We’ve now had all four heats of Melodifestivalen 2017. You can catch up with what happened in Heat 4 on Saturday, right here.
That means we currently have eight finalists. But we need four more. It’s time for the second chance round – Andra Chansen!
For the last four heats, while the top two placers have progressed directly to the final, the songs finishing in 3rd and 4th place have secured themselves a slot in Andra Chansen. These eight songs will go up against each other in four duels. And the winners of each duel – decided by a public televote – will progress to the final. Giving us our twelve finalists!
SVT don’t reveal the exact science behind their pairings for the duels, but they do say that it’s not at random. This year the first two duels make a lot of sense. Duel One features two acts with a large YouTube presence and internet fanbase, and Duel Two features two soloists who have graduated from Swedish Idol. It’s in Duel Three and Duel Four that things get a bit more odd. In Duel Four, they’ve paired Loreen’s ‘Statements’ against a song which has managed to build itself up into becoming a large hit since its heat – ‘Kiss You Goodbye’ by Anton Hagman. It’s not left the Spotify Top 20 since its release, and in little over a week has gone on to clock up over a million streams. In comparison, Duel Three features the two songs which are arguably the also-rans of the week. ‘Hearts Align’ by Dismissed, which has had pretty much no impact since its release, is pitted against Boris Rene’s ‘Her Kiss’ – which has taken three weeks to amass the same number of streams that Anton Hagman has managed in a week. It therefore seems a tad unfair that either Anton Hagman or Loreen (who herself is also off to a strong start on both YouTube and Spotify, and in terms of tabloid headlines) will be denied a slot in the final, whereas either Boris Rene or Dismissed are guaranteed a place in the final – when neither of them are exactly a competitive prospect at this stage.
But there we go.
Below are your duels, their stats, and our attempts to predict the outcome!
DUEL ONE
De Vet Du – Road Trip
YouTube: 1,286,117 in three weeks
Spotify: 3,220,485 in three weeks
FO&O – Gotta Thing About You
YouTube: 257,927 in one week
Spotify: 1,432,736 in one week
Our prediction? De Vet Du are insanely popular. But FO&O should be able to mobilise their fans at a higher volume. And come on – ‘Gotta Thing About You’ is just objectively a MUCH better song!
DUEL TWO
Lisa Ajax – I Don’t Give A
YouTube: 221,664 in two weeks
Spotify: 1,752,425 in two weeks
Axel Schylström – När Ingen Ser
YouTube: 55,600 in two days
Spotify: 99,913 in two days
Our prediction? Lisa has the better song, and again we think that will save her here. And we’re not just going on personal taste really. ‘I Don’t Give A’ hasn’t left the Spotify chart since its release, and has already been streamed more than her last two singles put together. It’s clearly grown on (and stuck with) a lot of people since its first performance.
DUEL THREE
Boris René – Her Kiss
YouTube: 118,845 in three weeks
Spotify: 1,092,723
Dismissed – Hearts Align
YouTube: 128,747 in two weeks
Spotify: 267,277 in two weeks
Our prediction? Boris. Though it barely matters. Whoever wins this duel is getting the David Lindgren Award for lowest televote in the final.
DUEL FOUR
Loreen – Statements
YouTube: 178,069 in two days
Spotify: 243,978 in two days
Anton Hagman – Kiss You Goodbye
YouTube: 145,710 in one week
Spotify: 1,046,331 in one week
Our prediction? Tabloid outcry and repeated viewings/listenings have resulted in the Swedes already sheepishly regretting not putting ‘Statements’ through to the final directly. The shame! She’ll therefore progress to the final from this duel, and then after a third televised performance on March 11th, may even go on to finish in the top three.
