(photos: Janne Danielsson/SVT)
Well that went fast! It always does. One minute you’re wondering what a ‘Rena Rama Ding Dong’ is, the next you wonder how you ever lived without it.
So this Saturday it’s all over? For 11 songs the journey will have ended, and for one winner – the next chapter begins.
Remind me – how is that winner decided? It’s all pretty straight-forward for the final – there are no more duels, no more second chances. The Swedish public will simply vote for their faves, and those votes will be responsible for 50% of the total votes. The other 50% will be down to eight international juries. This year, the eight juries are from: Albania, Cyprus, France, Iceland, Israel, Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Who’s hosting? Shima Niavarani, Måns Zelmerlöw and Christer Björkman.
How much of my Saturday night do I need to set aside for this hot sexy mess? Two hours and fifteen minutes. It’ll be streaming from 20:00 to 22:15 on SVTPlay. And for the first time ever, you’ll have two options to choose from – the regular broadcast, or one which offers commentary in English. Meaning you really have no excuse now not to join in on all the fun the rest of us are having.
Who’s competing, what are they competing with, and can they win? Well we’re glad you asked that question. Here’s a little round-up we’ve done on each of the 12 songs;
01. Danny Saucedo – Dandi Dansa
What is it? One of Sweden’s biggest live acts got bored of having nothing to do, and set himself up with something to channel his creativity into for a few months. He’s ended up putting together one of the most memorable performances of the whole contest, and the song has been top-ten on Spotify since its release over a week. So it’s all gone rather well for him. He’ll be very pleased.
Could it win? Probably not. And he’d actually prefer it that way – he told a Swedish newspaper in week one that finishing in 2nd place would be the perfect result for him. He’s just announced a nationwide tour for later this year, and a Stockholm residency for next spring. So this whole charade has most likely been a ploy to sell some tickets to those. And why not! Good on him.
02. Klara Hammarström – Beat Of Broken Hearts
What is it? The big ballad that has righted the wrong of Klara’s disappointing 5th-place finish in her heat when she debuted in the contest last year. The reality TV star turned popstar has finally landed the biggest TV and music gig of them all in Sweden – a place in the Melodifestivalen final.
Could it win? It’s unlikely. But then the bar it had set itself for victory is lower than most in this line-up – and that’s merely to be included amongst them. So in that sense, it’s already won.
03. Anton Ewald – New Religion
What is it? The vehicle for Anton Ewald’s comeback – both to music and to his native Sweden. And as vehicles go, we’d say it’s done remarkably well for him. It’s taken him a pretty far distance, and even gone to the bother of parking itself up in the final.
Could it win? Even if the song was strong enough to compete with the big players this week (which we don’t think it is), it does feel like a bit of a non-starter, competitively speaking. He took a fair bit of criticism from press and viewers during his winner’s reprise of the song during the second heat. In it, emotions got the better of him and he was unable to sing or mime most of it – while the backing track and vocals played on perfectly. Pre-recorded backing vocals are allowed in this contest, and used by every artist, not just Anton. But never has the curtain been blown open so clearly and the behind-the-scenes trickery been exposed so unforgivingly as in that moment. On any other TV show it wouldn’t really have been an issue. But in a contest, especially one of this magnitude – whether right or wrong – it’ll probably have lost him many potential votes.
04. The Mamas – In The Middle
What is it? The comeback queens (extra emphasis on ‘queens’) who were robbed of their chance (extra emphasis on ‘robbed’) to represent Sweden at least year’s Eurovision, despite being Melodifestivalen winners (extra emphasis on ‘winners’).
Could it win? Absolutely. Beautiful song, incredible live vocals, and a well-deserved outpouring of good-will raining down on top of them.
05. Paul Rey – The Missing Piece
What is it? Last year Paul Rey scored one of the biggest streaming hits of the contest with his finalist ‘Talking In My Sleep’. This year he’s back with more of the same. Well – almost the same, but not *quite* as good.
Could it win? No. It’s arrived here via Saturday night’s Andra Chansen round, beating the song it was placed in a duel against, fair and square. But we don’t believe it would be here this week had it been put up against literally any of the other six songs on Saturday. Not fact, of course, just opinion. But an opinion which nonetheless rolls over into another week. Another week in which we still wouldn’t be able to hum you the chorus if you asked us to.
