Eurovision Song Contest 2016 tonight was awarded the Golden Rose for best entertainment program. The prize was awarded at a gala in Berlin and among there to receive it was executive producer Martin Österdahl and TV host Måns Zelmerlöw.

- We are among the winners from all over Europe and honorary laureate John Cleese and have won Europe's oldest television price! It's absolutely magical, and a real reward. This award is for all who have worked to make Sweden and SVT a global leader when it comes to the Eurovision Song Contest, greets executive producer Martin Österdahl from Berlin. SVT's production of this year's Eurovision Song Contest was a huge success and was hailed by the media and the audience, both in Sweden and worldwide. The semi-finals and final were seen by over 200 million viewers and now production has thus won one of Europe's oldest and most prestigious television awards, Gold Rose (Rose d'Or). Other nominees in the category were the concert "Adele at the BBC" and German "Mordkomission Berlin". To produce the Eurovision Song Contest is a huge apparatus, with hundreds of people involved and tons of technology. Executive producers for the broadcasts were Martin Österdahl and Johan Bernhagen. Competition manager Christer Björkman, Sven Stojanovic as producer.

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Eurovision fans, you have your first song! Though some other countries had already announced their acts to compete at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, none had selected a song till now. Eneda Tarifa was crowned the victor for Albania at the 54th Festivali i Këngës with her song "Përrallë", which translates to "Fairytale". Though many critics and fans wrote off the song when going through the studio versions of the Albanian national selection entries, Tarifa truly made the song come alive with her powerful live vocals and raw emotionality. Even with the language barrier for non-Albanian-speakers tuning in to the show, there was something truly gripping about her performance. The song would greatly benefit from a re-vamp to modernise and energise it further. Some may even be suspicious as to whether or not the song will end up at Eurovision at all, given the fact that Elhaida Dani (the 2015 Albanian Eurovision act) made a song-switch when making the move from Festivali i Këngës to Eurovision. But for the time being, it appears as though this will be the song to represent Albania in Stockholm, though Tarifa herself has already stated that the song will be changed to English first. See Eneda Tarifa's winning performance below and share your thoughts in the comments!

It has yet to be announced which semi-final Tarifa will compete in for a spot at the Eurovision finals.

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Welcome, Museled readers, to yet another set of reviews of this year's Eurovision entries. This time around, we'll be taking you through the auto-qualifiers. Each year, the "Big Five" are automatically placed in the finals. The "Big Five" consists of the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Spain, and Germany. In addition to the Big Five, there is the previous year's winner (and host country). This year, that is Austria. Being that this is the 60th anniversary of Eurovision, Australia has been granted a one-off pass to compete in the contest, having had a long 30+ year history of broadcasting the contest in their country to large viewing numbers. So what do we make of these auto-qualifiers? Are they good enough to warrant their automatic place in the finale? Let's see!

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Germany ~ Ann Sophie - "Black Smoke"

It's difficult to say if "Black Smoke" could be any more of a mess. We can't quite make heads or tails as to whether this song is trying to go for more jazz, soul, or pop, but it completely misses the mark to make quality music in any of those genres. From the insufferably shouty vocals in the chorus to the cheaply produced garage-sale keyboard hook, this song crashes and burns from start to finish.

Museled score: 4/10

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France ~ Lisa Angell - "N'oubliez pas"

Despite a valiant effort from Lisa Angell to breathe life into this song, "N'oubliez pas" simply lacks the necessary support to elevate the drama or emotionality to a climax. The song constantly sounds like it's going to lead to some sort of big bang but alas, it never arrives and we're left feeling empty. Even after having looked up the translation of the lyrics, the song fails to stir any potent reactions from us. The production is entirely lacking as the instrumentation fails to create the necessary urgency or climax that the song would have greatly benefited from.

Museled score: 4.5/10

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Spain ~ Edurne - "Amanecer"

"Amanecer" is a not-terrible song. The melody is decent but there needed to be a greater contrast in the melodic range from the verses to the chorus. Without such, the song essentially stays in the same place for its entire duration. The rhythm of the percussion is also good but the production on it is weak, as the drums needed to be hit harder, louder, and preferably on just deeper bass drums in general. This song needed booming drums, not tapping ones. The backing instrumentation also should have been expanded on so as to broaden the song's scope and strengthen its impact. The lyrics are also highly down-trodden and Edurne's lispy delivery of "corazon" is cringeworthy.

Museled score: 6/10

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Austria ~ The Makemakes - "I Am Yours"

"I Am Yours" is a tune with an indie rock feel that follows in the footsteps of folks like Hozier or Gavin Degraw. It's a competent track in its bluesy elements and the lead singer's vocals are quite nice to listen to. The song doesn't build up to anything, though, thus sounding more like an album track than a single. But hey, if you're looking for something pleasant to listen to while you knock back a pint at your favourite local pub, you've come to the right song.

