SWEDEN: Elliot reviews Melodifestivalen Semi-Final 1

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. 

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!

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 with us on here, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram!