Jag vill om du vågar

With today's announcement of the final two semifinals for 2010's Melodifestival, we know all but one of the acts competing. Today's artists consolidate the trend towards newcomers, but there are a few big names as well as some middle-of-the-field names seeking to truly establish themselves. As usual, see my earlier article as well as the following sources: SVT, QX, Gylleneskor, Aftonbladet, Expressen. Photos are from the aforementioned SVT and Expressen. I used live ones from the press conference where available (Alcazar and Crucified Barbara didn't attend), so you can see what the acts look like now.

Semifinal 3: Göteborg (Feb. 20)

Doctor Doctor - Elin Lanto
Composers: Mirja Breitholtz, Tony Nilsson
Elin has appeared in Melodifestivalen before, back in 2007 with "Money," but this is her first post-dance-pop reinvention appearance. Tony has written all of her songs since then except the first one, "Speak 'n Spell," including "Discotheque" and "Love Made Me Stupid." Tony and girlfriend Mirja describe the song as being about a heart problem, so I think we can guess which particular pop trope the lyrics will be playing on. Over at Scandipop, Elin mentioned that her style now is more like that of "Love Made Me Stupid," with more guitars and a more pop-rock sound, though she follows up by saying that "Doctor Doctor" is a pop song and more direct and immediate (and less dark) than "Love Made Me Stupid." Earlier rumors said it was modern and uptempo.

Headlines - Alcazar
Composers: Peter Boström, Tony Nilsson
Amazing pop group Alcazar, fresh off of their success with "Stay The Night" in last year's contest, return to Melodifestivalen for the fourth time with a song from the team I love so much (behind Ola's best pop songs, amongst others). That said, I'm quite nervous; it's not a song that was definitely going to go to them or meant for them, and for some reason that makes me a little apprehensive about quality (though that's not so much that other acts rejected it--September said no without even hearing the song, for example). Still, when Tony and Peter get together (and even when they're apart), they can work magic. They describe the song as a outrageous, energetic uptempo song which is about scandal.

Heaven Or Hell - Crucified Barbara
Composers: Håkan Larsson, Björn Lönnroos, Jörgen Svensson
I'd never heard of this all-girl rock group before, but previewing their only album so far shows them to have a hard rock sound. As I mentioned earlier, the only songs I definitely know the songwriters have been involved with in the past were for Shebang, but sadly it doesn't sound like we'll be getting anything similar to that group's bouncy pop-rock: the songwriters say "Heaven Or Hell" is a hard rock ballad about escaping from unhappy love with a strong hit-friendly hook.

Hur kan jag tro på kärlek - Erik Linder
Composers: Kenneth Gärdestad (text), Niclas Lundin, Tony Malm (musik)
Former televised singing contest (the Swedish version of ...'s Got Talent) entrant Erik is one album into his career, and it sounds like the slow tempo of that album is in keeping with his Melodifestival song: a Swedish pop song with sadness and hope in the '70s pop style which can't fail to leave one moved, according to its writers. Earlier reports said it was in the style of Ted Gärdestad's '70s hits and if that's true, the song and the singer seem like a good match.

Kom (Run) - Timoteij
Composers: Niclas Arn, Gustav Eurén, Karl Eurén
Another four person group I hadn't heard of, Timoteij will be singing a song by writers who sometimes venture into full-on pop or dance-pop (Verona's "La Musica," Alcazar's "Burning," Nina & Kim's "En gang for alla"...though they can just as easily veer off into material I don't care for) but who in this case have created a song they describe as a modern pop song with a folk touch. Earlier reports did indicate that the song is uptempo, contrary to what their photo might lead one to expect, and the group confirmed that to QX, calling it hooky and uptempo.

Tonight - Johannes Bah Kuhnke
Composers: Sharon Vaughn, Anders Hansson
Likewise, I'd never heard of Johannes Bah Kuhnke (who has apparently done a good bit of theater work), though the songwriters are of course very familiar; given that "Tonight" is a ballad, maybe the most recent and relevant work of theirs is Agnes's "Big Blue Wall," though perhaps even that isn't exactly a spot-on reference point--they describe "Tonight" as a big, emotional rock ballad with a groove, soul, grime, and power.

Yeba - Getty
Composers: Getty Domein (text), Tuomas (Tiny) Pyhäjärvi (musik)
Zaire-born but Sweden-raised Getty will be performing in Lingala which he and his co-writer describe as different and exotic Congo-inspired club musisc.

You're Out Of My Life - Darin
Composers: Henrik Janson, Tony Nilsson
Former Idol contestant and brilliant popstar Darin (who, much as I love him, has been unable to equal the commercial success of his second album and its single "Step Up" with his third or fourth, though his recent cover of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" has been his most successful release in the past few years) makes his first appearance in the contest with a song written by the men behind Velvet's "The Queen" (and in Tony's case a bunch of other songs I love), who claim this time to have written an unforgettable huge emotional song about loss. Earlier reports indicated the song was mid-tempo (though in my head I keep thinking that means a ballad with some big percussion beat beneath it or something). There's no question I'd prefer Darin to be singing an uptempo song, which is where I think his strength lies, but he does have a fantastic pop voice which can elevate just about any song and he has made some great ballads in the past.

Semifinal 4: Malmö (Feb. 27)

Hollow - Peter Jöback
Composers: Anders Hansson, Fredrik Kempe
Massively popular Peter will be singing a ballad by the fantastic songwriters Anders Hansson (BWO, Agnes, Alcazar, Lena Philipsson--the list could go on and on, but for non-Swede-pop addicts, he also co-wrote Rachel Stevens' "Queen") and Fredrik Kempe (the winning song the past two years). They describe "Hollow" as a grandiose song written in the despair of a lonely heart, which is pretty much what you'd expect a Peter Jöback Melodifestival entry to sound like, while Peter compares it to "All By Myself" in feeling while noting that Anders Hansson's production keeps it modern. Earlier reports indicated it was a ballad (as if you needed confirmation of that given its official description). After never being won over by the popular ballad entries of the past two years (Sanna Nielsen's "Empty Room," which still doesn't move me at all, and Caroline af Ugglas's "Snälla Snälla," which I can understand the appeal of even if I don't feel it myself), could Peter's "Hollow" finally mark the top-contending ballad I actually get? Let's hope these songwriters have something in store that is top-drawer quality.

Human Frontier - NEO
Composers: Anneli Axelsson, Tobias Jonsson
Yay! I'm pretty happy for Neo, who isn't signed to one of the bigger labels in Sweden and whose debut album from 2008 was very underappreciated. He's one of those artists who, in terms of music, I think has the most to benefit from the contest; his songs are very schlager/pop-fan friendly, but lacking previous national prominence or a bigger label, he was unlikely to get the exposure to establish himself without Melodifestivalen. Hopefully he's a good live performer (something which is up in the air--has anyone actually seen him sing live?) and "Human Frontier" is as good as the BWO-esque "Flower Power Supergirl" or the '80s pop "Higher." I'm still not counting on (or really expecting ) him progressing out of his semifinal, but this should introduce him to a much bigger audience. All indications are it's at least in keeping with those styles: the songwriters (behind his earlier work, too, I belive) say "Human Frontier" is life-affirming, melodious, dancey uptempo pop which gives you a burst of energy.

Idiot - Noll Disciplin
Composers: Per Aldeheim, Niklas Jarl
The lead singer of this band was also the singer in SK8, the group which won Lilla Melodifestivalen 2007 (which doesn't actually feed into Junior Eurovision). SVT's site doesn't have the official description of the song up yet, but I think we can expect rock given the songwriters and group. Earlier reports said the song is uptempo.


Jag vill om du vågar - Pernilla Wahlgren
Composers: Pontus Assarsson, Daniel Barkman (text), Jörgen Ringqvist (text), Jörgen Ringqvist (musik)
There's big positive buzz around this schlager song from Pernilla (who I love), best known in a Melodifestival context for the '80s entry "Picadilly Circus" but who has made some other great pop songs, both in those years and more recent ones. When Pontus goes schlager, he does it well--see his earlier Melodifestival entries like Fame's "Vindarna vänder oss" and Fame's "The One That You Need." The songwriters describe their song as classic happy uptempo schlager in Swedish about love. Pernilla told Gylleneskor (which refers to "Jag vill om du vågar" as the year's only schlager entry) the song is a little rockier than her earlier entries, but she also said to Aftonbladet that it's an old-school schlager song. Despite that, from the buzz, this is definitely one of my most-anticipated entries; for those of you who love schlager, it should be one of yours as well. Pernilla has somewhat of a media presence in Sweden still, but as far as actually selling music, her entry this year could be marked as an attempt at a comeback.

Magisk stjärna - Py Bäckman
Composers: Py Bäckman (text), Py Bäckman, Micke Wennborn (musik)
The writer of the winning 1988 Melodifestival entry, Tommy Körberg's "Stad i ljus," and co-writer of "Gabriellas sång" enters as both co-writer and artist this time (though she's apparently released numerous albums of her own over the years, too). She and Micke describe "Magisk stjärna" as a cool song with sharp lyrics and an instantly memorable chorus.

Stop - Sibel
Composers: Mikaela Stenström, Dimitri Stassos
The former Idol contestant who made it to the Melodifestival finals in 2008 with "That Is Where I'll Go" returns with a song whose songwriters (including Dimitri, who often writes Greek-flavored songs but doesn't seem to have done so here) describe as a fast, cool pop song with a lot of energy.

This Is My Life - Anna Bergendahl
Composers: Kristian Lagerström (text), Bobby Ljunggren (musik)
Anna, from the 2008 season of Idol, makes her commercial music debut with a song by Melodifestival stalwart Bobby Ljunggren, who along with Kristian describes "This Is My Life" as an existential declaration of independence garbed in an organic midtempo style. Talking to Gylleneskor, Anna said "This Is My Life" is a quiet, hopeful, warm song which becomes bigger and bigger as it goes along and isn't really a pure ballad. She also compared it to her early performances on Idol, before the themed weeks started.

Thursdays - Lovestoned
Composers: Sharon Vaughn (text), Peter Boström, Thomas G:son (musik)
The mainly Swedish (though only launched in Germany so far) two boy two girl reggae-pop group is working with some names I like on this song, but their folky reggae-pop has yet to be as poppy as I'd like (i.e., it's never gone into Ace of Base territory, which is where I like my reggae-pop to sit). "Thursdays" is described by its songwriters as melancholy but infectious reggae in their usual style about making the best of a weekday.

Also, it was announced a few days ago that the song "Come and Get Me Now" from semifinal two, the web joker, will be performed by the dansband Highlights, competing on Dansbandskampen at the moment (thanks Len!). There's still one joker spot left to announce. Aftonbladed gossiped earlier that it was between Lena Philipsson (who SVT really wanted but who was having a lot of trouble finding a song she liked), Pernilla Andersson, and Linda Sundblad and now Expressen says it's between Linda, Lena, and Jenny Berggen, who has just left Ace of Base..."between them" in that songs are being written especiallly for them in hopes of wooing them to do the contest. Any of those last set would make me VERY happy. I've been desperate for a proper new album for Lena for what seems like much longer than it's actually been (no, that '60s-sounding Lena + Orup album doesn't count) and she is obviously AMAZING (adding her to this year's lineup would make it feel complete, really make it a big deal in terms of both prestige names and likely pop fantasticness), I'm a big fan of Linda and would like to see this new album of her find success (and apparently radio doesn't want to play her new material, so Melodifestivalen might be her best shot), and how can you not be intrigued by what a former Ace of Base member would sound like, even if she doesn't have her former songwriters behind her?

As for who out of these names I'm excited about, well, it's a bit difficult to judge when it comes to all the newcomers--Timoteij could be good, as could Anna, maybe. I'm excited to hear the songs from Darin, Alcazar, Pernilla, Peter Jöback, Elin, and Neo, albeit with some of the aforementioned concerns. I hope I like Sibel's new song and those from some songwriters I really like. Erik's song could be a really good match of singer and song, as I said above. Basically, there are a lot of sparks of interest going up from me, just not always a lot to fuel those sparks in a sustainable way yet; luckily, there are that batch of semi-established artists I just mentioned who I'm hoping have it amongst themselves to bring some great pop and at least a couple of classics.

Åh, Kristina, guldet blev till sand

Aftonbladet reported today that Peter Jöback will be the next joker in 2010's Melodifestival, singing a Fredrik Kempe-penned ballad which their source says is of winning class. While there's not official confirmation of this fact yet, if it's true it significantly changes the picture for next year's contest. Peter is something of an institution in Sweden. As Markus Larsson of Aftonbladet rightly points out, Darin may be popular amongst young girls, but Peter is popular amonst far more demographics; songs unheard, he'll be the one to beat in March.

Peter has a voice which often veers towards theatrical, and he's done his share of theater and theatrical-sounding songs, especially piano- and string-featuring ballads. In fact, his biggest hit is the beautiful "Guldet blev till sand," from a musical written by the two "B"s of ABBA.



His latest album is a collection of covers, but the lead single for the album before that, "Stockholm I Natt," is probably as fair a representation of his sound as any (though it's not my absolute favorite of his songs).



Like any artist whose career is going on two decades of work, of course, he's accumulated a flirtation with various styles on his resumé, from Disney ballads to the more pure pop of his 2000 album Only When I Breathe to the sort of glam rock power ballad of his duet with the band Laakso; even to a previous Melodifestival entry, albeit back in 1990 before he was really an established artist.

I'm tentatively in favor of this development. I don't love everything Peter does, but there's no denying he can make a heartwrending song when he's matched up with the right material. The best we can do is hope that he has been in this case. Fredrik has composed some great ballads in his time, even if I tend to prefer his more uptempo songs. My first thought that I'd love Peter to sing a song like Patrick Isaksson's "Faller Du Så Faller Jag," a (non-Kempe) Melodifestival entry from 2006, but the song will probably be far more "polished orchestral" than that if I'm being honest with myself. Still, the idea of Peter singing one of the better ballads from Fredrik's first two solo album is pretty enticing.

I did it for love

I wasn't sure there was much point to going over the recently announced artists for half of 2010's Melodifestival songs considering there were few surprises in terms of known names--in fact, I'm still not sure there is--but hey, it's tradition, right? The songs for the first two semifinals, complete with artists, the songwriters' descriptions of the songs, and a few of my thoughts (see also my earlier post for more complete thoughts about the songwriters themselves and notes on some of the artists; also, beyond being grouped by semifinal, the songs aren't in running order) are below, along with notes from other websites. As always, I have absolutely no inside connections, so any comments about actual quality--not just regurgitated press release stuff--is from other sites, which I try to always cite. See my sources before, SVT's official site (source of most of these photos), QX, Aftonbladet, Gylleneskor, and Expressen (1, 2). For general Melodifestival coverage, I also highly recommend Schlagerprofilerna, Gylleneskor, and Scandipop; hopefully Tobbe will be back in time for the contest.

Semifinal 1 (February 6, 2010):

A Place To Stay
Artist: Jenny Silver
Composers: Torben Hedlund

A singer in '90s group Candela who Anders Nundstedt of Expressen describes as the "dansband chick gone punkrocker," Jenny Silver (née Ohlund) is performing a song described by its creator as dark, minimalistic, melancholy and hopeful pop song suitable for clubs which makes people feel beautiful and sexy. That's not at all the style of music I would have expected her to be singing, but I guess that peak makes me slightly more interested in a song I might otherwise have had no real thoughts about. It's still not high on my excitement list, though.

I Did It For Love
Artist: Jessica Andersson
Composers: Kristian Wejshag (text), Lars "Dille" Diedricson (musik)
Jessica, a former member of the previously Melodifestival-winning duo Fame, appears in the contest as a solo singer for the third time, but I can't get nearly as excited about this new entry, despite some positive buzz around it. The songwriters say "I Did It For Love" is an emotionally-charged beautiful ballad about the pain and dejectedness of a love story. In a QX interview, Jessica says "I Did It For Love" is a big, beautiful ballad in all its simplicity.

Keep On Walking
Artist: Salem Al Fakir
Composers: Salem Al Fakir
This semifinal's joker, piano man Salem Al Fakir is, for lack of a better phrase, a credible singer-songwriter, but don't let that scare you off entirely; he's also the author and singer of the transporting song "It's Only You (Part II)," which I listed as one of my favorite singles of 2008 and still thrill to whenever I hear on television via a car ad. Granted, that song was a reworking of an original version which I didn't love quite as much, but I'm still thrilled for Laura of EuropeCrazy that the artist she loves so much will be in the contest (plus I dare you to find another critically praised album from this year that contains a joyful '70s-styled song warning about the dangers of picking up an STD if you engage in free love--Salem may make serious ballads, but he's definitely got a sense of humor, too). Salem says "Keep On Walking" is in his usual style and is a peppy song about picking oneself up and still going on even after one has fallen.

