ButterTart's 100 Greatest Melodifestivalen Songs - 2002 to 2024

[ButterTart]

86. Felicia Olsson - Break That Chain (2018)



Heat 4 - 7th place​

“Strain for those notes love.”
@win_the_game, 24/02/2018

After thrilling the world with that one song she did a few years earlier, Felicia Olsson made her HOTLY ANTICIPATED return to the contest in 2018. Cruelly dismissed as a last minute replacement for Carola, Felicia proved to us all that Break That Chain is a song that could only have been performed by any available female singer with no prior engagements in February.

This puts me in mind of Killing Me Tenderly, which is obviously a huge feather in its cap. It’s a schlagery bop with so many elements which feel like it was intended for something bigger than its eventual fate. Felicia gives it a go but the song deserved much better. The MASSIVE chorus and the key change/glory note should be more fondly remembered around these parts, but they’re not done justice to in the live performance. Shirley or Sanna would have kicked the tits right off this, make no mistake.

Overlooked and oft forgotten, at least with this rate I can give it another brief spell in the sun.

 

[ButterTart]

85. Dinah Nah - Make Me (La La La) (2015)



Finalist - 12th place​

“Oh Dina. That's a HARD 34, dear.”
@Apoca, 28/02/2015

Say Dinah Nah
On a dark deserted way, say Dinah Nah
There's a light for you that waits, it's Dinah Nah

Let’s be honest, I could have placed this anywhere and it would still be too low. Mothering before the term was even invented, 34 year-old Dinah (60) beat a triumphant path through the 2015 contest to become one of the most gloriously unlikely finalists of all time.

Make Me (La La La) is absolutely RIDDLED and Dinah stomps the stage, grinning like a dog with two dicks throughout. Brazen from the very moment THAT intro hits, both Dinah and the song itself wear their Eastern European influences on their wizard’s sleeves. Ruinously catchy, immediately iconic and defiantly unsubtle, this is a filthpop stunner which the contest could desperately use more of. Dinah herself clearly relishes every moment, having reached the final through sheer force of will. I feel like the whole performance is what @Lucille sees whenever he closes his eyes.

Dinah came back with One More Night two years later to give us all a FRESH DOSE. It narrowly missed out on inclusion in this rate, but I considered giving it the nod just so I could quote @Suomi's ‘I am lying on the floor’ review.

 

[Apoca]

ICONIC! Na na na HEY! Whooo!

2015 was a pretty great year, really.

 

[ButterTart]

ICONIC! Na na na HEY! Whooo!

2015 was a pretty great year, really.

It actually was. It was followed by an absolute juggernaut of a year, too.

 

[D5K]

I’ve never come across “filthpop” as a genre name but it’s a perfect description. And we desperately need more of it!

 

[ButterTart]

I’ve never come across “filthpop” as a genre name but it’s a perfect description. And we desperately need more of it!

I figured slutpop wasn't appropriate in this context since Dinah's wearing white and must therefore be a virgin.

 

[Haiku Rewrites]

Besides Caramelldansen and Melodifestivalen fame, Dinah is a licensed esthetician and assistant nurse.

SAVING LIVES WITH MEDICINE AND MUSIC!

 

[ButterTart]

Besides Caramelldansen and Melodifestivalen fame, Dinah is a licensed esthetician and assistant nurse.

SAVING LIVES WITH MEDICINE AND MUSIC!

Please tell me she works at the same practice as Dr Anna.

 

[ButterTart]

84. Katrina and the Nameless - As If Tomorrow Will Never Come (2005)



AC - 6th place​

“It is a crime against humanity, I really am at a loss as to how it got through”
David, 29/12/2008

Eight years after doing the job for the UK at Eurovision, Katrina ditched the Waves, hooked up with a bunch of session singers she saw no reason to get to know on first-name terms, and threw herself into Melodifestivalen.

If I was judging this thing on melody alone, As If Tomorrow Will Never Come would be MUCH closer to the top spot. Sadly, I have to take lyrics into account and this boasts the most genuinely awful song-writing in the history of the contest (and this is the contest that gave us UNDO).

The song tackles the challenging topic of letting your hair down, having fun and screaming and shouting. The context is never made clear – are they off out? Are we invited? Do you think I’ll be okay in trainers? Rest assured, though, that tonight is the night and everything’s alright. The heat is on and, by golly, they’ll rock ‘til dawn.

