Surprise! It's A Podcast (Melodifestivalen Final)

Today we are delighted to present our first podcast. This is a bit of an experiment for us and we'd love your feedback. We feel that podcasting is becoming a greater part of Eurovision fandom but also it is important to understand that we cannot write the huge pieces for things like Melodifestivalen that fully communicate my thoughts. If you have not been following Melodifestivalen up until now read our Rough Guide to Melodifestivalen 2012.



It was a delight to do this but four points I would like to make before you send feedback.

1. It ran three minutes longer than I wanted.
2. I pause a lot - I am trying to work on that.
3. I would love to add jingles or something so as it is not just voice. 
4. Before anyone from Ireland asks even though I am from Dublin I speak with a Tipperary accent. This is because most of my family is from Tipperary. Please don't stare in surprise like most Dublin people do.

I will put up an abridged script of the Podcast a later stage today. 

Please leave your comments at the bottom of this post. 

A Rough Guide To Melodifestivalen Final

So, as any reader should have noticed by now Melodifestivalen, The Final takes place in Globen this week. So what is in store. Well after four semi-finals and Andra Chansen we have ten songs to go before eleven international juries and the Swedish televoting public.

The Contestants

1. David Lindgren - Shout It Out 
2. Thorsten Flinck Och Revolutionsorkestern - Jag Reser Mig Igen 
3. Dead By April - Mystery
4. Lisa Miskovsky - Why Start A Fire
5. Top Cats - Baby Doll
6. Loreen - Euphoria
7. Ulrik Munther - Soldiers
8. Bjorn Ranelid ft. Sara Li - Mirakel
9. Molly Sandén - Why Am I Crying
10. Danny Saucedo - Amazing

The Scene

In spite of what some fans have said this is shaping up to be a better Melodifestivalen final than the last two years. Nevertheless if your a Eurovision, Melodifestivalen or just someone with nothing to do between 8pm and 10pm CET you should be watching the Melodifestivalen Final. It is always exciting, particularly with the advent of the international juries (I don't have a clue who sits on them or how their picked and would love to know do get in touch if you know).

The Deciders

The winner is decided on by international juries in: Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovia, UK, Estonia, France Cyprus, Ireland, Malta, Norway, Germany and Ukraine. They award 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 points to their favourite songs. according to Christer Bjorkman, Melodifestivalen producer, the international juries understand how seriously Swedes take Melodifestivalen. 

In terms of trivia France, Ireland and Norway have had juries in the voting for the last two years. Of these Ireland is the most accurate having given the eventual winner 10 points on both occasions. Norway averages 4 and France 6. Of the countries this year UK and Malta were the only ones to award 12 points to Popular last year.

473 points are then distributed to the 10 songs as a percentage proportionate to their percentage in the public televote. The winner is the song with the most points. Since 1999 televoting has been used continuously in Melodifestivalen. With the exception of 2005 and 2008, the winner of the televote has won the overall competition.

The Odds and the Polls

Every year a countless number of polls and odds come out. Eurovision fan poll results are broadly consistent with the results of Melodifestivalen (With the noteable exception of 2010). The leader of the polls (both Eurovision fan polls and internal Swedish polls) would suggest Loreen will win. Most people suggest that this is a straight two way fight between Loreen and Danny but Melodifestivalen is never that clear cut. I think that Molly Sandén or Thorsten Flinck could emerge as a dark horse. Bookies are largely in line with this view point.

So we will have more on Melodifestivalen this week, but in the mean time we have a little surprise for you which we will unveil during the week. We don't know if you will like it but hopefully you will.

P.S. Vote on our poll for Melodifestivalen on the top left of the blog.

Sweden Finally Gets It Right: Semi-Final Reaction

Because of the rather huge number of shows tonight my reactions are divided into two pieces one for the semi-finals [this one] and one for the ones selecting their ESC song [later].

Sweden: This evenings semi-final in Leksand finally brought me some happiness with the result. Over the last two weeks I had become concerned about the general way the final of  Melodifestivalen was shaping up. This week looked set to be another disappointing one until BANG out came Molly Sandén, looking very sexy and with a vocal performance to match. Her vocals were far more emotional and on key then the earlier clips and rehearsals would suggest. I was also extremely impressed to see them send Bjorn Ranelid and Sara Li to the final. It is an excellent song even if 99% of Eurovision fans dislike it. They also smartly sent Youngblood and Andreas Johnsson to Andra Chansen. Andra Chansen is shaping up to be a very tough contest.

Estonia: It would seem that Estonia have sent August Hunt, Loss Paranoias, Ott Lepland, Liis Lemsalu, POP Maniacs to the final. This does not appear to have gone down well with Eurovision fans, but because I did not watch the show I have no opinion but given my reviews I actually think this was a broadly good result.


Lithuania: Something happened in Lithuania you can read about it here: http://escxtra.com/2012/02/impressions-from-the-3rd-semifinal/

So that was the semi-finals.

A Slightly Poorer Semi-Final

Sweden presented their songs as is now a regular Thursday job. So here come the somewhat later than usual.

Youngblood- Generic boyband. What is more interesting is the beat of the song, which strangely is the exact same as Eric Saade's Manboy - I've checked. The song does not have quite as strong a melody but still I'd say this should go directly to the final because it is well positioned in front of some rather dull songs and there is very little in this semi to soak up the teen girl [except Molly Sandén]. Also having people often go for the beat over anything else so that figures. I was not the biggest fan of Manboy and the same is here. Grade: C+

Maria BenHajji - I like a tryer and this is a very sweet but unremarkable song. This will most likely stay at the early stage of the competition. Might struggle to be in 7th place. Grade: C-

Carolina Wallin Pérez - Very strange song, not helped by Carolina. Like the last one I cannot see how this could go anywhere in the semi-final. Grade: E-

Mattias Andrésson - A song that is best described as "fine". There is nothing extremely worng with the song but it could do with a lift. Grade: D+

Love Generation - Finally, something good. This is a tiny bit more rockish then I had expected, however the is a few problems with how the chorus works. It reminds me a lot of a pink song. But face it is Love Generation - that alone makes them great.  Personally love this but reckon this could struggle to make Andra Chansen tomorrow night. Grade: B+

Andreas Johnsson - Yeah, here we go again. For someone who said that he was finished with Melodifestivalen in 2010 he sure is back fast. This is more like what I would expect from Andreas Johnsson. It is largely more close to his 2006/7 entries but I still think that this just is not as good as they were. I think it sounds like Andra Chansen. Grade: B-

Molly Sandén - Molly Sandén: Sweden's answer to Miley Cyrus. Without a doubt Molly's popularity should carry her through to the final but this song is a little behind my expectations for this song. It is not as good as her 2009 entry Sa Vill Stjorna. The problem with the Sandén sisters is it all a bit soft and cuddly. I'd personally try something a little more rockish with this song but we have what we have let's see where this goes. Grade: B

Bjorn Ranelid & Sara Lis - There goes a time anytime you review things where you have to just put your credibility on the line and see what happens so here we go: I think this song is excellent. Yes, I have listened to it at least 40 times today but I still think that there is something very strnage about it that I just love. Everything about it works. As they say in the North: it's the way you tell'm. I don't fully understand why I love this all I know is I do. Grade: A

So as you can see I would love to see Bjorn and Sara go through to the final with Love Generation but I suspect it will be Molly and Youngblood. I would like to see Molly and Andreas in AC but suspect it will be Bjorn/ Sara with Andreas. I will post a Latvian final review if I find the time.