Road Salt
Artist: Pain Of Salvation
Composers: Daniel Gildenlöw
Rock band Pain of Salvation will be performing this self-written song, which they call a delicate track, a rock ballad which isn't hard rock but rather more on the quiet side, that refuses to give up about a trip to person's dark corner where we don't want to be seen but are (yeah, the little Swedish I had while abroad is fading fast, so I'd welcome help on clarifying that). As you'd expect, my default reaction to this entry is skepticism--rock that relishes in the darker, creepier corners of the music scene (which is how I'd characterize the bits I've heard of this group's music) isn't really where I spend my personal time (when it comes to rock, I tend to like it big, full of hooks, mainstream-friendly, and decidedly un-creepy), so I can't say this is an entry that my personal taste is making me look forward to.

Singel
Artist: Frispråkarn
Composers: Håkan Bäckström (text), Hamed K-One Pirouzpanah (musik)
Rapper Frispråkarn will be performing a song which he and his cowriter (who also worked on Ola's "Sky's The Limit" amidst a host of more R&B tracks) say is a mix of hip-hop and R&B that has a crazy dancey beat with vivid lyrics.

The Saviour
Artist: Anders Ekborg
Composers: Henrik Janson, Tony Nilsson
"The Saviour" replaces disqualified song "Åt helvete för sent." Theater star Anders Ekborg (who is releasing an album this spring) is one of many Melodifestival debutants this year, and he's performing a song by by the team who wrote Ola's 2008 entry "Love In Stereo." Anders' song, though, is described by its writers as a cross between Freddie Mercury and Pavarotti which is about saving the world with music, and Anders says it's grand and difficult to sing. Usually I'm kind of skeptical about opera in pop songs ("La Voix" was an exception), but this sounds interesting, if nothing else, and it has songwriters I like attached to it.

Unstoppable
Artist: Ola
Composers: Alexander Kronlund, Hanif Sabzevari, Dimitri Stassos, Ola Svensson
All these Ola connections...and now we've finally got the real thing! I can't overstate how excited I am about Alexander Kronlund writing a song for Ola--he knows his way around pop, as I went over in my earlier MF post. The official Melodifestival site isn't listing any of the usual details about this entry, so I'll just restate what I said before: a modern uptempo pop song which has a positive buzz around it suggesting it's of the class of "Natalie," Ola's breakout hit...a real radio hit. Ola told QX that "Unstoppable" shows off his new harder sound and is in a different style from what he's done previously. One of my most anticipated songs of the contest, for sure.

You're Making Me Hot-Hot-Hot
Artist: Linda Pritchard
Composers: Johan Fransson, Tim Larsson, Tobias Lundgren
I LOVE this team of songwriters. Not 100% quality, but darn close, and when they do get it right, they get it right BIG TIME (Linda Bengzting's "Alla flickor" and "Hur svårt kan det va?", Jessica Andersson's "Kalla nätter," Alcazar's "Alcastar," Jessica Folcker's "Om natten," etc.). Linda, who competed in the early stages of Idol, has only given us one taste of her solo work so far, a cover of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car," but I doubt it's worth more than a mention since it's not by these writers, who say their song is uptempo pop with a Latin style. I wish they'd left off the "Latin style" part--just a fantastic pop or schlager-pop or disco-pop song is what I'd like from them--but this is still one of the entries I'm excited to hear. Linda adds in an interview with QX that "You're Making Me Hot-Hot-Hot" is a swinging party song which you can't sit still for

Semifinal 2 (February 13, 2010):

Come And Get Me Now
Artist: not yet clear
Composers: Mia Terngård (text & musik), Stefan Lebert (musik)
The webjoker winner, so we've already heard it, at least in an early form. Suffice to say it would not have been my choice.

Hippare Hoppare
Artist: Andra generationen & Dogge
Composers: Vlatko Ancevski, Vlatko Gicarevski, Douglas Leon, Mats Nilsson, Teddy Paunkoski, Otis Sandsjö, Stevan Tomulevski
Balkan style mixed with hip hop--yup, that's what you'd expect from Balkan-flavored band Andra generationen and rapper Dogge. They also refer to the song as being Balkan reggaeton. Oh joy, oh rapture.

Innan alla ljusen brunnit ut
Artist: Anna-Maria Espinosa
Composers: Danne Attlerud (text), Stefan Woody (musik)
Anna-Maria's own sound is a sort of indie-pop-rock. Credible. Her entry--with music composed by someone whose name I only know from MissMatch's "Drop Dead"--is said to convey a frank feeling of loss.

Manboy
Artist: Eric Saade
Composers: Peter Boström (musik), Fredrik Kempe (text & musik)
Eric, formerly a member of boy band What's Up who has done Disney work and is dating Molly Sandén, will be singing this uptempo song which its writers--of Charlotte Perrelli's "Hero" amongst many others--say has an exciting dynamic. In an interview with QX, Eric says "Manboy" has some mysterious, slightly dangerous-feeling elements--hard or strong, not wimpy. Rumor has it this could be a "Cara Mia"-level song. No surprise--it's one I'm looking forward to (and the idea of Fredrik/Peter pop but with a slightly harder sound is just what I wanted).

Incidentally, in that same interview with QX, Eric says he's releasing a single called "Sleepless" which is also by Fredrik and Peter, which is thrilling to me--I didn't think we'd get a taste of his music until February or March, but we must be hearing "Sleepless" before that. Unsurprisingly, Eric's official site says he's planning to release an album in 2010.

Manipulated
Artist: Hanna Lindblad
Composers: Sarah Lundbäck, Hayden Bell, Erik Lewander, Iggy Strange-Dahl
Hannah, who's done theater work and backing vocals, will be singing a song its writers describe as a sexy dance/club song with a lot of R&B influence, while Hanna tells QX it's a cool suggestive club song. I might not otherwise be excited, but that description is enough for me.

Underbart
Artist: Kalle Moraeus & Orsa spelmän
Composers: Lina Eriksson (text), Johan Moraeus (musik)
They (Kalle and his string group) have apparently played as part of the Benny Andersson Orchestra. No description of the song on SVT yet.

We Can Work It Out
Artist: Andreas Johnsson
Composers: Andreas Johnson (text), Bobby Ljunggren (musik), Marcos Ubeda (musik)
Andreas Johnson, known internationally for "Glorious," makes yet another return to Melodifestivalen (his fourth time in five years, I think). Once again, no description of the song on SVT yet, but Andreas told QX that it's a piano ballad, which is a change from his earlier entries, a big beautiful epic song closer to "Glorious" than his other Melodifestival entries.

In other Melodifestival news, Expressen gossips that, in regards to the songs not officially linked to singers yet, folk act Timotej (not Erika Selin) will sing "Run," Linda Bengtzing was offered Tony Nilsson song "Headlines" but it's not clear if she's accepted yet, and guesses at/reports some other matches.

Don't hear the sound

With a hat tip to Schlagerprofilerna, one of the twenty-seven Melodifestival entries revealed yesterday has been disqualified.

Sadly, it's not that much of a surprise: "Never Heard Of Him" (edit: which has been confirmed as the song Anorah was going to sing--poor her) had been available on songwriter Figge Boström's MySpace. This marks at least the second time Figge has had some disqualification trouble: he wrote the original Hungarian entry for this year's Eurovision, which was eventually revealed to have been released years earlier in Sweden by Operation Robinson contestants.

A replacement has not yet been announced, but remember: a song not making the final Melodifestival cut to begin with doesn't necessarily mean it's of poor quality--see "Cara Mia" from 2007 for an example. Presumably the replacement will come from one of the songs that just missed out, a list that can be viewed on SVT's official Melodifestival website here.

In other Melodifestival news, the web joker entries are available online. I haven't had a chance to listen to many yet, but if you want to wade through them, they're here.

Never heard of...them

The song titles and composers for the non-wildcard entries for this year's Melodifestival were released today. As you can imagine, I'm beyond excited.

As I did last year, I have to throw in my two cents on the various entries. In general, there's an almost shocking lack or reduced number of the old staples, the songwriters who have dominated the entries for years. For example, Henrik Wikström and lyrics writer Ingela "Pling" Försman don't have any songs this year, while Anders Hansson and Fredrik Kempe, composers of many of my favorite entries of recent years, only have one song each (nor does Alexander Bard, who you can usually expect to have an entry, have any this year). Few of this year's writers are unknowns in a Marie Lindberg sense (i.e., never having had a song recorded before), but compared to previous years, there are few known names. Melodifestivalen is sometimes criticized for freezing out songwriters outside of its establishment, so it will be interesting to see how the quality this year measures up; it could go either way.

Once again like last year, I've also incorporated information from the Swedish press about the tracks. Sources: GP, UNT, DT, ESCToday, Gylleneskor, QX, Schlagerprofilerna, and Expressen

Most recent update: Expressen published an article speculating on some of the artists. Where their names hadn't already been brought up, I've edited them in.

If you've got any more information or any corrections, I'd love it if you left them in the comments. This will probably be the post where I'll edit in all new information as it comes out (mainly for personal reference, since I'll try also to mention it in a new post).

