San Marino: Jessika feat. Jenifer Brening – Who We Are

Felix: San Marino won’t qualify. They are sending two ladies, and if we can go by the national final, also two robots. The connection? Unclear. The message of the song? Similarly unclear. If “who we are” is really “who we want to be”, then Marie N is the light from shooting stars, The Moniker is Chris Isaak, and I am executive supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest.

The lyrics aren’t even the only question mark. Why do we have what feels like two choruses? Why does someone think a rap part is a good idea for this kind of song? And why would you host your first ever national final in Slovakia? And furthermore:

We are the robots of our time!

Seriously, the chorus in “Who We Are” obviously sounds quite like “Heroes“, the Swedish winning song of 2015. But in general, San Marino 2018 is so much more likeable and charming. It’s also a lot less professional and competent.

All question marks and harshness aside, I do quite enjoy this entry. It’s a guilty pleasure, and I’m thankful that San Marino remains what it is, a peculiar and odd participant. The only remaining question is: Is that what San Marino wants to be?

Shi: I don’t particularly mind this song, to be fair, but it’s basically the robotic ghost of Andorran entries past. It’s not unpleasant, but it’s entirely unnecessary, and it makes you want to pet someone’s head and say, “well, the most important thing is that you tried”.

Martin: You know, I actually think this is an OK song too. Not great, but OK. It belongs in a national final rather than at ESC – indeed, probably a Maltese final – but it’s not shamefully bad. It’s just a bit “amateur hour”, and there’s no real reason anyone would vote for that, really.

video and title image source: eurovision.tv