So finally, the auditions are over and the real contest has begun. And there are so many questions....
Is Jay Smith the real deal? Well, he rocked his way through "White Wedding" and even at this point I can see him being pigeonholed with Metallica and Nickelback songs. Unfortunately you will have guessed that I'm in a pretty cynical mood tonight. Sorry.) Anyway, he did what he needed to do.
Why is Andreas Weise there? There's nothing spectacular about him, and his unspectacular version of "For Once In His Life" was a bit too cabaret for these ears. Add to that the negative publicity in the Swedish tabloids over the past week and I'd say he was very lucky to make it to next week, although I can't see him having a long lifespan in this competition.
Could Linda Varg out-Alanis Alanis? Her vocals weren't always perfect, but she totally threw herself into the spirit which the deliciously vitriolic song requires, and completely sold it. I just wonder how she will cope with non-rock songs though and she could maybe lack versatility.
Is Daniel Norberg a boyband member in search of a boyband? Haha. Three cheers for the song choice though (John Mayer's 'Who Says') - you'd never hear this on 'X Factor' and that is why I love Swedish Idol. Anyway he seems promising and it will be interesting to see how he progresses.
Is Elin Blom a girlband member in search of a girlband? I think so. There wasn't too much wrong vocally with her version of Robyn's "Hang With Me", but it lacked the brittle vulnerability of the original. But then again, Robyn is a very hard act to emulate...
Could Olle Hedberg keep up the high standard? I think the answer to that one is 'yes'. I've never been a fan of the song he sang last night 'Talking About A Revolution' but he has such raw passion in his performance that he could sing anything and make it compelling.
Would Sassa Bodensjö do a Pink song justice? "Dear Mr President" is a deceptively simple song with very sharp lyrics, and unfortunately Sassa fell short of what was expected from her. This was one of the night's weakest performances.
Is Linnea Henriksson a potential winner? Although there is no-one of the one-off quirky calibre of Tove Styrke/Amanda Jenssen this year, Linnea is probably the closest to that type of contestant. Her freaky, jazzy reinvention of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" made her one to watch.
Geir Rönning: why? Sorry I couldn't resist this question, given his Eurovision entry of the same name. I still don't think he should be in this contest, as he's not exactly a newcomer but then the same could be said for Linda Varg (ex-Popstars band Supernatural) and Elin Blom (Finnish Eurovision national final contestant) so I guess we should leave it there. Anyway he played it safe with a disappointing version of Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now".
Is Alice Hagenbrant as good as she thinks she is? I'm no fan of the song she sang (Sheryl Crow's "If It Makes You Happy") and there is nothing particularly great, original or charismatic about her, going by this performance.
Which one was Minnah Karlsson again? The worst thing about these competitions is trying to remember everyone and I'd actually forgotten about Minnah. Which was a mistake, as she actually sang "Holding Out For A Hero" quite well, and without any vocal histrionics.
In the end, it was between Sassa and Linda in the bottom two, and Sassa became the first of this year's finalists to exit the competition.
One more question: who's next to go? Answers next Friday.
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