("m" is for music, "l" is for lyrics. Just in case you were wondering.)

A Place To Stay, m & l: Torben Hedlund
No idea on this one.

The Swedish media report that its'a poppy mid-tempo song with synthesizers and there is talk of the singer being a woman who is known in a certain context. Jenny Silver sings the demo.

Doctor Doctor m & l: Tony Nilsson, Mirja Breitholtz
You all know by now I LOVE Tony. His big break was with Ola's series of hit singles that started with his second album (meaning he's been involved with nearly every Ola song I love--"Natalie," "S.O.S.", "Can't Get Enough," "Love In Stereo," "Feelgood") but since then he's made songs for Johan Krafstrom (the slightly more pop-rock Ola sound of "Disarmed" and "Chain Reaction"), Velvet ("The Queen" and "Radio Star," both pop bliss), Marie Serneholt ("Disconnect Me"), and Elin Lanto ("Discotheque" and "My Favorite Pair Of Jeans"). Mirja is, if I'm remembering correctly, his girlfriend, with whom he's co-written a previous Melodifestival entry ("Love In Stereo," I think). Anyway, I LOVE his work and am super-excited for this song.

The Swedish media report that there are rumors Elin Lanto is going to sing this song, modern up-tempo pop, which would THRILL me. Since her early 2008 makeover into a dance-pop princess, she's been going from strength to strength. Maybe this will help her get an album out.

Headlines, m & l: Tony Nilsson, Peter Boström
My dream team! Tony plus Peter "Bassflow" Boström is a great combination--together, they've made most of the songs of Tony's I just listed above. Peter is a writer and producer (and remixer--see what he's done to Martin Stenmarck's singles) in his own right, working with just about every amazing Swedish pop act (including producing Bosson's "One In A Million" and "You" and Charlotte Perrelli's "Hero"). Many people felt disappointed with Marie's "Disconnect Me" this year, but I'm hoping people will be won over by these two in the Melodifestival context--not just the Ola on the radio context--in 2010.

The Swedish media speculate that the performer will be male and report that "Headlines" is upbeat with ironic lyrics. Expressen guesses that Galaxy One will be the performer.

Heaven And Hell,m & l: Håkan Larsson, Jörgen Svensson, Björn Lönnroos
None of these names rang a bell for me--all I've got for sure is that all three of them wrote some songs for Shebang, a fun pop-rocky attitude-filled Swedish girl duo (none of their big hits, though), but they say they say on their MySpace (which, as you'd expect given their group name, makes their work sound traditional dansband-ish) they've worked with Fame, Fame's former member Jessica Andersson, and Charlotte Perrelli.

A woman sings the song on the demo. The song is reported to be a rock--very much hard rock--song that alternates between a ballad and uptempo and Expressen reports that Linda Pritchard is being strongly considered. Edit: though now that she's probably singing "You're Making Me Hot-Hot-Hot" they'll be looking for someone else.

Hippare Hoppare, m & l: Vlatko Ancevski, Vlatko Gicarevski, Mats Nilsson, Teddy Paunkoski, Otis Sandsjö, Stevan Tomulevski, Douglas Leon

Oh boy. Andra Generationen, who made the, um, unforgettable "Kebabpizza Slivovitza," a Balkan-flavored pop song, are back. Just what I was hoping for.

Edit: actually, apparently not. It's said this song will likely be performed by reggaeton rapper Dogge Doggelito (thanks, Len and Damian!).

Human Frontier, m & l: Tobias Jonsson, Anneli Axelsson
Tobias Jonsson co-wrote the fantastic BWO-esque disco-pop Neo song "Flower Power Supergirl." Given that both writers have Hitworks connections, I'm expecting one of their acts (the stable from which Neo, Anniela, Hilda, Ida, and Sister Love come) to perform the song, which could mean the first opportunity for the company to get some real cross-Sweden exposure.

The Swedish media report that the song is uptempo pop and Expressen guesses Anneli Axelsson, who has sung backing vocals before, will be the performer. I tend to side with QX's prediction of Neo, though.

Hur kan jag tro på kärleken? l: Kenneth Gärdestad, m: Tony Malm, Niclas Lundin
Niclas Lundin, Maria Marcus's husband/partner, tends to do more European chart pop than, say, Melodifestival-style songs, though I guess there's not a huge difference--sometimes pop-rock, though not always. Tony Malm is equally varied in what he's done, so let's just cut to the description of the song...

...which is that it's in the style of Ted Gärdestad's 70s hits. No, I didn't know either (edit: though as Len pointed out, I clearly should have remembered). From what I gather, that means vaguely folky ballad. Expressen guesses Erik Linder will perform the song, a delicate ballad.

I Did It For Love, m: Lars "Dille" Diedricson, t: Kristian Wejshag
Lars is a songwriter whose name appears fairly often in the contest, usually in association with traditional schlager or dansband songs (Linda Bengtzing's "Jag ljuger så brå," Scotts' "Jag tror på oss," Sarek's "Älvorna," and Charlotte Perrelli/Wizek's winning 1999 entry "Tusen och en natt").

Apparently Jessica Andersson sang the demo for this song and says she would love to perform it in the contest, though that decision will be left to SVT. She's been on this retro-pop kick lately (see: "Wake Up"), so I'm hoping this song isn't totally like that. The fact that that she says the song is a beautiful ballad and QX says it's a classic dramatic pop ballad(and not, say, a "Jag ljuger så bra" redux) is a disappointment for me, though.

Idiot, m & l : Niklas Jarl, Per Aldeheim
Given those names, I'm expecting this to be a rocky entry; both the writers have been involved in some poppier songs, but that's not their general tendency and, combined, I think they'll be playing up their real love.

QX says it's an up-tempo pop song in Swedish.

Innan alla ljusen brunnit ut, m: Stefan Moody, l: Danne Attlerud
Danne is a familiar name, linked to some poppy, schlagery entries (Fame's "Vindärna vander oss," Magnus Carlsson's "Live Forever"), but since he wasn't involved with the music, looking at Stefan Moody's past would probably be more helpful. Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with him.

The song is said to be a ballad or sentimental mid-tempo/ballad with a French twist. Expressen reports that SVT is starting to look for an artist and has Lisa Ekdahl on the list.

Jag vill om du vågar, m & l: Pontus Assarsson, Jörgen Ringqvist, l: Daniel Barkman
Former Fame Factory contestant Pontus has written many a schlagery song (Fame's "Vindarna vänder oss," Fame's "The One That You Need"), poppy song (Jessica Folcker's "When Love's Coming Back Again"), dansband-y song (Erik Segerstedt's "Saturday Night," nearly E.M.D.'s entry last year, Scotts' "Vilken natt" from their most recent album). He's also done ballads, but it's unlikely this song is one...

...because it's rumored Pernilla Wahlgren may sing this entry, a killer traditional schlager song which QX describes as an "uptempo/shuffle schlager with a modern beat." Poor Pernilla has had trouble getting back in the contest in recent years due to Christer Björkman (who semi-infamously gave Linda Bengtzing "Alla Flickor" instead of having demo singer Pernilla sing it because he dubbed her too old) despite having a Melodifestival '80s classic in the form of "Picadilly Circus." Pernilla is overdue for some new music and at least a mini-musical comeback (well, in my mind, anyway, even if Sweden may feel she's a little too present in the media). I'm hoping this is great and will help fill my schlager fix (incidentally, for a taste of modern Pernilla schlager, check out rejected Melodifestival entry "I min värld" from a few years ago).

Magisk stjärna, m: Micke Wennborn, m & l: Py Bäckman
The names weren't familiar to me, but if I knew my '80s Swedish pop better, I'd apparently know the name Py Bäckman. She and Micke have worked together in modern times on other artists' music, too, though, including one of the good up-tempo songs on dansband Barbados's pretty good album Stolt ("Vi Kan Int Va Tillsammans") and Nanne's also good duet "Ett Vackert Par" (which she nearly took to Melodifestivalen in 2002, before it was disqualified), which has sort of a quick slightly pop-rockish vibe.

"Magisk stjärna" is a ballad or mid-tempo song which will be performed by one singer, which Expressen says will be Jan Johansen.

Manboy, m & l: Fredrik Kempe, m: Peter Boström
This is another freak out worthy track for me. Opera-pop singer Fredrik Kempe has been on a Melodifestival roll since 2007 (the year of "Cara Mia"), even delivering the winning entry the past two years (Charlotte Perrelli's "Hero"--written by Fredrik and produced by Peter--and Malena Ernman's "La Voix"). Given that title, I'm expecting something fierce, uptempo, and discopoptastic.

