erik linder

Welcome to Scandinavium again this year for the Göteborg semifinal, which happens every year! It appears that our hosts are calmed down a little bit and are really doing their jobs well. But enough of that shizzle, down to the show!

Alcazar – Headlines
=> Andra Chansen
❗ Personal Favourite

I’m a bit disappointed by Alcazar’s entry this year. They are still with their disco ness but it’s a song that doesn’t really seem to be a comfortable pick for them. Andreas sounds strained and like he’s gasping for air, and Tess is holding her own, but their outfits (as eclectic as they are) just don’t seem to fit. I heard a comment that it’s like a different song, and a new dance; which I disagree with. Having said all this, I like Alcazar, but I think the decision for them to go to Andra Chansen is correct as this song just doesn’t do it for me.

Johannes Bah Kuhnke – Tonight

I’m not really sure what’s going on here. The flower is so last year Markoolio-style, the song is not a strong ballad by any means and it just looks kind of awkward on stage. I can’t really find words to describe it. I couldn’t help but notice that Johannes’ English was beyond horrible. The pronunciation is forced and uncertain. By the end of the song I felt like he was trying to go Tommy Nilsson, but couldn’t pull it off because he’s bouncing around far too much. He’s making me feel the fire too much!

Elin Lanto – Doctor Doctor
❗ Personal Favourite

I love Elin Lanto, but this song doesn’t compare to Money by any means. It’s new, hip, with sexy models, and major wind blowers. She’s a good singer with a great voice that is very distinctive. She’s a gorgeous girl and her moves are very distinctive, though I don’t think this has the classiness to stick with the strip shows of the previous heats, and thus it doesn’t do anything better than 6th. I must state that I mark this as a favourite simply because I’m a fan of Elin Lanto, but I don’t think that it justifies it going on in the heat! Better luck next time Elin!

Erik Linder – Hur kan jag tro på kärlek?
❗ Personal Favourite

This is by far one of the best male ballads to come out of the heats this far. His voice is pure, clear, he’s cute, and although his face looks a little ‘tight’ when he sings this act is classy. He’s got a cute bunch of lyrics, he executes it well, and unfortunately during the final round of voting he was smooched between Alcazar and Darin and was awkwardly hiding behind them. I feel bad for him, but coming 5th in his first song festival is quite good! As a general comment also, this is a very uplifting song that I’ll clearly listen to when I’m feeling blue.

Getty Domein – Yeba

Okay I don’t know what’s going on here. I understand that SVT is trying to get ‘international songs’ in the competition but this is by far the first ‘go home’ song I’ve seen this year. It’s taken 3 heats to get one (which is pretty good) but you’ve got to be kidding me. Musically trained, I can’t even tell if he’s a good singer because the melody changes so much it’s not even something that someone can follow. It’s different, and African, I can say that, but what the fuck people?! It hurts my ear a little bit to listen to this, and although it would have been great, being written by a guy with the most Finnish name in the history of the competition might not have helped! Since I can’t comment on the musicality of this song, at least he got to sit with a hot dancer in the green room.

Timoteij – Kom
=> Final
❗ Personal Favourite

If anyone who reads this knows me and my musical tastes, they would know that I would love this song without a doubt. It’s got folk-Sarek written all over it it makes me want to jump up and dance to the song and have everyone look at me with weird eyes. This is a dark horse entry to the competition, frankly. It’s got everything from cute girls, to a really cultural representation of song, as well as the hot drummers. Is it just me, or did those drummers really turn you on too? I think it makes me want to jump onto one of the drums and say “take me home with you please” and the fact that you can’t even see their faces makes it even more dodgy.

Darin – You’re Out of My Life
=> Final

Darin is an already established professional singer with tons of hits already. He’s never sang in Melodifestivalen before. I’m not a huge fan, and what bugs me most about the fact that although he can sing, he’s not a ‘show man’, he’s got the most messed up nose! I can’t figure it out. It’s like either smootched or like non existent. There is no denying that the guy can sing, but he’s got an aurora around him that says that he’s better than everyone else, and that makes me heaps less amazing than he should be. He’s a shoe in for the final and will be top 5 forsure, but this song is not, under any circumstances a good entry for Eurovision!

Crucified Barbara – Heaven or Hell
=> Andra Chansen
❗ Personal Favourite

I don’t like hard rock, but this song isn’t that bad. The name, when I heard it made me laugh out loud as I imagined a woman named Barbara being crucified and then burned at the stake. And although the rockers of Sweden will carry this to the second chance round, and may make it to the final by sheer interest in hard metal, I don’t see this as being any sort of contender. There are much better acts to look out for. I couldn’t help but wondering how many of them in the group are strung up on some weird drugs, though. I could be wrong, but isn’t that the type of music where the drinks run high, emotions run tortured and crucified, and the search for escape takes them over?!

So the just songs make it through, and the disappointment of Alcazar and Darin sweep over me. I must also comment that as much as I love SVT for their live feed, their server, and my ISP are so horrible that I was unable to watch it live which made me very upset and actually cry. Maybe next time they can fix it so it won’t stop every 1second and thus make it impossible to listen. I can’t wait for the final songs now, whoohoo!