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So we have come to the pinnacle of the Melodifestivalen season where Sweden decides it’s fate and attempts to put it’s best foot forward to Eurovision with an attempt to win. At the onset of the final, there were two songs that stood out, and the rest tied for last place or varying degrees thereof.

David Lindgren – Shout it out

A fourth place finish is hardly surprising as fresh out of the gate David was the first one to perform. His song seemed to have changed slightly in an attempt to sway the televoters and international juries. All in all an energetic performance of a song that will be played in the discos for years to come. He appeared to have a little more facial hair this time, maybe going for sex appeal?

Thorsten Flinck & Revolutionsorkestern – Jag resar mig igen

I didn’t like it but the public did and ranked it third in televoting, leaving it in eight place overall. Kind of funny that the public carried it so much and yet it ended up third to last? The song is dark and deep but when it comes to actual appeal of it I don’t see it at all. Even when he received his televotes he didn’t look terribly concerned or interest, and even disappointed. It would have been tragic to see him at Eurovision, quite frankly.

Dead by April – Mystery

I don’t like hard rock like in the semi-finals, but this song grew on me after a few listenings. Good vocals and a much more engaged performance led the group to seventh place. Unsurprisingly the performance wasn’t much different, and there wasn’t much change expected from the prior performance.

Lisa Miskovsky – Why start a fire
❗ Personal Favourite

Hands down in my opinion the absolute best song in this years competition. It’s simple and sweet, empathetic and perfectly executed with the most simple of backing dancers to add some flare. A lot of talk was going on around this particular song and why it was voted directly into the final. I can’t say much on that subject, but I’m surprised with it’s finishing ninth. People didn’t get what the hype was about, but mostly because two other singers had the hype surrounding them like a cyclone. Terribly underrated, and again my favourite for the year.

Top Cats – Baby doll

Boring rock song that I’m sick of hearing. I had to hear it once in the semi-final, twice in Andra Chansen and all of the snabb-repriser, so needless to say I wasn’t really digging it. I did start to notice ears a little bit more and how much they stuck out, which made me more interested in watching semi-attractive people dance around on stage trying to convince us to vote for them.

Loreeen – Euphoria
=> Winner
❗ Personal Favourite

The bookies called it at the beginning of the competition and as a result, it won. It was the strongest performance and dances despite illness, but really made for a slightly boring year in Melodifestivalen. The last few years it’s been obvious who will win and there is no last minute voting shockers to give us some more interest. Shocked that she won, and slow getting up on stage resulted in awkward commentating by Sarah Dawn Finer (good job by the way), and a star-struck winner. I do think that she’s a great representative and the best song to win at Eurovision, but I think the introverted nature of Loreen will play against her on the European stage.

Ulrik Munther – Soldiers
=> Second Runner Up
❗ Personal Favourite

Having turned 18 since his last performance, as Sarah Dawn Finer diligently pointed out, pedophiles around Sweden and the world weeped tragedy at their loss. A pretty face, with a good masculine song, and a harmonica for the bonus, but he was no match for team-Danny/Loreen and finished a strong third.

Björn Ranelid feat. Sara Li

I’m thankful that this received the lowest international jury votes, and third lowest televoting votes. The writer had his moment in the semi-final, which will likely be the apex of his musical career, and in the end finished last (thank God) as crushed by the onslaught of the popular artists.

Molly Sandén – Why am I crying?

This song is like nails on a chalkboard for me and doesn’t have any bite to it at all. I ripped it apart in the semi-final review and therefore won’t do it again. I don’t like Molly, I don’t like her ballads, and I don’t like her outfit. It’s a recipe for disaster for me, and as a result this song was a complete non-issue for me this year. The only other artist at this point that would have turned me off from Melodifestivalen would have been Amy Diamond.

Danny Saucedo – Amazing
=> Runner Up
❗ Personal Favourite

Nothing can match the on stage performance that this piece presented; it simply was the best. The message of the song was uplifting and people bought into it. It garnered the second highest televotes and the second highest international jury votes. It’s result is justified, and will only make people love him more. The question is however, if he will turn into Måns Zelmerlöw and not show back up to the competition because of his loss, or will he brush his shoulders off and take the second second place finish in two years and improve to first?

Overall the competition was a success, the right song won, everyone celebrated and professed how much they love Loreen, and life goes on without next to no drama. The highlight of the show for me was the fantastic Sarah Dawn Finer taking the total piss out of the UK doing a parody about their possible ignorance in regards to Baku and Azerbaijan (not even being able to pronounce it; and having no fucking clue where it is). Not only did it make me seriously think it was bang on, but it also made me laugh because everyone could still tell that she was taking the piss!