The song itself is possessed of an absolutely THUNDEROUS chorus, a real statement moment which feels somewhat unearned given the lyrics but is still as stirring as all fuck. It’s a barnstorming, balls to the wall homage to Meatloaf, performed with such aplomb that it’s fundamentally impossible to dislike. There was absolutely no way this wasn’t going to feature in a ButterTart Best-Of ranking. Yes, the lyrics are shockingly inept (Although that's to be expected given that the writer, Mr T Gson, exhibits such poor attention to detail that he's been going about with an accidental colon in his surname without realising), but the overall song is a proper tour-de-force, one of the key ingredients which made 2005 such an astonishing year.

Why bother whether it's right or wrong? Pretend this night is the only one.

 

[Music]

85. Dinah Nah - Make Me (La La La) (2015)



Finalist - 12th place​

“Oh Dina. That's a HARD 34, dear.”
@Apoca, 28/02/2015

Say Dinah Nah
On a dark deserted way, say Dinah Nah
There's a light for you that waits, it's Dinah Nah

Let’s be honest, I could have placed this anywhere and it would still be too low. Mothering before the term was even invented, 34 year-old Dinah (60) beat a triumphant path through the 2015 contest to become one of the most gloriously unlikely finalists of all time.

Make Me (La La La) is absolutely RIDDLED and Dinah stomps the stage, grinning like a dog with two dicks throughout. Brazen from the very moment THAT intro hits, both Dinah and the song itself wear their Eastern European influences on their wizard’s sleeves. Ruinously catchy, immediately iconic and defiantly unsubtle, this is a filthpop stunner which the contest could desperately use more of. Dinah herself clearly relishes every moment, having reached the final through sheer force of will. I feel like the whole performance is what @Lucille sees whenever he closes his eyes.

Dinah came back with One More Night two years later to give us all a FRESH DOSE. It narrowly missed out on inclusion in this rate, but I considered giving it the nod just so I could quote @Suomi's ‘I am lying on the floor’ review.

This is one of my favourite Melfest songs EVER, it is relentless and the sheer desperation from Dinah is what I aspire in life.

 

[ButterTart]

This is one of my favourite Melfest songs EVER, it is relentless and the sheer desperation from Dinah is what I aspire in life.

She still manages to make desperation look like fun, which is a lesson Linda Bengtzing could stand to learn.

 

[Apoca]

"How Meatloaf-coded do you want this song t-"
"YES"

 

[Haiku Rewrites]

The 2003-2006 era of Eurovision artists from other countries (Maarja Ilus, Baccara and as mentioned Katrina) trying to launch/revive into a bigger career via MelFest only for the Swedes to be rid of them at the first opportunity was quite something.

 

[ButterTart]

The 2003-2006 era of Eurovision artists from other countries (Maarja Ilus, Baccara and as mentioned Katrina) trying to launch/revive into a bigger career via MelFest only for the Swedes to be rid of them at the first opportunity was quite something.

Katrina was treated like royalty by comparison to Alannah Myles the same year

 

[Haiku Rewrites]

Katrina was treated like royalty by comparison to Alannah Myles the same year

True but at the same time, that Alannah Myles performance was not as polished as Katrina to put it nicely.

 

[win_the_game]

True but at the same time, that Alannah Myles performance was not as polished as Katrina to put it nicely.

I have no idea what you mean...

 

[Madison]

Best castanets ever.

 

[Madison]

And I loved the in-your-face name ‘The Nameless’ as a response to legal action.

 

[ButterTart]

=83. Carola – Evighet (2006)



WINNER!​

“It's just so overrated by some people I nearly can't stand it anymore”
@Alla, 18/08/2009

The second winner to make the list and, again here in (holy) spirit rather than taking up a spot on the ranking.

Evighet was devised by Carola as part of an insidious plan to create a song so gay it would wipe out the homosexual community through devastating seizures. After the plot backfired and she was sent to Greece to receive a hero’s welcome (and a brutal put down from Silvia Night), she slithered back to her mountain lair to initiate plan b – repel the gays forever by duetting with Andreas Johnson.

Evighet is, of course, an absolute banger and it was at the apex of its powers at Melodifestivalen. As with every song ever translated for Eurovision, it’s much more effective in its native language. The performance in the heat is MASSIVE, with poor Carola’s voice sounding increasingly fried with every live showing thereafter. She absolutely goes IN, mind. This looks like a winner's reprise every time which is the mark of a veteran bringing her sixteen decades of stagecraft to bear.

