VoR
Take it or leave it
Four semi finals down and it's pretty much looking like Felicia's to lose at this point. But the producers generally like to save a big contender for last, and this semi certainly contains some competitive names...
Melodi #1: AleXa - Tongue Tied
AleXa, Jonatan Gusmark, Ludvig Evers, Ellen Berg & Moa "Cazzi Opeia" Carlebecker
The winner of the inaugural/only Americavision Song Contest back in 2022, Alexia is an American-Korean performer who has basically been drafted into Melfest to represent the K-Pop Demon Hunters loving demographic, of which there will of course be many.
Unsurprisingly, the explosion of K-pop has been heavily driven by professional Swedish songwriters, and the entire songwriting team here has form writing international hits within the genre. In Cazzi Opeia, they also have a Eurovision-winning songwriter in the mix, so this is understandably heavily favoured and likely to come with one of the higher staging budgets of this year. Whether the Swedes will once again embrace a foreign ringer remains to be seen, but the youth vote should be big for this one.
Overall odds: 4th
Melodi #2: JULIETT - Långt från alla andra
Ludvig Alamanos, Romeo Er-Melin, Herman Gardarfve, Elias Kask, David Själin & Valter Wigren
A Swedish boyband who are apparently a very big deal in Vallentuna (population: 33,000). They've been performing together since 2018, so there's a good chance this is one of those entries that's been floating around the reserve list for a couple of years.
Co-writer Herman Gardarfve was one of the songwriters on Move by The Mamas, plus a long string of more mid-table Melfest entries. Could be a noll2-esque streaming smash in waiting, but most likely this is just a bit of winsome filler.
Overall odds: 13th
Melodi #3: Bladë - Who You Are
Josefina Carlbom & Isa Tengblad
The artist formerly known as ISA, who had a surprise finalist in 2015 with the shamelessly Shake It Off-apeing Don't Stop. After her second entry I Will Wait crashed out in AC, she retreated behind the scenes for the best part of a decade, finally re-emerging under her new moniker last year with her debut album A Path to Rëd Skies, which did not set charts alight. A cursory listen suggests she's more Charlie XCX than Taylor these days, with song titles such as 'Dick' 'Manspread' and 'Venom (Industry)'. Subtle!
Overall odds: 12th
Melodi #4: Lilla Al-Fadji - Delulu
Lilla Al-Fadji, Daniel Réhn, Mikaela Samuelsson, Edward af Sillén, Fredrik Sonefors och Melanie Wehbe
Oh Christ, brace yourselves folks - 'Swedish comedy' incoming
.
This self-evidently hilarious man - look at that hair! What a riot! - has apparently had several popular sketch comedy shows on Swedish TV, so naturally brand consolidation demands that he intrudes on our gay pop contest. On the plus side, Edward af Sillen has had a hand in this, so it may not be a total waste of space, but let's be real, this is going to be none of our business and will probably pull in far more votes than it deserves.
Overall odds: 17th
Melodi #5: Vilhelm Buchaus - Hearts Don't Lie
Vilhelm Buchaus, Isa Molin och David Zandén
God, the Swedish press absolutely lost their damn minds over this bloke's run-of-the-mill slice of Lewis Capaldi balladry last year, with many predicting it would be a spoiler to win the whole thing. Thankfully, gayer heads prevailed and he amusingly crashed out in his heat.
Whoever's backing him clearly has faith though, as they've paired him with the songwriting team behind Hold Me Closer this year. It's all giving 'You WILL vote for this!' energy, and while I'm sure he's a very nice chap IRL, he's challenging the wig guy for my designated villain of this heat/year.
Overall odds: 10th
Melodi #6: Sanna Nielsen - Waste Your Love
Peter Boström, Thomas G:son och Jimmy Jansson
Hey Siri, play Save The Best for Last by Vanessa Williams!
Essentially a bi-annual presence in the Melfest golden age of the early 00s, Sanna Nielsen finally scored a long-awaited victory in 2014 with the lyrical miracle that was Undo My Sad. Rather than push her luck, she's spent the following decade+ building a solid career as a sort of all-purpose Swedish light entertainment celebrity. She had a successful stint hosting the hugely popular Swedish summer show Allsång på Skansen, she's trod the boards in numerous stage musicals and she's a regular face on Swedish TV.
All of which means she's essentially sat out the grim period in which many of her 00s contemporaries have been metaphorically taken out to the woodshed and humanely shot. Now she's finally back, with an A-list songwriting team and the Contest pimp slot. On paper, this semi final really should be hers to lose, although whether public affection for her will stretch to voters under the age of 35 remains to be seen. But a highlight it will surely be regardless.