This is the critic in me signing off until the trip to Baku (which I obviously won’t be making), but will in spirit!

Six weeks since the first song walked out onto these stage, we have made it through four semi-finals, a second chance round, and now are housed in the great Globen. With sexy presenters, great songs, and a wide open competition (where I had no idea who would win!) I was so happy to see it (although delayed).

I orientally thought that Timoteij and/or Darin were going to be the winners, but as the show progressed it became more sweetly obvious what was going to happen.

Darin – You’re Out of My Life
❗ Personal Favourite

This was not one of my favourites originally but it really grew on me. From the Semi-Final to the Final, my love for this song simply grew and overtime I hear Darin sing “It hurts” I just feel a little bit of knives in my heart. He’s an accomplished singer, and he did well for himself. Though I still can’t get over the nose… just saying

Pernilla Wahlgren – Jag vill om du vågar
❗ Personal Favourite

Can’t have a Mello show without schlager in the final and thankfully she delivers. Total flop with the juries and televoting, but the dancers have my vote. I’m still salivating and having dreams about them being my backup dancer in my daydreams about being Da Buzz.. (yes I’m strange, but you can’t deny I have good taste!)

Andreas Johnson – We Can Work it Out

A song of Andreas that I’m not really a fan of, but he’s still a fantastic singer. The song is simple, he’s wearing green, and he’s wearing a lot of make-up which is especially noticeable since the closeups are very… well close. I still am disturbed about how he looks so much like the Joker from Batman (somewhere along the way). I’m just not inspired at all by this song… Sad

Timoteij – Kom
❗ Personal Favourite

I’ve said it in the comments for the Semi-Final, but anyone who knows me knows that I love this song. There are a few comments that are different than the semi-final: for instance the mics were very sensitive and you could hear the live “playing” of the instruments, and unfortunately they were all out of tune and sounded weird. Apart from that, they are hot, their song is awesome, and the drummers, among other things make me hot and put ants in my pants (or something)… I would vote for them, and the dancers of course!!

Peter Jöback – Hollow
❗ Personal Favourite

As the apparent Peter Jöback look-alike, I have to empathize with this song. I think that our singing voices are even quite the same, which is strange. I love Peter Jöback, and I think that this song is so inspiring and well sung and powerful. It’s so powerful that I sing it in the shower and get all pruney. I just wish that he could have worn normal clothing and done something about the strange hairs. The lyrics for this song are also very easy to understand and are telling a story; that helps with me. I love this song, and I am so sad that nobody else felt my love!

Ola – Unstoppable

Listing to the ‘intro’ by Ola made me hate him even more, and I can’t get over it. His accent from the south, is barely understandable, and further to that with the haircut he looks like a shaved rat. The song is ‘ok’ but I feel that it’s so forced, and his English is so iffy that it makes the song less credible. Like I said, the song is decent and actually is quite catchy, but it’s poorly executed (in my opinion)!

Jessica Andersson – I Did it For Love
❗ Personal Favourite

How could anyone not like this simple, powerful ballad?! With a beautiful woman singing a beautiful song, in a beautiful dress, and a beautiful situation it’s just a recipe for disaster. The problem is that Jessica is such a staple in the competition, she just doesn’t get the votes and gets lost in the shuffle. I really do love this song, and find myself humming it constantly.

Salem al Fakir – Keep On Walking

This song really really really gets under my skin and I really don’t like it a lot. I don’t like his voice, I don’t like his ‘attitude’ and how he appears as a person (which seems quite stuck up and awkward). Good for him for making this far, and writing his own song; but what the fuck was up with that girl imitating him. I just really am irritated by this song and I hope that I don’t have to hear it often!

Anna Bergendahl – This is My Life
=> Winner
❗ Personal Favourite

This song came out of nowhere to hit me in the face sine the Semi-Finals. When she comes out onto stages, I’m just as shocked as her with the lights in the crowd. Globen was gleaming with Anna, and then she starts singing the song and I find the hairs on my arm starting to stand on ends, and I get so far into this song. What a fantastic song to choose out of a great group of songs to represent Sweden. With a wide open competition she came from the middle to kick some ass. Will the song do well in Europe? I truly do think that this is a top 5 if not a top 10 song forsure! It’s so personal, it’s so emotional, it’s so everything!

Eric Saade – Manboy
❗ Personal Favourite

Simply put this guy is every girl’s wet dream, although he seems to not have any control over his eyebrows or other facial expressions. He showers infront of the country, he’s cute as fuck, and he’s got a song talking about he’s a man but a boy. Sex on legs, but for me he’s not Måns Zelmerlöw, who I’m still holding out for, plus he’s too young! But God this song has me dancing down the street!

