Against the odds that bookmakers had published that either Wiktoria or Nano were the ones to look out for, Robin Bengtsson has won Melodifestivalen 2017. Though he came third in the public voting, the voting app has created an inflation on the value of the votes and so the overall point distributions from those figures meant that the international jury votes were of the utmost importance in determining who would walk away victorious. Ultimately, Robin was the clear jury-favourite after garnering 96 points from them in total as well as being the only act of the night to receive points from every country's jury. This bodes well for Robin in his next step - a run in Eurovision. This widespread appeal would suggest that the results will be favourable in May, particularly as Robin finds himself up against very few entries that are similar in style. "I Can't Go On" as a song is ready-made for radio and is a performance meticulously crafted for television.
Watch our full interview with Robin Bengtsson, and additional finalists FO&O, Ace Wilder, Mariette, Benjamin Ingrosso, Boris René, Lisa Ajax, and Jon Henrik Fjällgren feat. Aninia here:
With one night left till the finals, this year's Melodifestivalen finalists took to the stage for a live dress rehearsal in Friends Arena complete with an audience of fans of the contest to better enhance the authenticity of the experience before the actual finals. We caught up with a few of the artists at a press conference following this rehearsal show in order to see how their run-throughs went and how they are feeling leading into the culmination of months of preparation.
Jon Henrik Fjällgren has qualified direct to the finals both times competing, with a particularly strong wave of support from the northern region of Sweden. He has timed this second time in the contest with the release of a new album. "The album is a story about my past and story about who I'm living now. It's a lot of songs bout the war that's going on for the Native people in the world. It's really deep stuff."
Anton Hagman defied the odds to win his Andra Chansen duel against Loreen and qualify to the finals. Though he entered the contest with a respectable following from posting covers on his YouTube channel, he was largely unknown to the general public and international audience. "It's a lot bigger here than it is in the other cities. I'm very happy. I'm not happy that I beat Loreen; I'm happy that I know there's so many people supporting me to bring me to the finals."
Benjamin Ingrosso is another debutant that has made it to the finals, and all the while maintaining a positive attitude and great enthusiasm for the experience. "I think it went good. I was performing for the audience this time because I knew that the camera wasn't on. I did my best and I tried to have so much fun. I know that the jury watched me but I didn't watch the camera."
Robin Bengtsson has made a few revisions to his performance for the finals, including changing the F-bombs to the word "freaking" and removed the crotch shot. "It's genuinely gone. I'm going full-on "freaking" cause I'm a full-on freak."
Watch our full interviews with Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Anton Hagman, Benjamin Ingrosso, Robin Bengtsson, and Ace Wilder here:
As is customary, the Melodifestivalen acts gave a press conference on the day of the first open (to the media) Melodifestivalen rehearsals of the week. They shared about their preparations leading up to the finals and gave us an opportunity to speak with some of the people we had yet to meet, such as Jon Henrik Fjällgren, who has returned to the contest after finishing as the runner-up in 2015.
"I have [thought] about it and I have missed it," says Fjällgren of his return to the contest. This time he is entering in collaboration with a singer called Aninia who sings in Swedish in-between the Joik (a traditional form of singing for Sami people) of Fjällgren. "She is an amazing singer and we are spiritually connected. She's great so why not?"
Benjamin Ingrosso has made it direct to the finals and now faces a line-up that has many acts that have not only previously competed in the contest but made it to the finals before. Still, he remains focused on giving his best performance. "I'm feeling good. I'm so excited, it's huge! It's a lot bigger than Malmö arena so it's gonna be a lot of fun." He plans to make some small changes to his performance by switching up his wardrobe, though he has yet to decide what exactly he'll be wearing on the night of the finals. "I think I will decide on Saturday, maybe."
Robin Bengtsson has had one of the better runs since all the songs were released to the Swedish public, as the top-selling/streaming songs have been his, Wiktoria's "As I Lay Me Down," and Nano's "Hold On". Whether it will be enough for him to win the whole thing is yet to be seen, but he and his team have already done the preparations to transfer the set-up of his performance to work in Friends Arena. "It's all set up now and looking great," says Bengtsson. "We just tried the treadmills a bit yesterday, like five minutes, but today we're gonna try the whole thing."
