Sunday, October 04, 2009

Swedish Idol 2009: now let battle commence


12 contestants, but only 11 places up for grabs. Two contestants had automatically reached Friday's qualifying-final from each of their four heats, with the other four places being made up by wildcard contestants.

1. "Beat It" - Erik Grönwall
Young rocker Erik, who famously turned Yohanna’s "Is It True" into a rock ballad earlier in the competition, was putting his rock stamp on Jacko’s "Beat It". Of the rockers this year I probably prefer Calle to Erik, who sounded a bit strained here, but I think he’ll go far and could be this year's Johan Palm!

2. "Son of a Preacher Man" - Reza Ningtyas Lindh
Rough, gritty, croaky. I really can’t stand this song and it should be banned from all idol-type competitions. She gave it all she had though, I suppose.

3. "Show Me Heaven" - Erika Selin
Another song which I’d be happy to see the back of, I don’t really have a problem with her although she probably over-sang this one.

4 - "Here I Go Again" - Calle Kristiansson
If they want a rock-Idol in the style of, say, Chris Daughtry or Bo Bice then here’s your man. You’d never get anyone like him in X Factor, more’s the pity. I like him.

5. "Pretty Woman" - Nicklas Hocker
Another rocker. I’m glad he got through as a wild card and hopefully he’ll be given the chance to develop as the weeks go on.

6. "Life On Mars" - Tove Östman Styrke
OK so this is one of my all-time favourite songs and should not be messed with! She messed this up a little, but in a strange way she could be worth watching and could potentially be this year’s Amanda Jenssen?

7. "Don’t Look Back In Anger" - Jon Sindenius
What happens when you’re the year’s favourite based on outstanding auditions, Lars Eriksson-style? Well....you fall at the final pre-contest hurdle. Although Jon did himself no favours on "Don’t Look Back In Anger" which really wasn’t a suitable song for him, he should have been given a few more weeks before outliving his usefulness?

8. "Hurtful" - Eddie Razaz.
Massive swooning outbreak at EuropeCrazy HQ. Eddie Razaz is, for me, the hottest looking guy in Idol since Sebastian Karlsson. Yes, that hot. With the volume down though, as his vocal ability doesn’t match his looks and he didn’t make a good job of one of the best songs of 2009. Must do better. But I hope he lasts a few weeks, for completely shallow reasons.

9. "Fever" - Karolina Brånsgård
Unfortunately this was at odds with the backing track throughout and was in the wrong key. This did not float my boat at all. She should have been sent home.

10. "Stand by Me" - Rabih Jaber
Rabih, bless him, is another boy in search of a boy band. He’s like all the worst kind of talent show singers all rolled into one, but I probably fear the worst that he’ll go further than he deserves to.

11. "Sweet Child O’ Mine" - Mariette Hansson
Confident, assured, she already looks and sounds like a star. Ladies and gentlemen, I think we may have a winner here?

12. "Hallelujah" - Camilla Håkansson
In one of those great D’oh! moments, Camilla is the Idol-contestant who mistakenly thought she heard her name called as a finalist. She did get a wild card though, and freakily turned the dreaded "Hallelujah" into an all-or-nothing rock-out, a gamble which bizarrely paid off.

So Jon goes home earlier than any of us expected, and the rest (pictured above, picture courtesy of TV4) march on to the first weekly live show which takes place on Friday 9th October. This year, there's a Melodifestivalen-style aspect as the final three shows go out of the TV4 studio and go on tour - 27.11.09 in Malmo Arena; 04.12.09 in Gothenburg Scandinavium; and the final, as always, will take place in Stockholm's Globen Arena on 11.12.09.

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