Estonia is a mixed bag when it comes to Eurovision, with some great results, and some not so great results. Since 2009, they’ve been in the final all but three times, which is not bad at all, and some of those qualifying songs cracked the Top 10 in the final. This year, two former Eurovision performers have joined forces, and after they won the national final, they’ll be heading to the Eurovision stage once again. Laura and Koit Toome are the twosome this year representing the Baltic state with the song Verona, but will it end as tragically as Romeo and Juliet?
As per usual, there were some really great and unique songs in the national final, songs that I would be able to get behind at Eurovision. I can’t necessarily say Verona is one of them. I don’t dislike the song, but I don’t love it either. There are elements I really enjoy about it, and others I’m still not convinced by. I like that the start of the song is quite tense, and I like that instead of going to the first chorus after Laura’s part, it goes to Koit and changes beat as well, which is a nice build up. On the flip side, I do find the lyrics a bit corny, well, perhaps not even just corny, but clunky. Even the catch phrase of the song, of sorts, ‘We Have Lost Our Verona’ just is a bit unnatural to me. Again on the flip side, the chorus is catchy and when the harmonies come into play, it becomes one of the most impressive moments throughout the song. Where the song loses its momentum is after that second chorus. For me, it gets a bit tedious, and could have done with a verse as tense as the first.
I will be interesting to see how this is staged, and whether they’ll stick to the Verona theme and feature elements from Verona itself or whether they’ll keep it quite generic with a more simple lightshow. I also hope their chemistry on stage isn’t too awkward or forced, as that could make for an awkward viewing situation a la Estonia 2016.
Overall, this is a song that I’ll occasionally get stuck in my head, but other than that, I don’t often feel drawn to listen to it. I do find it to be a bit dated, not dramatically, but enough that it doesn’t catch my attention as much as some of the other songs this year. They seem to be a bit of a fan fave this year, so I can see enough potential for them to qualify, but it’s just not for me. With all that said, I’ll be giving this a 6/10.
