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> Melodifestivalen 2015 / Heat 3 · Östersund (21 Feb), DUCK AND COVER DUCK AND COVER HERE I COME COME
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Qassändra
post Feb 18 2015, 06:02 PM
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To Östersund! (sadly the Åkarp heat has been postponed to never) For the first time ever this city of 40,000 slap bang in the middle of Sweden hosts a Melodifestivalen heat, and it's got a total banger of a line-up to break its seal, with this week being both the youngest MF heat I can ever remember in terms of average entrant age (with most newcomers as well) and also one of the most hotly contested, with a good six out of seven of these entrants looking direkt-worthy on paper (and almost certainly direkt-worthy in any other heat...).

But frankly kids, I'm completely resigned to something going wrong here on Saturday, as last week marked the first time since I've started following Melodifestivalen that this sweet contest has ever treated me nicely and gone exactly how I wanted two weeks in a row, with Magnus's schlager odyssey and Mariette's immediate top 5 of the decade-worthy entry both sailing through ahead of all competition and sending lessers trotting away to the shame of andra chansen. And having been in an abusive relationship with Lady MF for a good five years now, all I know is that the nicer she treats you, the more she's building up punishment the next time she decides she doesn't like your face. So, if you're in a boat with me in thinking that the last two weeks have gone corkingly, try not to get too attached - the COLD HAND OF DEATH LINGERS OVER US ALL


01: Ellen Benediktson - Insomnia
Text och musik: Ellen Benediktson och Anderz Wrethov
Best known for: Going direkt till Globen in a shock result with Songbird last year and finishing 7th in the final
William Hill odds on going direkt till finalen (decimal / fractional / projected heat finish): 2.37 / 11/8 / 3rd
William Hill odds on winning Melodifestivalen (d / f): 26.00 / 25/1

SOUND THE HOT MESS HORNS GIRLS! We've got the latest installment of yet another FINE Melodifestivalen tradition that stretches back to the DAYS OF YORE - winsome manic pixie dream girls coming back after uproarious success for FATALLY MISJUDGED slutty image changes. Let's give it up for les doyennes - Jessica Andersson, the sweet girl next door transformed into vagina dentata in lace and lilac hot pants; and Sibel, going from power ballads in her nan's curtains to a heroin addict dressed as a Quality Street. It's no wonder with the low success rate that they INVARIABLY run back to slightly more wholesome images as fast as they can after, but GOODNESS we have a lot of fun on the way...

So yes, after coming within a HAIR'S BREADTH of me throttling her for standing in the way of Dame Helena's direct route to the final last year (though the end result was far more thematically appropriate so I forgive her), OLD ELLEN here's paying penance by transforming her image totally from the simpering Katie Melua-lite chanteuse we got for Songbird to, well, someone who poses like this:



GOOD GRIEF *.*

Ellen here's SHAKING OFF the boring acoustic bitch ballads and she's hitting up a sound she claims is much closer to 'the kind of thing I actually listen to', with Insomnia reportedly inspired by Depeche Mode and Ellen's image having had a full on overhaul with her joining and fundraising for Sweden's fast-growing Feminist Initiative political party and contributing to a compilation they released last year with the superbly moody electro brooder When The Sun Comes Up, which gives a bit of an idea of the sound she's doing these days. Acoustic basic bitch balladry has a very obvious voting audience though - will sullen edgy electro pull in the votes quite as well, or are we in for some more top-notch sista plats facial reactions this Saturday?


02: Kalle Johansson - För din skull
Text och musik: Martin Eriksson, Thomas G:son och Thomas Karlsson
Best known for: He isn't.
William Hill odds on going direkt till finalen (decimal / fractional / projected heat finish): 3.50 / 5/2 / =5th
William Hill odds on winning Melodifestivalen (d / f): 34.00 / 33/1

And so we come to the another far less esteemed tradition of Melodifestivalen - the annual wildcard entrant who's won a place at Melodifestivalen through Svensktoppennästa, an open-submission contest organised by Sweden's equivalent of BBC 6Music with about as much worthiness as you'd expect. Despite annually flogging a place at the greatest contest in the world as a mere prize akin to a home makeover, I can never resent these no-hoper entrants too much - they normally tend to be NOT HALF BAD, though almost universally the last four years they've been totally and utterly dead on arrival, with a Bust in a Globen or Bust in 2013 the absolute height of achievement for any of them, and last year's EKO being critically acclaimed in pretty much every quarter apart from the one actually voting.

So in an effort to try and make the thing actually work rather than being an annual joke, Christer's started hooking up the winners with big names - with EKO last year getting the Debs, but with this year's winner Kalle Johansson getting some big pedigree in both Martin Eriksson (husband of Möt mig i Gamla stan writer Lina, and previously behind iconic trainwreck Salt & Pepper and Niamh Kavanagh - It's For You) and G:son, who I should hope by this point requires no introduction. But in a heat as strong as this, can Kalle even hope to make the heady heights of sixth place?