...and it looks like I'd be right to expect that, albeit with a spin: "Manboy" is an uptempo song in the "Cara Mia" style (and rumored to be equivalent in quality, too) which will probably be performed by a young guy. Several sites speculate that that guy will be Eric Saade, member of Swedish boy band What's Up.

Manipulated, m & l: Sarah Lundbäck, Iggy Strange-Dahl, Hayden Bell, Erik Lewander
Sarah Lundbäck seems to have a delicate singer-songwriter sound when she's performing her own material, but apparently these writers are all part of a collective known as the Dogboys which has sold songs to some artists scattered throughout Europe--nothing big, though (though former Idol contestant Nathalie's debut album apparently featured a lot of their work), and all scattered in style.

A woman will probably sing the song; Expressen guesses that woman is Sarah herself. QX says "Manipulated" is a modern dance song you can't sit still for.

Never Heard Of Him, m & l: Figge Boström, Anna Engh
I hesitate to say anything, but...well, let's just say I'm not sure we can say this is completely previously unheard.

Swedish media describe it as an uptempo song.

Edit: Len reports that a Twitter comment makes it seem like Anorah (Anna Nordell, the incredibly underrated Swedish singer who has released an album and participated in the Danish Melodi Grand Prix but has never really had a chance to be front-and-center in Sweden, despite doing loads of demos and backing vocals) will be participating in the contest this year. If that's true, I'm thinking it's most likely she'll be singing this song.

"Never Heard Of Him" was disqualified and replaced by...

"You're Making Me Hot-Hot-Hot" m & l: Tobias Lundgren, Johan Fransson, Tim Larsson
These three songwriters (often along with a compatriot who no longer works with them) are responsible for some of Melodifestivalen's modern favorites (well, favorites of fans, even if not all of them advanced as far as they should have)--Linda Bengtzing's "Alla Flickor" and "Hur svårt kan det va?", Alcazar's "Alcastar," Jessica Andersson's "Kalla nätter," and Jessica Folcker's "Om Natten" among them--as well as a song many fans hate, Martin Stenmarck's "Las Vegas" (I'm not in that group, though I agree it definitely wasn't the best song that year). They've done songs that earn less attention either way, too, but in general, any entry by them is one to get excited about.

Schlageprofilerna reports the song is going to be sung by a woman former Idol contestant (well, in the early stages) Linda Pritchard.

Road Salt, m & l: Daniel Gildenlöw
Another name new to me, Daniel is apparently a member of rock band Pain of Salvation.

It's reported that he hopes he or his band will perform the song, a sentimental, calm song played on electric piano--not a rock song at all.







Run, m & l: Niclas Arn, Karl Eurén, Gustav Eurén
These three have a talent for catchy pop-dance...one which they occasionally try to spoil with heft amounts of gimmicky poppy rap thrown in. Sometimes it works (Markoolio's "Markoolio Anthem" and "Värsta Schlagern," Miio's "När vi två blir en," B-Boys International feat. Paul M.'s "One Step Closer") and sometimes they veer off in the wrong direction (Markoolio's "Kärlekssång från mig"), but thankfully sometimes they set aside the rap entirely (Alcazar's "Burning," Verona's "La Musica" and "Ti Sento," Nina & Kim's "En gang för alla"). They also did Brandsta City Slackers' entries to Melodifestivalen.

This particular entry is said to be a poppy uptempo song with folk/ethnic elements and may be sung by Erika Selin from this year's (still ongoing) Idol competition. Expressen says SVT is also considering Sofia Jannok.

Singel, m: Hamed "KeiOne" Pirouzpanah, l: Håkan Bäckman
KeiOne co-wrote Ola's latest single, "Sky's The Limit," but don't let that fool you: he's usually more hip-hop and urban in style (though as usual I'll take any opportunity to rep for Adam Tensta's "80s Baby," which does a great job of incorporating poppy '80s beats into hip-hop).

This entry is said to be a hip-hop song which will be performed by a rapper. It's KeiOne on the demo, but it's unclear who the ultimate performer will be. Expressen speculates that it will be Frispråkarn.

Stop, m & l: Mikaela Stenström, Dimitri Stassos
Dimitri Stassos is a known name in Melodifestivalen from his songs for Sofia, "Hypnotized" and "Alla," but he also co-wrote Soraya's "La noche es para mí" (Spain's 2009 Eurovision entry) and has written some songs outside of those contexts (like a few songs on Ola's first album).

There is significant speculation that Sibel, the big-voiced former Idol contestant who performed "That Is Where I'll Go" in 2008, will sing this song, which is described as a fast cool modern swing track in the '30s style. QX reports that the authors say it's like nothing that's been in Melodifestivalen before.

This Is My Life, l: Kristian Lagerström, m: Bobby Ljunggren
Melodifestival stalwart Bobby has made songs in many styles (in 2008, for example, the top three entries were all co-written by him and ranged from Charlotte Perrelli's disco-pop "Hero" to Sanna Nielsen's giant ballad "Empty Room" to BWO's "Hung Up"-sounding "Lay Your Love On Me").

2008's fifth place Idol finisher Anna Bergendahl is said to very likely be the performer of this song, a beautiful positive mid-tempo track.

Thursdays, m: Thomas G:son , Peter Boström, l: Sharon Vaughn
G:son is legendary for his schlager songs, true, but he's kind of hit and miss for me--he can be great or he can be kind of...cheap in sound. Still, the addition of Peter and Sharon (albeit only on lyrics in this case) Vaughn of Agnes's recent work gives me hope this will be one of the hits.

...I have to admit I'm kind of worried, though: the song is said to be performed by Lovestoned, the two-boy two-girl mainly Swedish pop group who you might know from their reggae-pop single "Rising Girl" earlier this year (and not Ace of Base-style reggae beats either). Expect "Thursdays," a "happy pop song" according to QX, to easily fit on the same album as "Rising Girl," considering it's said to be a mid-tempo reggae song with Scandinavian influences.

Tonight, m & l: Sharon Vaughn, Anders Hansson
Anders Hansson has been producing brilliant songs for ages--since the '80s and certainly even more recently with his work with Lena Philipsson (production work on Det gör ont en stund på natten, the album from which 2004 winner "Det gör ont" comes) and BWO, but his prominence and individual recognition has really gone up with his work on Agnes's Dance Love Pop album, which is all done by him...and which Sharon worked on. They do make ballads, sometimes, though--see Agnes's "Big Blue Wall."

Swedish media reports make it sound like we should be ready for another of those ballads, since "Tonight" is said to be a dramatic megaballad made for one singer. Sigh. There go my hopes of pop fabulousness. Expressen says that it's rumored this song will be performed by a new Alexander Bard project (that Gravitonas rock project he's mentioned or something else?).

Underbart, l: Lina Eriksson, m: Johan Moraeus
Lina Eriksson has written many songs, often poppy, but in Melodifestivalen world she's known for Thorleifs' "Sweet Kissin' in the Moonlight," Magnus Bäcklund's "The Name Of Love," and Nordman "I lågornas sken." Once again, though, looking at the music composer might be more helpful. You might vaguely remember pop-rock band Ella Rouge from some mild blog buzz a few years ago; Johan was part of that group (yeah, totally had to look him up, but I did remember the band once I heard the name and saw the album cover).

"Underbart" is a midtempo song with folk music elements according to one source, while QX says it's an uptempo happy song which is not pop. Expressen guesses the group Orsa Spelmän will perform the song and QX says it's meant for a male artist.

Unstopable [sic], m & l: Dimitri Stassos, Alexander Kronlund, Hanif Sabzevari, Ola Svensson
Some familiar names in there! Let's start with the one that isn't: Hanif is apparenetly a music critic. As for the rest, Alexander Kronlund is a BIG name--think Britney Spears ("If U Seek Amy" and "Lucky"), Robyn ("Don't Stop The Music," "Who's That Girl"), Linda Sundblad (in Lambretta--"Bimbo" and "Creep"--and solo--"Lose You"), Sugababes ("Side Chick" and "Can We Call A Truce"), and more. Dimitri Stassos doesn't sport quite the same success outside of Melodifestivalen that Alexander does--a few songs for Clea, a few songs from Ola's first album ("My Home" and "Given To Fly" are both by him and are underrated, albeit nothing like "S.O.S" or "Natalie")--but co-wrote both of Sofia's entries to the contest as well as "La noche as para mí," Soraya's Eurovision entry last year for Spain. Ola has been a vehicle for great poppy pop songs in the past, and I hope this is another case of that.

Hanif describes the song as a classic Billboard hit and a modern uptempo song. Ola sang the demo and it's speculated he's likely to sing it in the contest, too. QX/Schlagerprofilerna's Ronny Larsson reports that it's rumored this song is on par with "Natalie." I can see how it could be--Alexander going back to pure pop could and should be fantastic.