Lisa Ajax is another back-to-back Melodifestivalen competitor and finalist. Once again she has entered with a song written on by The Family, "I Don't Give A". She won in her Andra Chansen duel against Axel Schylström in what seemed to be a close duel. "It's so hard to say when it's only two people like me or Axel and you don't know what people will like the most. It was a touch situation." She says an EP is coming and just recently recorded a new song that will be released soon.
Watch our full interviews with Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Benjamin Ingrosso, Robin Bengtsson, and Lisa Ajax during the first Melodifestivalen finals rehearsals here:
Semi-final 4 of Melodifestivalen 2017 is one of the hottest topics of discussion among both domestic and international viewers of the contest. The main point of focus is Loreen's return to the contest, as she is most famously known for winning the contest in 2012 and going on to win Eurovision with the song "Euphoria". Loreen's return may have spun some into a frenzy at the possibility of her winning once again but the more pertinent point to remember is that with this effort, consumers can expect to get a new album that's been waited for, for over four years. With so much time away from releasing a fully developed product such as this, the pressure is enormously high for Loreen though competition is seemingly not high on her list of priorities. Loreen has always been more focused on the artistic integrity of her work than the numbers they produce.
Also returning to the contest in semi-final 4 is Northern darling Jon Henrik Fjällgren, who finished as runner-up to Måns Zelmerlöw in 2015. This time, he has a featuring artist named Aninia so whether this adds or takes away from the quality of his charms is yet to be seen. Jon Henrik does a folksy, regional style of music so it may not appeal to the pop traditionalists. But considering how well he did in 2015, it would be foolish to underestimate his competitive edge.
Watch our full break-down of the acts in semi-final 4 and their odds of qualifying here:
Here at Museled, we've been bringing you weekly coverage on the glorious spectacle that is Melodifestivalen. But now that the contest has finished, and we'll have yet another year to wait for more songs, staging, and all-around Swedish silliness, what better way to send off this year's show than count down our top 12 songs from this year's line-up! There were so many solid (mostly) pop numbers in this year's contest and though not all could make the cut, we thought it only fitting to give recognition to some of the stronger songs that may not have made it to Friends Arena, but have certainly earned a spot on our playlist. So let the countdown begin!
12. Kristin Amparo - "I See You"
Kristin may have gotten off to a rough start in the competition, as her surprisingly shaky vocals earned her a spot at Andra Chansen instead of the finals, but her second time out more than redeemed herself. Not only were her vocals better, there was more life in her overall performance and by the end, she had sent our hearts soaring. There is a wide range in "I See You," as Kristin's voice can masterfully swell in the bigger moments but also flow in a quieter falsetto. We're not as surprised that this song didn't do as well in the contest, but we're hoping Kristin will return to Melodifestivalen with a more uptempo song that she can drop her incredible voice all over and show everyone what she's made of.
11. Kalle Johansson - "För din skull" (For your sake)
Little Kalle Johansson may be only 18 years old but he left quite the impression on us. The boy makes solid feel-good pop music with a boy-next-door charm and his voice bears the utmost sincerity as it sings those sweet melodies. The fact that his songs are in Swedish only enhance the authenticity of his artistry and so long as you know the translation of the song title, Kalle can communicate the emotion of the song and tell you the story regardless of whether or not you understand Swedish. "För din skull" is unassuming in its charm and warmth. Kalle's live performance was decent, given how young and upcoming he is. But for our sake, we hope this is just the beginning for him.
10. Linus Svenning - "Forever Starts Today"
We were rightfully critical of Linus Svenning's live performance throughout the competition, as he let everyone and everything around him carry his dead weight. But make no mistake, "Forever Starts Today" is a good song. It's bright, uplifting, and has a well-executed Celtic influence. He also sounds good singing it, and once you remove his lack of stage presence from the experience, Linus will have you up and motivated and ready to take on the world.
