while I love the use of the song’s title as a dynamite fuse here, the massive, massive amounts of pyrotechnics just don’t quite seem earned.

As far as the actual song goes, though: it’s brilliant. and I wouldn’t change a note.

Tom: You sure about that? I mean, it’s not bad, but it’s by no means a Eurovision winner.

Tim: Hmm…alright, I might bring in the beat a bit sooner – gentle strumming doesn’t suit this.

Mimi Werner & Brolle – Here We Go Again

“It’s the disappointing kind of duet.”

Tim: Mimi is following up her storming hoedown debut at Melodifestivalen with this, a duet with 2001’s Popstars veteran Brolle.

Tom: Well, that’s not exactly storming, is it?

Tim: And, it’s the disappointing kind of duet where neither is paying any attention whatsoever to what the other is singing, despite them being standing less than a foot away from each other in the video – a shame, really, because tracks like Up and Second Hand Heart show that conversations and narratives can happen, and the song is invariably better for that. Here, we have basically an individual’s song split in two.

Tom: And not a particularly good song at that? At times — particularly that middle eight — it almost sounds like a nursery rhyme that’s been given a bit of production value. It’s very slow, very simple, and just… not enough to get me excited.

Tim: Musically, though, it’s decent enough – I probably shouldn’t have linked to those two duets earlier, actually, because they’re both quite a bit better, but never mind, because the chorus is a fair belter and one I’m happy to listen to frequently. So much so, in fact, that I will actually hope that their relationship can get beyond the fact that they have no idea what each other is saying. GOOD LUCK GUYS.

Saturday Reject: Mimi Werner – Ain’t No Good

“This song deserved to go so, so far”

Tim: Sweden owes this lady an apology, because they voted both Victor & Samir and a less good Victor & Samir through in heat one, but shamefully cast this one aside.

Tom: That’s because the verses are basically the verses from “Jolene”. I’ll grant you the chorus is a bit more original, though. Why do you like it so much?

Tim: Because oh, this song deserved to go so, so far, and I would happily have put money on that actually going directly to the final. Maybe hoedown isn’t the biggest genre in the world right now, but dammit it’s still a whole lot of fun, and mixing that big chorus with the slightly gentler pop vocals in the verses for me just works very well indeed.

Tom: It does — and that middle eight and key change are just wonderful.

Tim: Maybe it’s the fact that she’s a new artist – first EP’s not released for another month or so, and incidentally was recorded in Nashville.

Tom: Maybe? But I’ve got a different theory. We’ve seen this before: it’s what Texas Lightning did ten years ago. That is to say, catchy, country, key change: but not remotely a vote-winner.

Tim: True, perhaps, but first round exit? Just harsh.

Tom: Incidentally, how good was 2006’s Eurovision? Lordi. The mad Lithuanians with “We Are The Winners”. And the bizarre British entry of which we do not speak. Let’s hope it’s that good this year.

Tim: We do not speak? Mate, Daz was GLORIOUS. You’re thinking of 2008. In any case, you’re forgetting the best of all: the incredible Charlotte Perrelli performing Invincible with Those Trousers and That Dress.