A Swede who lives in Finland and who is lost in Euroland - the wonderful world of Eurovision
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Sunday, February 5, 2012

Sweden, semi 1: A touch of class

The first semi of Melodifestivalen 2012 is over and resulted in what I did not dare hope for: Loreen, with her elaborate stage show and sophisticated dance track, went straight into the final. Sweden never embraced an entry like this in the past and this was a very welcome surprise given the more likely scenarios.

I predicted Sean Banan would do Dead for April company bang into the final, but I'm not quite unhappy about Banana Boy going into the Second Chance round instead. You never know what competition he will face there, but I think the fun is over for him.

I thought The Moniker would reach Andra Chansen, but he was left in last place. That was the only thing in my prediction that went completely wrong, but I guess the dramatic change of musical direction backfired on him. In no way was his song the weakest in this line-up.

As a show, this was Melodifestivalen by the numbers: a glossy, luxurious package where most things looked good and lavish (apart from the surprisingly cheap and uninspired artist presentations before each song) and not much effort had been spared to make a good show.

And yet... I can't shake the feeling that the whole thing has turned a tad too predictable. If you watched it for the last couple of years, you know very much to expect. The kind of "intellectual" humour in the scripts, the pre-recorded sketches, the interval acts. Everything is top crop but I wasn't surprised once.

Maybe for 2013 it would a good idea to really shake the whole thing up, throw all the pieces in the air and try to really give the audience something they truly did not expect.

But these discussions can wait for later, right now I will just sit back and be very pleased about the Swedish televoters accepting Loreen the way she is.

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