At least that used to be the title of my old preview blog post but they're not even giving us a minute any more - just a measly 30 second rehearsal snippet which is presumably to build up the excitement and anticipation for what is many Eurovision fans' favourite national contest. We'll have to wait till this afternoon before we hear the songs in full.
For the past few years I have watched every Melodifestivalen heat live (although am usually inclined to give Andra Chansen a miss). Normally I would be sitting with my laptop wired up to the TV just before 7.00pm UK time, getting increasingly anxious that the quality of the webstream will be ok, and bursting with excitement at the opening titles and the balloon-waving frenzy. But not tonight.
In recent years I have also grown to love the Danish national final. Regardless of the quality of the songs, DR always puts on a spectacular show. But last year, I chose to miss the DMGP final, to watch Melodifestivalen on the same evening and immediately regretted it, as I discovered that it was not being rebroadcast anywhere. Back then, I said that I wouldn't make that same mistake in 2015. So my laptop will be tuned to the DR webstream tonight and I will be watching Melfest on catch-up.
But I digress, this post isn't about Denmark, I'm supposed to be reviewing song clips so let's get on with it.
1. "I'll Be Fine" - Molly Pettersson Hammar. When she was in Swedish Idol I thought she had an excellent voice with a maturity beyond her young years, and I thought it was inevitable that she would end up in Melfest one day. I'm surprised they're opening the show with this as I thought they would have gone for a bigger 'name' however on the evidence of the clip Molly certainly should be fine with this Ella Henderson-style tune. I get the feeling it could become a bit annoying, however need to listen to the verses before forming a real opinion of the song.
2. "Pappa" - Daniel Gildenlöw. No heavy rock this time from the Pain of Salvation frontman but instead an emotional number with heartfelt lyrics which could 'do a Linus Svenning' this time round although it just sounds a bit too wet and calculated. Again I'm only basing it on a very short clip, but 2nd position in the draw always indicates that SVT have given up on you before you've even started.
3. "One By One" - Elize Ryd and Rickard Söderberg. Now these two seem to be really going for it in the clip. A combination of big theatrical singing and rock. I think this will be a definite qualifier because they're going to perform the life out of it. I'm guessing that by the end of it we will all need a headache pill as Elize and Rickard spend 3 minutes trying to out-sing each other.
4. "Hello Hi" - Dolly Style. Yohio looks to have mutated into three girls who are bringing bubblegum back. Fans of Aqua-style pop are going to drool over this, and I'm guessing that much of the ESC fan community will do likewise. This doesn't really appeal to my own musical tastes but I'm probably eventually going to wake up screaming in the middle of the night with the refrain "I am Molly, I am Holly, I am Polly, hello hi!" stuck in my brain. Aargh.
5. "Det rår vi inte för" - Behrang Miri feat Victor Crone. This song is probably going nowhere at Melfest despite the return of Behrang who did very well on his debut. Even though there is a very impressive songwriting team (Behrang co-wrote with Albin 'Din Soldat' Johnsén, Måns Zelmerlöw and Tony Nilsson) that probably won't count for much as I can't see the Melfest audience embracing rap unless it's Sean Banan! I'd like to see and hear more of Victor though :)
6. "Can't Hurt Me Now" - Jessica Andersson. Although there's one less song in each Melfest heat this year, Did anyone hear "Knocking on Heaven's Door" here? Or is it just me? I like Jessica and am happy to see her back in the contest although can't see this having the same impact as "I Did It For Love".
7. "Sting" - Eric Saade. He sings "It's gonna drive you mad" and he's quite right because I am so disappointed by this song. I wasn't a fan of "Popular" but on the evidence of this clip that song was way better than this one. He always comes across as a bit too arrogant for my liking, I don't know about "Sting" but I've just had a read at the lyrics and they....'stink'!
Based on the short clips I'm predicting:
To the final: Eric Saade, Elize and Rickard
To Andra Chansen: Dolly Style and Molly Petersson Hammar
EDIT 9.45pm Saturday night: well you won't be too surprised to learn I got it wrong as usual!
It's Eric and Jessica who are going direkt till Friends whilst Dolly Style and Behrang and Victor get the ticket to Andra Chansen. I'll catch up with this heat over the weekend as tonight was all about DMGP.
3. "One By One" - Elize Ryd and Rickard Söderberg. Now these two seem to be really going for it in the clip. A combination of big theatrical singing and rock. I think this will be a definite qualifier because they're going to perform the life out of it. I'm guessing that by the end of it we will all need a headache pill as Elize and Rickard spend 3 minutes trying to out-sing each other.
4. "Hello Hi" - Dolly Style. Yohio looks to have mutated into three girls who are bringing bubblegum back. Fans of Aqua-style pop are going to drool over this, and I'm guessing that much of the ESC fan community will do likewise. This doesn't really appeal to my own musical tastes but I'm probably eventually going to wake up screaming in the middle of the night with the refrain "I am Molly, I am Holly, I am Polly, hello hi!" stuck in my brain. Aargh.
5. "Det rår vi inte för" - Behrang Miri feat Victor Crone. This song is probably going nowhere at Melfest despite the return of Behrang who did very well on his debut. Even though there is a very impressive songwriting team (Behrang co-wrote with Albin 'Din Soldat' Johnsén, Måns Zelmerlöw and Tony Nilsson) that probably won't count for much as I can't see the Melfest audience embracing rap unless it's Sean Banan! I'd like to see and hear more of Victor though :)
6. "Can't Hurt Me Now" - Jessica Andersson. Although there's one less song in each Melfest heat this year, Did anyone hear "Knocking on Heaven's Door" here? Or is it just me? I like Jessica and am happy to see her back in the contest although can't see this having the same impact as "I Did It For Love".
7. "Sting" - Eric Saade. He sings "It's gonna drive you mad" and he's quite right because I am so disappointed by this song. I wasn't a fan of "Popular" but on the evidence of this clip that song was way better than this one. He always comes across as a bit too arrogant for my liking, I don't know about "Sting" but I've just had a read at the lyrics and they....'stink'!
Based on the short clips I'm predicting:
To the final: Eric Saade, Elize and Rickard
To Andra Chansen: Dolly Style and Molly Petersson Hammar
EDIT 9.45pm Saturday night: well you won't be too surprised to learn I got it wrong as usual!
It's Eric and Jessica who are going direkt till Friends whilst Dolly Style and Behrang and Victor get the ticket to Andra Chansen. I'll catch up with this heat over the weekend as tonight was all about DMGP.
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