Friday, February 03, 2012

Just a minute: Melodifestivalen 2012 snippets, week 1.

Last night I heard the one minute snippets of the first eight songs competing at this year's Melodifestivalen. I was a bit tired and grumpy and my initial impression wasn't very good.

But it's Friday night now, I'm not grumpy and only a little bit tired, so let's try them again!

1. "Sean Den Förste Banan" - Sean Banan.

I'm not Swedish and I don't live in Sweden, so please forgive me if I don't "get" Mr Banan. Or should he maybe change his name to banal? I just don't understand his popularity. The song /rap itself isn't really up to much, the chorus has a little 'tingeling'-reference. The chorus is very catchy, I'll give it that, and he'll bring a massive stage show It will qualify, although I still can't decide where to.

2. "På Väg" - Abalone Dots.

In advance of the contest, reading about this acoustic/country group didn't really fill me with excitement. Based on the one minute snippet I haven't changed my mind. It's very dull and let's face it chappies, if we're going to fulfil the female folky quota at MF then surely that spot should be reserved for the mighty Timoteij.

3. ""I Want To Be Chris Isaak (This Is Just The Beginning)" - The Moniker.

Oh my God, oh my God...oh wait, new year, new song. It's not as "out there" as last year's annoying song, and on second listening I think it could grow on me. But as Eminem says, you only get one shot and I don't know if there's enough goodwill carrying over from last year to take it further, or indeed if it will be strong enough to qualify.

4. "The Boy Can Dance" - Afro-Dite.

They're even throwing a shake it-shake it for good measure, but on first and second listen my own view is that it's not as good as either "Never Let It Go" (one of my favourite MF winners ever) or for that matter, the underrated "Aqua Playa" although I think I'll grow to like it, maybe even love it. I'm sure they'll put on a disco-tastic show and I'm really looking forward to hearing and seeing them tomorrow night.


5. "Mystery" - Dead By April.

I'm not really familiar with their music, but I'm in no doubt that this is going to qualify. Because a) they're very popular, b) it's totally different to anything else this week, and c) that Linkin Park style is still very popular in continental Europe. With added growling of course, but a quite memorable chorus.

6. "Salt and Pepper" - Marie Serneholt.

There's a lot of love for Marie in blogland and we'd all love to see her do well. However on first/second listen this song is a bit disjointed. Many have compared it to "The Boy Does Nothing", which I like, so I have high hopes for it anyway. And I'm sure she'll put on a good show, but it's a strange week.

7. "Jag Reser Mig Igen" - Thorsten Flinck and Revolutionsorkestern.

Just when you thought Melodifestivalen couldn't leave you speechless anymore, along comes Mr Flinck with (on first/second listen) one of the worst songs ever to grace an MF stage. Biggest shock of all, is that this is a G:son song. No wait....there even may a bigger shock if this qualifies. After all, look how well "Snälla Snälla" did.

8. "Euphoria" - Loreen.

Direkt till Globen, as they say. Wind machine? Check. Intense crawling on the floor and arm-swinging? Check. Her intense performance and big voice drives this out of the ordinary, and the "We Found Love" feel keeps it 100% contemporary.

All in all, a strange week to predict. Loreen is probably an obvious qualifier, but otherwise I genuinely haven't a clue. Sean Banan, Dead By April and hopefully Afro-Dite, although sitting on the fence here you can't write off Flinck and Marie either. Answers tomorrow night!!

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