Melodifestivalen 2013 - Robin Stjernberg won!

So yeah, I was supposed to blog last night but I was too tired. So many things I had to fix before I can start blogging. Photos, videos… And I know you're waiting for the phrase. Here it is: I don't know where to start! Nah, not really.

When I heard the songs of the 4th semi and especially after the end of the 4th semi I started regretting buying a ticket to the final. I still believe it was the worst Melodifestivalen we ever had. Even though I'm only familiar with the years after 2000. But if I had the chance to give the ticket back and take my money I wouldn't do it. The feeling of being inside the arena worth every single crown I paid. It's an amazing experience!

On my way to the arena

First of all I need to say that I feel really lucky that I got to be in two finals that were held in Globen! And to be honest I missed Globen… I love Globen. I can't really say why. I just love it! Everything about it. Especially the name (no I NEVER call it Ericsson Globe Arena!). Friends Arena is cool alright. It's huge. And I mean HUGE. They didn't use the entire arena. It would be impossible to see the stage had they used all the space. I don't know but I think Melodifestivalen's final belongs to Globen. But I don't think we're going back there. Like, ever.

Inside the arena

In position!

Dååå kör viiiiii! I liked the opening act! Previous hosts of the ESC and Petra Mede! Pretty good! 

Ulrik Munther - I liked him. I mean I had seen him in Malmö's first general rehearsal so it wasn't the first time I heard his song in an arena.

David Lindgren - Yeah, the hype stopped already from the second semi. And then comes Christer Björkman and gives spot number 2 to David! This is the cursed one! No wonder why David was last in the televoting! I was really surprised! I didn't expect him high in the final but definitely not last in the televoting! He was really good though...

State of Drama - I was expecting them to finish last. Not because they have a bad song but because they're so forgettable. It's something we've heard many times before. Yeah we've heard David's song before. But I mean all the other artists had something! Some of them returned to mello and others had that something. I was close about their final place. 9th.

Anton Ewald - I hate his pants! I really do! There, I had to say this! The song grew on me a lot so I really enjoyed it. The cheerings for Anton inside the arena were hysterical...

And somewhere at this point my parents called me! I mean SERIOUSLY?? They're doing it on purpose! They called me 10 minutes before the DMGP's final and 15 minutes before the 4th semi in Malmö asking me to video-call them in Skype! And yesterday they called me while I was IN the arena! SERIOUSLY?? Respect to the eurofan please!

 

Getting ready for Louise

Louise Hoffsten - The only woman in this mello final! All I'm gonna say here is that her song is definitely one of my favourite in this Melodifestivalen! I would be totally fine if she was the winner! It was pretty great when she was on stage.

Ralf Gyllenhammar - Many people in the ESC forums wanted him as the winner. Me? I don't know. His song is not my cup of tea but I didn't mind listening to it in the arena...

Ravaillacz - They got what they deserved. Although, not really. They shouldn't have even been in the final! The song is horrible. And I'll say it again, it's far from "en riktig jävla schlager"! Light-years away!

Sean Banan - I still dislike him. I still find him disgusting. There was no way he'd win. But yeah. Inside the arena everything is enjoyable! And so was his show. Song's melody isn't original. It's catchy and sticks in your head but it's not something we haven't heard before. People say it's "Dragostea Din Tei". I say "Can-Can".

Robin Stjernberg - Thank you Sweden! When I first heard the song, I said that his voice annoys me. It was ok in Malmö's rehearsal. Even better in andra chansen and now it's totally fine! It doesn't annoy me at all! The same happened with Salem al Fakir in 2010! The song? I liked it from the beginning (now I totally love it!) and in this final, it was the best choice for me! I'm so glad that Sweden sends a decent entry! He just needs to work on his vocals! It's a difficult song and he needs to be perfect! Especially for the juries!

It took me a while to realise that those two sitting in front of me were YOHIO's fans...

YOHIO - I'm so glad he didn't win! Well technically he did win. He won the televoting. But just for that night, thank God we had the juries! I don't like his song. And I don't like him. Not because he's different. I don't like his "attitude". He is so full of himself because he's the only one in Sweden doing something like this. Oh and I totally hated the way he ended his song! My ears! 

Lynda Woodruff! That accent! That voice! I LOVE Sarah Dawn Finer!! "The home of the eurOWvision song contest 2013!" Hahahahahaha 

Then came Loreen! That version of "Euphoria" was amazing! And it was so Loreen! I got serious goosebumps when she got on stage! It brought back the 2012 memories in Globen!                 

One question. Why did Gina present the ukrainian votes again? Hm... 

