Here’s the latest part of our countdown of our favourite Melodifestivalen songs of the last decade, numbers 30 down to 21. And after a number of emails, comments, and tweets along the lines of “‘Manboy’ only at number 40?!!!“, “‘Deja Vu’ only 42?!“, and “‘Temple of Love’ only 35?!!!“, we feel the need to stress that we do actually LOVE every song that we’ve put in our top 50. At some point around the number 40 mark, every song onwards is a genuine 10/10 moment for us. So just because we’ve placed a song at number 37, or even at number 50 for that matter, doesn’t mean that we don’t think it’s amazing. Because we really do!
ANYWAY!
You can seen numbers 50 – 41 here, and 40 – 31 here.
……………………………………………………………………………………
30. E-Type: ’Paradise’ (2004)
Dance music rarely does very well at Melodifestivalen, but RAVE ANTHEMS quite clearly do, as this proved in 2004. Helped along by NaNa Hedin’s tremendous vocal of course. It pains us that E-Type’s only return to the contest since this has been that awful collaboration with The Poodles. We want him and NaNa back together next time, please! Preferably with another rave in tow.
29. Malena Ernman: ’La Voix’ (2009)
Amazing woman with amazing song. She brought something very different to Melodifestivalen, and we all loved it. Not so much when it’s played in a club at 2am though, and EVERYONE attempts the operatic vocals in the chorus!
28. Sanna Nielsen: ‘I’m In Love’ (2011)
Sanna returned to her disco schlager best, despite the overwhelming success and support of her previous participation in Melodifestivalen, with ‘Empty Room’. The sensible thing would have been to come back with another ballad, but she chose this schlager gem instead. And we love her for that!
27. After Dark: ’La Dolce Vita’ (2004)
Camptastic. That a song and performance like this can do so well in the country’s biggest annual music and television event, perhaps subconsciously sums up why we just HAD to relocate to Sweden!
26. Sarah Dawn Finer: ’Moving On’ (2009)
Our favourite Melodifestivalen ballad of the last ten years. It’s an uncompromising force, there’s nothing subtle about it at all. That final chorus is just awe inspiring.
25. Lena Philipsson: ’Det Gör Ont’ (2004)
Well this turned into something of a legend, didn’t it?! The things she does with that mic stand are iconic by now. And the song never fails to cause any Swedish dancefloor to erupt with joy. It’s considered many people’s number 1 of the last decade.
24. Shirley Clamp: ‘Att Älska Dig’ (2005)
We can never quite be sure, but we think that this was the song that first made us realise that maybe, just maybe, this Melodifestivalen thing that we’d previously heard of, needed some further investigation from us. And so we had a look into it to see what other gems we might have missed out on. We don’t think we need to elaborate on what happened next! So thank you, ‘Att Älska Dig’, and you’re still amazing six years later.
23. Sanna Nielsen: ’Våger Du, Våger Ja’ (2007)
We love how this starts off as a ballad, creeps into something a little more exciting, and then explodes into a full on schlagergasm! The beats in the key change are ridiculous too, but in the best possible way of course.
22. Da Buzz: ’Stop, Look, Listen’ (2003)
A shock flop from 2003, it seems to have put them off ever entering again, which saddens us. We love early Da Buzz, and this was one of their best. Their usual cheesy dance music slightly tailored towards schlager.
21. Linda Bengtzing: ‘E Det Fel På Mig’ (2011)
Linda took everything that was great about each of her previous Melodifestivalen entries, mixed them together to form something new, and delivered it with all the subtlety and calm of an off-the-scale hurricane! Love it.