9. Jon Henrik Fjällgren - "Jag är fri" (I am free)
Before this year's contest, we had never heard of "Joiking" before. A Joik is a traditional form of Sami song, and for those unfamiliar, Samis are an Indigenous group of people that are mostly found in regions of northern Europe. A Joik doesn't often have lyrics and can bear some similarities to chanting found in other Native cultures. It's all very fascinating and we'd highly recommend reading up more on the subject but as for "Jag är fri," there's an almost transcendent spirituality to the song and the weight of the inspiration that Jon Henrik offers to so many underrepresented people only magnifies the impact of his song. The live staging of the song was quite beautiful as well, as Jon Henrik had meticulously developed various pieces of imagery to illustrate cultural staples of his Sami upbringing, from the Northern lights, the Sami dancers, his traditional attire, and even the tree. The music video is also representative of Sami life, as Jon Henrik can be seen tending to his reindeers amongst other things.
8. Rickard Söderberg & Elize Ryd - "One By One"
Though Elize Ryd is often billed as a "metal" singer, due to the fact that she sings vocals for a metal band, we'll tell you straight out that this is false advertising. Her voice has all the loveliness you want in a pop singer but unlike many an established popstar, she can actually carry a tune. "One By One" paired her up with opera singer Rickard Söderberg and both are more than capable of making dramatic musical impact. The production of the song is good but it's the the beautiful blending of their voices that is at the forefront of why this song is so strong. The live version was most certainly worthy of a better result than 5th in their heat, as we love a well-used wind machine to add more flair to an already enjoyable song.
7. Magnus Carlsson - "Möt mig i Gamla Stan"
Shame on anyone who ever thought that schlager would stop being relevant. Thank goodness for Magnus Carlsson, who arrived on time to prove to everyone that there's always room in life for a bit more sparkle. Magnus looked dapper as ever in his sharp suit, and rightfully advanced straight to the finale from his heat. The music video is of course set in Gamla Stan, stirring feelings of sentimentality in us of partying at a gay club while watching Eurovision. (That's what we did the last time we were in Gamla Stan). "Möt mig i Gamla Stan" starts off with alluring come-hither verses before transitioning into a pleasant, cheery chorus that reminds you all of why schlager will never die.
If that wasn't enough to convince you of the power of schlager, check out this viral (in Sweden) hit of one of the official sign-language-signers getting his groove on and having the time of his life signing to this slice of schlager heaven.
6. Samir & Viktor - "Groupie"
We did not expect this song to grow on us as much as it did. We had initially felt let down that "Groupie" wasn't as clubby as Samir & Viktor's first single, "Success," but lo and behold, these two managed to win us over. If there's one thing we can say for certain is that these two improved enormously during their time competing, from the semi-finals, to Andra Chansen, all the way through the finals, which concluded with them in bed together. Literally. The energy and enthusiasm of these two is unmatched and there's something truly endearing about how much fun they have on stage together.
5. Midnight Boy - "Don't Say No"
We've almost always hated Melodifestivalen songs that are heavily influenced from a past decade, but Midnight Boy's passion and commitment to the magic of the 1980's is felt in the synth-heavy, magnificently camp "Don't Say No." Midnight Boy is precise in his development of a sound that combines all of the magical melodrama of the 1980's without feeling like a relic. It's sleek enough to fit in nicely amongst all your favourite 21st century club songs and another strength of Midnight Boy is that he places high importance on the visual element of his art, too. From the live performance to the music video, Midnight Boy has laid out his vision in a manner that only serves to strengthen his music. Don't you worry, Midnight Boy, we'll never say no to you. Keep delivering that sweet, 80's goodness!
By far, the biggest 'WTF moment' of this year's Melodifestivalen was the elimination of Molly Pettersson Hammar, as a technical glitch of the contest's app prevented her from making it past the first round of voting in her heat. "I'll Be Fine" is a punchy, up-tempo song that is ripe with attitude, soul, and Molly's vocals are fantastic. Molly herself is also brimming with personality and energy, which translates well on stage, so all the ingredients are in place for her to be the next big female powerhouse in Sweden so long as she manages her career right. "I'll Be Fine" is modern, well-arranged, and sounds much like something that an established UK diva would drop and become the breakup-anthem of the year. Your ex didn't treat you right? Doesn't matter because Molly's got your back, and you're gonna be fine.
