A Swede who lives in Finland and who is lost in Euroland - the wonderful world of Eurovision
There is always some matter to discuss or just a song I want to share
Very welcome - I hope you'll like it here!

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Melodifestivalen: one minute is nothing

Last year, I took a really minimalist approach to Melodifestivalen for the first time in years. I didn't listen to any clips in advance and waited to hear the entries for the first time during the live show.

It was nice. It was a bit like in the old days when you waited and waited and were finally - hopefully - rewarded for your patience.

I'm keeping most of it this year. Don't expect any in-depth reviews from me, but I do allow myself to listen to the one-minute clips that appear online every Thursday.

One minute is absolutely nothing. It is impossible to say if a song is working or not after hearing these. It could be the strongest moment out of a weak entry, but a song that builds up to a grand finish will never benefit from this treatment.

This is taken by Leif R Jansson and belongs to Scanpix.

Sanna Nielsen's clip, for instance. I hear a promising melody line and a promising chorus - I know the girl can sing - but one minute is not enough to make me shiver. Martin Stenmarck sounds good and modern but also a bit confusing. Is it possible to get a handle on this song? I can't tell after this clip. It is impossible to predict at this point.

It seems to be pretty hard to predict for the people on location too. The first semi was full of surprises and the live audience survey made after the dress rehearsal was way wrong.

Maybe the Swedish audience just decided to be unpredictable this year. And if that is what we think, then a predictable result would be the biggest surprise of them all.

All theory aside: this week I expect to totally adore Sanna's entry once I hear the full version and I found myself an unexpected personal favourite in Panetoz. I hope there is enough of a song going on in their case to keep it interesting for three minutes.

Tobson predicts: Sanna and Martin to the final, Panetoz and The Refreshments to Andra Chansen. There is a lot of talk about Little Great Things, but I think they will be fifth with JEM - and yet another of those songs that the audience at home fails to connect with - missing out. Manda or Pink Pistols? Not a chance.

No comments:

Post a Comment