03: Andreas Weise - Bring Out The Fire
Text och musik: Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad, Henrik Janson och Thomas G:son
Best known for: Serial reality/talent show-botherer with a level of ubiquity in Sweden I can only compare to Emeli Sandé, but if she were entering everything she performed on.
William Hill odds on going direkt till finalen (decimal / fractional / projected heat finish): 3.50 / 5/2 / =5th
William Hill odds on winning Melodifestivalen (d / f): 51.00 / 50/1

One for the basics of Sweden here. Andreas is one of those MoR light entertainment types who first made his name coming fifth on Swedish Idol back in 2010 as the type of contestant who wins Big Band week and finishes 4th in all the others - your nan loves him, your mum likes him, your sister fancies him (you kind of do too on the sly but feel immense guilt in the process). Since then he's whored himself about to the Swedish equivalent of Strictly and a Clash of the Choirs-type contest that's huge over there called Körslaget, but trust me when I say there's nothing to see here. He's compared this one to a mix of Sam Smith and Robbie Williams - not necessarily repulsive on paper, but in a heat like this the prospect of a Radio 2 staple being competitive isn't a pretty one. Speaking of...


04: Andreas Johnson - Living To Die
Text och musik: Andreas Johnson, Bobby Ljunggren och Karl-Ola Kjellholm
Best known for: 'Glorious' UK one-hit wonder (#4, 2000)-cum-serial Melodifestivalen-botherer: competitive in the mid-00s but diminishing returns since.
William Hill odds on going direkt till finalen (decimal / fractional / projected heat finish): 1.80 / 4/5 / 2nd
William Hill odds on winning Melodifestivalen (d / f): 13.00 / 12/1 (joint fourth favourite)

God, how much less I'd loathe this man if he had the decency to enter with a Glorious rehash. We have here a true MF veteran, albeit one trading on sheer desperation to win by now and each time inflicting on us the same predictable and tired sound (oh god, is this what straight people think when they see Linda Bengtzing entering again?!).

Having made his name with the orchestral Bond-worthy saga that was Glorious (one of the rare songs by a Swedish unknown to cross over to become an international hit, in no small part thanks to car adverts), Andreas first entered MF in 2006 with 60s Britpop revival/pastiche Sing For Me, which never really stood a chance of going to Athens in the same year as Carola's imperious comeback, but which did surprisingly win the jury vote in the final and finished a very narrow third on the televote, finishing third overall and lining him up as the pre-contest favourite the following year with 60s Britpop revival/pastiche A Little Bit of Love, which in the event ended up being outpastiched by 70s glam rock revival/pastiche The Worrying Kind and leaving Andreas playing the bridesmaid once again.

In a move possibly second only to Bröder in the MF cynicism stakes, his all-out attempt to win with a third entry on the trot in MF 2008 came through teaming up with 2006 nemesis Carola on the diabetic chemistry-free zone that was One Love, which both paled in comparison with the height of the diabetic chemistry-free genre that was Let Your Spirit Fly *and* was so obviously and brazenly craven an attempt at creating an inevitable big name winner that it immediately launched a backlash against them both, leaving them to crash out to a tactical anti-vote in andra chansen in one of the most shocking (yet welcome) Melodifestivalen results ever. Somehow undeterred, Andreas came back for a face-saving career rebuilding entry in 2010 which got him back to the final, only to crash out in andra chansen again on his next return two years later with 60s Britpop revival/pastiche (are you detecting a theme here?) Lovelight. And now he's back. Joy.

With writer Ljunggren being behind his previous best entry (thinly veiled Take That big ballad pastiche We Can Work It Out, 6th in MF 2010), my hopes are SHIN-HIGH that this might finally be the year that he finally graces us with a bit of RESPECT and delivers that Glorious throwback, but frankly I've got too much else on in this heat to place much stock in old Fraggle Rock here. Can he still call on that MoR fanbase - and more importantly, is this heat big enough for the both of the boring-arse Andreases?


05: Isa - Don't Stop
Text och musik: Isa Tengblad, Johan Ramström, Gustaf Svenungsson, Magnus Wallin och Oscar Merner
Best known for: Going top ten in Sweden with début single Bomb
William Hill odds on going direkt till finalen (decimal / fractional / projected heat finish): 5.00 / 4/1 / 7th
William Hill odds on winning Melodifestivalen (d / f): 81.00 / 80/1

Here's the big one of the year - the inevitable breakout pop fan favourite track of the heat and the girl I've had down as the potential dark horse of this year's contest since I first realised it was THAT Isa they'd gotten in. To JakeWild's eternal shame but our eternal pleasure, Isa's début was an unimpeachable storm of a track with a pure candy chorus that still gives me life a good three years on and was strong enough to bag her a hit from the off in Sweden. That aside though, there hasn't been a great deal from Isa since then - so little that the odds on her to finish last in the heat are fairly understandable (especially going by the precedent Manda set last year...).