We Can Work It Out, m: Bobby Ljunggren, Marcos Ubeda, l: Andreas Johnsson
Bobby and Marcos are both fairly common names in the contest. Bobby has done a wide range of styles, as I suppose has Marcos to some degree, but I associate him with a typical Melodifestival sound, for lack of a better phrase. Andreas Johnson (spelled in the press release with two s's but seemingly taken by the Swedish press to be the artist we all know--best known internationally for "Glorious" but now usually selling a certain type of pop-rock in Sweden) entered the contest for several years running with "Sing For Me," "A Little Bit Of Love," and his Carola duet "One Love," but there's some media speculation he's hesitant to sing this song. QX, though, says he's the likely performer but that it's not in the retro pop style of his previous entries.

Yeba, l: Getty Domein Mpanzu, m: Tuomas (Tiny) Pyhäjärvi
I had NO idea who either of these two writers were.

Getty is apparently likely to perform the song, which is in Lingala.

Åt helvete för sent, m & l: Lina Eriksson, Mårten Eriksson, Susie Päivärinta
Yes, yes, those are the names of the '80s pop sister duo Lili & Susie...

...but don't get too excited because it's reported they won't be performing this beautiful orchestral ballad which either a man or woman could sing. Expressen says that SVT wants to have Thorsten Flinck or Olle Ljungström sing it.

Feel what I feel

Addendum to the Swedish music update: Magnus Carlsson news.

The Christmas album the former Alcazar and Barbados singer is releasing has turned out to be a repackaging of his two previous Christmas albums to tie in with his Christmas tour, but he promises it will have new bonus material. That includes a new single, "Änglarnas tid," which will have five songs on it. He's finished most of the work on Pop Galaxy, his upcoming pop album. He says he's got a new single coming out in a few months which is '80s-styled; I'm guessing that's from Pop Galaxy and not the Christmas album, though I suppose the aforementioned Christmas single could be '80s-sounding.

Addendum 2: Melodifestivalen.

With the addition of an entry chosen via Internet vote, the chance to hear one of this year's Melodifestival entries begins next Wednesday, when 175 newly submitted entries by writers who are not established in the Swedish music industry will be made public for voting on the official Melodifestival website. (h/t ESC Today)

I'm still standing for hope and glory

Would you believe I MISSED THE MELODIFESTIVAL FINAL on Saturday? No, I can't either. I think that's got to be the first sign of the apocalypse. Huge apologies for not doing any sort of write-up before or immediately after it--I fully planned to, wanted to, and don't know how I'm going to get all this energy, a mixture of tension and excitement, out of my system since I didn't do that.

I'm watching it right now and I've managed to avoid finding out the result up to this point. I'll be on blog/e-mail/comments embargo until I've finished.

There can be no wrong or right

With Melodifestivalen songs now officially available for download, let's see how things stand on the Swedish iTunes chart:

Malena tops the chart, with only three non-MF songs--Depeche Mode, Lady GaGa, and James Morrison and Nelly Furtado--making it into the top ten. All the participants charting in the top 100 as of 3:30 PM EST:

1.) Malena Ernman, "La Voix"
2.) Måns Zelmerlöw, "Hope & Glory"
3.) Agnes, "Love Love Love"
4.) Alcazar, "Stay The Night"
6.) Velvet, "The Queen" (on sale for days now)
7.) Sarah Dawn Finer, "Moving On"
8.) Star Pilots, "Higher"
*Possibly my favorite part of the whole Swedish iTunes chart right now is that, though "In The Heat Of The Night," the group's earlier single, has reentered at #52--as is to be expected and with other artists' earlier singles doing the same thing--Boy Meets Girl's "Waiting For A Star To Fall" has also entered the iTunes chart at #53. Apparently a lot of people picked up on that similarity.
11.) Lili & Susie, "Show Me Heaven"
16.) Anna Sahlene & Maria Haukaas Storeng, "Killing Me Tenderly"
17.) H.E.A.T, "1000 Miles"
20.) Molly Sandén, "Så vill stjärnorna"
25.) Emilia, "You're My World"
32.) Maja Gullstrand, "Här för mig själv" (on sale for days now)
33.) Marie Serneholt, "Disconnect Me"
37.) Amy Diamond, "It's My Life"
39.) Nina Söderquist, "Tick Tock" (on sale for weeks now)
40.) Cookies 'n' Beans, "What If"
46.) Sofia, "Alla"
47.) Caroline af Ugglas, "Snälla Snälla"
58.) Rigo & the Topaz Sound feat. Red Fox, "I Got U"
67.) Jan Johansen, "Se på mig" (an entry from years past making an appearance due to Darin's performance of it during the interval act)
70.) Susanne Alfvengren, "Du är älskad där du går"
71.) BWO, "You're Not Alone (Oscar Holter Radio Mix)"
*charting higher than the ballad version of the song actually entered in the contest is this dance remix
83.) BWO, "You're Not Alone (Ballad Radio Edit)"
84.) Thorleifs, "Sweet Kissin' In The Moonlight"
85.) Lili & Susie, "Show Me Heaven (Oscar Holter Remix)"
*a great slightly edgier version of the song

Noticeable absences include E.M.D.'s "Baby Goodbye" which, though for sale elsewhere, hasn't been released to iTunes yet. Scotts' "Jag tror på oss" (which I actually really like) is available from iTunes but isn't in the top 100. Charting better than might be expected due to their placing are Velvet, Anna Sahlene & Maria Haukaas Storeng (though they're only doing better than one act that beat them in their semifinal final, showing either the strength of that fourth semifinal or that the fact that it just happened means more songs from it are being bought), Maja Gullstrand, and Marie Serneholt, with Nina Söderquist and Sofia also putting in showings better than might be expected from their results in the contest.

In reality, reading too much into these numbers would be silly...but what fun would that be? If we pretend they're an accurate representation of Swedes' preferred songs and ignore the fact that the duel system means almost anything can happen and lends itself towards strange results (see the huge number of votes in the Carola and Andreas vs. Nordman duel last year), that iTunes buyers don't necessarily coincide at all with telephone voters, and that having just watched the fourth semifinal Swedes are probably thinking more about those songs than those of past weeks, what would these chart placings mean would happen on Saturday?

Sarah Dawn Finer would easily beat Scotts and Lili & Susie would beat BWO. In the Sarah vs. Lili & Susie matchup, Sarah would win, qualifying to the final.

In the bottom half of the bracket, Star Pilots would beat Amy Diamond and Caroline af Ugglas would beat Rigo, with Star Pilots going on to beat Caroline and thereby qualifying to the final.

Now we're all alone and the time is right

OK, one more post because I know how it can drive you crazy to not have that song you've been dying to have from the act you so love.

"I was never one to let the chances slip
With a boy like you at my fingertip(s)"

SO. GOOD.

(Yes, there's something that sounds like a tiny jump at the beginning. Sorry, this is the only version I have, and it's still more than listenable. Ditto my comments below, though--please don't post this link around, just direct people here.)

Please, please buy the album (preorder link) if you like the song. If there's ever been a pop group more deserving of support, I'm not sure who it would be.

Can you keep a secret?

Tonight was what Melodifestivalen is about. Fantastic songs...and, in general, some fantastic results. Four of my big favorite top five songs made the top five and from there the four to make it to the next level were all the ones in my top five list. Heck, even the fifth placed song of the night was one I liked and would have placed sixth.

My least favorite were Next 3's reggaeton "Esta Noche" (I think "Baby (Give Me A Try)" on their MySpace is better) and Susanne Alfvengren's "Du är älskad där du går," but even then, they weren't bad songs. There was a bit of the ethereal nature-loving style of, say, Enya or "Den Vilda" about Susanne's song that I found nice, or at least expect I'll find nice in the studio version. Though I wouldn't say either of the boys who opened the performance did a bad job, Next 3's performance was to a large degree saved with the entrance of their main singer

As I mentioned below, Thorleifs were sixth in my ranking, but their catchy old school dansband song, complete with saxophones, was also one I enjoyed listening to; in a night this full of quality, though, it just couldn't make it past sixth in my personal rankings. I would have liked to see Anna Sahlene and Maria Haukaas Storeng take the group's place in the top five, but given that the group only made it to fifth and no further, I'm fairly free to enjoy their song as nearly-harmless fun.



Here's where we get into the top quality stuff, in no particular order. Sarah Dawn Finer, as expected, put her strong slightly grainy voice to good use and delivered the power ballad "Moving On" with all the power you could hope for. She made it to the second chance round and was the international jury's choice. Even if she should fail to qualify to the final through the second chance round (her section of which also includes Scotts, BWO, and Lili & Susie), my expectation is that the international jury would make her their choice (the other rounds' choices were Caroline af Ugglas, Amy Diamond, and Sofia) and she'd make it to the final that way. I hope she's there two weeks from now--she deserves to be.