CAROLA

CAROLA

Yup. Carola! Carola Häggkvist! You can say whatever you want about her as a person. I will even agree about all the stuff you're gonna say when it comes to her relationship with God and religion. I believe in God (most of the times. I won't discuss that topic though) but she should keep all this to herself. She's a public figure but that doesn't mean she has to "promote" God like this coz honestly, most of the times she comes across as crazy. BUT, Carola the artist... That Carola, I love! And I loved her performance even though her vocals weren't perfect. I liked the remix of "Främling" but I was expecting to hear the original version. No matter what, I got to see Carola in such a big arena! And this moment was magical! We "rehearsed" this part a few minutes before the live began and even without Carola it felt amazing. Imagine singing along with her! 

Photo: Olle Kirchmeier SVT

Yes. Results! It's old news that Robin won but the (tele)voting was a nail-biting moment! Especially when it was between Anton, Robin and YOHIO. That's when I was scared that YOHIO was going to win! Robin got the 75 points, he had a total of 166 and I immediately started making calculations in my head trying to figure out if YOHIO's points are enough to top Robin's. What calculations? At that point we didn't know how many points YOHIO was supposed to get. I didn't have the time to count the points that were already given in order to find out how many had left to be given from the 473. But as soon as Gina said it's 103 points (plus the 30 he had from the jury voting) I jumped off my chair (again!)! Robin won! My favourite won! Second year in a row! And then it hit me. Robin is the first Melodifestivalen winner that made it to the final via andra chansen! 

 

Reprise of "You" and the cameras went off. But it's not over for me. Yet. I stayed in the arena. I always do that until the security personnel ask us to leave. I went to the catwalk. Just to see it. And in a few seconds I saw Loreen passing by right in front of me! I stopped her to ask for a photo. She didn't say no. Damn she is so thankful! I don't even know how many times she said "thank you", "take care" and stuff like that. Of course by that point there were many people around her. Especially kids. Loreen was with one of her people. She told him to let her know when she had to leave (she would give an interview with Robin for SVT's "Eftersnack") because she wanted to stay there and take photos with the kids! 

 

Haters, hate her as much as you want. You won't change the fact that she's an amazing person!

Then I saw Edward af Sillén. The man behind the scripts of Melodifestivalen and most likely, Eurovision 2013! Then the security "kicked us out". lol 

You know, when they announced that the final would be held in Friends Arena I was like "oh no! where are they gonna have the efterfest?". It wasn't difficult to find the entrance. Right next to the door that I entered the building earlier. But seriously Mr Weather. All week the temperature was above zero but no! On Saturday it had to be -8! -.- I froze to death (once again!) But I saw a lot of artists. Got a photo with Camilla Henemark (La Camilla of Army of Lovers), the father of schlager Thomas G:son, Nanne (and one of her friends who didn't step aside LOL) and Alcazar's Tess! Tess told me that Andreas wasn't coming. I knew that. He was in Gävle (gotta love instagram! xD). But neither was Lina. :( 

Many other artists walked by but I didn't really care. Under other circumstances (temperature!) I would have asked for a photo but I was freezing. I was waiting for Carola. Nope, I didn't see her. 2 and a half years in Sweden and I still haven't met her! -.- :P I couldn't wait any longer. I couldn't feel anything. So I left. A few hundred meters from the arena I ran into 3 of the Timoteij girls. Or they ran into me. Actually one of them almost ran over me! And she did it in a way "hey! look who you're crossing paths with! I'm a Timoteij girl". Yeah yeah I know who you are (I actaully saw who she was just because she almost blocked my way) but I-am-freezing-and-I-wanna-go-home. 

Oh! I almost forgot. Ok I didn't, I just wanted to tell you about this in the end. Lena Philipsson's fans are probably gonna hate me but I don't care. It's their idol's fault. I met Lena in 2011. Right after the mello final in Globen. And I was pretty shocked to see her right in front of me coz she kinda was "the wrong time in the wrong place". I asked her to take a photo. She said yes but she was like "oh come on hurry up! I don't have all day! get over with it!". Really grumpy. Last night I saw her again and asked for a photo. She had the exact same attitude! She just looked at me without saying anything. She turned around to "look for her friend", she told her something and then she just left! Like I never talked to her! She totally snubbed me! And then they call Carola a diva. Yeah I didn't meet her, but when and if I ever meet her I'd be the first to admit that she is one. That is, if she actually acts like a diva. But for now, congratulations Lena Ph for making it to the top of the Divas list! I will keep listening to her mello songs (and not only) but as a person she gets a big X! And I'm not saying all this just to badmouth her or because I didn't take a photo with her. As I said, I already have a photo with her. I just ignore people I don't like. Besides, if I didn't like her, I wouldn't even ask for a photo. 

So, Melodifestivalen 2013 is officially over! 

The leftovers...

        

 See you next year and good luck to Robin!