06. Charlotte Perrelli – Still Young
What is it? Victory. Redemption. Glory. Tenacity. Youth. Excellence. Talent. Quality. Revenge. Renewal. Choose any of these words to describe what we have here. Hell, choose all of ’em – and you still won’t be close to doing it justice. The justice which Charlotte Perrelli herself fought for, snatched, and was served – when Sweden voted the modern schlager-pop banger that is ‘Still Young’ into this here final a few weeks ago.
Could it win? If the stars align in such a way that Sweden votes with its heart instead of its head, and the international juries forget Eurovision and focus solely on Melodifestivalen, then yes. Otherwise? No.
07. Tusse – Voices
What is it? The most promising bright young thing making the most darling of debuts in Melodifestivalen with a song that’s been tailor-made to win the contest. And in the run-up to the final, it’s doing better than all of the others on Spotify and on radio. The odds are stacked in this one’s favour.
Could it win? It’s by far and away the favourite to, with many almost looking upon it as a foregone conclusion. But we see Saturday night’s final as being a fair bit more open, with at least three other songs in close contention for the win. It’s still all to play for.
08. Alvaro Estrella – Baila Baila
What is it? A latin-tinged party-starter with so many Spanish pop cliches crammed gracelessly into it, it might as well have included a line during which it screams out for a fifth jug of sangria from a waiter called Manuel, before hastily adding a poorly mumbled “por favour” and following it up with the sort of cackle that can only be managed halfway through an airport-sized box of duty-free cigs. Ghastly behaviour under normal circumstances. But screw it, we’ll have a glass of that sangria and a sneaky fag – let’s enjoy ourselves and make a night of it!
Could it win? No. And that’s probably for the best, where Sweden’s reputation on the Mediterranean is concerned.
09. Clara Klingenström – Behöver Inte Dig Idag
What is it? The little underdog that could. Clara Klingenström has ended up being everyone’s favourite success story of Melodifestivalen 2021, with a beautiful and captivating song about overcoming addiction, which has charmed the hearts of everyone who has watched her performance of it. The song has been the most pleasant surprise of the contest for us, closely followed by what’s turned out to be its mass appeal. Whatever the result on Saturday night, few will walk away from all of this with a victory as sweet as Clara’s.
Could it win? Once it gets to the final, Sweden does normally tend to stop voting with its heart, and start looking ahead to the next task in hand – Sweden doing well at the Eurovision Song Contest. So it starts to become a tougher battle for a song like Clara’s. But it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that the momentum she’s built up thus far will push her further than anyone expected her to go…
10. Eric Saade – Every Minute
What is it? While other songs and performances were crafted with a view to hopefully doing well at Melodifestivalen, ‘Every Minute’ seems to have skipped forward somewhat and put all its focus into being something that could do well both on the stage at Eurovision, and indeed in Europe beyond that. It’s a potential Eurovision winner and European radio hit served up on a silver platter. But as it’s still at the national final stage, said platter has been placed on a buffet table amongst plenty of other equally tasty albeit less nourishing options, for Sweden to choose from.
Could it win? Yes. And it could win a couple of other things, given the chance.
11. Dotter – Little Tot
What is it? Last year’s big fan fave returns triumphantly with another pop behemoth that’s brilliant enough to squash the competition both in Sweden and in Europe. The momentum that ‘Little Tot’ has going into the final seems to be much less than what ‘Bulletproof’ enjoyed last year. But that doesn’t necessarily mean anything in terms of how the result will go on Saturday night. It’ll have one final shot to impress voters – and no one who has seen the performance or heard the song can deny just how impressive it is.
Could it win? Yes. Dotterdam 2021 is still very much on the cards, and it would be foolish to bet against it!
12. Arvingarna -Tänker Inte Alls Gå Hem
What is it? The beloved Swedish dansband, still riding a wave of renewed popularity that was kickstarted for them at Melodifestivalen 2019, return to the contest with a song that’s even bigger and better than last time. What’s not to love? HEJ HALLO indeed. When Melodifestivalen returned for Heat One, it was this song that immediately stood out as the tonic we all so desparately needed. And so their place in this final is both welcome and deserved.
Could it win? Unfortunately not. Mind you, they are performing last. So if Sweden has consumed enough sugar and alcohol by this point in the evening, then really – all assumptions are out the window.
