Posted February 11, 20205 yr Two heats in and two times I've had to start the next week's thread saying "well, that was a turn up for the books!" but this week we're celebrating two all-female acts qualifying directly from the same heat for the first time since 2009. It seems we're throwing all of the truisms out the window this year in Melodifestivalen so that'll make this commentary a doddle to write! And long time readers will be aware that we're about to enter the danger zone of HEAT THREE. Advice is to expect the unexpected 01 Mariette - Shout It Out Despite how Melfest (at least in the late 2010s) seemingly dislikes voting for women, Mariette has managed to come top 5 for all three of her entries into Melodifestivalen since 2015 although she's never quite managed to make the leap from the chasing pack into the front runners. This has either been due to bad timing (Don't Stop Believing being entered into the same year as the eventual Eurovision winner itself) losing momentum (A Million Years couldn't build momentum from heat 2 direkt) and substandard materil (For You was GOOD but lacked that extra spark needed) so one does have to wonder. In the last ten years we've had a good handful of artists who've qualified direkt three times in a row - Eric Saade, Robin Bengtsson, Wiktoria, Molly Sanden, Ace Wilder...and David Lindgren...but there's not yet been anyone who's managed FOUR in a row. So ordinarily I'd say her odds are stacked but this is the year of truisms being ripped up so who knows? Trigger Warning: She's been photographed rehearsing with a GUITAR so homosexuals beware! 02 Albin Johnsén - Livet börjar nu Albin is back to Melfrest, trying to give career re-launch a shot in the arm. He's never quite measured up to the promise of his IRL music industry career in MF and being shoved on in second place suggests that there isn't a huge amount of confidence in this track from the powers that be either. 03 Drängarna - Piga & Dräng Take a little bit of Arvingarna style MAN SCHLAGER, A little bit of Rolandz style ironic dansband throwback and a little bit of De Vet Du online "comedy" styling and you've got Drängarna! This is usually the kind of stuff that the Swedes love to vote for in the heats but then when they get to the final are all like "lol no, Imagine Armenian housewives trying to understand this!" So will Sweden indulge in something cute for a taste but not a swallow this week? 04 Amanda Aasa - Late Amanda Aasa won the annual P4 Nasta competition for a place in Melfest 2020 and the truism of all truisms is that the P4 nasta winner never gets higher than fifth in the heat. Being marooned in the middle of the heat suggests that there is probably at least one truism that will continue to be true. 05 Anis Don Demina - Vem E Som Oss Eagle eyed viewers will remember Anis from last year's streaming banger "Mina Bränder" (cruelly denied an andra chansen place by Nano) and from being the background saxaphonist for Samir & Viktor's Shuffla. This time he's front and centre on his own and is promising us another party banger so that'll be nice. 06 Faith Kakembo - Crying Rivers Faith is definitely the wildcard of the pack in this heat. She's a very fresh face to the Swedish music scene and describes her style as a mix of soul, gospel and jazz and she's landed herself a song that various mumblings are saying was destined for former Eurovision winner (not that she'll ever admit to it) Celine Dion. So either that's top shelf material or something a diva of the highest order deemed unsuitable. We'll have to wait to hear it to find out! 07 Mohombi - Winners So in a year of redemptions and disavowed truisms, Mohombi is one of the few players in this year's MF to be following the expected script (see also Hanna Ferm next week) - enter with some kind of established career, do well but not win outright in the first year, get a big hit and a career boost out of the competition, return relatively soon afterwards with a song to really play to win the crown. The fate tempting title is an optional extra. Mohombi promises an uptempo number so be prepared for this to be a good end to the proceedings. -x- The press get their first play on Wednesday, Snippets come out on Thursday, Genrep drops on Friday and the show itself takes place on Saturday evening.
February 12, 20205 yr Excited to hear what Mariette has to offer! Have loved all her entries so far and actually moreso with each entry. For You was so good!
February 12, 20205 yr Mariette could easily go either way so I'm intrigued! I'd have thought she'd be AC at least on name alone though barring an absolute disaster. Looking forward to Faith too given everything we know seems to point to good things.
February 13, 20205 yr Oh... suffered through the 60 seconds clips, this semi is going to be so boring
February 13, 20205 yr Shout It Otu is a bit disappointing based on the clip, idk it just feels about 50% of the way there, but maybe in full or live it'll sound better. It's not terrible, but given she's had so many near misses that didn't quite hit the mark, you'd think she wouldn't go again without a song she knew she could do it. I wouldn't say I'm particularly taken by any of the clips, Winners just sounds like exactly what you expect really. Definitely the weakest semi so far in terms of me not really being excited about any of the songs.
February 13, 20205 yr Very hard to get excited by these clips, I agree. Crying Rivers sounds like the full thing could be good, if not exactly a competitive would-be Eurovision entry.
February 13, 20205 yr What a crap heat from the previews so far. Echoing everyone else by saying I'm not excited at all. Still, here's an attempt at prefix DTF: Drängarna & Mohombi AC: Faith & Anis Don Demina 5th: Mariette 6th: Amanda 7th: Albin Drängarna are clearly winning this Heat.
February 14, 20205 yr Author Genrep poll Mohombi – Winners (241 röster – 30%) Anis Don Demina – Vem e som oss (232 röster – 29%) Drängarna – Piga & dräng (119 röster – 15%) Mariette – Shout It Out (108 röster – 14%) Faith Kakembo – Crying Rivers (50 röster – 6%) Amanda Aasa – Late (32 röster – 4%) Albin Johnsén – Livet börjar nu (18 röster – 2%) Obviously they've all been quite but not fully accurate so far this year but I can believe that as a finishing order
February 15, 20205 yr I like Shout It Out in full, the stage show was a little empty though. The complete opposite of what she did with For You.
February 15, 20205 yr That was...just there. Probably the song I'm least likely to return to of everything I've heard from this year.
February 15, 20205 yr That was...just there. Probably the song I'm least likely to return to of everything I've heard from this year. Yeah it wasn't up to much, it was inoffensive but entirely unremarkable.
February 15, 20205 yr This is good fun, can see it going to Andra Chansen at least and ending up in the final that way if not tonight. I do think this sort of song has been done better before at Melfest, but it's catchy and will appeal to people.
February 15, 20205 yr Really quite like this, much better than the songs that usually make it in through that web competition. Great production both in terms of the song and staging.
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