3. Andreas Weise - "Bring Out The Fire"
Andreas Weise is one of the biggest breakout stars for us in this year's Melodifestivalen. From his vocal ability to his on-point showmanship, the groove of the song, and the good use of instrumentation, this ended up being one of our favourite songs of the whole contest. It was downright criminal that this didn't make it to Friends Arena because we are confident that Andreas Weise was one of the few artists that could work a crowd of that size. It's our understanding that much of Andreas' back catalogue is a bit more old-fashioned, but we're hoping that this hybridisation of big band music with a modern groove will be present in more of what he puts out next.
2. Dinah Nah - "Make Me (La La La)"
Dinah Nah is undoubtedly the Queen of this year's contest. "Make Me (La La La)" was thoroughly well-produced and while that break-down is already strong to begin with, it was magnified a thousand times over with the most epic shaky-cam action of the year and some decent choreography to boot. Dinah Nah has made it clear that she's not a dancer, but though some might not realise this because of how heavily produced the song is, she's actually a solid vocalist. Dinah Nah can reign supreme as the only act to give us a banger this year. It's the type of song that grabs hold of you and compels to unleash all your stresses by dancing it out. It can be a highly cathartic experience, so surrender yourself to Queen Dinah Nah and go on and La La La!
1. Måns Zelmerlöw - "Heroes"
Don't pretend you didn't know this was coming. All the (mostly international) fans that have been clamouring for Måns Zelmerlöw to make a big come-back have been vindicated for the years of unwavering support. "Heroes" is a highly current, radio-friendly song, with it's plucky-guitared verses, big sweeping chorus, and Måns' so-good-it'll-change-your-life vocals. Yet again, the Debs (Joy and Linnea Deb) are billed as composers on the break-out hit of the year. Last year it was Ace Wilder's "Busy Doin' Nothin'" but while that song was a delightfully clever statement on the attitude older generations have about younger ones, "Heroes" has a more inspirational message: that of being a better example to our children so as to bring about change in the world. If that all weren't enough for you, "Heroes" has the hands-down strongest visual staging we've ever seen. With projection mapping, animation, lighting, and Måns making grey the new black, it's a visual treat from start to finish. Following Måns' multi-record-breaking victory, "Heroes" quickly rose to the top of the Eurovision betting odds and we'll be (loudly) cheering it on when it competes in Vienna in May. So treat yourself, be a hero, and watch this Melodifestivalen masterpiece again and again.
What's good, Museled readers! Another set of rehearsal snippets has been posted by SVT so it's time to give our picks for this week's Melodifestivalen semi-final. We've also included a recap and review of last week's show, numbers, and results, but you're as welcome as ever to skip down to our thoughts on this week if you prefer.
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In a reverse-shocking set of results, the voting actually reflected the ranking of the quality of songs and performances given. But before we get to those, the show began with a cheesy and bland opening number that wasn't even the worst musical number from the hosts of the night. They later did some sort of knock-off version of "Empire State of Mind," which read as entirely ignorant and disrespectful to the hip-hop and urban genre. Given the origins of this type of music and the highly tumultuous ongoing current events regarding police brutality and white supremacy, SVT would do well to read up on what's going on in the world of POCs instead of delivering offensive numbers with the whitest people (never) under the sun donning gold chains and caps.
Flipper Bark, yes that's what we're calling her now, also continued to flop in her attempts to be funny. We still don't know if this character is supposed to be seven years old or forty-five, but considering that this is someone who donned a bear costume for the entire show just for one floundering punchline, we're long past any hope that we'll ever find her entertaining. But let's move on to the songs themselves.
