I was disappointed for Jessica AND Alban, but obviously moreso Jessica as I've been a fan for a while. I'm more than aware that it was the terminal performance that did them in, but I don't see how it's at all unnatural to be unhappy that artists that I'm fans of are struggling even when they update their sounds to ones that fit in a current climate while keeping a touch of that former Melodifestivalen pop gold (I don't hold anything against Zia at all in that respect - that's precisely what he did. Well, he kind of forced an old sound to be relevant so all the more power to him for that.).

 

I enjoy Busy Doin' Nothing (and I'll probably be all over it by the time we get to the final, I'm just a bit sore it was the one that plunged the knife into Jessica's last chance), and of course, yeah, the contest needs to evolve - and I should emphasise here that I am really happy with this year's contest musically so far as a whole. It's just a little disappointing that more and more it's the case when pop is going through it's stuff that is an utterly identikit hand-me-down from the charts (hell - young pop entries as a whole. Stand up Aleo, Bedroom, Glow, Love Trigger...). Busy Doin' Nothing being for all intents and purposes Miley Cyrus doing a Wake Me Up/I Love It mash-up makes it a fun track, but it's pretty faceless (which feels like an odd thing to say about a shouty track, but it's essentially the pop song equivalent of someone who dyes their hair an unnatural colour and sticks their tongue out sometimes and calls it a personality). There's very little about it as a pop song that has the je ne sais quoi I'd associate with what I come to Melodifestivalen for.

 

Yeah, obviously Shirley wasn't exactly T4 bait. I'm not calling for the likes of Burning Alive to win Melodifestivalen any time soon. But at a time when seemingly every other type of genre or representation can get through in some form (and of course, modern stuff should be a part of that), the old schlager dolly is getting totally squeezed out. Is it wrong that that disappoints me a bit - when it's a big part of what I fell in love with the contest for, when it's what the contest's popularity was in large part built on, and given it's something you don't really get anywhere else? It'd just be nice if there were a hope in hell that any of them could make it through these days. It's all about balance.

 

Thank GOD for Linda Bengtzing *.* *sets personal hype to max*

I can't really disagree with anything you've said, obviously you're going to be disappointed with people that you've followed and loved crashing out - but I made this post having also gone on Moopy to see that people were thinking of not watching it because, essentially, Melodifestivalen isn't the same anymore. But, why does it want to be the same is what I completely question. I don't understand people wanting the contest to just get stuck in it's ways. Maybe I'm being a bit hasty, I've only watched since 2010 so I haven't really been involved to see a proper evolution of Melodifestivalen, but I have listened to many entries from back in the day and it's just not the stuff that will do well anymore. I like Melodifestivalen being different, as there's pretty nowhere else you'll hear schlager, but I don't find mind it not qualifying because I appreciate it's not really what's popular anymore and I like Melodifestivalen bringing me fresh music, even if some of this years young pop entries are a little bit like 'hand me downs'. I just don't completely think that schlager sounds that unique anymore anyway, to make it seem totally unique in comparison to current tracks like 'Busy Doin Nothing' and 'Love Trigger', I mean, look at Elisa Lindstrom, she basically stole her own introduction with 'Casanova'.

 

I'm interested to see how Bengtzing does next week, did we really expect E De Fel Pa Mig? to win it's heat against a RedOne track (which will pretty much on trend at it's time). I know I'm only speaking from personal opinion, but I don't even find that the schlager being entered is that fun. E De Fel Pa Mig came out with bagfuls of energy, melody and even though it sounded dated, it would punchy enough that you could get behind it. So, sometimes I just feel like people get behind these 'old divas' because they're names and then frown when current, fresh faces don't make it. Something which I mildly resent even if I do understand your reasoning behind it.

 

I WANNA MAKE MONEY WHILE I SLEEP

I was HORRIFIED on hearing Casanova. Schlager in its lowest form.

 

Thank CAROLA for LIND

Damn you State of Drama! I am SO CLOSE to LIKING that garbage.

 

FAUX-INDIE POP EMERGENCY