Melodifestivalen 2014: the day after

Often being a eurovision fan is pretty easy in the sense that you mainly need one emotion at the time. If your favourite wins, you are happy. If your favourite doesn't win, you are angry. Or disappointed.

It is the day after Melodifestivalen 2014 and I find myself with very conflicting emotions concerning the outcome.

First of all, I am so happy for Sanna Nielsen who finally got her long-awaited and well-deserved victory. Now she might have landed herself a pop hit that could add more layers to her already very successful career.

Without a doubt she will shine also in Copenhagen, even if the abundance of female vocalists armed with various degrees of mid tempo already chosen could make it a bit more difficult for Sanna to stand out just as much as many seem to anticipate.

I could come to change my mind at some point, but "Undo" doesn't feel like a eurovision winner at this point. It is impressive in many ways but perhaps slightly too professional and controlled to win.

And then there is the disappointment that Sweden came so close to taking a chance with Ace Wilder. Sending in something wild and crazy and running an actual risk of displeasing people. It would have been so refreshing to see Sweden - the country of cool at the ESC - do something as unexpected as that.

All Ace would have needed to win was two points. Which makes me wonder how carefully put together those international juries are. They all agreed Ace was top three material with the notable exceptions of Germany and Malta. Isn't that odd?

At the same time it was a good thing that the winner of the televote also won the whole thing in the end. Had Sanna lost a second time because of the juries, there would have been quite some outcry from the public. As you see - conflicting emotions also here.

I also note that the heyday of the cute boy singer seems to be over. One Yohio, one Oscar and one Anton was more than the audience could digest but I was a bit surprised to see Anton being the one to truly crash and burn at the bottom of the results. I really thought his song was better than that.

The show stayed true to style - some entertaining moments but overall pretty lacklustre. If you want to put on the biggest show of the year, a good line-up is not enough and SVT will have to rethink their conception quite a lot for next year.

So, I'm pleased and a tiny bit disappointed at the same time. Just as I was in 1998 when the Swedish juries rejected the modern and avant-garde "Avundsjuk" by Nanne Grönvall in favour of the beautiful-but-ordinary "Kärleken är" by Jill Johnson.



Nanne - Avundsjuk (Sweden NF 1998)

Melodifestivalen: and our winner is...

It feels unusual that Sweden isn't even close to being the last country selecting their eurovision entry this year, but today is the big day when the international juries and the Swedish televoters will battle it out to see who becomes the Swedish representative in Copenhagen.

And it feels really exciting, I must admit that.

Firstly - the line-up is the best since 2009. There are not just one or two good songs but at least five or six songs that could go to Eurovision and do reasonably well there. Hardly no filler material in the entire final.

Secondly - there is a good chance Sweden will decide not to play safe and go for a quirky and risky choice of the kind that could go terribly wrong just as well as pay off immensely. That mere possibility - that one of the safest players in eurovision history - could go into gambling mood is refreshing enough to fill my stomach with happy colourful butterflies.

Abba was a risky choice. So was Lasse Holm and Monica Törnell in 1986. And that was pretty much every risk Sweden took since the contest turned to colour.

I already reviewed and ranked all the songs earlier, so here I will gamble a bit as well and predict the final placing instead.

1. Anton Ewald - Natural

Last year, I found his entry silly, repetitive and annoying and I still insist this new one is better but less instant. The boy dances gently through his choreography but trips over a couple of his notes while singing instead.

Place: 4

2. Ellen Benediktsson - Songbird

One of the best vocals of the evening and this chorus is still pretty and captivating, but ultimately most people - not all - will prefer more exciting entries once it is time to vote. Ellen seems to have an excellent future ahead of her and would probably just be better off not winning tonight. Which she won't.

Place: 6

3. Alcazar - Blame It On The Disco

Alcazar should probably blame it on the jury instead - unless half the jurors are eurovision fans who love this trio for everything they did in the past, they are not likely to sprinkle any larger sums over this disco tribute. There will be love from the televoting, but surely not enough to win.

Place: 5

4. Oscar Zia - Yes We Can

More often than not the song in last place isn't the worst one, it just ends there because it isn't anyone's favourite and there are not enough points to keep it floating. My guess is that is Oscar's fate tonight. Not because he is bad but because he is nobody's top choice.

Place: 10

5. Linus Svenning - Bröder

I still don't feel anywhere near as touched by this song as I probably should, yet I'm aware many people do. Could go anywhere when the phone lines open, but I doubt the juries will be all too enthusiastic about it.

Place: 7

6. Helena Paparizou - Survivor

In almost every country in Europe this would be a red hot favourite to win, but Helena doesn't entirely click with the Swedish audience. She isn't modest enough and takes up a bit too much space with her huge personality. She could very well be the jury winner but is likely to fall back quite a bit in the televote.

Place: 3

7. Yohio - To The End

Waiting for a star to fall. An OK but anonymous song paired with a decision to tone down his spectacular image from last year leaves Yohio with a clear lack of a buzz surrounding him this time. And if the juries don't vote for him, he can only rely on his hardcore fans. And how many of them are really left out there?

