The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continues to rank and review the 43 songs competing in Eurovision 2018. Next we turn to Azerbaijan where Aisel has “X My Heart”. Did the song make us cross? Read on to find out!



Aisel – “X My Heart”

“X My Heart” reviews

Bernardo: Generic yet addictive. While “X My Heart” doesn’t bring anything new to the table but Aisel’s vocals are compelling and ready to tear down that wall. And so am I. Empowering in its essence, I can see Azerbaijan clearly changed the pace this year to something more mainstream after last years so-so result. I don’t know if it will pay off but I’m sure Aisel will bring her A-game to Lisbon.

Score: 8/10

Bogdan: Australia, Finland and Azerbaijan sent kind of the same entry: an uplifting, empowering and flawlessly produced song performed by a great female singer. While all these are qualities, the fact that these songs are so interchangeable is a problem. While I struggle to find flaws while I listen to it, I also don’t find myself wishing to download or listen to “X My Heart”, and I’m pretty sure I won’t miss it once the Eurovision 2018 winner is crowned.

Score: 7/10

Jordi: Aisel’s “X My Heart” is current and feels positive while radiating uplifting vibes from start to finish. I can see this doing well among ballads with its proper electronic sound and its very radio friendly appeal. However, it is also true that is not offering anything different we heard before in Eurovision. While the song – the more you listen, the catchier it gets – provides an easy uplifting experience, I’m still missing the hook. In the stage though, it could be a grower!

Score: 6.5/10

Luis: After the bomb that was “Skeletons” and given Aisel’s jazz background, a generic EDM-pop song was the last thing I expected from Azerbaijan. And yet, here it is. “X My Heart” is barely different from the tracks of Australia, Finland or even the UK. The song is reminiscent of the mid-2010s, when this kind of music filled the radio stations and the heats of Melodifestivalen. Overall, it’s a decent package with nothing extraordinary. And in the end, Azerbaijan has proven many times before that they can do better than this.

Score: 6.5/10

Renske: Whereas the first version felt like a Melfest reject from 2012, the actual version made a big upgrade and sounds more like a song that could chart nowadays. I never expected Aisel to sing such kind of song and given her capacities, I expect her to slay with this. Another thing which is an advantage is that these types of songs are really easy to stage and deliver because you can stage as much show (think pyro and dancers) or as little as you want.

Score: 8/10

William: Cross your heart — and say thank you for the fierce electronic production! With a few simple tweaks to the original, Aisel and her team have given us one of the few earworms of the year. The melody is simple, inoffensive and on its own perhaps a bit too beige. But with the revamped electro finish it’s electrifying in a subtle way, getting under your skin without being too in-your-face. The lyrics, while not poetry of the first order, are sufficiently inspirational and feel good to have me hitting replay. Given Aisel’s sultry vocals and Azerbaijan’s consistently high-impact staging, Baku is on to something very good indeed.

Score: 8/10

In the Wiwi Jury we have 20 jurors but only have room for six reviews. The remaining scores are below:

Angus: 8/10 Anthony: 8.5/10 Antranig: 9/10 Chris: 7.5/10 Cinan: 6.5/10 Deban: 6.5/10 Jonathan: 7/10

Jovana: 7/10 Kristin: 6/10 Padraig: 7.5/10 Robyn: 6/10 Ron: 7/10 Sebastian: 8.5/10 Steinunn: 6/10

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 6 and a high of 9.

Wiwi Jury verdict: 7.22/10

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