gooddelta

I'm not very keen on this choice sadly. I like fun Europop generally (loved the studio of We Will Rave last year but not the live) but found this one quite annoying. The reception I've seen online from the general public (outside the fan community) is generally mixed to positive though and the feeling is that Ireland sent the best song/performance on the night. To me it feels a bit like the product of asking AI 'make a song about Laika the space dog with production from 1997', but maybe its simplicity, retro vibe and innocence is its charm. It could Q, it depends what else is in the semi with it, I'm sure by May it will be a more complete package and it's probably catchy enough for the televote to remember it, especially if it opens the semi. UK will donate a decent amount of points I'm sure. Some strong female pop in the second half of the semi could affect it though depending on what Finland, Malta and others go for. Maybe 7-12 area in the semi. All six songs lacked something for me to make any of them a surefire qualifer in Basel. Fire was my favourite by far, but the chorus was weak and repetitive by the end and the panel unfairly killed it off a bit despite Reylta turning in a good performance by saying Irish traditional music is done in the contest. I don't believe that would be the case with a special, magical Irish song, which Fire isn't but it's certainly better than Dervish who were terrible live and an unfair comparison. Samantha Mumba was good but this song was not, and the staging was messy, and I think Bobbi Arlo would have been a great representative but the track was not quite there for me and possibly not hooky enough on the first listen to make it into the final. NIYL was really good, I definitely think that could have been polished into a striking entry and I'm not surprised he came second on the public vote. Adgy was again decent but not strong enough.

Isn't It A Wonder is probably Boyzone's worst single for me, I'm surprised it sold so well but they were huge I suppose. Nice that Gina G got another decent sized hit, the first verse melody of that has always reminded me of Faith by George Michael. Was that PSB songs one of the first to dive out of the top 40 after a top 10 debut? Good track though and shame that episode was skipped. Not really a vintage few weeks for new entries generally though.

Klara's entry is really good, quite a schlager move to have that sudden slowdown towards the end before it ramps back up. Very catchy track. Talking of schalger, Don Juan is quite the Waterloo pastiche. Very early 00s Melfest Kikki, Bettan & Lotta vibes too. Top marks from the older voters at least. Instantly loving Nomi Tales, feels quite leftfield pop as far as Melodifestivalen goes, but super catchy. Salute sounds pretty good, all these uptempo party anthems pretty much fade into one and the same but this has more of a football/carnival vibe so it could do well. Wasn't super sold on Erik's song, he's had better in the past I think, and The Heart of A Swedish Cowboy could be a surprise vote winner with the middle aged voters, it's not massively my cup of tea though. Predictions: DTF: Klara, Nomi Tales Second chance: Kaliffa or Fredrik Out: Kaliffa or Fredrik, Erik, Schlagerz

Aiming for a return to top 41 glory this time.

Only a live version, it was on their 2008 hits album. I really found this documentary an eye-opening watch, crazy the lies that were spouted about them by the press. No Matter What was everywhere in summer 1998 but I do prefer Picture Of You of their signature songs. I also have a lot of time for All That I Need. They were mostly just a covers band though with their biggest hits. I actually think their 2008 and 2010 top ten hits were really decent too, Love You Anyway and Gave It All Away, as was Love Is A Hurricane which was very much like an early Ronan solo track.

Oh I have a great track I’ve been saving for when this theme was used *.* Confirmed!

Quite an average selection of basic pop as usual, but Hallucination I really like, the synths hit hard in a trance-lite way and it could be a borderline Q. The Unluckiest Boy Alive felt quite fresh and catchy too to me. The rest are fine to middling.

Also, it's not like Gaga doesn't have form in writing classic soft rock ballads, the A Star Is Born soundtrack contains at least three or four brilliant examples, and Joanne before that, so it's hardly a stretch that she would have had a major role in writing Die With A Smile?

Going for The Pogues, as it has been in this plenty and I like all these songs to some extent.

Close but The Killers for me.

