We’re at the halfway mark already?!!! Gutting, isn’t it? Here’s everything that went down in Heat 2. And now we head to Luleå in the north of Sweden for Heat 3!
And who have we got lined up? A perrenial finalist, a comeback kid in 2019, an ancient dansband, a big streaming success, a huge radio favourite, and two newcomers to the contest.
And what can we expect sound-wise? On paper, going by their past or recent releases, it’s looking like we may well have one of the most sonically diverse Melodifestivalen heats in recent memory. It’ll be interesting to see how that pans out in the results, and if what are looking like the two most traditionally pop entries will grab the two slots in the final. Here’s what we’re in for on Saturday night;
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Heat 3: Luleå, February 15
Shout It Out – Mariette
Songwriters: Thomas G:son, Cassandra Ströberg, Alex Shield, Mariette Hansson
Her fourth appearance at Melodifestivalen, and she’ll be wanting it to be her fourth time finishing in the top five at the final. And we have very few doubts she’ll achieve that. Though in truth, it’s been so long since she released any music, that we really have no idea what to expect.
Livet Börjar Nu – Albin Johnsén
Songwriters: Robin Stjernberg, Albin Johnsén, Gino Yonan
Albin has recently made a comeback with a more electropop style to his music, and to our ears, he’s sounding better than ever. If he brings to the table something as good as this, we’ll be very happy indeed. You might recognise a name in the songwriting credits that has been responsible for two Melodifestivalen winners this past decade.
Piga & Dräng – Drängarna
Songwriters: Anders Wigelius, Robert Norberg, Jimmy Jansson
Drängarna scored their first hit back in 1995, though 25 years later, and they’re still putting out singles and albums at a fan-satisfying rate. Their style of music is best described as folky-dansband with tongue firmly in cheek. How successful they are in this heat will probably depend on how many beers the older Swedes will have knocked back by that point on Saturday evening. This could be dangerous.
Late – Amanda Aasa
Songwriters: Amanda Aasa, Siri Jansson, Erik Grahn, Alex Shield
Amanda took part in the P4 Nästa talent contest in 2019 and was awarded with a slot at Melodifestivalen 2020, as is customary for one of the finalists every year. We all know how that usually ends up, but we’ll be keeping an open mind for Amanda – her past form suggests that she’ll be bringing something fresh to the contest.
Vem E Som Oss – Anis Don Demina
Songwriters: Anderz Wrethov, Johanna Elkesdotter Wrethov, Anis Don Demina, Robin Svensk
Anis made his Melodifestivalen debut playing saxophone behind Samir & Viktor, when the duo made the final with ‘Shuffla’ in 2018. Last year, he was a featured artist with Zeana on the banger that is ‘Mina Bränder, which went on to big streaming success on Spotify. And now he’s back to go it alone, and backed by an Anderz Wrethov song, meaning business. His most recent release is ‘Postcard‘, a collaboration with Eric Saade.
Crying Rivers – Faith Kakembo
Songwriters: Jörgen Elofsson, Liz Rodrigues
Faith describes her music as a mix of soul, gospel and jazz, and earlier in the year released her debut single ‘Through Fire and Rain‘. A quick glance at the songwriting credits for ‘Crying Rivers’ would suggest that she is absolutely not here to fuck around.
Winners – Mohombi
Songwriters: Jimmy Jansson, Mohombi, Palle Hammarlund
A surprise entry into Melodifestivalen 2019, Mohombi ended up finishing 5th in the final with ‘Hello’, going on to score one of the biggest streaming hits of the contest. So it’s natural he’s come back a year later for some more of that, thank you very much. And with a song title like that, we’d say he might well be aiming for even greater things time time around. He’s promised us that with ‘Winners’, he’s taking things up-tempo.