Poor Anna Sahlene and Maria Haukaas Storeng placed seventh despite their classy catchy retro-pop, with its James Bond verses and schlager chorus, having a great melody to it and two good singers performing it. Maybe playing up the fact that Maria was from Norway and Anna had represented Estonia in their intro footage wasn't the way to go? No, I don't genuinely (fully) blame that, but the song and its singers deserved better. In a night this full of quality, though, it's maybe not surprising that people would be so busy voting for great songs that one of the great songs would slip through the cracks.



Star Pilots' "Higher" is Sunblock-esque '80's-sounding dance-pop song barely removed from the group's earlier hit "In The Heat Of The Night," though with some "Waiting For A Star To Fall" mixed in, as Rick pointed out. I was shocked when the song topped audience surveys during rehearsals and brushed it off as a fluke, but apparently the song managed to connect fairly well with television viewers, too, qualifying to the second chance round despite the unusual staging of singer Johan Becker standing off to the side (doing a pretty good job singing, too) while the rest of the group mimed and danced with some in-house dancers center stage. "Higher" will face off against Amy Diamond's "It's My Life" and then, should it survive that match-up, either Rigo's "I Got U" or Caroline af Ugglas's "Snälla Snälla."




Agnes's disco track "Love Love Love" qualified straight to the final. There is something about "Love Love Love" that prevents it from instantly grabbing you and refusing to let go like "Release Me" does, but, as Nick said, not many songs are as good as "Release Me." "Love Love Love" is a great fun disco track, the sort of song that celebrates life, and had a performance that found Agnes sporting giant hair and a gold jumpsuit. With her modern disco--when she's singing songs like "Release Me" and this--Agnes really is deserving of more international attention. How can fans of old-school disco not at least enjoy "Love Love Love"?



The night's other finalist truly surprised me. It's not that I didn't love Malena Ernman's "La Voix;" to the contrary, every schlager and disco-pop fiber of my body vibrating with excitement during the song. I really thought, though, that it wouldn't fully connect with the audience. As Swedish writers have pointed out and as I've often said, the issue with half-opera pop songs (here, with an dance-backed opera chorus and cool slightly electro or house-backed choruses) is that they lack a singalong-friendly chorus and, despite the fact that Malena started to have fun with the camera near the song's end, I thought the staging would come across to your average Swedish viewer as too aloof. To me, though, it was magic. It's a song I'm thrilled to have in the final.

What does this mean we have coming up? Next week will be Andra Chansen, the second chance round.

Out of the songs already qualified to the final, Alcazar, Malena, Måns, and Agnes are easily my favorites, followed by H.E.A.T and E.M.D., but that's speaking from a song perspective, not from the standpoint of what would get Sweden the best result at Eurovision.

(I still feel like I've got even more to say about this semifinal, so I may revisit it again soon.)

Can you feel the heat is on?

I'm going to end up spending way too much money tonight preordering all the Melodifestival-related albums. Add to that the fact that I've already bought Rebeka Dremelj's new album as well as the Melodifestival digital singles that I can and it's going to be a very expensive evening.

I hope, though, that anyone who reads this blog and loves Melodifestivalen is planning on buying the official album and/or buying the albums of those artists whose music you like (and remember, it's not just a matter of supporting the singer but the writers, too).

I'm hoping and trusting that you all will, though, so I'm going to offer up a couple of presents. Before you ask, no, I don't have Alcazar/Måns/Malena or probably what you want (yet...fingers crossed!) apparently crossing your fingers works!; I've only got a handful of tracks.

(I know this may seem hypocritical coming after a plea to buy music, but please don't just take these links and spread them around everywhere--link people here.)

Picking what to share was difficult, but here's the song we've been waiting for since its disqualification during the first semifinal (isn't that cover fantastic? The studio version of the song makes me feel even more justified in my love of it) and here's the "In The Heat Of The Night" meets "Waiting For A Star To Fall" (thanks, Rick!) song that qualified to the semifinal tonight (I'm so glad it turned out to have cowbell in it).

You can buy both of these songs by buying Melodifestivalen 2009 here (physical).

I'm gonna get stronger now

Oh, Sweden, you were so close to giving me the top five I'd been dreaming of! Poor Anna--she just can't get a break. I did always know Thorleifs were likely to be in the top five, though, and I like their song, too--I just loved five others so much more.

Still, four out of five favorites isn't bad...but "Killing Me Tenderly" is such a good song that it really deserved better than seventh.

Let's see what happens next...

Oh, and I still live in hope of some day getting more music from Jessica Andersson. I'll even be willing to overlook underwhelming "Kom," Jessica!

Edit: I'm going to enjoy Darin's performance and try to forget for a moment how painful this top four announcement is going to be.

Edit again: this night needs its own proper post. For now, though, if you didn't watch it live, SVT has videos of every performance--not just the disqualified ones--from this year's Melodifestival that you can watch.

Take me higher than high

The Melodifestival semifinal everyone says is overpacked with goodness (listen to song clips here) AND it looks like Darin is going to be appearing as the interval act performing an old Melodifestival classic?

I think I'm going to ban anyone from even walking near me, let alone talking to me, from 2 to 3:35 on Saturday.

Love love love

This week is destined to be one of heartbreak and exhilaration. Strong buzz surrounds several of the tracks, enough so that not all the rumored top-quality tracks can qualify directly to the final even in a best case scenario. It should make for a thrilling if stressful change from the semifinal of this past Thursday. As usual, all credit for the information goes to the sites below--I serve merely as an aggregator--and any mistakes are my own; please correct them in the comments if you notice any.

Sources: NT, SVT, The Local, Schlagerprofilerna (1, 2), Gylleneskor, QX (1, 2, 3); picture credit to The Local and QX

1.) Agnes, "Love Love Love" (Anders Hansson)
With Agnes reinvented as a properly brilliant popstar (though she's had her moments of brilliance in the past), there's a lot of interest from Melodifestival fans in "Love Love Love," which Agnes says was the first song she and Anders Hansson did together when they started working on what would become Dance Love Pop, her third album. The Idol winner is this week making her first appearance in Melodifestivalen, though a song she co-wrote (but never intended to sing in the contest herself) was originally chosen for an earlier edition of the contest before being disqualified.

Her entry this year, described by Anders as a positive disco-pop song and by Agnes as an up-tempo song which is in the same style as Dance Love Pop and with a cool glamorous feel (with an appropriately glittery and glamorous performance, she says), is supposed to be great, though not quite as great as some of the others in this semifinal.

To watch: the music video for her most recent single, "Release Me." I've said it before, but I'll say it again: if there's one Swedish pop song from 2008 that I beg you to listen to, it's this classy breezy modern disco song.



2.) Star Pilots, "Higher" (Johan Fjellström/Joakim Udd/Johan Becker)
Star Pilots are a dance-pop project from Empire Studios. The voice on both their singles so far is Johan Becker, but originally the group was represented at performances and in photos by three other men. Those men have been swapped out for another group, though, one that this time includes Johan Becker.

Both the group's earlier singles have been '80's-inspired but modern dance-pop that sounds like a combination of Sunblock and Uniting Nations. One of those singles was a cover of Chesney Hawkes's "The One And Only"--a great cover--while the other, "In The Heat Of The Night," was completely original and absolutely fantastic; it's even getting a UK release. From the description of "Higher" by the songwriters (who are also behind songs like Verona's "Ti Sento," Alcazar's upcoming single "Burning," and production on the West End Girls' songs, among others), the group's entry in Melodifestivalen should be in the same vein as their earlier work. They say "Higher" is an uplifting kick of energy with one foot in the '80s and the other in the here and now, a radio hit with a club feeling and an international sound.

Dance music has a tendency to underperform in Melodifestivalen, but hopefully the group can deliver a great song.

To watch: the Top Gun-featuring music video for "In The Heat Of The Night"



3.) Susanne Alfvengren, "Du är älskad där du går" (Ingela "Pling" Forsman/Bobby Ljunggren/Henrik Wikström)
Filling in the weekly "singer big in decades past attempts a comeback or seeks more attention via Melodifestivalen" slot, Susanne will be singing a ballad co-written by Bobby Ljunggren. Bobby's written a number of Melodifestival songs in the past and even this year, but apparently the one to compare "Du är älskad där du går" to is Suzzie Tapper's "Visst finns mirakel" from last year. The co-writers say "Du är älskad där du går" is a calm, well-arranged, melodic ballad which grows and has hopeful lyrics. I've heard nothing to make me expect this to be anything other than your typical Bobby Ljunggren Lionheart ballad like the others we've recently heard. Susanne does think it's like her past work, though.

