Sunday, February 20, 2011

The Melody Festival 2011, part 3, The results

I might have been upset, disappointed and frustrated last week, but all those feelings are better than feeling indifferent. Indifferent is exactly how I felt after the third elimination round.

Best performance of the night was Lena Ph, and she didn't even compete. She was there to entertain us while waiting for the results. Her rock rendition of herself was brilliant. She gave her all and had fun. She didn't take herself too seriously and after last week's elimination round's catastrophe (Christer Sjögren doing David Bowie), she showed everyone how things are suppose to be done.

So, what about the actual competition... I really don't care. But I guess I should explain why I don't care.

Linda Sundblad: Well, I didn't have any expectations, but this was still not what I expected. I wasn't really offended by the song, but it was too much pink bubble-gum and she is too old (or looks too old) to pull it off. Also, her voice was pretty weak. But this was by no means the worst song of the night. She did not qualify.

Simon Forsberg: This was a proper power ballad. Simon felt self-confident and I guess he looked alright. But this was not good. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't good. He had such a wimpy voice. Way to feminine for my taste. The song wasn't exiting either. All in all, like me, the Swedish people wasn't too fond of it. He did not qualify beyond this round.

Sara Lumholdt: She looked good and the whole number felt up to date. I liked her in the chorus even though I thought her voice sounded really sour at times. This was very luke warm. I don't like luke warm. Swedish people didn't seem to like luke warm either. This was her first and last appearance in this year's Melody Festival.

The Playtones: Swedish Rockabilly Country... their package surely contained what it promised. I knew I wouldn't like it and I didn't like. I didn't hate it but when I play the Melody Festival CD in the future I will probably skip this song. However, it's no surprise that they made their way into the finale. Brolle did great last week, and this is not unlike it at all.

Shirley's Angels: This was not half bad. I think I might have tolerated this. I liked Shirley and she and her Angel's looked good and they sounded good. Best this far, but not satisfactory good, just better than what's already been discussed. I don't mind hearing this song again, and I will get the opportunity in two weeks, when they compete in the Second Chance.

Sebastian: This was my favorite this week. Having said that, this was still no home-run by any means. I wish Sebastian looked a bit stronger and commanded the stage a bit more, but the song I actually liked. This was the only song I would consider "proper music". Unfortunately, people didn't agree with me at all. Either they don't consider this good music or they don't necessarily want to see good music in Eurovision. I know what I believe...

Sara Varga: I'm lost for words. Simply because I'm lost for opinions. Sara Varga did a half decent job at performing. She looked nice enough and her voice was ok, but the whole thing felt mediocre. Which was a bit of a surprise. I was sure I would either love it or hate it. She did however capture the Swedish people's hearts. They liked her enough to give her a Second Chance.

Eric Saade: Surprise, surprise! This was no surprise! He was the winner of the night and I have a feeling he will win the whole shebang. I'm not sure I think he deserves it, but he seems to be immensely popular. He did deliver a proper show, with singing, dancing and special effects. The song was a generic club-hit, but nobody expected, or wanted, anything else from him. He's still ridiculously pretty which made his song somewhat annoying. Why would a cocky, picture perfect guy sing that he one day will be popular? If, in fact, he ends up as the winner of this year's Melody Festival, I guess I would be ok with it, knowing that he will deliver a solid show in Eurovision.

We are done with three out of four elimination rounds. That's alarming. We have two old-school rockabilly sounding artists competing over the "mature" votes. We have Sanna, representing the traditional and dated Eurovision sound. We have two pretty-boys singing and dancing their hearts out to win the hearts of teenaged girls. And then we have Swingfly... the most unlikely finalist and my only hope this far. He is probably the one who will receive the least amount of votes. Unless there is a hidden group of hiphop-loving Melody Festival watchers out there. A group of people who love fresh music and believe it's time for Eurovision to evolve. Unfortunately, the recent weeks have taught me that it probably won't be the case. The disappointment is likely to continue...

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