According to an article in Aftonbladet, http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/article6438191.ab only five Swedish juries - located in Gothenburg, Malmo, Stockholm, Luleå and Umeå - will vote on the outcome of this year's Melodifestivalen final. Out go Örebro, Falun, Karlstad, Norrköping, Sundsvall and Växjö in favour of six juries from the European continent.
MF project manager Thomas Hall claims that the six European juries will give a more accurate picture of what is musically popular in Europe - but I feel that this will dilute the unique geographical nature of what is the Swedish Song Contest after all. And just because some international juries were used in MF, it doesn't necessarily follow that the rest of Europe will equally appreciate the national winner when it gets to the Eurovision Song Contest stage.
Oh well that's progress for you :( we'll need to wait and see if it's the right decision!!
4 comments:
That seems quite a ridiculous idea to me.It's true that a few juries can't represent the opinions of the whole of Europe,but then that's what makes it all the more pointless really.
I've never liked MF- I know it's a big tradition now but I find it a bit pretentious (even more so now they've got international blinking juries!) the way it's dragged out over the space of what feels like 9 months.Especially as Sweden haven't exactly done that well over the past few years anyway.But they do put on a good show,which leads me to suggest that all EBU countries should donate a few quid to Sweden every year and have them host ESC from now to eternity.
Yes it's a really horrible idea isn't it! They brought in an international jury at last year's MF and I thought it was a pretty pointless exercise.
I'll admit to loving MF probably for the same reason that you don't :))) as I love the way it goes on for ever! My own feeling now though is that the Eurovision aspect isn't as important as it once was, as some (not all) of the acts are only really using it as a stepping stone to a bigger audience and a higher profile than the means to an end of representing their country. But Sweden being Sweden, they do go over the top about it and once the entry is chosen, their media automatically thinks the act only has to turn up and win....resulting in inevitable disappointment and post-mortems when they can't even get in the top half of the scoreboard.
Yes I agree Sweden should probably host ESC every year - as their production values on MF are always outstanding.
I agree with what you say about the acts treating MF as the main contest and ESC just becomes an afterthought. For the last two years that I have watched it, the act that wins has a stage performance designed for the MF stage, and then they seem to think that they can just take it as is to the ESC stage and it will work the same. Which is never does, and ends up just looking like a shambles. If they just took the time (time they dont have since they choose so late) to adapt the performance to the new stage a little, it would come across a whole lot more professional. Rant over :)
Yes Keira you are absolutely spot on. That's a really good point about the late selection - maybe if MF started a bit earlier, say, mid-January, they would have a bit more time to get it right, instead of just narrowly making the EBU deadline.
Wonder when Royaume-Uni will get round to our selection process? It was well under way this time a year ago. I guess it may be a bit lower profile with the absence of "The Lord" this year?
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