Ireland chose the 34-year-old singer-songwriter Lesley Roy again this year. The Irish-born New Yorker could not present her song “Story of My Life” at the ESC 2020 in Rotterdam due to the pandemic-related cancellation. Now she represents her country with “Maps” and will definitely perform this song at the Eurovision Song Contest.
Lesley Roy comes from Dublin and commutes – as far as possible – between her hometown and her second home in New York’s East Village. She has not yet had any major musical successes as a solo artist. She had only modest success in her homeland in 2008 with her debut album “Unbeautiful”. Since then she has been more active as a songwriter and has created tracks for artists such as Adam Lambert (“Pop That Lock”), Miss Montreal (“I Am Hunter”), Medina (“Waiting For Love”) and Jana Kramer (“Goodbye California”) written.
The song
“Maps” was written and produced by Lesley together with Eurovision producer Lukas Hällgren (who also produced Luca Hännis “She Got Me” for Switzerland at ESC 2019), Philip Strand, Normandie, Deepend and Emelie Eriksson. For the songwriting and production process of the title Lesley Roy spent three months in the studio. The song is an up-tempo pop track that reminds you of Katy Perry the first time you listen to it and also has catchy tune potential. Compared to “Story of my Life”, many fans should be pleased that this time Lesley completely dispensed with the textual “Na-Na-Na” passages that were often criticized last year.
The check
Song: 4/5 Punkte
Voice: 3/5 points
Instant-Appeal: 3/5 Punkte
Optics: 3/5 points
Benny: Much better than last year. Lesley Roy is much more mature, but still relies on radio pop in the Katy Perry style. “Maps” is certainly not a revelation, but the song is positive, goes forward and is a catchy tune. I’m a little worried about the implementation on stage, but let’s hope for the best. 8 points.
Berenike: “Maps” is wonderful, positive bubblegum pop that puts you in a good mood. The happy, energetic strings are great. If the song was sung by Katy Perry, it could be a hit. And here’s the problem: Lesley isn’t Katy. She lacks charisma and her face always looks like a mask, even in the video, where she is not in a live situation. She cannot “sell” her product, which is good in itself, as a result. 7 points.
Twelve points: There’s really nothing wrong with “Maps”. I enjoy listening to the song and generally I really like Lesley’s voice color. For a composers competition, however, that should not be enough and making it to the finals could be very difficult. 6 points.
Florian: “Maps” stuck in my ear the first time I heard it, which is not least due to the rousing folk-pop instrumentation. Lesley’s singing fits in just as well with the melody and forms a well-rounded overall picture. However, I don’t find a real high point in the three minutes and so I’m afraid Ireland will have a hard time asserting itself with the song against the competition in the first semifinals. 6 points.
Manu: The likeable Lesley would do well not to stray too far from her “Story of my Life” sound, but to forego the too obvious Katy Perry bonds. The result was a really energetic and driving “Maps”, which at times fights a bit against a mash of sound, but I really enjoy listening to it. 8 points.
Max: A significant improvement over the past year! “Maps” is catchy and well produced – it could also be the soundtrack to a Disney film. Whether it works with the finale depends on the live performance, the song itself definitely deserves to progress. From me there is 7 points.
Peter: “Maps” has a nice drive, but beyond that the song sounds a bit arbitrary to me. The song is pleasing, Leslie has an immediately accessible radio-compatible vocal color, but I found “Story of my Life” a lot better: more danceable, more international, more powerful. In the future more Katy Perry and less Melanie C would be my recommendation. 6 points.
Total number of points: 48/84 points
In the ESC compact index, “Maps” ranks 14th out of 40.
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Previously published song checks:
First half of the first semis
(1) Australia: “Technicolor” by Montaigne
