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Germany GERMANY 2017 - Levina - Perfect Life

How do you rate the entry?

  • 12

    14 6.4%
  • 10

    11 5.0%
  • 8

    17 7.7%
  • 7

    12 5.5%
  • 6

    16 7.3%
  • 5

    27 12.3%
  • 4

    19 8.6%
  • 3

    19 8.6%
  • 2

    21 9.5%
  • 1

    25 11.4%
  • 0

    39 17.7%

  • Total voters
    220

Realest

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May 23, 2017
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Germany
I dont want to hate on her, but in my opinion it is inconsequantly and unprincipled. I cant see anything on her that is better than average. And she seems very unnaturally.
 

Realest

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May 23, 2017
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7,483
Location
Germany

Of Course she would have got 0 Points from the Jury deservedly because she cant sing but because of her huge fanbase in :at: and :ch: im sure that in the summary she would have topped the 6 Points from Levina :D :D
 

tuorem

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January 17, 2012
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GN-z11
My review of "Perfect Life":

-After their last victory, Germany has slowly but surely lost artistic flair over the years, it's like they're doing the absolute most to sink without a trace. That's a shame because I liked "Satellite" (after hating on it for a couple of years), "Miss Kiss Kiss Bang" (and I'm not even ashamed of it), "Glorious" (because Cascada is >>>>>) and "Black Smoke" (underrated song tbh). Besides, Germans have also sent a super great entry: "Taken By A Stranger" remains to me my favourite effort from them. It was bold for Eurovision, very cinematic-sounding and sophisticated arrangement-wise. Even the staging and performance were unseen for 2011 and probably inspired Loreen for Euphoria. After their undeserved big fat zero in 2015, they sent a middle-of-the-road pop song the year after that pretty much had the same fate, and I was really sad to hear they reiterated that this year. "Perfect Life" followed the same recipe as "Ghost", which was the unremarkable-middle-of-the-road-pop-song-that's-somehow-reminiscent-of-an-old-international-hit. Honestly, I didn't follow the German NF, but I wonder who thought this song would get somewhere in Eurovision. It started kind of badly with an electric guitar-centered intro that was almost identical to Sia's Titanium... I don't approve of Eurovision entries that are way too "inspired" by known songs like these, and my question is: why? I mean, couldn't they find another melody or change the instrument used so that people just don't think it's a rip-off? "Ghost" sounded like "Umbrella" at times, but it was nothing compared to this. Someone at NDR definitely thinks reminding people of a past hit is cool, yet the results prove it's the contrary. Thankfully, Levina soon started singing and her different melodic lines reduced this feeling. The arrangements were minimalistic as we got this electric guitar loop, some piano notes scattered here and there, as well as barely noticeable strings during the first chorus; a clear beat will only get introduced during the second verse. Melodically, it isn't anything special really, it's listness yet listenable. Construction-wise, it's also very poor as there is no bridge or twist of some sort. Unless they merely want to troll people, NDR should realise by now that the divisive songs rarely get the worst placings, it's the mediocre songs that tend to do, and "Perfect Life" is another example of that. It came across as very generic, linear, and borderline boring. It's got no replay value whatsoever and zero elements that could make it stand out in a competition. "Ghost" is a work of art in comparison. Pros: easy-listening, if that is a compliment. Cons: the obvious reference to Titanium, the meh melody, uninspired arrangements, lack of a bridge, no build-up.

There is no real highlight in this song, I'd say the first minute is cute to listen to as Levina's voice is very clear there. Apart from that, nothing exciting.

-Vocally, Levina was awesome imo. She's got a lovely husky voice when she belts out, and she knows how to use it, hence why she succeeded in making the most of the song and elevating it as much as possible. No lie, I genuinely enjoyed her final performance and think she couldn't have done better in this department. It was such a shame to waste her talent on such a beige unambitious song tbh, with a decent one, I'm confident she would have really shone as a performer. Like Lucie Jones, she was better than her song.