Place: 9

8. Sanna Nielsen - Undo

A long time it looked like nobody could snatch the victory away from her this time, but my guess is that Sanna will be left in second place again. She has a fine song and sings like the goddess she is, but in the end the whole package is probably a bit too expected to be our winner.

Place: 2

9. Panetoz - Efter solsken

You can win in various ways. Getting to the final has changed the entire map for this happy bunch and instead of being a one-hit-wonder curiosity their album looks set to sell rather well. Panetoz are definitely one of the winners even if their final score is unlikely to be particularly high tonight.

Place: 8

10. Ace Wilder - Busy Doing Nothing

The first time I heard the full version of Busy Doing Nothing it was love at first sight. I'm not sure about the last time this happened, but it seems more people than me had the same sensation. The underdog has grown into a firm favourite and a very likely winner and - if so - the most musically daring entry Sweden sent to the ESC since Abba in 1974. A good way to celebrate that it's been 40 years since Brighton. My winner.

Place: 1

You never know who is on the jury and it is hard to predict what they will go for. My guess is that the juries will have Helena in their top spot - but perhaps not by a very large margin - and that the televote will put Sanna in second place and make Ace a clear winner.

Would Ace stand a chance in Copenhagen? Would they have to change the number and add more backing singers? I have no idea. It feels like it is not important at this stage. 

Give me Sanna, Helena, Anton, Alcazar or even Panetoz as winners and I will be fine with that. But if Ace wins, me and my colourful butterflies will go into a happy spin. 

Be brave, Danes!

Dear Denmark,

you are just about to select your entry for this year's Eurovision Song Contest. I must say you have done really well for the last few years, being last year's winner and this year's host country and all, so you hardly need any advice from anyone like me.

But still, I'd like to share some thoughts with you before your final starts. You see, you have meant so much for me through the years. Already as a very young fan, I singled out Denmark as one of the countries I liked almost without exception.

This was in the happy 80's where - admittedly - there was a distinct taste of plastic to most of your entries, but in the 80's we loved plastic. I loved you for it. I still do.

Lately, however. Last ten years or so. I don't know how to put this in a kind way, but as I consider us very close friends it is my duty to say it anyway, so here goes. Lately, your songs haven't meant a lot to me. They are nice and polished. Often catchy. Often pretty inoffensive too.

I wouldn't mind seeing a bit more of an edge, Denmark. Some real emotion. I'd like to see you go out on stage, pull a face, do something unexpected and run the risk of not being liked. I know you'd like to, I know you have it in you.

I know you have it in you, because many songs in your national finals through the years tell me that you do. Here are two examples - from the extravagantly fabulous Sanne Gottlieb - to inspire you, to convince you it can be done and show you that I am truly a friend and nothing else.

A friend who takes the liberty of expecting a little bit more from you.



Sanne Gottlieb - Uden dig (Denmark NF 2000)



Sanne Gottlieb - Tog jeg fejl? (Denmark NF 2001)

Fingers crossed for Slovenia

It was so close that we wouldn't have Slovenia present in Copenhagen, but in a surprise move they decided not only to participate but also to organise a national final.

That's an unexpected twist, but I am genuinely happy to have Slovenia in the competition. I have always been very fond of their entries even if they, like an ex-Yugoslav equivalent of Finland, have a hard time getting anyone to vote for them.

I haven't listened to the songs for tonight's EMA but wish them the best of luck. Also very much like Finland, they have been notorious for not selecting the best songs on offer through the years, but that is no excuse for not getting it right this time.

I'm hoping for a song that could make it into the final again, but in my book it is still worth more being good than being successful. Like their first ever entry - possibly still my favourite Slovenian entry - which was melodic, original, colourful and scored a grand total of nine points.



1 X Band - Tih deževen dan (Slovenia 1993)

Is it OK to care about Eurovision?

Last Saturday, during the last stages of Andra Chansen when the second duel had just been announced and things started getting interesting for real, something happened that rarely happens. My interest just suddenly shrunk and vanished.

I had accidentally flipped from my Twitter feed onto a news site and suddenly disturbing headlines and pictures from Ukraine overwhelmed me and Melodifestivalen seemed very unimportant in comparison.

The political situation in Europe is very tense and very worrying and during the last week, whenever I felt like posting something on this blog, I couldn't help thinking that a little song contest is a very trivial thing in the big universe.

In short: is it OK to use your time and energy caring about Eurovision under these circumstances?

The answer I came down to is: Yes. It is. It isn't just OK, it is even pretty important. Necessary. This is my defence speech on why that is so.

In 2012, I wrote a column I was pretty pleased with about what was wrong with the contest in Baku. How it stole the fun away from us, how we suddenly talked very little about songs and key-changes and choreography and turned our full attention to politics of all sorts.

In my opinion, the ESC is our joint coffee break where all of Europe can take a little time off from everyday life and just have fun together. Do something light-hearted, listen to some songs, look at some performances and just feel like we were one unit for once.