This is a slice of schlager lunacy that wouldn’t have sounded right with any other singer at the helm, so I have to give credit to the arch villainess for a job superbly done.

 

[ButterTart]

83. Erik Segerstedt & Toni Damli – Hello Goodbye (2013)



AC - Lost to Anton Ewald​

“He's decent looking which is all can be said for that. I do prefer the other one out of EMD though.”
@Christian, 09/02/2013

This one’s a fairly recent addition to my Melodifestivalen pantheon; I’d resisted its charms for the longest time before I finally succumbed to that lovely melody. The second or third most popular member of EMD joins forces with Norwegian singeress Tone Damli on this sweet tale of ex lovers reuniting for one night so he can slap it up her.

‘Charming’ is such a twee word but there’s really no more fitting adjective for the performance. Their voices blend superbly but I can’t help but think there was slightly more natural chemistry in the version Erik did with ex-bandmate Mattias Andréasson.

I really like that the song is about getting together for a sly shag and accepting that it’s all their relationship will ever be. It’s a love song without the love, but still has emotional depth. This resonates with me far more than ‘oh I love you and that, let’s have loads of babies and get a semi detached with a Help to Buy ISA’.

I expected Moopy to HATE this one but the comments in the thread for that heat were generally very positive. I wasn’t prepared for that considering the duet involved a penis and a woman under 50. For me, this is more than the sum of its parts and I really can't believe I slept on it for so long.

 

[ButterTart]

82. Jan Malmsjö - Leva livet (2019)



Heat 2 - 6th place​

“86 year old Jan Malmsjö is 86 years old”
@VoR, 05/02/2019

The above quote represents the sum total of comments I managed to find about Jan Malmsjö on this entire gay interest hate longe. The 2019 Melodifestivalen threads were such a barren wasteland that I’m grateful for lockdown coming along and reacquainting us with the art of bitching about perfectly acceptable songs.

Jan deserves his moment in the Mopsy spotlight and so here it is. I love it when Melfest wheels out an antique celebrity to croak through three minutes of filler, and never have I enjoyed it more than I did here.

Leva livet is a Latin-inflected slice of dramatic tomfoolery with a killer chorus and absolutely zero chance of ever making it out of its heat. Jan is having such a good time on stage that it almost doesn’t matter that he’s – at best – only nodding acquaintances with the words, melody and choreography.

This is one of the mainstays of every MF playlist I make; In fact, it was originally far higher up this rate. Just like when I was saving up for that bubble perm, common sense had to prevail and Leva livet got bumped to a slightly more justifiable position.


I’m eagerly expecting Jan’s return to the contest within the next decade or two, but this is more than enough to keep me going until then.

 

[ButterTart]

81. Molly Sandén - Why Am I Crying? (2012)



Finalist - 5th place​

“A totally transparent attempt at creating another Empty Room moment and RELENTLESSLY basic”
@Penelope, 29/08/2014

Molly Sandén makes her second appearance in the list with this powerhouse of a ballad about her break up with slovenly little shit Eric Saade. I can’t help thinking they’d still be together had they invested in a laundry basket.

Armed with a pair of trousers so tight that watching the entire performance earns you a City & Guilds in lip-reading, Molly kicks the ever-loving FUCK out of the song with one of the strongest vocals in this rate.

The song builds from a delicate opening verse to a thunderous crescendo as Molly goes FULL TIT AND MINGE on the final chorus. Seriously, if folk will insist on sending ballads then THIS is how you get me on side. The delivery of ‘ I'm not gonna beg, not gonna crawl, not gonna need you if I fall’ is how you fucking do it. Actually furious at Saade for running up the electricity bill and messing up the towel rack now. This poor woman has been through so much.

Why Am I Crying? turns up as the soundtrack to an interpretive dance in Ja’mie: Private School Girl, which is a fun little postscript to the whole thing.

 

[ButterTart]

80. Mimi Oh - Det går för långsamt (2012)



Heat 2 - 7th place​

“What an unfortunate face “
@Lockhart, 11/02/2012

I think it’s safe to say Melodifestivalen peaked as a format with that opening turn to camera

This is the sort of boppy little earworm that would get routinely fucked over in the early 2010s. Is it any wonder I detest Cazzi Opeia when she manages to qualify without incident with her uniquely joyless brand of inane DRIVEL that’s not fit to lick the winnets from the arse of the pop casualties that went before her?

Anyway, this was day-glo nightmare Mimi’s only shot at Mello glory before she was boiled down for glue, and she demonstrated her impressive range in the long notes by hitting an entirely different one than she was supposed to each time. Versatility.