Definitely Chuckie and LMFAO. I don't hate Photograph, it makes me laugh because it reminds me of this: 9NkkZJHova4

1. Andi Slavik & Susanne Kemmler - Indian Spirits 2. Infinity Song - Hater's Anthem 3. Minty - I Wanna Be Free 4. Erika Vikman - ICH KOMME 5. Braelyn Rankins, Theo Somolu, Aaron Pierre & Kelvin Harrison Jr. - I Always Wanted A Brother 6. They/Live - For The Pleasure 7. Maja Ivarsson - Kamikaze Life 8. Tone Damli - Last Song 9. Lola Young - Messy 10. Linnea Henriksson - Den känslan 11. Telenova - Bird Of Paradise 12. Oklou feat Bladee - take me by the hand 13. IDER - Attachment Theory 14. Reylta - Fire 15. Vylet Pony - Pest 16. Louis Dunford - Queer 17. Aly & AJ - What It Feels Like 18. Rose Gray - Angel Of Satisfaction 19. Fontaines D.C. - Bug 20. Self Esteem - Focus Is Power

I think that's partly the worry, it's another act that the UK would never have actively voted for to send, so I doubt Europe will vote for an act like this either. The girlbands almost always finished 4th/5th in the national finals, even with great songs like It's You by The Revelations and Until Tomorrow by Darline. But I'll reserve judgement until I hear the song, I'm a fan of pop/country and female groups, and they sound very talented vocally, so unless it's incredibly dull, no doubt I'll enjoy it.

How thrilling. I think these albums tend to hang around in the compilation charts for a while (certainly the Timeless one did), so I'm not surprised that they keep pumping variations of them out.

Spotify Sweden today: 1. Hush Hush (!) 3. Kamikaze Life (<3) (4. Käärijä's interval song) 8. Voice Of The Silent 12. Upp I Luften 15. Den känslan 16. Vår första gång If only John Lundvik had been the 'second chance' song and Meira and Maja were the direct finalists.

Hush Hush is by far the highest on Spotify in Sweden interestingly, with Maja second and John third! Imagine the Melfest final televote giving 5 points to John and a recreation of the Eurovision vote receipt expression :drama: Maja does on paper feel like bottom of the final fodder, but I thought that a bit about Cazzi Opeia last year (as much as I dearly love it/her) and she finished 4th, so you never know. I always think about that song Only The Dead Fish Follow The Stream that randomly clawed its way to 4th in 2013 too, the audience do like a catchy pop song by an aging legend!

I just remembered we had a decent pop-country song in the 2016 national final by a female act called Darline, maybe a bit ahead of its time with the recent country trend. Lovely track but the vocals were really ropey at times sadly. HJyXF3oJX-I Further back, Six Chix sent a pop-country song in 2000 and it was the hot favourite to win (vocally strong, catchy, written by the guy from Katrina and The Waves) but Nicki French beat them. The song even managed to chart in the UK, at No.72. I reckon this would have come top ten for us in 2000, Europe would have liked this. _mqtyDLj3zY

I had a few of their songs from last year on my playlist, they were decent but unremarkable, but the band sound like a reasonable choice (I don't think a big 'name' is the way to go, they almost always fail to live up to the high expectations). They definitely need a great, vote grabbing (or jury friendly) song though.

Love this, what we’ve heard so far from this album really feels like fan service but in an organic way? It’s clear the inspiration is her first couple of albums but you can hear the sonic and vocal progression from the last 14 years since Born This Way too. Very instant track, big pop chorus and blistering production, I hope it’s a hit.

Wow! Well there you go, congrats Cody. The odds for Cor Lupus were correct, how about that! Congratulations - it's a brilliant track, very addictive and a deserving winner. Quite sad for Skall, as I did rate them higher even so. Losing on a tie is always tough but especially when you haven't won in so long! :drama: Congrats Fljótavík too, I thought that would be 2nd and it really wasn't far off! Really cool track to get into the top three, even if it just missed my final vote. Elated to see Cumulonimbia in the top ten, what a find! And pop managed a good few places in the top ten including the winner, so it still has life in this contest yet. I did think Aeroche/Kluminican Republic would end up higher, as well as Aelandor but it was a really busy final. 42nd and last...oh dear. Well it's nice to get a unique position for once, and it doesn't really get any worse than this in a final. We have finished last before in a final of 37, and clearly this wasn't a competitive entry, but I still love it. Bit of limp return all around after the DNQ last month! But I really appreciate the votes for it. Thanks Kath for the wonderful hosting, very brat and completely fit the brief and then some, loved it <3 Hopefully in anticipation of Charli sweeping the Grammys.

Ooooooh, it's been a very long time since we had a tie, not sure how many we've ever had but it's not many (although I still lost 2/2 I was involved in oops).

Thanks Harve! Although last place really is in sight here, whoops. The dance voters have finally arrived, some really big climbs for the dance entries in the last few votes. Pop voters always tend to vote earlier generally as the genre almost always starts off strong and tails off, not sure why that is exactly.

Thanks Lotunia and Sovarasma! Does look like a slip into the bottom five is imminent oops.

Thanks Tim and Chez!

Thanks to Colm for the 7! I am more or less where I would have expected to be, nice to see some supporters though.