[AdSense-B]

The ESC United “Expert” Panel is back. The Editorial team got to enjoy all 43 entries of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, review and rank them accordingly. Needless to say, this is all subjective and you may totally disagree with us. There is a reason we put quotation marks down. Which is why we included a poll and in the end we’ll compare the reader’s results to our results. So check out our comments first and the scroll down to vote in the poll. Let’s get rollin’!

Albania: Lindita – World

Robert – 8 Points
This song marches through its three minutes like a regiment going off to battle. I really love the choral effect of the vocals providing support to the “aww aww awwwwwwww” build throughout the song and think it lends a lot of power and strength to this song. I still think I prefer this in its original Albanian, but the English revamp is still a very good bad song. It maybe lacks the final punch in the climax, but she has the voice for it and I love the music as well. She really carries the song and its success in Kiev will depend a lot on how she is vocally on the night. Overall, it has the epic build I love as well as intense vocal moments where she really showcases her talents. I hope this does well for her.

Stefan – 8 Points
I don’t know why many people say that she is not singing, but screaming. Lindita is doing those high notes amazing! I do like the original version a bit more, but the English one is as good as the first one. Besides Tako, I am sure she will give the most powerful performace in Kiev.

Zack – 7 Points
I would like to state that I am coming in without having heard much of “Bote”. I have always heard complaints from previous revamps that songs would go from a lion’s roar to a kitten’s meow. I have to believe that there will be no complaints here. There is a nice mixture of rock instrumentation and symphonic strings. The song is very dramatic and really does not offer much variety, provides the big climatic payoff in the last minute.

Matt – 7 Points
Albania is notorious for their revamps and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. In my opinion, this year it definitely worked. Lindita sounds great even though I don’t always understand every word that she is saying. The song creates a specific atmosphere which helps Albania to stand out. While I can’t say it’s melodically the strongest entry, the unique vibe it creates may work in their favor. Overall a solid effort and work that long note, girl.

Calvin – 6 Points
This is a good entry. Not a great one, but a good one. Lindita delivers one of the most technically sound and impressive vocals of the year, with a very lengthy note near the end giving her a chance to show off both power and passion. However, the composition is very formulaic, a disappointment from the usually creative Klodian Qafoku. It fails to distinguish itself from the Eurovision ballad template, save for a touch of darkness that, sadly, the lyrics undercut somewhat. Still, thanks to Lindita’s killer performance, it does the job.

Sean – 6 Points
Oh how I wish S’te fal had won a few years ago! Slay qwen! Lindita is back and is blowing us away with one of the best vocals in the contest. I can’t wait to see and feel the power of this one in the arena. It’s a strong, emotive and rousing build-up but the song lacks that major killer punch to make it iconic. I can still see it going through to the final though and the Albanian revamp has once again retained many of the elements that made the song unique in the first place.

Romeo – 5 Points
This is a typical Albanian entry. Great voice, great drama, great emotion. It could do well but is 100% dependent on the performance on the night. She is a great singer and the song is really good, but nowhere near original. She will get votes for her voice alone but will people take to the song?

David – 4 Points
I know there are those fans who like the original versions from Festivali I Kënges, but I’m one of those who prefer the revamped songs, so they are fit for Eurovision. Once another year and once again, I feel that the song has been produced to something better, but it’s not much better in this case. We are dealing with deep song, and I feel it ends with Lindita more and more showing her vocals. The problem for me is that the song in the background just disappears as we progress, and so I lose my interest.

Gerry – 4 Points
Lindita is so powerful. She’s got such an amazing voice that it’s a shame the song isn’t that amazing, especially in English. “World” is dark, moody and mysterious, backed by some powerful orchestration: a perfect mix of qualities one can expect from Festivali i Këngës. Sadly, the lyrics don’t quite match up, which is a huge distraction for me. “Let the love unite us all,” is such a weak concept to sell with such a compelling composition. If anything would save this song, it would be an impeccable sense of staging and a pitch-perfect performance from Lindita. We’ll see what happens.

Nenad – 4 Points
Hitting high vocals like a pro, but what about the other factors? Energy? – nul points Lindita. Why have we lost all of the beauty of Eurovision like energetic performances and kinda weird songs? Music competition is not about ‘high notes’ and ‘look, I can sing’ songs. It is more than that. Learn from your mistakes.

Jordan – 3 Points
One of the weakest ballads in this year’s contest. Lindita has a stunning voice. However, the song goes nowhere and is quite depressing to listen to. An unlikely qualifier.

Final Score: 62

Now it’s your turn, vote in the poll and let us know how you ranked it. You can comment here or join thousands of Eurovision fans and comment on our Forum HERE.

[socialpoll id=”2437754″]

This is the current ranking of the Panel, you can see all Reviews by clicking HERE.