I don’t know about you, but I find Det går för långsamt impossible to dislodge from my head whenever I hear it. It’s effervescent, infectious and just an all-round DELIGHT. The chorus is just so irrepressibly happy that I shudder to think that anyone on this accursed site isn’t charmed by it at least a little bit.

Inevitably, Sweden paid Mimi absolute dust for her avant-garde vocal and three minutes of excitable bouncing, but for my money she’s second only to Fröken Snusk as the best use of a horse on a Melodifestivalen stage.

 

[VoR]

I was obsessed with Det går för långsamt long after poor old Mimi had been ground down for slurry. Sadly it's not on Spotify UK, but I do think it was at least worthy of AC.

 

[ButterTart]

A fifth of the way through the rate, let's recap all of the judgements made without a clue so far:

100. Elecktra - Banne maj (2024)
99. B-Boys International feat. Paul M - One Step Closer (2005)
98. Michael Feiner & Caisa - We're Still Kids (2013)
97. Brandsta City Släckers – Kom Och Ta Mig (2002)
96. Petra Nielsen – Tango! Tango! (2004)
=95. The Mamas - Move (2020)
95. Timoteij - Stormande Hav (2012)
94. Emil Henrohn - Mera mera mera (2023)
93. Molly Sandén - Youniverse (2016)
92. Jon Henrik Fjällgren - Jag är fri (Manne Leam Frijje) (2015)
91. LIAMOO - Bluffin (2022)
90. Eden - Comfortable (2023)
89. Clara Klingenström - Behöver inte dig idag (2021)
88. Shirley Clamp - Att älska dig (2005)
87. Sara Lumholdt – Enemy (2011)
86. Felicia Olsson - Break That Chain (2018)
85. Dinah Nah - Make Me (La La La) (2015)
84. Katrina and the Nameless - As If Tomorrow Will Never Come (2005)
=83. Carola - Evighet (2006)
83. Erik Segerstedt & Toni Damli – Hello Goodbye (2013)
82. Jan Malmsjö - Leva livet (2019)
81. Molly Sandén - Why Am I Crying? (2012)
80. Mimi Oh - Det går för långsamt (2012)

Songs by year:

2002: 1
2004: 1
2005: 3
2006: 1
2011: 1
2012: 3
2013: 2
2015: 2
2016: 1
2018: 1
2019: 1
2020: 1
2021: 1
2022: 1
2023: 2
2024: 1

 

[ButterTart]

I was obsessed with Det går för långsamt long after poor old Mimi had been ground down for slurry. Sadly it's not on Spotify UK, but I do think it was at least worthy of AC.

I use Apple Music for MF playlists because there's a slightly better selection and it's much easier to add downloaded songs to a playlist. The effort you need to go to just for a bit of Mimi Oh and Anna Sahlene.

 

[VoR]

Oh God, I've just reminded myself that Mimi was in the semi where Timoteij, Mimi and Sonja Aldén all got sent home in favour of David Lindgren and Ulrik Munther. The Swedes were really feeling hateful that night.

In fact, Loreen aside the voting in 2012 was really quite offensive.

 

[ButterTart]

Oh God, I've just reminded myself that Mimi was in the semi where Timoteij, Mimi and Sonja Aldén got sent home in favour of David Lindgren and Ulrik Munther. The Swedes were really feeling hateful that night.

In fact, Loreen aside the voting in 2012 was really quite offensive.

I was reading the heat 4 threads for a different write up. The level of desperation at even Charlotte not being able to escape her heat unscathed made for quite a harrowing read.

 

[ButterTart]

Schlager is dead

I couldn't even watch

She clearly saw it coming too.

I'm calling it. This is the worst Melodifestivalen ever.

all that build up and dreams and expectations


i feel like killing myself

not a single word.

This is EVEN WORSE than last years AC

Losing out to Lotta and Christer?

Seriously, fuck you Swedish public. Fuck all of you.

The only thing that can salvage this year is a triumphant Loreen pipping Danny to the post.

After the result in pretty much every heat, I just can't see it happening now.

It's like Watership Down in the latter pages of that thread.

 

[VoR]

I was saying to @Pingu just the other day, I'm quite nostalgic for the days when I could summon up enough passion to throw a melodramatic tantrum and declare Melfest DEAD AND BURIED every time a two-bit schlager diva gets cast out of the heats. These days it barely touches the sides.

