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[LexC]

Yes, as soon as one heat finishes, another one is just around the corner. With any luck, and judging by the improved pedigree of the field in this heat, we ought to get a bit of a better set of songs this week. In the hopes of kicking off this thread with a bit more energy than last week, here's a brief runthrough of what's going to be in the mix in Sweden's second city;


Song 1: Samir & Viktor – Shuffla

I've tried my best to resist giving in to Samir and (strong 8) Viktor since Mello 2015 but even I will have to admit that they've delivered banger after banger in their time and, whilst I'm no fortune teller, I get the feeling they're not about to have a complete change of image and go with an accoustic folk ballad. This will likely get the show started in a good way but, whilst they are your perfect definition of an "app voter" act, Samir & Viktor have yet to qualify for a final directly. Will it be third time lucky or are we likely to see these two in the most predictable Andra Chansen face off ever with Sigrid from Heat 1 (Samir's actual IRL girlfriend)?


Song 2: Ida Redig - Allting som vi sa

Ida is a name that might be familiar to you if you're au fait with the Swedish indie-pop scene (i.e. the stuff that's not quite poppy enough for the eurogays but she may well be on a few of your BJSC potentials lists). Despite her not really having anything in her repetoire, she's described her Melfest debut as a big uptempo song you can clap along to (so I guess she knows her market at least here!). After John Lundvik qualified direkt from this spot, 2nd place in the running order needn't necessarily be means to write this one off.


Song 3: Jonas Gardell – Det Finns En Väg

Just remember, while this inevitable piece of shite is on your screens, that Alcazar were denied a place in Melodifestivalen this year, in favour of someone so confident that he'll lose this heat that he's already booked a holiday during the week of rehearsals for the next round. Boo Christer you whore!


Song 4: Margaret - In My Cabana

Now we come to the "wildcard" of this week's pack. Margaret initially found notoriety within eurovision circles in 2016 when her killer track "Cool Me Down" - potential ESC winner some said - was cruelly shunned by the Poles in favour of Michal Szpak. Not one to sleep on a potential hit however, Margaret's label pushed the boat out and actually made Cool Me Down a top 40 hit in Sweden. Since then she seems to be sticking it out in Sweden, releasing more material in the interim before finally winding up here, in the running to represent a different country to her own!

The same team from Cool Me Down are back together (Linnea Deb, Anderz Wrethov and Arash Labaf) and she's described it as a "sexy" and "cocky" song so she'll likely have some top shelf material here but two big questions still remain around Margaret. Firstly, part of the reason why Cool Me Down didn't have the energy to win in Poland in 2016 is that Margaret is a bit of a weak performer and even ramped up backing vocals may not be able to cover up her vocal limitations. Secondly, you have to ask yourself if Sweden are going to vote for a foreign singer who will likely have to communicate in English during the show (and even then she'd best be described as passable rather than fluent). I don't think we'll know the answers to these questions until the moment of truth but that'll certainly be one of the stories of this week. Win or lose, all I think Margaret wants out of this is a hit in Sweden, so as long as she gets that, I think she'll wake up happy on Sunday morning.


Song 5: Stiko Per Larsson – Titta Vi Flyger

The annual P4 Nästa (a radio competition for independent artists with the prize of a spot in Melfest the following year) competition winner slot is here. The usual rule here is that even the good ones struggle to get much better than 5th place so don't go pinning too many hopes on this one (pfft, this is BuzzJack, as if that was the case anyway!)


Song 6: Mimi Werner - Songburning

You may remember Mimi and her Hoedown Throwdown Schlager Pop number from 2016's opening heat. She's basically confirmed that this will be the same genre AND same tempo as last time so we'll be in for a treat following whatever #realmusic is coming before her. After narrowly missing out on Andra Chansen in 2016, has she got it in her to do the unthinkable and improve on her result from the previous time she competed (which for a non qualifier is a rare thing)?


Song 7: LIAMOO - Last Breath

Closing out Heat 2 will be Winner of Swedish Idol 2016 and one of the two artists who are leading the pre-show betting (LIAMOO and Mariette seem to be neck and neck at present, which invariably means something else is going to win!) LIAMOO. Given there's a lot of high energy numbers in this heat, what's being described as more of a midtempo-ballad is going to stand out at the end of the show. What's impossible to know yet at this stage is if he's got the winner but that's all part of the fun!

The schedule for the week:

Wednesday: The Press get their first plays of the weeks songs, their reviews will appearing on social media after 18:00 CET
Thursday: 1 minute clips of the studio versions and 30 second clips of the stage rehearsals will be uploaded
Friday: Dress Rehearsal for the final show, the "genrep" poll of audience members from the rehearsal crowd gets released, giving us a first clue as to what's going to be popular with the Swedish Public
Saturday: 14:00 CET - 2:30 studio versions of all the songs uploaded on SVT's website
20:00 CET - The show!