Saturday night saw the return of Melodifestivalen – Sweden’s
national selection contest for Eurovision 2016. Widely regarding as one of the
most popular and tuned into contests from the home nation and those across
Europe, us here at The Euro Trip, didn’t miss out either to bring you all the
highs and lows of the first semi final in Gothenburg.
First out of the blocks after a rather long, yet enjoyable
number from the hosts Gina Dirawi and Petra Meade were Samir & Viktor with
the song “Bada Nakna.” For the most part the song was enjoyable, seeming less
hectic on stage but with still flairs of that made other tracks such as Groupie
and Success truly that - a success, the
transition from the acoustic beginning into the more recognised sound of
electronic, dub step was nice, and improved vocals! However, the solo dancer in
the water in the middle of the arena was pointless and looked more like
something having a tantrum than dancing, there were more too many musical
breaks in the song which wrecked the flow of the song itself. It did however have the desired effect of being a strong opening song and with it qualifying to
Andra Chansen we will once again see the boys fight for their spot in the final
just like in 2015. Bada Nakna is already number 1 in the Swedish Spotify and
iTunes charts.
Following Samir & Viktor was the rather sleepy and in
more blunt words – dull Pernilla Andersson with “Mitt Guuld” as we said from
the thirty second clip provided on Thursday we found the song boring, and sadly
the full version did not change our minds, the song was simply one dimensional
and did not go anywhere or captivate our attention, if anything it felt like a
long three minutes and I for one was grateful when it ended, she was the fact
act eliminated in the evening (no shocker there) so its bye bye Pernilla for
this year.
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| Mimi has become a fan favourite with 'Aint No Good' |
Third song of the night was the infectiously fun and bubble
Mimi Werner and “Ain’t No Good” it was my favourite from the snippet and my
word the girl did not disappoint! Fun, energetic, bubbly, fun again, Mimi was a
delight to watch on stage with strong vocals and choreography, even the backing
dancers were grinning and looked like they were loving it, also dressed like
she was ready for a hoedown the song took me to Nashville stadium with her
blend of country pop and I simply loved it! Whoever no performance is perfect
and I did feel at times the backing vocals on the backing were too loud and
overpowering at times and her voice started to waiver slightly at points in the
final minute of the song. Sadly though Sweden did not share my love of this
song and maybe it was because Mimi is not an established name is a strong semi
final but either way the poor country queen placed 5th and will not advance any
further, the cruel hand of Melodifestivalen strikes again!
Song 4 – Albin and Mattias with “Rik” oh look another male
duo, just twice as cringe with a song half as good in comparison to Samir &
Viktor, seriously I did not enjoy this performance at all. Mattias had decent
vocals I shall concede and admit that much but the rest of it, nope! Albin’s
rapping – awful, Albin’s performance on stage, again awful, he looked lost and
disjointed, he kept looking and gesturing to Mattias the whole time, he looked
totally out of his depth and made it all a bit unpleasant to watch, the staging
was so dull and boring as well, just a bunch of blue lights really, and the
song structure got very boring and very repetitive quickly. Basically I was not
a fan of this and did not want to see it advance, but it did – to Andra Chansen
and not I hope it’s drawn against a tough song and sent packing then!
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| Ace and Robin advanced straight to the Final |
Up next was ex-Idol star Robin Bengtsson and the song “Constellation
Prize.” I’m going to discuss the positives first, he’s not bad to look at, he
has a very good voice and if that is playing the harmonica on the backing track
then he has another talent to just singing! Staging, simple but effective,
especially the black and gold lighting. Now the negatives, all simple and
effective staging it was a bit dull and boring on the flip side of the coin,
him just stood on a large block seemed a little pointless when already on a big
stage and the lyrics to me were awful – dull, grade A love song lyrics, to me
it sounded like something Sam Smith or Ed Sheeran would write then jazzed up
with a harmonica to give it more energy and a USP element to the song. This
dragged it down a lot for me, but it still deserved to advance in some format
and it has – direct qualifier! Cant say I’m too upset with Sweden with deciding
that as did want to see it in final and now it’s a certainty, well done Robin
and see you in a months time!
Last to perform was the one everyone had been waiting for –
Ace Wilder and “Don’t Worry” and after the snippet, I was worried, it seemed to
lack something, but being fair I waited until the full song was released, and
its good, no denying it. It has some comedy first world problem lines such as
“My coffee’s cold” and “I’m always connected, but have no friends”. The song
itself is catchy and memorable, but it does lack what has been known to be in
every Ace Wilder song – the crashing heavy downbeat chorus! Replaced with a
softer mambo style chorus instead it still gets people up and dancing I’m sure
but still disappointing for me, the budget in staging from “Don’t Worry” and “Busy
Doin’ Nothin’” is night and day, from just some lights and four backing
dancers, to a six cubed tall pyramid, filled with five pre recorded Ace’s and
the real one, before she decides to get down and join up with her backing
dancers. As expected this sailed through to the final but do not believe this
can challenge for the title and if it goes to Eurovision, a lot will have to be
sacrificed to comply with the six persons on stage rule at Eurovision as again,
a heavily vocalised backing track was used in Melodifestivalen.
So, do you agree with the four that advanced? Who should
have advanced over an act that did? Share you opinion
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