 

[ButterTart]

a melodramatic tantrum and declare Melfest DEAD AND BURIED every time a two-bit schlager diva gets cast out of the heats.

The joy of finding quotes from old threads is seeing quite how much of this there actually is

The reaction to Swedish Housewives being eliminated in particular is EVENT READING and will be getting quoted later in the rank.

 

[ButterTart]

79. Arja Saijonmaa - Vad du än trodde så trodde du fel (2005)



8th in heat 2​

“I LIKE OLD HAGS BUT I DON'T LIKE OLD HAGS WITH RUBBISH SONGS.”
@Apoca, 02/01/2009

8th in its heat? WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK? Sverige, vi har ett resultat: du har ingen smak.

I mean, fair enough she just shouts the whole thing, her choreography amounts to wagging her finger before a brief shimmy with the Barry Manilow-looking dancer, and it’s possibly the most matronly schlager performance of all time, but I mean COME ON.

This is the sort of lunatic fringe sorely missing from the modern contest, an absolute saggy-tits-out STOMPER which starts off ridiculous and spends the next three minutes making progressively less sense.

We’ve established by now that I’m a slut for a big chorus, and Arja bellows one for the ages here. I have no idea what she's saying but I fully support it, such is the frenzied drama of that hook. I love that Vad du än trodde så trodde du fel is so relentless throughout; even the dramatic stop-start towards the end (where Arja gamely misses her cue to start singing again) doesn’t do anything to diminish the pace of it all.

I’ve never really seen Moopy talk about this one, which either means it’s an overlooked gem or, once again, I’ve thrown my weight behind a song the seasoned Mello fans wouldn’t wipe their arse on. From the evidence at hand I sincerely hope it’s not the latter, as this is a glorious slice of mid-00s excess.

Chalk up another success for 2005, and add it to the evidence pile for TART VS STENMARCK: THE LAS VEGAS ROBBERY

 

[VoR]

That one really was a spiritual precursor to LA LA GUNILLA.

The elements are all there.

 

[ButterTart]

That one really was a spiritual precursor to LA LA GUNILLA.

The elements are all there.

I was actually thinking that, you know. If she'd have sent something this excessive I would absolutely have supported her.

 

[Suomi]

85. Dinah Nah - Make Me (La La La) (2015)



Finalist - 12th place​

“Oh Dina. That's a HARD 34, dear.”
@Apoca, 28/02/2015

Say Dinah Nah
On a dark deserted way, say Dinah Nah
There's a light for you that waits, it's Dinah Nah

Let’s be honest, I could have placed this anywhere and it would still be too low. Mothering before the term was even invented, 34 year-old Dinah (60) beat a triumphant path through the 2015 contest to become one of the most gloriously unlikely finalists of all time.

Make Me (La La La) is absolutely RIDDLED and Dinah stomps the stage, grinning like a dog with two dicks throughout. Brazen from the very moment THAT intro hits, both Dinah and the song itself wear their Eastern European influences on their wizard’s sleeves. Ruinously catchy, immediately iconic and defiantly unsubtle, this is a filthpop stunner which the contest could desperately use more of. Dinah herself clearly relishes every moment, having reached the final through sheer force of will. I feel like the whole performance is what @Lucille sees whenever he closes his eyes.

Dinah came back with One More Night two years later to give us all a FRESH DOSE. It narrowly missed out on inclusion in this rate, but I considered giving it the nod just so I could quote @Suomi's ‘I am lying on the floor’ review.

Make Me (La La La) should really be top ten but I understand that it wouldn’t be fair on the other contestants to have this entry too prominently on display. With a BPM of 3,000 and a surging dose of “You WILL vote for this” energy, Make Me (La La La) actually caused the app vote to crash during the finals (not a lie - look it up!)

 

[ButterTart]

Make Me (La La La) should really be top ten but I understand that it wouldn’t be fair on the other contestants to have this entry too prominently on display. With a BPM of 3,000 and a surging dose of “You WILL vote for this” energy, Make Me (La La La) actually caused the app vote to crash during the finals (not a lie - look it up!)

From Wiwibloggs:

"Måns won with a total of 288 points, beating Jon Henrik Fjällgren in to second place. The result never seemed to be in question as soon as the international juries coming in, with Måns picking up top marks from nine of the eleven juries. The show ran in to some technical troubles halfway through when the #melfest app crashed halfway through Dinah Nah destroying the universe with a single live performance, which meant that only televotes and SMS counted in the public vote."

