Posted February 9, 20178 yr http://i.imgur.com/YuK3syh.png http://i.imgur.com/7nNhy7k.jpg http://i.imgur.com/jNCmd2b.jpg Ending one of the hardiest Melodimyths of recent times, last week saw Ace Wilder prove that over 40s CAN survive the app vote. The key factor enabling this modern miracle is currently under investigation by top queer scientists - the secret to Ace's success was originally thought to be three inches of slap and pretending to be 27, but Dinah Nah's failure sadly led to the junking of that pleasingly simple solution. The Institute is mildly relieved looks don't appear to play much part, as the thought of crossbreeding Dinah Nah with Nano to create a pink-weaved bull-ox for Melodi success was too much to stomach (even for those who'd had the misfortune of seeing Cookies N Beans live and living to tell the tale). Anyway, speaking of foul oxen we're ONWARDS to MALMÖ (pronunciation of the ö akin to a Scouse moo) http://i.imgur.com/NztNwp2.jpg 01: Mariette - A Million Years Text och Musik: Thomas G:son, Johanna Jansson, Peter Boström, Mariette Hansson och Jenny Hansson Best known for: Coming third with in MF 2015 William Hill odds on going direkt till finalen (decimal / fractional / projected heat finish): 1.25 / 1/4 (1st) William Hill odds on winning Melodifestivalen as of 1st Feb (d / f): 4.50 / 7/2 (3rd favourite to win) PRÉCIS: An absolute Brighton leftover who billowed out onstage to give ever seen on the Melodifestivalen stage (the lights! the dancers! THE CAPE!) is BACK BACK BACK, hoping there isn't a Måns-shaped hole waiting to stop her this time round. Complete with the writers behind Wild Child and whispers she's onto a winner. Can she overcome a starting slot not traditionally handed to tracks on the precipice of winning Eurovision? http://i.imgur.com/WK7gNLH.jpg 02: Roger Pontare - Himmel och hav Text och Musik: Thomas G:son och Alexzandra Wickman Best known for: Winning MF twice, first with a bore in , but secondly with Sweden's host entry in William Hill odds on going direkt till finalen (decimal / fractional / projected heat finish): 3.50 / 5/2 (5th) William Hill odds on winning Melodifestivalen as of 1st Feb (d / f): 51.00 / 50/1 PRÉCIS: Icon of Sámi national pride and the less sexy precursor to Jon-Henrik Fjällgren (more on him in a fortnight) comes back after 11 years out of the MF game, the last time barnstorming his way into AC with the militant . The slot (and the app vote) suggests we're in for another Perrelli-style "thanks for still existing hun" entry, but with a cinematic "Lord of the Rings-style" song penned by G:son can this be completely ruled out? http://i.imgur.com/J3T49HP.jpg 03: Etzia - Up Text och Musik: Johnny Sanchez, Hanif Sabzevari, Simon Gribbe och Erica Haylett Best known for: NADA William Hill odds on going direkt till finalen (decimal / fractional / projected heat finish): 4.33 / 10/3 (7th) William Hill odds on winning Melodifestivalen as of 1st Feb (d / f): 67.00 / 66/1 PRÉCIS: Enjoyed Kizunguzungu but found yourself handwringing over the culturally appropriative vibes? You're in luck! http://i.imgur.com/e4vhsGt.jpg 04: Allyawan - Vart haru varit Text och Musik: Masse Salazar och Samuel Nazari Best known for: Providing what the indomitable MeKaDo described as "genau so'n HipHop Feelin wie du" back in the day, with a couple of low-key genre-specific hits in 2014. William Hill odds on going direkt till finalen (decimal / fractional / projected heat finish): 4.00 / 3/1 (6th) William Hill odds on winning Melodifestivalen as of 1st Feb (d / f): 41.00 / 40/1 PRÉCIS: vidcapper reaches for the phone and starts repeatedly pressing 9 as one of the biggest names on the Swedish hip-hop scene chucks this ingenue a co-write. http://i.imgur.com/mTiMSnq.jpg 05: dismissed - Hearts Align Text och Musik: Ola Salo och Peter Kvint Best known for: Not their great makeup skills, that's for sure. This one's about the writers. William Hill odds on going direkt till finalen (decimal / fractional / projected heat finish): 2.75 / 7/4 (4th) William Hill odds on winning Melodifestivalen as of 1st Feb (d / f): 34.00 / 33/1 PRÉCIS: The lead singer of The Ark (behind frequently deplored 2007 MF winner, glam rock odyssey ) and Andreas Johnson's prime collaborator (and I mean that in the Vichy sense) Kvint team up to give three queens and a buzzcut who got into his mum's makeup box a queer rock anthem. http://i.imgur.com/S9YdU5Z.jpg 06: Lisa Ajax - I Don't Give A Text och Musik: Ola Svensson, Linnea Deb, Joy Deb och Anton Hård af Segerstad Best known for: Last year's 7th placer and various hits in the meantime William Hill odds on going direkt till finalen (decimal / fractional / projected heat finish): 1.73 / 8/11 (2nd) William Hill odds on winning Melodifestivalen as of 1st Feb (d / f): 8.00 / 7/1 (=4th favourite to win) PRÉCIS: The apprentice fembot behind the complete revelation that was My Heart Wants Me Dead comes back for another shot, trying desperately to persuade a nation that she's human after all by throwing the f-word into the track ten times. The scandal over whether it'll be allowed to compete at Eurovision has already led to her admitting the ultimate contest was the last thing on their minds when they wrote it (always a sign of confidence in your entry), but she'll be hoping to perform it with a slight degree more competence than the impotent sultriness she managed last year. LOVE HER http://i.imgur.com/M2oFf12.jpg 07: Benjamin Ingrosso - Good Lovin' Text och Musik: Benjamin Ingrosso, Louis Schoorl och Matt Pardon Best known for: The son of Sweden's premier vicious schlagerdrottning Pernilla Wahlgren and winner of Lilla Melodifestivalen 2006 (you ain't getting a link) William Hill odds on going direkt till finalen (decimal / fractional / projected heat finish): 2.00 / Evens (3rd) William Hill odds on winning Melodifestivalen as of 1st Feb (d / f): 11.00 / 10/1 (8th favourite to win) PRÉCIS: The year's first Meloditwink somehow manages to dodge the traditional Swedish national service of working with Fredrik Kempe and sporting a thousand-yard stare for at least three years after (potentially thanks to his mother's infamous pitbull tendencies), bagging the pimp slot with a heavily tipped entry with sparkling production values and a fair few whispers of Timberlake comparisons. -- Here's the projected timetable for the week: Thursday: Reviews of the rehearsals with thirty second clips of the performances on SVT.se, and a minute-long clip of the studio versions in the afternoon. You can take your impressions with a pinch of salt - in traditional fashion I will be taking them with a pinch of hyperbole. 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 previous years 2:30 clips of the studio versions of the songs were uploaded to SVT in the early afternoon around 1pm (GMT), but the 1 minute clips this year may see those retired. A livestream of the heat will start at 7pm GMT on svt.se/melodifestivalen
February 9, 20178 yr Author GODDAMNIT where is that chorus, Mariette?! Do we have to wait TWO MORE DAYS to hear it?! Roger Pontare sounds intriguing which is making me uncomfortable. Up could end up being very annoyingly catchy over time. So far no though. Allyawan flush. Dismissed. Self-explanatory. Lisa Ajax. Noooo I had high hopes but it does sound pretty mediocre. Ingrosso. The lack of your cookie cutter sweet boys in this heat means this will go DTF. But so far it don't impress me much. -- DTF: Mariette, Benjamin Ingrosso AC: Roger Pontare, Lisa Ajax 5th: Dismissed 6th: Etzia 7th: Allyawan Quite a terrible heat compared to last week.
February 9, 20178 yr Mariette: Not what I was expecting, her voice is amazing. Very radio friendly. The performance for this should be amazing. Roger Pontare: Getting Jon Henrik Fjallgren vibes. Etzia: Excellent Beat. Very tropical. OMG I LOVE IT *.* Allyawan: Sticks out like a sore thumb in this heat, but for good reasons. I think he and Etzia would be fighting for a spot for AC, Correct? Dismissed: The ugliest set of men I've ever seen in my life. Good I suppose. Lisa Ajax: Good. But she's not going to win the whole thing with this. Benjamin Ingrosso: A tad boring. DTF: Mariette, Lisa Ajax AC: Roger Pontare, Etzia 5th: Allyawan 6th: Benjamin Ingrosso 7th: Dismissed Outside of Lisa and Mariette, I know nothing about these artists, but have read the readup on Scandipop - this is what I'd predict, but I likely think Allyawan and Etzia would swap places, possibly. Edited February 9, 20178 yr by Aaron.