-Visually, I felt like it was a half-baked product Germans served us this year. The beginning was great with the shot from the ceiling spinning around towards Levina lying down on a black, white and grey cosmic-looking floor. I approved of the colour scheme, the predominance of grey tones is rare in Eurovision stagings, it stood out imo. Fashion-wise, it might be an unpopular opinion but I loved Levina's long dark grey skirt and backless light grey top: with her hairstyle, she looked like a L' oréal model - kind of - giving her an edgy presence. However, as soon as she got up, any potential for entertaining visuals was lost, since apparently their team thought contenting themselves with white-ish grey blades forming a triangle and a succession of geometrical patterns would be enough of an event for viewers. I'm against the "style over substance" approach, but this song was so unremarkable that only a creative presentation from beginning to end might have garnered a few more points. I've to point out Levina didn't look swallowed by the stage though (unlike other soloists). To sum up, I liked the cold L'oréal-meets-Volkswagen type of style they went for, I bought the vocal performance and outfit, but the presentation was only interesting during the first 25 seconds, then it became as beige (or grey should I say? :D) as the song. Meh, I miss the polished staging of "Black Smoke".

-Results-wise, all of us were not wondering how many points Germans would get, but whether they would finish dead last or second-to-last... which told a lot about the abysmal expectations they sparked off in less than three years. :? Of course, I'm relieved they didn't finish last (because Spain worked hard to get there), but I think it's really sad to be glad about that. I don't know what to say, NDR should wake up and start experimenting, it can't be worse than now it terms of results and should they flop again, at least it won't be with a song devoid of appeal. Also, please think about singing in German: English doesn't bring more success and many people speak German in Europe, so you wouldn't lose much either on that. Despite my negative review, "Perfect Life" is like around 27th place in my personal ranking, simply because the edition was really weak to me and other songs irked me much more. With that being said, I hope for a serious change next year. Stop sending pointless knock-offs and show us your alternative side. I mean why not? :D Regards from your French neighbours. xkiss
 

Realest

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May 23, 2017
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7,483
Location
Germany
Just watched it again, after 5 Months.. and it was even more horrible than I had it in memory. Even worse that "Run and Hide", "Disappear" and "Ghost". Im wondering in which dreamworld she lives, that she really believed that she could end up Top 10 and didnt expect this horrible Result.
 

Mainshow

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Joined
December 23, 2018
Posts
13,900
3 pts - Annoying voice, lacklustre and totally misleading performance. I still don't get it why there was nothing going on on stage and why she has been dressed in grey when the arrangement of the song is quite playful and she sings about embracing life, etc.

The song itself was bad as well. It's a harmless radio-friendly track, though.
 

ESC94

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September 7, 2019
Posts
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Location
Bavaria, Germany
This was sadly one of my least favourite entries from :de: in the last years, it was basically the perfect definition of "bland". A singer who could hit the notes but didn´t have an interesting voice, a harmless radio song which sounded like a copy of "Titanium" in the beginning, grey clothes and a very boring performance in the final, where Levinas voice let her down a bit. This was basically doomed to be under the last five from the beginning, and only the trainwreck from :es: saved :de: from the third last place in a row.

I gave this a :3: because it was at least good produced, but that´s it.
 

ESC94

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September 7, 2019
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The blandest German entry that I've ever witnessed was this one.

Not only entry, but also contestant!! I don´t wanna sound mean, but she´s really as interesting as an empty sheet of paper.

The year after she was part of the "song checks" of NDR, where some experts commented the songs. And she always said the same boring and meaningless comments like "oh that´s soo great", "oh I like this", and so on.xbored
 

Iker

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March 13, 2018
Posts
3,415
Not only entry, but also contestant!! I don´t wanna sound mean, but she´s really as interesting as an empty sheet of paper.

The year after she was part of the "song checks" of NDR, where some experts commented the songs. And she always said the same boring and meaningless comments like "oh that´s soo great", "oh I like this", and so on.xbored

So I guess it is very fitting that it was her out of all
singers who accepted singing this bland crap.
 

Realest

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Joined
May 23, 2017
Posts
7,483
Location
Germany
She aimed for a Placing in the upper Third.
Its understandable that she was devastated during the Voting.
 
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