What a fantastic show, with fantastic inter-show with many huge stars with the Norway vs. Sweden, and then a dramatic wide-open competition! I can’t help but cheer on Sweden at Eurovision, though as originally planned, doesn’t look like I’ll be in Oslo! I hate my life in this respect!

The day has come to chose our selection to go to Eurovision this year; will it be glamour-rock, schlager, folk-rock, hip-hop, or a ballad? All of these choices are good, and I must say that this is one of the strongest finals that I’ve seen in recent years. I would vote for nearly everyone, if I could!

Charlotte Perrelli – Hero
Winner; to Eurovision
Personal Favourite

The artist formerly known as Charlotte Nilsson is here, with a new name, a new song, and a brand spankin’ awesome chance to go to Eurovision. Not only is it a love for the juries, but in my humbly-awesome opinion it’s the best song there this year. It’s go lights, it’s got sparkles, it’s got voice, it’s got harmony, it’s got key changes, it’s got dancing, it’s just fantastic! I have ranted and raved about it, and even in Eurovision it has a chance! Heja Charlotte!

Sibel – That is where I’ll go

Well performed, but a mistake to come to Globen through Andra Chansen. She had no chance up against Sanna, and her song wasn’t frankly good enough either. She was completely forgotten by the juries and nearly forgotten by the televotes. Even her Idol-power couldn’t save her; but it’s just as well!

Rongedal – Just a minute
Personal Favourite

An excellent placing and performance for this number, one of the most fun of the competition. The juries and televoting were generous, but not enough to bring it into second place like I would have liked. Even still it’s a great radio-hit that will be on the radio for weeks and months to come! There ain’t nothin’ wrong with rockin’ down with ya twin broz!

Linda Bengtzing – Hur svårt kan de va

She’s one of my favourite Swedish artists, but just not in Melodifestivalen. She seems to over-do it, and she didn’t take my recomendations from the semi-final. The outfits were way weird, and she sitll looks like a punk meets pop disaster! At least she can sing and didn’t forget her words, though! Totally shafted by the public though, and even had the nerve to talk about it to the newspapers!

Christer Sjögren – I Love Europe

Unfortunately this song is catchy; cause it’s a damn shame that people actually voted for it. I guess the older population of Sweden banded together to take over and give him some points. I scoff at them, but really, doesn’t that back-up singer look a little bit like Carola? It’s creepy! Christer, you can love Europe from home, it’s better off that way, we already have neough joke acts in Eurovision this year! Kthx!

Amy Diamond – Thank You

This song just gets under my skin. She sound so much better in recording, but the whiny-undeveloped voice that is just seemingly straining all the time is just too much for me to handle. She did well for her first year and as a youngster, but thank goodness it didn’t place very high. That would just be disturbing, frankly!

Sanna Nielsen – Empty Room
Personal Favourite

Sanna has taken her spot as the new and better Carola in the hearts of Swedes. She is a great singer, and after countless times in Melodifestivalen she’s building momentum to take the whole thing! Her power-balad left a strong impact on the the voting results and nearly came out on top; only thirty or so votes between her and Charlotte. Great job Sanna, come on next year!

Nordman – I lågornas sken

This song is growing on me, mostly because it has a burning girl, a creepy man, and a nyckelharp! What could be better, well obviously schlager! The folk-ness of this song makes it more enjoyable for me, but I wish that Sarek could come back and take their place!

Frida feat. Headline – Upp och hoppa

Well she kept it together and performed, and even highlighted the absolute cuteness of Headline, aka Lariemar Krokvik. Even that’s a hawt name, golly! However, this song has grown on me, I actually find myself singing (minus accent from Skåne) along with it! That’s scary, since I’m too white to rap!

BWO – Lay your love on me
Personal Favourite

Another masterpeice from Alexander Bard, the attention whore. This year they weren’t so whiny about things, and the song was attractive, fun, and well polished like professional musicians. I have to wonder though how many times they will try before giving up like Andreas Johnson has threatened. Will they be emo, and just quit altogether just because nobody makes them win?

Maia Hirasawa – The Worrying Kind

Three cheers for the interval act by Maia Hirasawa and her little brass ensemble. The song is so hauntingly beautiful and simple musically, but her voice and tone make it even more interesting. I wonder where SVT found this girl, because she’s wonderful chioce for this competition. I just keep watching it over and over, singing along and wanting to transcribe it out in Sibelius with the brass part, because it’s just haughting!! Three cheers for SVT and Maia!

Well the winner, won, and the losers, lost, all is well that ends well this year. Next stop: Belgrade for two semi-finals (snore) and grand final! See you in a few months for the uptake of Eurovision!!