February 9, 20178 yr Quick first impressions: Mariette - sounds like the sort of song Loreen would be expected to return with, definitely can't tell how amazing it's likely to be from the first minute but it's very promising indeed Roger Pontare - sounds like it gets going later in the song, but the first minute is nothing special Etzia - This sounds so good <3 The backing music is so familiar, but it's instantly catchy Allyawan - Hmm...sounds very dull from the first minute Dismissed - Does what it does well I guess Lisa Ajax - Ooh this sounds big, the f-bomb though :o Benjamin Ingrosso - Thought this would be a lot bigger, it sounds a bit like a boyband doing disco record from the late 90s...like 911 or Kavana or something Definitely between Mariette, Lisa and Benjamin for DTF, I wonder who will have to go through AC (hopefully Benjamin)
February 9, 20178 yr I don't have time to listen to them all rn as I'm about to go out but you can tell Mariette is building to a massive chorus, I LOVE the sound of it! Also listened to Lisa and for some reason I felt most excited about her aside from Loreen - but this is not the song to challenge the big wigs :/ It sounds good but I expected some proper ballsy undeniable tune.
February 9, 20178 yr DTG: Lisa Ajax, Benjamin Ingrosso AC: Mariette, Dismissed 5th: Etzia 6th: Allyawan 7th: Roger Pontare Why couldn't Dinah have been in this heat </3 Hard to judge Mariette's without the chorus, but I still think Lisa & Benjamin will benefit a lot more than her from the app voters.
February 9, 20178 yr Apologies for the REDUCED SERVICE loves - I just touched down back from the motherland last night.
February 9, 20178 yr Benjamin sounds like he has a bloody DIRGE. Is there any hope of that not going DTF? :( What I'm gathering is that Dismissed are the LGBT apology gift for the lack of overly heterosexual cock-rockers this year. Sounds like something I can get on board with and I think it's on course to be my favourite in this heat. Mariette sounds good, Lisa and Allyawan sound quite meh, I want to like Roger Pontare more but a couple of listens and it's done nothing for me yet. And Etzia... I don't really know what to make of that.
February 9, 20178 yr OMG it was written by The Ark! So two of the makers of two of my favourite Swedish entries in this heat *.* Here's hoping Pontare grows on me when I hear the full thing.
February 9, 20178 yr Mariette's reminds me a bit of Perfect Strangers but I reckon it's gonna suffer from being nowhere near as imposing as Don't Stop Believing. Adore the sound of Pontare's but I'm astounded that Christer's put on two opening tracks that take over a minute to get to the chorus - despite Etzia sounding like she's having LIVE SUNSTROKE during her chorus she might get through on the basis of being the first thing that just gets to the bloody point. Allyawan has excellent production - it reminds me a lot of Förlåt mig but if it had been done by Zayn. Don't think it's got enough of a hook to go through. Dismissed's one is a total bore considering their look. Disappointed in Lisa Ajax coming back with something so cookie-cutter after the sheer wonder of My Heart Wants Me Dead, and I think Ben Ingrosso's got it sewn up by being the first thing with any real spark all evening, even though it sounds like Anton Ewald c. Begging doing Timberlake for Stars In Their Eyes.
February 9, 20178 yr There's a 30 second live rehearsal clip of Mariette (and Etzia) up on the Melodifestivalen website and the chorus does sound really good, she might push Lisa down to AC, will have to wait for her live clip.
February 9, 20178 yr I will give anything for Mariette (or well, basically anyone else as well) to break the 6th and 7th place deadlock - it's become so rare for either of those places to completely fail it's hurting the excitement of what could happen.
February 9, 20178 yr There's a 30 second live rehearsal clip of Mariette (and Etzia) up on the Melodifestivalen website and the chorus does sound really good, she might push Lisa down to AC, will have to wait for her live clip. As I expected, Mariette's performance looks like it could be huge. However, Etzia was completely in the wrong key for the whole performance (or if she was in the right key, it sounds off to me...)
February 9, 20178 yr Etzia's is the most unprofessional thing I've seen since ADRIJANA! I can't wait. Mariette's Sarek via Kygo chorus is spectacular (and by rights should make it in over Lisa Ajax's ABORTION) but I just don't know if she can make it past Lisa on the app vote.
February 9, 20178 yr I think I'd expect Mariette to get to the final over Lisa, it's not like she's actually one of the country's biggest stars, even though she's hyped up in that way by Scandipop et al, her last proper single before the Xmas song didn't chart at all domestically did it? And I guess app voters/Spotify users in Sweden are probably much of a muchness. I can't believe Benjamin is a dead cert, it really sounds quite tired from that clip.
February 9, 20178 yr Author let's just hope we are in for a surprise and roger pontare and mariette get that DTF with Lisa and Benji enjoying the scraps
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