Linus Svenning's "Forever Starts Today" opened the competition and we were pleasantly surprised by the number. Admittedly, he lacked charisma, stage presence, and his outfit looked more like that of a rebellious teenager that snuck out to do a gig at a dive-bar. But with a full team of drummers moving around and offering visual compensation, we were able to derive a bit of satisfaction, as the song was brighter and his vocals were steadier than last year. The studio version is more enjoyable since it removes the poor showmanship from the experience. Once again, he landed in Andra Chansen. Last year, he was one of two acts to advance from AC, and considering that a full four acts will advance from AC this time around and "Forever Starts Today" is his best song yet, his odds are decent that he'll be in the finale once again.
Emelie Irewald's "Där och då med dig" (There and then with you) was about as dreary as we thought it would be. It's really quite a shame because it seemed like her voice wasn't that bad, but the song and number did absolutely nothing in her favour. But surprisingly, she didn't end up in last place. Hurray?
Samir & Viktor's "Groupie" was the other song to advance to advance to AC, no doubt due in large part to the hype they have from the vastly superior "Success," their popularity on social media, and their lack of competition in this Heat for the youth demographic. The vocals were horrendous, but we can't deny that we were entertained, considering that you had middle-aged camera men scrambling to chase them around the arena and Viktor's mark-missing off-rhythm bopping struck a sentimental chord in us of nights out clubbing in Sweden and watching the locals attempt to dance. Nonetheless, we've relented and downloaded this song, and it's started to grow on us.
Neverstore's "If I Was God For One Day" came in fifth, and we're sick of talking about how mediocre the rock numbers are in Melodifestivalen, so we just hope that this will send a clear message to SVT to drop the genre unless something truly epic comes along to warrant its return to the contest.
Marie Bergman & Sanne Salomonsen's "Nonetheless" earned the infamous last place spot. We really don't want to be mean about this but this was the right result, and we'll just leave it at that.
Magnus Carlsson's "Möt mig i Gamla Stan" proved all the Schlager-hating naysayers wrong with an all-around fun number. The wardrobe, his hair, the choreography, and the song itself were all excellent. We'd like for him to turn up the attitude just a bit more for the finale, though. As far as Melodifestivalen dance songs are concerned, this wasn't exactly groundbreaking but with how weak this overall heat was, this number shined that much brighter by comparison.
Mariette's "Don't Stop Believing" was the other to advance to the finale and seriously, this staging was like a bad Vegas impersonation of Loreen's aesthetic. If this had been a stronger heat, we really question as to whether this would do any better than AC but at least she sang in tune which is more than we could say for some.
We did yet another video review of this semi-final that you can watch here:
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Now onto this week's numbers. We hadn't heard of most of these acts, so we felt compelled to do extra research to reassure ourselves that we wouldn't have another lukewarm "Heat" to sit through. There seem to be many more capable vocalists in this heat, so a lot comes down to the quality of the songs, styling, stage production, and showmanship. As usual, we'll remind everyone that these opinions are based only off the snippets, and any past exposure to the artists themselves and their work. Even if we're critical, we could always change our opinions once we've seen the numbers in full on Saturday as well as eventually hearing the studio versions.
1) Ellen Benediktson - "Insomnia"
We've been ever so curious to see what this song and number would be like after Ellen's ridiculously hilarious antics at the press conference announcing the contest's acts. From the outlandish behaviour to her drastic change in styling, we were expecting some sort of hot mess of a pop banger. Instead, we got the same nasally vocals we were subjected to last year on an underwhelming, dramatic-pop number. Comparisons are being made to Loreen's "Euphoria," and with another 1-SAT-word song title it's admittedly not that far-fetched. But if Mariette's "Don't Stop Believing" is the Vegas-knockoff of "Euphoria," then "Insomnia" is the self-important karaoke version of "Don't Stop Believing." We appreciate the improvement from last year, as we're not a fan of underwhelming comebacks, but this just isn't good enough for us. The melody is weak and doesn't pack nearly enough of a punch for us to cheer this on. But to her credit, the styling is solid. We love her outfit, and liked the accompanying dancing.
