This weekend we’re in Malmö, for the fourth and last heat of Melodifestivalen 2011, and the remaining eight songs battling it out to win the competition. Traditionally over the last few years, the fourth heat in Malmö has not only given us the winner, but it’s also been the absolute strongest heat a lot of the time (we still break out in cold sweats everytime we think of heat 4 in 2009!).
And sure enough, this week’s heat is another pleasingly strong force. Not only are the songs of a high standard, we’re also witnessing some of the best staging we’ve seen this year, or in fact, ever in Melodifestivalen! We had our favourites before today based on name alone, and none of them have disappointed. And now after sitting through each of the songs three times at this afternoon’s rehearsals, we’re not only massively excited about those artists’ participation in the competition, but also quite concerned about their chances too – due to the high quality of the other entries. Still, that’s Melodifestivalen we guess. And it wouldn’t be a normal week if there wasn’t heartache during the results section! Although COME ON – all impartiality put aside for a moment, Linda Bengtzing AND Love Generation MUST go direct to Globen! Please!
Here’s our thoughts on each song after our weekly pilgrimage to the front row of the Friday afternoon rehearsals;
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Melody Club: ‘The Hunter’
The performance is the best thing about this, definitely. Five waifs dressed in shiny black PVC jackets which have been smarted up with a shirt and tie combo underneath. And they’re camping it up by bouncing around the stage, having a veritable blast on what has been made to look like a giant chess board, complete with life-size chess pieces. And it’s got a nice visual finish, which we like.
To compare it to a couple of other songs that have been in this year’s contest, it’s of the same ilk as the Brolle and Sebastian entries, in that it’s up-tempo and melodic guitar pop. And we’d say that it’s on a par with them two quality-wise also. Not something we can imagine ouselves listening to an awful lot throughout the rest of the year, but enjoyable enough within the context of Melodifestivalen. Although to our ears, it pales in comparison to everything else this week.
The most exciting part of the performance for us, was when the light was shining in a certain way and in a certain angle, and it looked like the lead singer had a massive cock. Which says it all really.
Julia Alvgard: ‘Better Or Worse’
The last time we saw this performed live was at Golden Hits club in Stockholm, at the web-joker contest which she of course won, which is why she is here. And strangely, it’s almost as if they’ve made the scenery going on around her actually look like the Golden Hits stage! Anyway, what’s going on on-stage is dancing screens, which then have backing singers emerge from behind them just before the all important final chorus. It all looks a bit awkward to be honest. The screens look nice when they’re static, but when they start moving clunkily around the stage, it makes for an odd setting. It looked sort-of alright in the arena, but when we cocked an eye up to the big screens, it definitely looked a bit wrong. Especially during the closing shot. A nice idea, but executed badly.
We still really really like the song. Great melody and fantastic mid-tempo electro production. We think it’s one that we’ll be revisiting a lot after the contest. As for how well it’ll do tomorrow night, well it’s certainly not one of the big contenders. But that’s not a reflection on the song itself, just on what it’s up against.
She’s put a straightening iron through that hair of hers too, which makes a world of difference. We still can’t get over that ghastly single cover she’s come out with.
Lasse Stefanz: ‘En Blick Och Nånting Händer’
*scream*
We were VERY excited about this one and we weren’t disappointed. Good old-fashioned, cheesy schlager DANSBAND! Not like that rock-a-billy racket by The Playtones last week. This is much more up our admittedly one-way street.
It’s traditional, it’s classic, it’s safe. But those are always our favourite kind of dansband songs anyway. So many people in Sweden love this sort of thing, but so many people hate it too. However, we also think that an awful lot of schlager fans outside of Sweden dismiss it because of how it looks – six portly old men standing around with guitars. But really, a lot of dansband music (with this song as a prime example) really does have the same endearing qualities as schlager music. You just have to search for them a little harder! But once you break down the barriers in your head and ‘get’ it, you’ve got a rich back catalogue of gems to unearth.
This song is perfect for us. Marvellously melodious, a cracking key change, and verses that sound like a cross between Tina Turner’s ‘Simply The Best’ and Hanson, Carson & Malmkvist’s ‘C’est La Vie’. WHAT’S NOT TO LOVE?! On top of that it’s got a production that’s rich in epic strings, and massive drama drums in the chorus.
As for the performance, well there’s not much to say. As we’ve put it before, it’s six portly old men standing around with guitars!