So this is my disclaimer for the rest of this season as well as for all eternity: I will keep blogging about Eurovision even if it is a bit trivial. Because trivial is what we need to get by. Whatever happens in the news, I hope the Eurovision Song Contest will be the last european institution standing.

Melodifestivalen: who gets a second chance?

Andra Chansen used to be that calmer week of Melodifestivalen where two lucky losers won the chance of further exposure in the final. Less important than the other weeks by far, and a well-needed break between the semis and the suspense of the big final.

Then last year Robin Stjernberg turned everything upside down, proving also a song from the second chance round is capable of winning. The big question is if the same thing will happen again. Will it happen this year?

No. Most probably it won't. That kind of thing will probably happen about once every tenth year or so also in the future.

But the songs selected tonight could turn the dynamics of the final upside down and in that respect Andra Chansen is far from unimportant.

So how will it go, then? In the first round, four of the eight songs will be voted off the show. I think and hope those four will be Ammotrack, State of Drama, Ellinore Holmer and Linus Svenning.

After that you can never know. The song in first place will battle the song in fourth place while the song in second place battles the one in third. But I'd prefer Helena Paparizou and JEM in the final. I could definitely live with Outtrigger as well while Martin Stenmarck would be dull.

Tobson review: Estonia picks their entry

For the last two years, I've been seated in the Nokia kontserdimaja in Tallinn to see the big final of Eesti laul live. Almost all the way back since the tiny Baltic state made its debut back in 1994, Estonia and their entries have been very dear to me, getting special attention from me and my critical eyes.

This year I won't see the final live at all, but I followed the semi finals closely and feel ready to predict the outcome of tonight's show.

As if there was ever a point in trying to predict what the Estonians will do. Most of the time they surprise you and if they don't, then that's a surprise too.

1. Brigita Murutar - Laule täis taevakaar
The big exclamation mark for me this year. What seemed like an inoffensive little ditty has grown into a simple but catchy song that could possibly appeal to rather a large section of the audience. I doubt the jurors will stand up and clap along, but it has grown into a bit of a personal favourite.
Grade: 4/5

2. Traffic - Für Elise
At some point this felt like a bit of a dark horse and a potential winner in the end but then the live performance turned out to be slightly less vibrant than the song itself and this spot in the running order does it no favours either. I wouldn't discard its chances just yet but it feels less and less like a hot favourite.
Grade: 3/5

3. Norman Salumäe - Search
Another grower, helped along by some intriguing camerawork and the rare and peculiar stage presence of Norman himself. Not as strong as his other entry with August Hunt (rejected in the first semi) but pleasant all the same.
Grade: 3/5

4. Wilhelm - Resignal
Artistic but introvert and pretty un-catchy pop. In the worst case scenario, this is exactly the kind of entry that the wrong kind of expert jury would shower in points in order to show how eclectic their own taste is. Talented band but the song wouldn't go far in Copenhagen.
Grade: 1/5

5. Lenna - Supernoova
Lenna's third solo effort is another strong rock ballad - efficient, polished and made to enthuse the local radio stations and promote her new album. It could be a winner - perhaps because the audience would think it is Lenna's turn to go - but it could a bit too demanding to stand a real chance internationally. I predict another second place.
Grade: 4/5

6. Super Hot Cosmos Blues Band - Maybe Maybe
At this point in the show, this song is sure to stand out from the rest. It's a pleasant and catchy - but ultimately too underdeveloped - little effort.
Grade: 2/5

7. Maiken - Siin või sealpool maad
Elegant and traditional, but perhaps one ballad too many in this line-up. Maiken has never sounded better vocally and could be rewarded for that, but it doesn't feel like a winner.
Grade: 2/5

8. Kõrsikud - Tule ja jää
Being original never hurt anybody in a contest like the ESC and these gents would surely leave a lasting impression also on a european audience. The song is soft and melodic but could be stronger without harming anyone.
Grade: 3/5

9. Tanja - Amazing
Being the first song in the first semi put Tanja a bit in the shadow of a number of other songs, but her new place in the running order highlights what an effective entry this is. Well sung and impressively staged. A tiny bit too Euphoria-esque for its own good but not an impossible surprise winner in the end.
Grade: 3/5

10. Sandra Nurmsalu - Kui tuuled pöörduvad
Perhaps not quite as distinct and special as Rändajad, Sandra's new song stands out as the most obvious choice out of the ten candidates. There is a danger in being the favourite, as the expert juries more than once have decided to keep their votes down for anticipated winners in the past.
Grade: 3/5

Tobson predicts: The experts and the televoters will select two songs for a super final before the viewers alone decides who will be the overall winner. The logical super finalists would be Lenna and Sandra, where the audience probably would go for the possibly more instantly graspable Sandra who would probably also have a wider appeal internationally.

Then again - if the experts decide to be a difficult bunch, they could keep Sandra out of the top two. And if one song would sell itself in a big way to the viewers, it could make its way into the final and win by a landslide there. Then it could be Traffic or Tanja, or even my personal favourite Brigita.