To watch listen: her '80's hit "När vi rör varann"



4.) Anna Sahlene & Maria Haukaas Storeng, "Killing Me Tenderly" (Amir Aly/Henrik Wikström/Tobbe Petterssen)
I love Anna Sahlene. Love her. Her second album may not have lived up to her consistently enjoyable first, but she's someone who I've been hoping to hear more music from for a while (giving us one of three million versions of "Brief & Beautiful" last year barely counts). I liked Maria Haukaas Storeng's debut album, too; it was a pleasant though not really exciting Idol contestant album. I never really fell in love with '60s-flavored "Hold On Be Strong," her top five-placed entry for Norway and a fan favorite in last year's Eurovision, though.

Still, I'm going to hold out some hope that a combination of Anna, a Swedish singer who took Estonia to third place in Eurovision 2002 but has failed to make it out of the semifinals in both her subsequent tries at Melodifestivalen (one with the fantastic "We're Unbreakable"), and Maria, a Norwegian singer who like Anna has a good voice and has been involved with songs I liked in the past (though I'd easily choose Anna's back catalogue over Maria's), yields something great. Even if the duet aspect feels kind of gimmicky to me, they're two singles I have a great amount of good will towards.

The songwriter include half of the team that so successfully jumped on the modern '70s-inspired falsetto pop bandwagon with Rongedal's "Just A Minute" last year. In a probably unsurprising turn of events, this year, they're jumping on the Amy Winehouse-induced '60s pop bandwagon with "Killing Me Tenderly," a song they describe as a cross-fertilization of Tina Turner and ABBA with today's sound and inspiration from Duffy, with a thought towards James Bond. Anna has added that it's a mid-tempo song kind of similar to "Hold On Be Strong." She says it has a groove to it which has a big, melodic chorus and verses that are a little funkier. Pauline was the song's demo singer and, given her recent singles' sound, we can probably glean from that information an idea of what the song sounds like, even if Pauline didn't want to sing it at Melodifestivalen. People who have heard the song generally reference Duffy, a fact which doesn't thrill me--I'm generally left cold by the songs in that style--but there is significant positive buzz surrounding "Killing Me Tenderly."

To watch: for Anna, I should probably post her great performance of "Runaway" from Eurovision, but I've always preferred "We're Unbreakable" (though "Runaway" is great, too), so here's her performing that at Melodifestival 2003



For Maria, here's "Hold On Be Strong" from the final of Eurovision 2008.



5.) Thorleifs, "Sweet Kissin' In The Moonlight" (Lina Eriksson/Mårten Eriksson)
Dansband Thorleifs have been around for a long time and have a large following among fans of the genre, enough to make their albums big sellers in Sweden. This is their first appearance in Melodifestivalen. They will be singing a song written by people who have done songs like Nordman's "I lågornas sken" from last year, Jessica Andersson's "Kom," Magnus Bäcklund's "The Name Of Love," and Marie Picasso's Idol winner's single "This Moment." "Sweet Kissin' In The Moonlight" is described by its writers as a Swedish shuffle with a spoonful of schlager and ABBA seasoning served up in a dance version.

To watch: I've got to be honest and say that I know pretty much nothing of the group's work, so if anyone wants to offer up a suggestion of something better to embed, please let me know. For now, though, here's an ad for their latest album that plays clips of some songs on it.



6.) Sarah Dawn Finer, "Moving On" (Sarah Dawn Finer/Fredrik Kempe)
Big-voiced Sarah Dawn Finer may have done work before 2007, but her big breakout occurred that year when she sung the MOR but great ballad "I Remember Love" to fourth place at the Melodifestival final.

She returns to the contest this year with a very different song, one co-written by Fredrik Kempe, and an incredible amount of buzz around her. Many people are saying "Moving On" is of winning class, but to write that is to understate all the positive things being said about it. Suffice to say that Sarah, who can almost surely be counted on to deliver vocally, seems to have come up with something incredibly special song-wise, too. It's described by its writers as a big, dynamic, dramatic, epic song which is hopeful but has a tiny bit of sadness in it. Sarah describes the song as a rollercoaster that takes one further in life after a setback and dares one to believe in oneself and pick oneself up when one falls. She adds that the performance will (if plans haven't changed since her interview with QX) be inspired by part of her name (presumably "dawn"), with the look and movements being inspired by an Asian film. Schlagerprofilerna's sources suggest that it's the sort of song that would be sung at the end of the first act of a musical.

If everything people are saying can be counted on as true, Sarah is not just the one to beat this week--she may very well be the one to take home the whole contest.

Sarah has a new album coming out after Melodifestivalen. She's already released one single from it, "Does She Know You." She's worked with Dilba, Magnus Tingsek, Fredrik Kempe, and writers from her last album.

To watch: Sarah performing "I Remember Love" in her semifinal in Melodifestival 2007



7.) Next 3, "Esta noche" (Michael Xavier Barraza/Jimmy Almgren/Adam Soliman)
Next 3 seems to be not just new to Melodifestivalen but new, period. The three person boy band will be singing a song which its writers (the primary one being Michael Xavier Barraza, with some of the group helping with lyrics) describe as a fusion of R&B, hip-hop, and Caribbean rhythms and a mix of rap, reggaeton, and pop in Swedish and Spanish (with a few English words). They say you could dance to it if you wanted to. Michael has also said that "Esta noche" is a rap/hip-hop song with a schlager-seasoned chorus, modern and with a Latin flavor and not influenced by ABBA.

To watch: a low quality video of the group performing a song of theirs called "Baby (Give Me A Try)." If the quality of this video leaves you still clueless as to what they sound like, YouTube also turns up what the poster claims is a studio recording of theirs called "Get Crazy" and "Baby (Give Me A Try)" is playing on their MySpace.



8.) Malena Ernman, "La Voix" (Fredrik Kempe/Malena Ernman)
The final spot of the fourth semifinal has since 2006 been taken by acts who at worst finished second in the final (Andreas Johnson) or, twice, acts who won the whole thing (Carola and Charlotte Perrelli). This year it goes to opera singer Malena Ernman. Malena, who frequently does comedic performances, might not incite excitement among many of you, but the name Fredrik Kempe, the writer of Måns Zelmerlöw's "Cara Mia" and Charlotte Perrelli's "Hero" (among other songs), might get your ears to perk up. Then again, others of you might be feeling that Kempe is wearing out his formula.

If you fall into that last camp but still count yourself as a lover of Sweden's up-tempo disco-pop and schlager, prepare to be apologizing to Fredrik for every having doubted him. Sarah Dawn Finer's entry might have the biggest buzz of all going into this week, but the reviews of "La Voix" have gone beyond tantalizing (with even Sarah calling it cool and tough to beat): the song, described by its writers as a furious grandiose declaration of love set to the combination of pop and opera (and danceable), is, according to those who've heard it, going to send schlager fans into absolute meltdown...and maybe with the fact that Malena is (or at least was) planning a performance with what she describes as "good-looking broad-shouldered men" they'll have reason to be excited about more than just the song.

The pop and opera combination is a return to roots for Fredrik Kempe, whose debut single was the fantastic "Vincero," a techno-pop-meets-opera tour-de-force. If you've missed that Fredrik, have been left feeling like this year's contest has been a bit low on true stunners, or just live for Sweden's stormers, "La Voix" is apparently a song to wait for with baited breath.

To watch: Malena performing "Rosina's Cavatina." You'll see a lot of that humor and mugging I was talking about.



What I expect to love: this is one of those heats where I can see myself enjoying almost every song and finding multiple classics. I'm almost preemptively freaking out over Malena's song; I'm expecting it to be a revelation on "Alla Flickor" levels, only with a solid vocal performance. I'm anticipating Sarah Dawn Finer's song almost as much. Agnes and Star Pilots' songs are both ones I'm hoping and expecting to love (with me having slightly bigger hopes for Agnes). Despite all the positive things being said about it, I do have reservations about Anna Sahlene and Maria Haukaas Storeng's song, as I mentioned above, mainly for style reasons, but I'm cautiously hoping to enjoy the song. Next 3 are basically there as cannon fodder and I wasn't going to expect them to be anything else, but when researching this post, I listened to "Baby (Give Me A Try)" and actually liked it, finding it more interesting than I expected. The whole Caribbean rhythm thing makes me think "Esta noche" might have significantly less edge to it than that song and I still think they'll stand no chance against this line-up, but there's now actually at least a chance I might like their song. Maybe Thorleifs will have something decent--nice--but I'll be surprised if I love it and am already gearing myself up for being upset at them for taking a place from a song I think is much more deserving.