Heat 3 of Melodifestivalen 2015 takes place this Saturday. And the assembled line-up of artists features five contest debutantes, one returning finalist from last year, and one guy who just won’t give up.
Check back here on Wednesday for some more song descriptions, Thursday for the first rehearsal clips, and then Sunday for the results analysis and all of the performances. You can watch the show live on svtplay.se at 7pm UK time on Saturday. And you can pre-order the Melodifestivalen 2015 CD, featuring all 28 songs, over in our store.
Here’s your introduction to the seven songs and artists competing in Heat 3;
EDIT: Today all of the acts rehearsed for the first time on stage. Below you can find links to each of their rehearsals
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Ellen Benediktson – Insomnia
Låtskrivare: Ellen Benediktson, Anderz Wrethov
The sleepless Songbird. Ellen now admits that her Melodifestivalen debut from last year ‘Songbird’, which took her to the final, isn’t the sort of music that she ever listens to. She says that she only competed with it as a route into the music industry, so that she could then do the kind of music she wanted – electropop. So now she’s back, with that very sound and entering a synth track ‘Insomnia’. A more suitable reference point would be her follow-up to ‘Songbird’ from last summer, ‘When The Sun Comes Up’. Lord knows how Sweden will react to the girl-gone-wild thing. But on the basis of the names in this heat alone, it looks like it’s going to be harder for Ellen to blag her way into the final this time around. WATCH ELLEN’S FIRST REHEARSAL HERE
Kalle Johansson – För Din Skull
Låtskrivare: Martin Eriksson, Thomas G:son, Thomas Karlsson
Our annual competition winner (Svensktoppen Nästa) entry, 17 year old Kalle Johansson makes his Melodifestivalen debut. He’s promised to make a splash with a song that’s both energetic and catchy. And with Thomas G:son at the helm, we don’t doubt young Kalle for a second. Last year’s Svensktoppen Nästa entry ended up coming last in its heat, but did go on to become a big fan favourite. WATCH KALLE’S FIRST REHEARSAL HERE
Andreas Weise – Bring Out the Fire
Låtskrivare: Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad, Henrik Janson, Thomas G:son
The Swedish Idol, Let’s Dance, Körslaget and Så Ska Det Låta graduate finally gets his wish to compete in Melodifestivalen, after trying on more than one occasion. ‘Bring Out The Fire’ sees him deviate from the music style he’s most known for though, and has been described to us as “not big band or jazz – think Sam Smith meets Robbie Williams”. Hmmm, we don’t know which sounds worse actually. Nonetheless, Andreas speaks very highly of his song. Stating that he enters Melodifestivalen with a very strong chance of doing well, and with a song that could quite easily win. WATCH ANDREAS’S FIRST REHEARSAL HERE.
Andreas Johnson – Living To Die
Låtskrivare: Andreas Johnson, Bobby Ljunggren, Karl-Ola Kjellholm
His sixth time competing as an artist in the last ten years of Melodifestivalen. So far Sweden has avoided becoming too fatigued with him – but surely he’s pushing his luck a bit now, isn’t he? The revelation that he was to compete again was a bit of an eye-roll moment, and we find it very hard to get in any way excited about him being in the line-up. ‘Living To Die’ pretty much sums up the sight of him wheeling himself out onto the Melodifestivalen stage once every couple of years, with an ever decreasing spark to his performance, and ever diminishing results. Speaking of titles apt to Andreas Johnson’s situation, this song’s composer wrote one of our favourite songs of all time – Elin Lanto’s ‘Funeral’. WATCH ANDREAS’S FIRST REHEARSAL HERE
Isa – Don’t Stop
Låtskrivare: Isa Tengblad, Johan Ramström, Gustaf Svenungsson, Magnus Wallin, Oscar Merner
This girl knows which pop culture references to pull out at a time like this, and compares her song and performance to the holy grail of pop shows, the biggest of them all – the Superbowl halftime performance. ‘Don’t Stop’ has been called “a young, happy, fresh and playful up-tempo song along the lines of Taylor Swift, Becky G etc”. And based on past form, Isa was the name that we were most excited to see amongst this year’s Melodifestivalen debutantes. It’s impossible to predict which way things will go with the Swedish voters, but we’d be very surprised if this didn’t turn out to be a superb pop banger that ended up a big fan favourite. WATCH ISA’S FIRST REHEARSAL HERE.
Kristin Amparo – I See You
Låtskrivare: Kristin Amparo, David Kreuger, Fredrik Kempe
A big ballad that’s co-written by the same people who wrote the big ballad that won last year’s Melodifestivalen. Most will know Kristin Amparo as the featured vocalist on Albin’s ‘Din Soldat’ and John de Sohn’s ‘Dance Your Tears Away’. But this is the first time people will hear her front a ballad. She’s promised a stripped back and intimate song backed with only piano. So all the emphasis will be on Kempe’s melody, and Kristin’s vocal – a vocal that contributed to the most played song on Swedish radio last year. It’s a marvellous decision for both SVT and Kristin to have her compete this year. And she’s a big favourite to reach the final. WATCH KRISTIN’S FIRST REHEARSAL HERE.
Jon Henrik Fjällgren – Jag är fri (Manne Leam Frijje)
Låtskrivare: Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Erik Holmberg, Tony Malm, Josef Melin
And while Kristin is a big favourite to reach the final, this chap this morning became second favourite to win the whole contest (behind Mariette, and ahead of both Eric Saade and Måns Zelmerlöw). He comes into Melodifestivalen fresh after winning Sweden’s Got Talent, and releasing a hit song and album. He’s got so much affection towards him from Swedes, and we can’t see that changing on Saturday night. And so in terms of being an obvious finalist, he’s up there with Saade. This six minute audition video (translated into English) explains his charm and USP far better than we can. WATCH JON-HENRIK’S FIRST REHEARSAL HERE
