Well Snalla Snalla came ridiculously close so never say never...

 

The televotes won it for Malena in 2009 and she got 322,000, Caroline got 318,000 (with E.M.D. way back on 160,000 or something...). 4,000 more phone votes and Caroline would have won having not initially qualified from her heat (and would have made a ridiculously epic ESC entry in the process!)

Indeed, and so did Min Karlek. But I think they realise that, whilst those that make it out stand a chance, the nearlys probably don't - the idea that if you can't make it out of anything in AC, then you probably can't make it in the final.

AC really just exists to allow the 3rd place finisher from the strongest heat into the final.

 

I like the dual idea. While it sucks that a strong track could be knocked out allowing a weaker track to go through at least one of the tracks will be epic.

Indeed, and so did Min Karlek. But I think they realise that, whilst those that make it out stand a chance, the nearlys probably don't - the idea that if you can't make it out of anything in AC, then you probably can't make it in the final.

 

Min Karlek didn't really excel on the phone votes, the juries massively pushed Shirley up into 2nd in 2004. I can't believe Caroline got so little support from the juries in 2009, coming 6th or something before the televotes. A bit more support and she could have won easily! I was very happy with Malena but Snalla Snalla would have been such a risky yet brilliant entry and I was quite gutted that all it needed was 4,000 more televotes! The hype around her in Stockholm was absolutely insane, I thought she'd walk it. She clearly benefitted from the extra exposure in Andra Chansen (2 performances pre-final than anybody else had had!), I really think it's a great thing to have as it allows the growers to shine.

Shirley came third on the public vote in 2004!

AC really just exists to allow the 3rd place finisher from the strongest heat into the final.

 

And to make more money from televotes :mellow:

Shirley came third on the public vote in 2004!

 

Whoops, I thought it was 4th :lol: I think I got it mixed up with some other song...

And to make more money from televotes :mellow:

But of course, the only reason the public get numbers is to use them as cash cows.

 

If anyone truly cared for public opinion they would use freephone numbers. Although i like that SVT provide a number that allows you to donate to Charity as well as register a vote

My ranking of tonight's songs, now I've given them all a couple of listens in studio form too;

 

1. Sara Varga - 9/10 - Major surprise of the evening for me, never heard of her before! Very effortlessly great.

2. Eric Saade - 9/10 - Loving the studio version, and wouldn't mind this winning, don't like it as much as Sanna or Jenny Silver though at the moment

3. Shirley's Angels - 8.5/10 - Close to being amazing but lacking something or other, great performance though!

4. Sara Lumholdt - 8/10 - This is so generic that I feel guilty for liking it as much as I do

5. Linda Sundblad - 8/10 - Really good pop song, but she's had better in the past

6. Sebastian Karlsson - 8/10 - I think this will grow on me more, but I don't like it anywhere near as much as When The Night Comes Falling

7. Simon Forsberg - Tid Att Andas - 4/10 - incredibly boring song, and I usually love ballads!

8. The Playtones - 3/10 - another awful song for the final, great! Not *quite* as bad as The Lucky Bullets from MGP though...

 

What was with all of the 'S' artists this week!?!

I wouldn't mind Sara Varga so much if it wasn't for the fact that the Swedish press are blatantly going to go into a frenzy about her as an underdog and completely f*** things up for Jenny and Loreen in Andra Chansen.

Quite $h!tty deltävling in the end.

 

Sunblad had a Hilary Duff demo track, Simon was Elisabeth-dull, Lumholdt was a non-singer posing as Cheryl (imagine that!), The Playtones did not know how to do rockabilly, Shirley's Angels were utter cliché crap, Sebastian had what sounded like I Thought I Was Forever Part II, Varga was not breezy at all and Saade did not exactly live up to the expectations.

 

So that's the bad parts.

 

Lumholdt was actually catchy, Playtones fun to watch, Varga quite endearing and Saade was thrilling.

 

I agree with the qualifiers, except for Shirley's Effing Angels who sounded like a trio of some other schlager MF rejects put together to sing a MF2005 rejected track. The cheesyness of it all!!

 

Deltävling 1 is still by far the best.

 

Either way, LOREEN - MY HEART IS REFUSING ME TO WIN THIS WHOLE DAMN COMPETITION!!!!!!!!

I won't go into a full ranking.. This week was better than last - but there is still something missing!

 

Out of everything, the only ones I liked were obviously Eric's and Sara Lumholdt's track.

 

Sure - Sara's was boring.. I think it was the Chorus and Dancing that let her down.. If it was less cheesy and better choreographed, I think she could have moved up a spot. The part right before the Chorus is amazing tho! I love it!

 

and Eric.. Yum.. But it's not a 10/10 Sadly - I'm disappointed this year.. None of the tracks have been flawless yet!

My views on the performances of the four eliminated songs:

 

Sara L - Very well performed and interesting choreogrpahy with the table and the dancers/backing singers following her around. Vocally fine, and this was robbery that it missed out.

 

Seb - Vocally strong which Seb always delivers, I found the four female dancers in black wigs a bit weird, but this should have at least made it to the second chance round easily. A very modern and contemporary song.

 

Linda - Catchy, and I did like the choreogrpahy with the guitars and identikit dancers. Well sung if a bit shakey, but I assume she is quite a young girl around 17-19 yr old. The only downer was this was too competitive a semi-final even if she had a good song.

 

Simon - Standard ballad performance (he has the same haircut as me ;)). Reminded me too much of "Hollow" from MF2010 and Norway's ESC entry in 2010 both of which I dislike. Last was deserved, even if he delivered well vocally.

Caroline Af Ugglas :wub: I'd have voted 4 thousand times if i could. :angry: :angry:

 

Studio version of I Thought It Was Forever sucks cocks in comparison to the live version yesterday. -_-

 

On the opposite, Sara Varga sounds absolutely incredible either way :heart:

 

 

 

 

BTW poor third girl from Shirley's Angels, she was so left out by those two other bitches, when they were announcing the second finalist :( Noticed this yesterday.

Btw just heard the Love Generation clip, sounds crappy. :(

lol Eric was accused of plagiarism.

 

 

Incredible song. :wub:

Fredrik Kempe plagiarising standard schlager chord progression? The shock! :drama:

"Kall som is" is a great song. That would have been a worthy winner in 1984 to "Diggiloo Diggiley"

I really must dig out earlier Melodifestivalen albums. <3

Gah, this Sara Lumholdt song has been in my head non-stop since Saturday. It even popped up in my dream last night, although I don't remember the context...