Linda Pritchard: ‘Alive’
A pop ballad, definitely. But quite complex and risky with it, which we admire in a contest like this. It hasn’t got the instant catchiness of a lot of ballads we’ve heard in Melodifestivalen over the years, but it’s certainly got the beauty. And it’s BIG on the drama too. Our favourite part is the middle eight, which is followed by all of the music dropping out, a single despairing gasp into the mic from Linda, and then the chorus comes back, complete with massive key change. Not only is the melody a tricky one in this, the vocals are also designed to challenge too. But Linda steps up to the mark perfectly, and gives us what we think are the best vocals of Melodifestivalen 2011.
Despite it being a ballad, there’s a great deal of importance placed on the performance and the staging too. For most of it, she’s bathed in an awe inspiring amount of light. These lights play a big part in the aforementioned best part of the song too. As the music drops out, so do the lights, leaving a single spotlight shining on our heroine. Then as the key change comes into play, and we hear THOSE vocals again, THOSE lights come on ten-fold, in an effect that looks like sparks raining down – all around the arena too. It’s a stunner.
‘Ballad’ seem s to be a dirty word this year where the Swedish televoting public are concerned. Before the contest started, we would have looked upon this as a guaranteed qualifier. But after the results of the last few weeks, it’s all so much more unclear.
Anders Fernette: ‘Run’
Like Melody Club before it, this really is all about the performance. There’s a lot going on. So much so that at times it does look a bit of an overthought mess, with poor Anders lost somewhere in the middle. But by and large, it’s an impressive and epic production. And so it’s difficult to find too much at fault with it.
As for the song, well perhaps we’ll like it more in studio version. But we’re not really feeling it live. His vocals are a tad strained, with the facial expressions to match. The bones of a good song are certainly there, but they need a lot more flesh on them!
Linda Bengtzing: ‘E Det Fel På Mig’
It’s just SO Linda Bengtzing in every way. Performance and song. It’s like she’s gone back to her 2006 self. Some would look upon this in a negative way and see it as a step back and a cynical attempt to re-live former glories. WE see it as an inspired approach to give the audience what they really want. We knew that we’d missed Linda Bengtzing, but we didn’t realise just how much until seeing this!
The song is just what we wanted from her – like everything she’s done before. Totally schlager and with an obvious key change and big finish. There’s nothing subtle here! This is Linda Bengtzing after all. We could say that it’s catchy, upbeat, and infectious, but we don’t need to – you can probably already imagine it. You don’t need to think too hard to guess what it’s gonna be like.
She prances enthusiastically around the stage in canary yellow (hello, Steps ‘Love’s Gotta Hold On My Heart’), and during the big key change moment the stage is showered in pyrotechics and she’s joined by a dance troupe in sexy specs. And her yellow leather boots studded in ‘diamanter’, are AWE-SOME!
Nicke Borg: ‘Leaving Home’
As with Anders, this is another one that we think we’re gonna prefer in stereo. Live, those vocals are just too grating. Many will really like them, but we imagine many more will view them the same way we do – with annoyance!
Having said that about his live vocals, the performance is still enjoyable. For the middle eight, two huge screens are brough on stage and a recording of him playing guitar is projected on to them as he stands in middle dwarfed by the two images of himself. We also quite enjoyed the part where he flips his jacket off to reveal those tattoos in their full glory. For personal reasons!
Love Generation: ‘Dance Alone’
In terms of staging, they’ve saved the best for last without a doubt. It’s all completely wow throughout, with different elements cropping up as the song goes on, to keep things interesting. The raised and glowing stage is the first of the big visuals, and then this is lowered whilst they perform, to allow for a full-on strut to the front of the stage in time for the first chorus. And it’s this moment that’s the most stunning, as the entire stage area is illuminated in a bright white light, similar to Malena Ernman’s staging for ‘La Voix’ back in 2009. There’s then a few more bits thrown in after that, including the bright light being turned to pink at one stage. It’s definitely the best show out of all of the 32 presented this year.
As for the song, it’s catchy dance-pop. We wouldn’t say it’s typical Red One at all actually. It’s just a true Euro dance track. It fulfills its purpose in that it’s a top quality song to give one of the big favourites and the most talked about acts a strong chance to make it to the final. If they do make it to the final, they certainly will have deserved it, and nobody will be able to claim that they’re there because of Red One’s name alone. We’d even go so far as to say that it’s a deserving winner too. And it’s gonna sound AMAZING in a club! And on radio. And in stereo. Job done!
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Melodifestivalen 2011 finishes its song presentations with a BANG! Despite out reservations about Melody Club, Anders Fernette, and Nicke Borg, we do still think that they’ll be strong contenders and will have an audience that isn’t to be underestimated. It’s difficult to predict how the results will go tomorrow night. But we do think that out of our four favourites (the four L’s – Linda’s B and P, Lasse Stefanz, and the big LG!), we’re going to be left disappointed with the result. We’d love to see those four go through though.