However, Isa here's a game bird who's already nailed the trick of how to overcome that, promising a gargantuan show on Saturday with Superbowl halftime-levels of stage production and a big young pop track that'll almost certainly sound like the kind of thing that would be a nailed-down Multichart #1 if it were by the kind of artist Buzzjack gets spoonfed from America (Jonjo - I'll need you to be on street team duties for this). In any other heat I'd fancy her chances. Will it be enough in this one?


06: Kristin Amparo - I See You
Text och musik: Kristin Amparo, Fredrik Kempe och David Kreuger
Best known for: Lead vocalist on two of Sweden's biggest hits of the last few years: Din soldat and Dance Our Tears Away
William Hill odds on going direkt till finalen (decimal / fractional / projected heat finish): 2.50 / 6/4 / 4th
William Hill odds on winning Melodifestivalen (d / f): 17.00 / 16/1

As combinations go, they don't get much more lethal than this. Take last year's winning songwriters and add on VOX³ - and not only that, but well known VOX³, with Kristin one of the most recognisable vocalists Sweden's birthed in the last few years, having sung the hooks on hit Dance Our Tears Away and the totally inescapable Din soldat. And word is that we're getting something very much in the style of the previous queen of the MF megaballad Sarah Dawn Finer (get those defibrillators on stand-by!) with everything stripped down to the basic formula of piano + killer vocals. This is almost certainly making the final one way or another - but will Kristin be slumming it through AC, or can she shove past the pedigree of this heat to make it direkt?


07: Jon Henrik Fjällgren - Jag är fri (Manne leam frijje)
Text och musik: Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Erik Holmberg, Tony Malm och Josef Melin
Best known for: Overwhelmingly popular winner of Talang (Sweden's Got Talent) last year
William Hill odds on going direkt till finalen (decimal / fractional / projected heat finish): 1.57 / 4/7 / 1st
William Hill odds on winning Melodifestivalen (d / f): 17.00 / 16/1

Take a moment to imagine just how riotously popular, say, Leona Lewis would have been in a UK Eurovision selection in early 2007 (and that's even before getting onto the standard of what she'd have been up against in this alternate universe...). Landslide, right? Double it for this.

SHIRLEY CLAMP-ENDORSED (in much the same way as Geri Halliwell passed the torch onto Cheryl in Popstars: The Rivals back in oh two) star Jon here is utterly adored in Sweden, with a combination of adorable good looks, a heartrending voice, a compelling backstory as a Colombian orphan adopted by Lapps (indigenous Scandinavians in the Arctic Circle) who suffered racist bullying from other chilren and was raised to become a reindeer farmer, and a killer talent for jojk, the traditional Lapp folk throat singing which transcends language barriers, writing Danielsjojk in tribute to his best friend who died in a car accident. Literally no box has been left unchecked here people - this man is unstoppable in his quest to get you and your mum leaking from every orifice.

My initial hopes were for something halfway between Roger Pontare's Sami tribute When Spirits Are Calling My Name (itself featuring elements of jojk) and unjustly unheralded 2014 flop Hela natten, but the whispers around this are hinting at something even more spiritually transcendent than that combination (I know - HOW?) and something which sounds like it could go the distance and win Eurovision too, with comparisons to 1995 winner Nocturne and a potential 'pin-drop' moment come Saturday. That'd make two weeks in a row for that - can Jon Henrik make it two for two on both fronts?

-x-

Thursday: Reviews of the rehearsals with thirty second clips of the performances. Needless to say if they're that short, take any impressions with a silo of salt - unless they're obviously Hero-level quality and going to change our lives in which case SET HYPERBOLE TO 11
Friday: Reviews of the second rehearsal and the notoriously hit-or-miss results of the 'gen-rep' poll of audience members at the rehearsals
Saturday: In the afternoon 2:30 clips of the songs are uploaded to SVT. A livestream of the heat will start at 7pm GMT on svt.se/melodifestivalen
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Ryan.
post Feb 18 2015, 10:23 PM
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Kristin Amparo and Isa's odds have been slashed, down to 3/1 and 9/1 at some bookmakers respectively! ohmy.gif
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LexC
post Feb 18 2015, 10:32 PM
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(Feel free to move this post over once the thread opens)