Museled score: 6.5/10

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United Kingdom ~ Electro Velvet - "Still in Love with You"

Delightfully cheery and hilariously cheesy, "Still in Love with You" pays homage to the roaring 1920s and old-school musicals. With a very clear story being told in the lyrics of a woman reassuring her patronising man that despite running off to have her fun, she is still in love with him, the song instantly made us laugh. It reads like a clever, tongue-in-cheeky parody of the even-more-casual-than-today sexism of decades past. Remember "Sixteen Going on Seventeen"? Well "Still in Love with You" seems like it was written by a lover of classic musicals that was self-aware enough to know when the the messages being sung about were entirely archaic. At its best moments, the song's got a fun bounce, making us want to jump up and lindy-hop. At the very least, we find ourselves whipping out the jazz hands and the matching dopey grins to bop along.

Museled score: 7/10

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Italy ~ Il Volo - "Grande Amore"

Oh "Grande Amore," the most Italian song to ever Italian. But all jokes aside, this is popera at its finest. In all honesty, we didn't know we could enjoy popera, as past experiences with the genre left us rather sour over lacklustre vocalists that simply lacked the discipline and vocal ability to be proper opera singers. Before we give you our review of the track, it should also be worth noting that the music video we've included is the original, unedited version of the song. (All songs to compete in Eurovision must be no longer than 3 minutes). The Eurovision-edit of the song has the first chorus transitioning straight into the build-up into the second chorus. This couldn't have worked out better, as it allows the song to maintain the momentum it has built up from the song's beginning and keep the energy levels up so as to keep the audience's interest. (This is especially important within the context of a competition). As for the song itself, the production is classically beautiful while also retaining a modern-element so as to not be so isolating to those who wouldn't normally indulge in this genre. The drums are important for the song's movement so it doesn't stall in its tracks and all three of the vocalists are strong in their own rights as well as when singing together. It's truly a collaborative effort. Also can we stop and take time to music video? It's equal parts Italian flamboyancy and all-out geekiness! Ghost, Back to the Future, and Spiderman? Yes, yes, and yes!

Museled score: 8/10

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Australia ~ Guy Sebastian - "Tonight Again"

What's that sound? Oh, just the sound of Guy Sebastian mic-dropping all over these other auto-qualifiers (and most of the songs in this year's line-up)! Before we even get into the masterpiece that is this song, we have to let those of you who didn't already know this, that Guy Sebastian only had 72 hours to compose the song, gather his band, record it, mix it, and master/produce it, not to mention record the music video. Guy Sebastian is bringing some desperately needed soul to the overwhelmingly vanilla Eurovision. His vocals runs do laps around absolutely everyone else in the contest. Even his backing vocalists sound better than a great deal of this year's competitors. We so appreciate his use of organic instrumentation. From the the horns, piano, saxophone, drum set, all of it serves to show that old-school will never die. The groove of this song is one that has flavour and an understated attitude that doesn't have to knock you about to make you feel its impact. Nothing can take away the fact that this is one of the finest tracks to have ever graced the Eurovision stage.

Museled score: 9.5/10

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Though this concludes our preliminary reviews of the song's in this year's contest, stay tuned for further coverage of the contest as only a few weeks remain till the first semi-final kicks off!

Eurovision semi-final 1 will air Tuesday, May 19, at 12PM PST/3PM EST/8PM CET/9PM CEST.
Eurovision semi-final 2 will air Thursday, May 21, at 12PM PST/3PM EST/8PM CET/9PM CEST.
The Eurovision finals will air Saturday, May 23, at 12PM PST/3PM EST/8PM CET/9PM CEST.

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Måns Zelmerlöw On Melodifestivalen, International Fans, And The Story Behind "Heroes"

By far, the most talked-about and anticipated act of Melodifestivalen 2015 has been Måns Zelmerlöw, who has competed two prior times; in 2007 with "Cara Mia" and 2009 with "Hope and Glory." No stranger to competition, Zelmerlöw got his musical start in Sweden in 2005 on Swedish Idol (the Swedish branch of the 'Idol' franchise). After appearing as one of the hosts of Melodifestivalen 2010, he spent the next few years hosting Sweden's long-standing sing-along show, "Allsång på Skansen," and most recently released the album "Barcelona Sessions."

Now, he has returned to Melodifestivalen with "Heroes," a song co-written by the same songwriters that gave us last year's triple-platinum smash hit, Ace Wilder's "Busy Doin' Nothin'," and the song has now skyrocketed to the top of the charts. We already gave praise to "Heroes" off the preliminary 30-second rehearsal clip but now that the song has been performed in full, it's entirely evident why this is the favourite amongst many. "Heroes" combines equal parts strong vocals, a sweeping hook on top of a song that's borderline cinematic in its scope, strong visuals that include a charming animated character and a light show, solid camera work, and Zelmerlöw's phenomenal stage presence.

