DELTAVLING 4: HEAT OF DEATH

My first Melodifestivalen post!! It's taken too long, but finally I'm ready to let loose on tomorrow's Final Semi-Final! Whoo!

The Entries:

FOR MÅNGA ORD OM KÄRLEK - Niklas Stromstedt
The Composers Say: An upbeat pop song with lyrics caught between love and pain, and featuring a chorus and verse sung in different keys.
I Say: The first thing that came to mind when I heard this was ‘This isn’t good… It sounds like the Monkees!’ It’s got a veeeeerrrrry 70’s flava to it that, while not altogether bad certainly doesn’t make it a good entry for this contest. Look for this Joker to be out in the first round.

IF I COULD – Calaisa
The Composers Say: A country pop ballad about losing someone close, and the will to do whatever it takes to get that person back.
I Say: Now, I like Calaisa. I do. But this is another case of a song not fitting into the competition. And not in a Marie Lindberg way where the song isn’t really ‘Melodifestivalen’, but wins over the public anyway. This just isn’t gonna go anywhere. Another bottom 3 finisher.

PAME – Daniel Mitsogiannis
The Composers Say: A Greece-inspired up-tempo song - Greek, hot and danceable.
I Say: Apparently Daniel did the Cara Mia demo… It’s obvious in hearing his voice. And this is a total Kempe/Ljunggren song. Dancey, catchy, killer hook into the chorus. As long as the performance itself isn’t over-performed (which it apparently is), this will absolutely do just fine. Andra Chansen, at least (definitely, if it's all overdone).

HU SVÅRT KAN D’VA – Linda Bengtzing
The Composers Say: Schlager* pop for 2008.
I Say: “LINDA DIREKT TILL FINALEN!!!!!” The bloggers have been hoping for this since she was announced into the competition, but this is absolutely the ditty to get her there again. Aside from a) the 'Grace Kelly'-esque schlagertasticness of the song, and b) the fact that she’s TOTALLY helped by the lack of Swedish songs in the final, this is just the kind of song that the voters will eat for dinner. It’s more guitar-ish than synth-y on the chorus, but it’s got the plinky-plunky bells and whistles behind that, it’s got a GREAT hook, and it’s my guess that Linda’s not going to have to worry about competing against Carola.

I LÅGORNAS SKEN – Nordman
The Composers Say: A pop song with nordic flavor about the witch trials of the 17th Century.
I Say: The witch trials? Well, it’s good to know that Nordman takes their family friendly audience into account. Cuz nothing says ‘schlager classic’ or ‘Eurovision winner’ to tween Swedes and international gay boys like ‘Let’s burn your daughters at the stake!’ That being said, I happen to think some of Nordman’s stuff is really catchy and cool to listen to. I don’t think this is a winner, but it should be a cool live song regardless, and one that lives on in the hearts of RIXFm for years to come.

THAT IS WHERE I’LL GO – Sibel
The Composers Say: A strong ballad, with a strong singing voice, about unconditional love.
I Say: Let’s get this right out of the way... As ballad’s go, this puts ‘Empty Room’ to shame. This is the kind of ballad that I like. Grand, dramatic, sweeping… The orchestration is lovely, and if Sibel can sing as well live as she does on the recording, this might actually be a contender, at the VERY least in Andra Chansen.

INGEN MÅR SÅ BRA SOM JAG – Fronda
The Composers Say: Upbeat party song about the everyday grind - stop stressing and enjoy the moment.
I Say: It’s got a fun little beat, and I sort of automatically give an extra listen to anything that features a good horn section, but that doesn’t mean that it’s going to last past Saturday. It’s not anywhere near as strong as the good stuff from this round. Bottom 3.

HERO – Charlotte Perrelli
The Composers Say: A grandiose rock and dance song.
I Say: The bad news. I don’t think Hero is as strong an entry as Hu Svårt…, though it’s very good discopop. I know some bloggers have been all but jumping out of their skin over it, but I didn’t get as excited as others did. I didn’t even get as excited as I did about Déjà Vu. I DO like it, though. I think I was just expecting something more bombastic. Like, REALLY over the top… Ahh, well. The good news is that Charlotte is one of the best live singers in the entire competition, so look for her to put everyone else to shame when it comes to the live performance. And I remain sure that (and look forward to) my feelings on the song will change once I’ve seen Char belting out a crazy key change and serving up her general fabulousness.

The Thinkings:

So, it would seem that this round is really a two-trick pony. Char and Linda, Linda and Char. On first listen, these really are the strongest two entries into this round, and that’s only boosted by the celebrity of the two performers. Hur Svart… is schlager pop the way we want it, and Hero is a disco-stomper that’s likely to feature a great staging and a key change that will have Karlskrona on its feet. Plus, everyone’s seen Charlotte’s shoes by this point, right? Fierceness! With a capital Fierce!

Past those two, the next top two contenders would seem, at first listen, to be Daniel Mitsogiannis and Sibel. Sibel, as I’ve said before and on a couple of other blogs, still has the recent Idol voters at her disposal. I’m guessing that there’s a lot of audience crossover between the two shows (Idol and MF), which means that she still has a handy fanbase in place, which Daniel won’t have. As well, she has a very strong ballad (which, had it been given to Princess Sanna, could probably have walked away the winner of the whole shebang right there) and apparently the vocal ability to carry it off.

Daniel has two things going for him. One, he has a Kempe song, and those tend to do reasonably well in this contest. And two, he has… 'aesthetic appeal'. Now, he’s not MY type personally, but he’s got a nice smile and he’s attractive enough in that generic boypop way that that will work in his favor. And the song is fun. Plus, as yet, there isn’t a song with this sound in either the finals or Andra Chansen, so look for this to move on. My guess is Andra Chansen, but we shall see.

As for Nordman, they are possibly the fifth-wheel entry. He’ll be in the top 5 placement after the first round of votes, I just don’t know if his song can get through.

Calaisa, Niklas Stromstedt and Fronda will be out after the first round of votes, I think. Though, I thought both Christer Sjogren and Suzzie Tapper would be as well, so that just shows you what I know.