Kristin and ISA are what I'm most anticipating this week but nothing this week sounds like I'll actively dislike it, so yay4that
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Ryan.
post Feb 18 2015, 10:42 PM
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Same, Isa is being compared to Taylor Swift by today's reviews (and apparently could be a worldwide #1 hit with her song) and I love Kristin's voice on 'Dance Our Tears Away' so I'm looking forward to hearing her sing a ballad!
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Qassändra
post Feb 18 2015, 11:02 PM
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THAT ISN'T HOW POST MOVING WORKS LEX threads go in chronological order
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Ryan.
post Feb 18 2015, 11:03 PM
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Just split the topic starting from your reply to Jonjo and then edit that to be the opening post!
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LexC
post Feb 18 2015, 11:40 PM
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DON'T USE CAPITALS AT ME SHIRL!
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Qassändra
post Feb 19 2015, 08:09 AM
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POSTED

Also all bitches to actually WATCH THIS WEEK THANKS, the amount of no-shows who didn't even watch on catch-up last week was frankly inexcusable/insulting
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Qassändra
post Feb 19 2015, 08:14 AM
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PREDIX

DTG: Jon Henrik, Andreas Weise
AC: Kristin, Andreas Johnson
05: Isa
06: Ellen
07: Kalle
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AdamAloud
post Feb 19 2015, 08:28 AM
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Considering the lyrics to 'Jag är fri', I'd say Nocturne 2.0 could well be on the cards.

QUOTE
Texten: Jag är fri (Manne Leam Frijje)
(jojk)

I det regn som faller
Innan natten blivit dag

Står vi före stormen
Tillsammans bara du och jag

(jojk)

I den vind som blåser
Vilar våra andetag

(jojk)


DTG: Jon Henrik, Andreas J (I really never wanted to be more wrong but MF veterans seem to be having a good time this year)
AC: Kristin, Isa
5th: Ellen
6th: Andreas W
7th: Kalle

Annoyingly, my work shift has been SWAPPED last minute today, so I won't be here for clips this afternoon </3
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p a v
post Feb 19 2015, 08:30 AM
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DTF: Jon Henrik; Kristin
AC: Andreas J; Isa
5th: Ellen
6th: Andreas W
7th: Kalle


... continuing the tradition of 6th + 7th slots going through together.
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Liаm
post Feb 19 2015, 10:09 AM
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Why does everything have to be in this heat? sad.gif Jon sounds very likely to go DTF (although I've never heard of him) so I hope that one of Isa/Kristin joins him.

Like I said in another thread, if Isa's song is anywhere near as good as Bomb she'll have to do an Ace Wilder, or at least scrape AC I'm more excited for this heat than any of the others so far, realistically I think Ellen, Andreas, Jon, ISA, or Kristin could easily nab a DTF/AC place but I have a feeling Kristin or ISA could end up being a Janet Leon (Heartstrings, I was the sole stan of Hollow but THAT performance made me certain it'd miss out) and end up 5th... Fingers crossed they both make at least AC, it's just a shame they aren't in an easier heat sad.gif
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LexC
post Feb 19 2015, 10:13 AM
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Pre-clip predictions:

DTF: Jon, Kristin
AC: ISA, Andreas J
5th: Ellen
6th: Andreas W
7th: Kalle
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Ryan.
post Feb 19 2015, 12:21 PM
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It's time to sound the "Loreen is in the UK iTunes top 200" klaxon as 'Euphoria' is at #176 for some reason! ohmy.gif

EDIT: It's 59p!
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AdamAloud
post Feb 19 2015, 12:22 PM
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Ellen Benediktson's clip is up!

Going to be amazing!
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Iz 🌟
post Feb 19 2015, 12:40 PM
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Oh my, this looks like an interesting heat. And the favourite sounds like a pretty good concept. Will be nice to hear what ISA and Kristin have up their sleeves as well, and from the sounds of things I'm very up for whatever Ellen has (and that clip sounds pretty great even if it is a FINE coincidence that 'Insomnia' just happens to have the same syllables in it as 'Euphoria')

Initial predictions:
DTF: Jon, Kristin
AC: Andreas J, ISA
5th: Ellen
6th: Andreas W
7th: Kalle
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gooddelta
post Feb 19 2015, 01:31 PM
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I just want Andreas (J, obvs) to send something of 2006/7 standard again! There's no way at ALL that the dreary crap We Can Work It Out was his previous best entry. Sing For Me and A Little Bit Of Love are essential classics. (And I've always loved One Love too sad.gif)
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Vülker
post Feb 19 2015, 04:47 PM
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After the clips...

DTF: Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Kristin Amparo
AC: Andreas Johnson, Ellen Benediktson
5th: Isa
6th: Andreas Weise
7th: Kalle Johansson

I don't think Isa's song is very strong but there is spacce to be surprised.
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Liаm
post Feb 19 2015, 05:09 PM
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Don't Stop sounds quite similar to Shake It Off so that's bound to be a moment *.*

Slated by Kristin's vox already too!!
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Qassändra
post Feb 19 2015, 05:26 PM
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CLIPS

Ellen
Kalle
Andreas Weise
Andreas Johnson
Isa
Kristin
Jon Henrik
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