Melodifestivalen 2011

[the_ditz]

Since Eurovision 2011 is just over 3 months away, I'm happy to say that one of the best contests to select a country's entry started last night - Sweden's Melodifestivalen!

This sontest always guarantees some cheesy pop marvels for sure! Last night was the first of 4 qualifying heats - the top 2 songs as voted for by the public advanced straight to the final, while the 3rd and 4th place songs went on to the "Andra Chansen" (Second Chance) round.

The participants were (writers in brackets):

Dilba - Try again (Niklas Pettersson, Linda Sonnvik)
Swingfly - Me and my drum (Johan Ramström, Patrik Magnusson, Teron Beal, Swingfly)
Jenny Silver - Something in your eyes (Erik Bernholm, Thomas G:son, Henrik Sethsson)
Jonas Matsson - On my own (Sari Autio Olsson, Peter Autio)
Le Kid - Oh my God (Märta Grauers, Anton Malmborg Hård af Segerstad, Felix Persson)
Rasmus Viberg - Social butterfly (Amir Aly, Henrik Wikström)
Pernilla Andersson - Desperados (Pernilla Andersson)
Danny - In the club (Figge Boström, Peter Boström, Danny Saucedo)

After the first round of voting, Rasmus Viberg, Jonas Matsson and Dilba were knocked out of the contest, leaving Swingfly, Jenny Silver, Le Kid, Pernilla Andersson and Danny to fight it out for the 4 places in the next rounds...

Swingfly had quite a dynamic stage performance with a song that mixed electro-pop elements, a little bit of rap and an anthemic chorus. Jenny Silver paid direct tribute to one of Sweden's most successful pop groups, Abba, we her no holds barred piece of perfect schlager disco-pop. Le Kid were one of the most visually memorable acts of the night, with lots of bright colours and confectionary to match their sweet slice of 80's power pop. Pernilla Andersson sang the only song of the night in the Swedish language, which paid homage to the country and western style of the US. Finally, Danny took on the role of the cool urban pop artist with an explosive dance-pop track complete with heavy club synths and a slick dance routine.

The final results looked like this:

Straight to the final:

1st - DANNY / IN THE CLUB
2nd - SWINGFLY / ME AND MY DRUM

Through to the Second Chance round:

3rd - JENNY SILVER / SOMETHING IN YOUR EYES
4th - PERNILLA ANDERSSON / DESPERADOS

Missing out:

5th - LE KID / OH MY GOD ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmtUKF4mPgA )
6th - RASMUS VIBERG / SOCIAL BUTTERFLY ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_NhJ48pVAc )
7th - JONAS MATSSON / ON MY OWN ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GDnRrQE7JY )
8th - DILBA / TRY AGAIN ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GBxvvZGODk )

Videos for the 5th to 8th place performers are easily accessible on YouTube etc., but the qualifiers will continually be taken down by SVT to avoid anyone still in the contest gaining an unfair advantage. You can try searching for them and may be lucky enough to catch a video before it is taken down though...

If you want to watch webcasts of the future rounds, SVT broadcast it live on their website from 8pm CET (7pm GMT) every Saturday for the next 5 weeks. Check out www.esctoday.com every Saturday afternoon for the links you need.

What did everyone else think of last night's contest? I think Danny's performance was very polished and he was the hot favourite to advance anyway, but Swingfly surprised in taking the other final spot. Jenny Silver also had a great performance, but I know the Eurovision audience is growing increasingly tired of this typically Swedish style of song. Pernilla Andersson should have switched places with Le Kid as I don't think she put on a good show, and I struggle to remember the song.

[DarkSky]

I really really enjoy Hungary's entry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy_oB_FYd7s

[UFOPOLI]

Oh, only now I noticed there was this kind of a discussion here! It was quite a good Melodifestivalen this year, better than the two previous ones, even though the Swedish people expertly managed to eliminate all of my favorites from the final. Jenny Silver was the universal fan favorite and it's also about tied for my #1 spot with Love Generation. Also Loreen and Shirley's Angels would've deserved to advance. However, at least the angels got their revenge as they went on to win the international final supporting Ell/Nikki...