This week's theme: Swedish-language hits. And about time too!
Matilda: "Varje gång jag ser dig" - original artist Lisa Nilsson
One of those 'Swedish classics'. Her interpretation was OK but missing something. The judges weren't too keen on it either.
Erik: "Sakta vi går igenom stan " - original artist Monica Zetterlund
There's been a Monica Z revival in Sweden over the past couple of months thanks to the film of the same name, so this was a fairly topical choice of an old song. Erik getting in touch with his jazzy side. Well done!
Jens:
"Trasiga skor" - original artist Cornelis Vreeswijk
I didn't know this song at all but Jens did it rather well.
Sandra: "Öppna din dörr" - original artist Tommy Nilsson
Now this one's a good old Swedish talent show staple and has been performed on Idol before. Not really too much to say, decent performance. The judges didn't seem so positive though.
Kevin: "Till dom ensamma" - original artist Mauro Scocco
I don't know the original song so can't really compare it. This version firmly fell into Kevin's easy/comfortable good-but-not-earth-shattering style. I'm still not sure if he would do so well without all the football back-story, and if the Swedish press is to be believed there's a good bit of favouritism going on (allegedly).
Elin:"Flickorna på TV2" - original artist Gyllene Tider
I'm a little more sympathetic to Elin after reading that she'd been struggling with a viral infection and coughing fits for weeks. (Sounds very close to home). Anyway I'm finally getting used to her vocal style and beginning to think she could have a decent career ahead of her as a recording artist, although she's still a little too unpredictable vocally.
Matilda: "Det kommer aldrig va över för mig" - original artist Håkan Hellström
Quite an ironic song title when you consider how the evening was to pan out. I thought this was actually a very decent version of the song and didn't really deserve the criticism. However she and Elin are perhaps a little too close in appearance and vocal style
Erik: "Gubben i lådan" - original artist Daniel Adams-Ray
This is a very deceptive song as Daniel's verse rhymes can be very difficult to keep up with. I noticed that Erik's version seemed to focus more on the chorus and he injected a bit of soul into the song.
Jens: "Strövtåg i hembygden" - original artist Mando Diao
I had mentioned in an earlier post that he should try this song as I thought it would be a perfect fit for his voice. Someone at Idol obviously agreed - this was a very wise song choice. Idol 2013's king of inconsistency was definitely on his good side this week.
Sandra: "Händerna mot himlen" - original artist Petra Marklund
It was OK I guess, although for me it was in far too high a key to appreciate, and never came close to Petra's brilliant original. Sandra was made-over beyond recognition this week, but it's as if they're still searching for a look and a style for her.
Kevin: "Välkommen in" - original artist Veronica Maggio
Much of this had me squirming in disbelief. Lacking the effortless cool of Veronica's version, and all over the place vocally.
Elin: "Vart jag mig i världen vänder" - original artist Den Svenska Björnstammen
A punchy performance of the big hit from a couple of years ago. She was mainly on form but lost the vocals a few times and tried to mask this with her trademark rolling grunts. I didn't like her outfit either, but all in all this was better than I expected.
Bottom two: Matilda and Elin, with Matilda (above) eliminated. I thought Matilda's time was up. As I said earlier, she seems to be too close to Elin in looks and voice, however Elin has the edge as well as a growing fanbase.
Talking of fanbases, this begs the question - how long can Kevin stay in the competition? He's lucky that it's an underwhelming year for Idol as he probably wouldn't have lasted so long in a stronger field. Or maybe he would? For the influence of fandom in these competitions can't be underestimated.....
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