Review: Knez with Adio

Following last year’s success with Moj Svijet, Montenegro has decided to keep the Balkan ballads flowing and brings us Adio. Knez was one of the first 2015 Eurovision artists to be announced, although we had to wait almost until the March deadline to hear his song. The question is: was it worth the wait?

The first time you listen to Adio you may want to skip the first 30 seconds. The music is ethnic, it is soft, it is nice but it is way too much for a three minutes song opening. The lyrics then are very romantic, and I think Montenegrin is just the perfect language for them (it’s hard to believe that Igranka was sung in Montenegrin too, as it sound so much harsh). That being said, the song is actually a little bit plain, and doesn’t try to grow until the very end. The female back up singers sound really good with Knez voice, and I don’t think it is a song you could actually dislike. As a whole, it is well constructed and it works, although it may seem a little repetitive and kind of boring at some parts (I just wish it had the strength it has after the second chorus). They’ve tried to repeat Moj Svijet’s formula, but I find Sergej much sweeter than Knez, and last year’s song a little bit stronger. The rest is quite the same.

Anyway, I really like Adio. It is very lyrical, warm and I find it somehow spring-like (although I can’t understand a single word).Unfortunately, I think it won’t make through the second semi-final, where there are so many good songs and seven have to go home. At least if they had taken any risk there would be something to blame on, but to me it is just the Moj Svijet-like song that wasn’t as good as Moj Svijet.