Having now secured a place in the Melodifestivalen finals, Måns Zelmerlöw was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to give us this interview.

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Museled: Hello Måns, thank you for taking time to speak with us here at Museled.com ~ We're thrilled to have you!

Måns Zelmerlöw: Nice talking to you too! :)

Museled: Congratulations on making it to the finals! Relative to your previous times competing, how has this year felt different for you thus far?

Måns Zelmerlöw: The response has been huge! I've never felt that before. People are loving the performance and the song, and for the first time ever, they're also people my own age!

Museled: It's been six years since you last competed in Melodifestivalen, during which you were the host of Swedish sing-along-show "Allsång på Skansen"; how did this job influence your artistic and performing development?

Måns Zelmerlöw: Of course I gained knowledge and stage experience but most of all, it was an important stepping stone. I needed to host some TV to realise that singing and performing is what I love the most.

Museled: How did you come to decide that this was the year you'd come back to Melodifestivalen?

Måns Zelmerlöw: I felt I needed a big comeback in music after four years hosting TV, and in Sweden, Melodifestivalen is huge and probably the one place where you can actually make waves in the music industry. I just needed the right song. When I heard "Heroes," I realised that was it!

Museled: Even when you weren't competing, you still often found ways to be a part of the contest, such as being a host or songwriter. What is it that you love about Melodifestivalen that has made you stick around?

Måns Zelmerlöw: I like the competition-part; always having dreamt of becoming a tennis pro, this is as close as I get! Haha!

Museled: Tell us about your experience of hearing "Heroes" for the first time, with its Spaghetti Western guitar and that sweeping hook.

Måns Zelmerlöw: I had actually decided on another song and went to my AnR to play it. He said, "Great, but listen to this one." He played me "Heroes" and I loved it straight away. The hooky guitars in the verse and the epic chorus. Also the message is beautiful, that we all can be heroes and that we have to be role models to our kids.

Museled: Many are saying "Heroes" has the strongest visual component the show has ever had. How did this animation and lighting set-up come to be part of the number, and can you talk us through the narrative being told with it all?

Måns Zelmerlöw: The creators behind the number are Fredrik Rydman and David Nordström. I came to them asking for a new effect, something that hadn't been seen on a Melodifestivalen-stage before. Fredrik showed [me] some clips of projection mapping and I loved it! After telling the guys some stories of my life, Fredrik liked one in particular. Back when I was 11-12 years old, I was bullied and lost all of my friends for a year and a half. But during a summer break, I started playing tennis with a new guy and we became friends. The next semester, he started in my class and he made my old friends come back to me. The number is about that, how I invite the lone stick man to sit next to me in the beginning, and how that makes him stronger and brings back his friends. They all come marching in at the end.

Museled: You've had quite the musical evolution from your first few albums and then most recently with "Barcelona Sessions"; is "Heroes" emblematic of the type of music we can expect to hear from you next?

Måns Zelmerlöw: Well not really, I would say that the next album will sound like a hybrid of the "Barcelona Sessions" and the "Heroes" sound.

Museled: A lot of musicians in Sweden seem to skip making music videos for the singles they release; will "Heroes" have a music video? Do you have an album ready to release?

Måns Zelmerlöw: We've already released a lyric video but we're hoping to be able to record a real video soon. [It's] probably a bit dependent on if I'm competing in Vienna or not. The album is half-ready, [and] looking to be released in October.

Museled: In regards to your relationship with the international fans, how has it been for you to receive such diverse support throughout your career? Any memorable stories?

Måns Zelmerlöw: I have the most amazing international fans! One of them actually took a flight from Mexico just to come to ONE "Allsång på Skansen" show! It's crazy, really. I mean, my music hasn't been released in that many countries over the years but even so, it feels like my most hardcore fans are foreign.

Museled: There's already rumblings that not only could you win Melodifestivalen, but that you could win Eurovision itself. How does that make you feel and what would those victories mean to you?

Måns Zelmerlöw: Winning Melodifestivalen has always been a dream of mine and representing Sweden in Eurovision would mean the world to me. I do think that "Heroes" would be a great song for Eurovision! But I try not to focus on winning too much; if there's one thing I know about Melodifestivalen, it's that you NEVER know what the outcome is gonna be.

Museled: Thank you very much, Måns, and we look forward to your performance at the finals!

Måns Zelmerlöw: Thank you!

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Find Måns Zelmerlöw on Facebook here and follow him on Twitter (@manszelmerlow) and Instagram (manszelmerlow).

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