Overall odds: 5th
Melodi #1: AleXa - Tongue Tied
AleXa, Jonatan Gusmark, Ludvig Evers, Ellen Berg & Moa "Cazzi Opeia" Carlebecker
The winner of the inaugural/only Americavision Song Contest back in 2022, Alexia is an American-Korean performer who has basically been drafted into Melfest to represent the K-Pop Demon Hunters loving demographic, of which there will of course be many.
Unsurprisingly, the explosion of K-pop has been heavily driven by professional Swedish songwriters, and the entire songwriting team here has form writing international hits within the genre. In Cazzi Opeia, they also have a Eurovision-winning songwriter in the mix, so this is understandably heavily favoured and likely to come with one of the higher staging budgets of this year. Whether the Swedes will once again embrace a foreign ringer remains to be seen, but the youth vote should be big for this one.
Overall odds: 4th
Melodi #2: JULIETT - Långt från alla andra
Ludvig Alamanos, Romeo Er-Melin, Herman Gardarfve, Elias Kask, David Själin & Valter Wigren
A Swedish boyband who are apparently a very big deal in Vallentuna (population: 33,000). They've been performing together since 2018, so there's a good chance this is one of those entries that's been floating around the reserve list for a couple of years.
Co-writer Herman Gardarfve was one of the songwriters on Move by The Mamas, plus a long string of more mid-table Melfest entries. Could be a noll2-esque streaming smash in waiting, but most likely this is just a bit of winsome filler.
Overall odds: 13th
Melodi #3: Bladë - Who You Are
Josefina Carlbom & Isa Tengblad
The artist formerly known as ISA, who had a surprise finalist in 2015 with the shamelessly Shake It Off-apeing Don't Stop. After her second entry I Will Wait crashed out in AC, she retreated behind the scenes for the best part of a decade, finally re-emerging under her new moniker last year with her debut album A Path to Rëd Skies, which did not set charts alight. A cursory listen suggests she's more Charlie XCX than Taylor these days, with song titles such as 'Dick' 'Manspread' and 'Venom (Industry)'. Subtle!
Overall odds: 12th
Melodi #4: Lilla Al-Fadji - Delulu
Lilla Al-Fadji, Daniel Réhn, Mikaela Samuelsson, Edward af Sillén, Fredrik Sonefors och Melanie Wehbe
Oh Christ, brace yourselves folks - 'Swedish comedy' incoming
.This self-evidently hilarious man - look at that hair! What a riot! - has apparently had several popular sketch comedy shows on Swedish TV, so naturally brand consolidation demands that he intrudes on our gay pop contest. On the plus side, Edward af Sillen has had a hand in this, so it may not be a total waste of space, but let's be real, this is going to be none of our business and will probably pull in far more votes than it deserves.
Overall odds: 17th
Melodi #5: Vilhelm Buchaus - Hearts Don't Lie
Vilhelm Buchaus, Isa Molin och David Zandén
God, the Swedish press absolutely lost their damn minds over this bloke's run-of-the-mill slice of Lewis Capaldi balladry last year, with many predicting it would be a spoiler to win the whole thing. Thankfully, gayer heads prevailed and he amusingly crashed out in his heat.
Whoever's backing him clearly has faith though, as they've paired him with the songwriting team behind Hold Me Closer this year. It's all giving 'You WILL vote for this!' energy, and while I'm sure he's a very nice chap IRL, he's challenging the wig guy for my designated villain of this heat/year.
Overall odds: 10th
Melodi #6: Sanna Nielsen - Waste Your Love
Peter Boström, Thomas G:son och Jimmy Jansson
Hey Siri, play Save The Best for Last by Vanessa Williams!
Essentially a bi-annual presence in the Melfest golden age of the early 00s, Sanna Nielsen finally scored a long-awaited victory in 2014 with the lyrical miracle that was Undo My Sad. Rather than push her luck, she's spent the following decade+ building a solid career as a sort of all-purpose Swedish light entertainment celebrity. She had a successful stint hosting the hugely popular Swedish summer show Allsång på Skansen, she's trod the boards in numerous stage musicals and she's a regular face on Swedish TV.
All of which means she's essentially sat out the grim period in which many of her 00s contemporaries have been metaphorically taken out to the woodshed and humanely shot. Now she's finally back, with an A-list songwriting team and the Contest pimp slot. On paper, this semi final really should be hers to lose, although whether public affection for her will stretch to voters under the age of 35 remains to be seen. But a highlight it will surely be regardless.
Overall odds: 5th
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