Friday, February 11, 2011

Just a minute....of this week's Melodifestivalen songs

Something off-topic to begin with, but which explains the reason why my review is a day late: It was faithful travelling companion's birthday yesterday, and we went out to our favourite local Indian restaurant to celebrate. After overloading with all that lovely food, I felt very sleepy, and not in any position to judge the short clips of this week's songs when I initially listened to them last night.

Fast forward 24 hours, and even after the horrors of watching the Irish Eurosong tonight (which has probably warped my fragile little mind beyond repair with the twin-headed monster of evil emerging triumphant) I headed off once again to SVT Play feeling much more alert and ready to give my views on this week's songs after just a minute of listening...

Brolle: "7 Days and 7 Nights" - lots of drama here with Brolle throwing himself into the song heart and soul, channelling his inner-Elvis as he goes, and looking wonderful as always. The song itself is uptempo and dramatic although it's no "Playing With Fire", but then again what is? I think the strength of his performance alone will easily send him straight to Globen.

Loreen: "My Heart Is Refusing Me" - could be the real big surprise of the week. She's a strong singer who gives a pretty intense performance here, and could sneak at least an AC place. The only problem here may be the reputation-in-reverse scenario: she's a relative unknown and that may go against her. But I think this will become a big fan favourite regardless.

Babsan: "Ge Mig En Spanjor" - there is always one song every year which has me completely at a loss as to why it ever made it to the final line-up. This one would appear to be it for this year and it's a drag, in more ways than one. That's the toilet break sorted then :)

Elisabeth Andreassen: "Vaken i en Dröm" - it's a Bettan ballad-by-numbers here, but so was "I Evighet" for me, but it did well so we may agree to disagree...anyway it's a bit too old-fashioned, and her established reputation may not be enough to lift her off the bottom half of the scoreboard.

Sanna Nielsen: "I'm In Love" - for some reason I've always found her to be lacking in warmth as a performer and therefore find it difficult to make the connection with her as an artist. This is more uptempo in the style of "Vågar du, vågar jag" and ticks all the schlager boxes but there's still something missing. Nevertheless her MF pedigree should ensure automatic qualification to Globen.

The Moniker: "Oh My God" - will this succeed where the other (far superior) "Oh My God!" failed? Possible top 5 placing anyway. I liked him in Idol, and I love "Would You Believe" . This is nowhere near as good but it's quite anthemic, reminds me a little of Rongedal in places. It falls short of my expectations, but maybe I need to hear it all the way through.

Anniela: "Elektrisk" - catchy electro-pop-schlager with a whiff of "Womanizer" - and we know how successful that can be(!), originally thought it could be a possible AC contender but I think Loreen's sewn up the electro-dance market this week.

Christian Walz: "Like Suicide": He's been one of my favourite Swedish artists of recent years so I probably looked forward to seeing him more than anyone else this week. What I've heard of this song suggests it's truly a touch of class, and it's been compared to "Keep On Walking" on some blogs which is praise indeed. Will it have the same impact? Good songwriters, and the feel of the song also reminds me of something Darin might sing. Good staging too. But that beard is so wrong, Christian!

Prediction time!!

To the final: Brolle and Sanna
To Andra Chansen: Two from the following three: Christian/Loreen/The Moniker.

No comments: