Melodifestivalen ALL. KICKS. OFF next Saturday, February 2nd.
Tremendous. Absolutely tremendous.
32 artists and songs competing against each other over six weeks in an attempt to be crowned the winner, or at the very least, raise some awareness of themseleves, their pop career, and any forthcoming album that might be on the horizon. Oh yeah, and the winner goes on to represent Sweden at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. No pressure or anything, after last year’s Melodifestivalen winner Loreen managed to slay everything in her path at Eurovision 2012 with ‘Euphoria’, and take the contest back to Stockholm Malmö.
So yes, 32 songs. You just know that there are gonna be some corkers in there, right? There always is. Always. And as always, we’ll be covering the next few weeks of Melodifestivalen action on here. So everything you need to know about will be on these pages. We’ll stick to the same formula as in previous years. So that’s;
1. An introduction to every heat at the start of each week
2. A live report from the Friday rehearsals which we’ll be attending in each city
3. And finally a breakdown of the result of each show, the day after – every Sunday
And follow us over on Twitter for other bits of news, gossip, or reportage from each city. We’ll also be Instagramming the shit out of the Melodifestivalen tour too. So get us followed on there (@scandipop).
Right then. Here we go with the introduction to the first heat, which will take place in Karlskrona;
OH HANG ON WAIT! The Melodifestivalen 2013 CD, featuring all 32 songs, is now available to pre-order from our online store. Just putting that out there. Here’s the first eight tracks it will feature;
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1. David Lindgren – Skyline
Låtskrivare: Fernando Fuentes, Henrik Nordenback och Christian Fast
We pretty much detested his entry last year ‘Shout It Out’, and the success it went on to have inside and outside of the contest. But he made it all right again with his much much better ‘Get Started’ album a few months later. On there, even ‘Shout It Out’ sounded a lot better in amongst its natural habitat, and we even nominated the album for a Scandipop award. We’re continuing this change of tune, and anticipating ‘Skyline’ being amazing. For what have we, if not our shallow hopes and dreams that good pop music exists at Melodifestivalen? Bring it, David.
2. Cookies N Beans – Burning Flags
Låtskrivare: Fredrik Kempe
We find it very hard to get excited about the music of these three ladies. Every time SVT puts either them or their ilk into the contest (Ainbusk, Calaisa, Abalone Dots) it’s a massive YAWN fest, minus the fest. But with Fredrik Kempe as the sole composer behind this song, well it might just be saved from mediocrity. Although given that he’s gone and called it ‘Burning Flags’, we shan’t be putting too much (any) money on that. We’d welcome the eating of our words though.
3. Jay-Jay Johanson – Paris
Låtskrivare: Jay-Jay Johanson
No idea what to expect here really. And we’re not building up our expectations too much either, based on our opinion of his previous output. But one would certainly hope that he’s coming to the contest with something good.
4. Mary N’diaye – Gosa
Låtskrivare: Johan Åsgärde, Mattias Frändå och Mary N’diaye
We like Mary N’Diaye. We didn’t watch her on The Voice, but we did obsess over her ensuing single last year, the Scandipop Award nominated ‘Big Dreamer’. It is A Tune and A Half, we’ll hear nothing said to the contrary. And we just know that she has it in her to bring something similarly amazing to the Melodifestivalen stage. We mean – why bother otherwise, right? We have high hopes attached to ‘Gosa’. Don’t let us down Mary!….
5. Eric Gadd – Vi Kommer Aldrig Att Förlora
Låtskrivare: Eric Gadd, Thomas Stenström och Jacob Olofsson
Big in the 90s and back for another stab at being big again. This entry might certainly look like a bore-a-thon to your standard pop fan, but in fact………..We might have heard the song already and we might like it, and in fact we might just compare it to something that one might hear on Petra Marklund’s recent ‘Inferno’ album. Fancy that! Mark this one down as a pleasant surprise.
6. YOHIO – Heartbreak Hotel
Låtskrivare: Johan Fransson, Tobias Lundgren, Tim Larsson, Henrik Göranson och YOHIO
It’s anyone’s guess as to how this little pop-rock minx will go down. His music hasn’t quite been to our tastes before, but we can’t mistake the caliber and past form of those songwriters on board. This heat is being weighed down by an awful lot of beige (on paper), so we hope, and believe, that young YOHIO shall bring some glittering pop to proceedings.
7. Anna Järvinen – Porslin
Låtskrivare: Björn Olsson, Martin Elisson
SVT wanted this song to compete in 2012 and it almost happened, but in the end Anna had a change of heart and pulled out. She wants back in this year though, and SVT ain’t arguing, so we gather that there’s something very special about this song. And provided she doesn’t change her mind again between now and next Saturday, well we’re quite looking forward to hearing it.
8. Michael Feiner & Caisa – We’re Still Kids
Låtskrivare: Caisa Ahlroth och Michael Feiner
These two are MORE than capable of churning out a brilliant tune together. One need look no further than last year’s ‘I Do’ for evidence of that (yes – also nominated for a Scandipop award). They’ve promised something even better than that, and we’re choosing to believe them. After all, SVT wouldn’t have allowed them to close this heat otherwise, would they? This was the performance slot given to ‘Euphoria’ last year.
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Check back here on Friday afternoon for our full report on each song, live from the rehearsals.