2) Kalle Johansson - "För din skull" (For your sake)
We really didn't have high expectations for Kalle Johansson at first, as the P4 picks don't have a propensity for bringing the best numbers. But when we researched the acts and listened to the song that won Kalle his spot in the contest, "Den där dan," we became enormously excited because of how utterly excellent it is. (We also downloaded it and have probably listened to it a hundred times already in the last week). From what we heard in the rehearsal snippet, "För din skull" isn't quite as good. However, it's still relatively decent, and Kalle sings it well. But as he's entirely unknown and not in the best spot in the running order, we reckon he'll really need to whip out the showmanship and perhaps a few cheeky smiles and winks to charm the Swedish public into voting for him. But regardless of how he does on Saturday, Kalle is someone we'll be keeping an eye on solely for the strength of "Den där dan."
3) Andreas Weise - "Bring Out the Fire"
Now this is what we're talking about! Take the groove of an uptempo Cee-Lo Green song, add a splash of Michael Bublé-esque showmanship, and add in some pyro-techniques which we haven't even seen yet but are now greatly looking forward to, and you'll have Andreas Weise's "Bring Out the Fire." His vocals are great and his staging appears to be good as well. It also appears that he's one of the few Swedes that actually isn't afraid to show a bit of personality so we're feeling rather taken by him. The only critique we have for him currently is that the single cover for this song is all wrong. It lacks personality and spark, looking like something more appropriate for an eerie, experimental track. This is also why we chose a more lively photo from his performance instead of the single's cover itself to be the featured image on this post.
4) Andreas Johnson - "Living to Die"
What. Happened. Though. We haven't heard many of Andreas Johnson's songs but we thought him a far more capable vocalist than what SVT has posted. Then the song itself is just bland, dreary and very little about the number and production doesn't feel dated, including even the lighting. It sounds like a failed comeback from a once-great rock act from the 80s. We really expected more from him.
5) Isa - "Don't Stop"
Isa seemed ripe with potential, with youth, energy, dance experience, and decent vocal ability on her side. There's just one problem: the song. It's coming off like a lukewarm early 2000s pop song that you heard a couple of times but has long since faded from your memory. But considering that this girl is only sixteen, she could still be moulded into something great if she's given the right guidance or carves her own innovative path.
6) Kristin Amparo - "I See You"
Wow, does this woman have a voice on her or what!? This snippet isn't quite as epic as we'd like but assuming that it's only from the bridge, so we're hopeful that the number will make more of an impact once heard in full. Given the popularity Kristin Amparo has gained by mic-dropping her fantastic vocals on big dance tracks, we were hoping for something more along the lines of that. But considering some of the (questionable) numbers that have advanced to the finale already, or even to Andra Chansen, we firmly believe Kristin Amaparo's vocals deserve a spot in that finale.
7) Jon Henrik Fjällgren - "Jag är fri (Manne Liem Frije)" (I am free)
It's a rare occasion that we can say a Melodifestivalen song feels entirely original but this is very much the case for this one. We can't say that we view Melodifestivalen as a culturally sensitive program, nor does it typically have much diversity, so that in and of itself makes it all the important for a song and act like this to be present. But on top of all of that, the song is actually quite uplifting and pleasant to listen to. We haven't heard much Sami music before, but if this song is representative of the genre, it's certainly enough to make us intrigued to hear more. Also, Jon's vocals are quite lovely.
Final tally ~Our ranking, based on the rehearsal snippets, is as follows:
Direkt till finalen (Direct to the finale): Andreas Weise's "Bring Out the Fire" & Jon Henrik Fjällgren's "Jag är fri (Manne Liem Frije)" (I am free) Andra Chansen (Second Chance Round): Kristin Amapro's "I See You" (But it absolutely needs to advance from AC to the finale) & Kalle Johansson's "För din skull" 5th/6th (We're not bothered which places which between the two): Ellen Benediktson's "Insomnia" & Isa's "Don't Stop" 7th: Andreas Johnson's "Living to Die"
** Friendly reminder that this is not a prediction of Saturday's voting results, but our preferences**
Be sure to tune in at 20:00 Swedish time (11:00 am PST), February 21, on SVT's website to watch the third semi-final. You won't be able to vote unless you're actually in Sweden but you can watch from anywhere in the world! Also, tweet along with the #Melfest hashtag. To all the entries, break a leg!
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