 

[D5K]

I have no idea what she's saying but I fully support it​

It's amazing, the song title is "Whatever you thought, you thought wrong". Maybe that can be the new Eurovision forum tagline?

 

[ButterTart]

78. Samir & Viktor – Groupie



Finalist – 8th place​

“What a charming pair of TWATS”
@Lockhart, 14/02/2015

Right, lads, amateur hour is OVER; it’s about time we had some professionalism in this rate. Who better to deliver that than the Dick & Dom of Scandinavia?

Groupie was our first glimpse of the masterful stagecraft which would come to define Samir & Viktor’s participation in Melodifestivalen over the next few years. Samir, to his credit, at least manages to look like he’s having fun but it’s FRISKY VIK who’s the star attraction here. Eyes so wide he looks like he accidentally stapled his eyelids to his forehead before taking to the stage, every beat of the choreography executed as if a producer is shrieking ‘now move your right leg, you bellend’ through his earpiece, Viktor is a true icon of the contest; a beacon of hope for people with no natural charisma or talent the world over.

Groupie, like Viktor himself, is a good time that was had by all. There’s something so cheerful and innocent about both the performance and the song; it’s not there to do anything other than raise a smile. My interest in MF only stretches back a decade or so, and this is one of the earliest entrants I can remember properly loving. I do think their next two efforts were stronger, but Groupie shits all over whatever the Hell that thing was they came back with this year.

I’m pleased to report that no significant improvements have been detected in Viktor’s performing skills since 2015; so it’s nice to see that success hasn’t changed him.

 

[ButterTart]

77. Martin - Du och jag (i hela världen) (2002)



Heat 2 - 7th place​

“Why are some of you so afraid of a bit of penis and a guitar? Most of you in here gladly take it up the arse, so why not listen to some male singers as well. There's more to music than old schlager slags.”
Lars, 21/01/2009

Avid readers (oh, who am I kidding?) may recall that this was originally in the list of ten songs which just missed out on the top 100. This decision was a mistake, and after a few sleepless nights and long chats with the Samaritans I decided it needed to feature properly. It is, after all, a fucking stonker.

Martin clearly learnt everything he knows about enthusiastic live performances from his ex wife, Dilba. I feel like he undersells this song massively, considering it stands out massively from the rest of the class of 2002. It’s early-00s indie-pop with the customary huge chorus which justifies its inclusion in this ranking. It puts me in mind of a debut single by a Fame Academy contestant which, for me at least, is in no way an insult. There's also a whiff of early Coldplay about it. Again, I'm just making things worse with that comparison but I promise you it's not supposed to be derogatory. I actually think this could have been a modest hit in the UK; it certainly wouldn't sound out of place on a Now album.

This flopped on the night and seems to have been largely forgotten about since. It’s a shame, because it deserves to be far more fondly remembered.

Incidentally, I feel like I’ve completely glossed over the top story from this write-up, that Martin and Dilba were briefly married. One can only imagine the SIZZLING pillow talk these charisma dynamos engaged in. “My penis is now inside you” “Oh goodness, thanks”.

 

[ButterTart]

76. Theoz - Mer av dig (2023)



Finalist - 5th place​

“Shame he has a face only a paedophile would fuck.”
@GinAg (39). 11/02/2023

Theoz is such an anomaly of modern Melodifestivalen; a young male who debuted in 2022 with an uptempo song which stood a chance of actually qualifying. Questions were doubtless asked in parliament about how this could be allowed to happen in the once-and-done era of young people sharting out a dismal ballad before disappearing forever.

Regardless, Theoz actually made the final with ‘Som du vill’ and followed it up a year later with the corking ‘Mer av dig’. Theoz could and should be a major player in Melodifestivalen for a long time to come. At just six years old, he has plenty of time to try his hand at schlager, fail to qualify with a collaboration with an ageing rapper, go through the obligatory boy with emotions phase and eventually win the whole thing by committing a senseless assault on the English language.

Mer av dig is already a proper classic little more than twelve months on from its release. Insanely catchy, riddled with hooks and just a fundamentally uplifting three minutes of slickly crafted Mello excellence, this was a proper star-making moment which even endeared Theoz to the Mrs Havershams of the Moopy threads. Also, he can actually dance which singles him out from literally every other male solo artist currently competing in Melfest.

This isn’t even the sort of song I’d normally glance twice at, but the performance kicks the living shit out of almost everything else to appear on stage last year. When it’s done this well, it becomes impossible to overlook.