PS1 I keep writing "yesterday" but it's actually 3:30am, on March 11th... Oh well. xD

PS2 No mello next Saturday and the only thing I'm glad for is that we won't get to see Danny looking at the script instead of the camera all night long.

Melodifestivalen 2013 - First semi - Results

Photo: Lindwall Sven

First semi is over. Yup. It was the worst mello semi ever! I can't believe that the songs were that bad! Out of 2549 songs that were sent to SVT this year, these 8 were what? The best? Those that can do great in ESC? Are you kidding me? Obviously they're not picking the songs with that criteria! The thought of switching to another preselection round crossed my mind. Too many times. But I didn't do it. Because it's Melodifestivalen! 

Well let's go to the results... David Lindgren with "Skyline" and Yohio with "Heartbreak Hotel" are the two finalists! I was 100% sure about David. I had no clue about the rest.

To andra chansen: Cookies N Beans with "Burning Flags" and Eric Gadd with "Vi kommer aldrig att förlora".

5. "Gosa" – Mary N'diaye
6. "We’re Still Kids" – Michael Feiner & Caisa
7. "Porslin" – Anna Järvinen
8. "Paris" – Jay-Jay Johanson

Really I can't say anything here. About the interval acts, well I was chatting at the same time so I missed a few frames. I can't say I was a big fan. Oh and Danny, please, come out already!

I really really hope that the next semi will have some nice songs. We really need them!

Melodifestivalen 2013 - Rehearsals of the first semi

We have the one-minute clips from yesterday's rehearsals and I'm gonna make some comments. Please note that my thoughts about each song will probably change once I hear the full songs. As usual. xD All the rehearsals are here.

David Lindgren - Skyline
Ok this is not much different from "Shout It Out" but I totally prefer his last year's attempt.

Cookies N Beans - Burning Flags
Hm... I don't know what to say about this... I could call the chorus "nice" but that would be all. I don't see them going far. Mostly because they have no fans. But you never know...

Jay-Jay Johanson - Paris 
Really? REALLY?! That was just painful! And with some parts in french. I think I said enough!

Mary N'diaye - Gosa
Hello Stella Mwangi! Oh sorry! It's not Stella. I'm sorry I'm not a fan of this. At all. African music is not my cup of tea even though I love "Yeba"!!

Eric Gadd - Vi Kommer Aldrig Att Förlora
So so so indifferent! And so so so forgettable!

YOHIO - Heartbreak Hotel
Really not my thing! He has the right voice for his kind of music but I don't like the song nor his music.

Anna Järvinen - Porslin
*yawn* No ok she has a really nice voice but the song is so boring! And I didn't get much sleep last night so if I play this one more time I'm so gonna sleep!

Michael Feiner & Caisa - We're Still Kids
Was that what I think it was? A 12-second chorus?! :O

Oh God! David Lindgren is so in the final! And he's my winner from the weakest mello semi ever! I honestly have no clue about the second finalist and the 2 who will make it to andra chansen! Maybe YOHIO could do something. Even though I don't like him.

Really bad start dear Melodifestivalen! 

Melodifestivalen 2013: The artists, the songs, the composers - Heats 1 & 2

Busy day today! I took a quick look at the artists in the morning but I had no time to blog. Ok let's see.

Semi-final 1, Karlskrona February 2nd

1. Cookies N Beans – Burning Flags (Fredrik Kempe)
2. Mary N’diaye – Gosa (Johan Åsgärde, Mattias Frändå, Mary N’diaye)
3. Yohio – Heartbreak Hotel (Johan Fransson, Tobias Lundgren, Tim Larsson, Henrik Göranson, Yohio)
4. Jay-Jay Johanson – Paris (Jay-Jay Johanson)
5. Anna Järvinen – Porslin (Björn Olsson, Martin Elisson)
6. David Lindgren – Skyline (Fernando Fuentes, Henrik Nordenback, Christian Fast)
7. Eric Gadd – Vi kommer aldrig att förlora (Eric Gadd, Thomas Stenström, Jacob Olofsson)
8. Michael Feiner & Caisa – We’re Still Kids (Michael Feiner, Caisa Ahlroth)

 Semi-final 2, Gothenburg February 9th

1. Joacim Cans – Annelie (Joacim Cans)
2. Anton Ewald – Begging (Fredrik Kempe, Anton Malmberg, Hård af Segerstad)
3. Sean Banan – Copacabanana (Sean Banan, Ola Lindholm, Hans Blomberg, Joakim Larsson)
4. Rikard Wolff – En förlorad sommar (Tomas Andersson Wij)
5. Eric Segerstedt and Tone Damli – Hello Goodbye (Robin Fredriksson, Mattias Larsson, Måns Zelmerlöw)
6. Felicia Olsson – Make Me No 1 (Amir Aly, Henrik Wikström, Ingela Pling Forsman, Maria Haukaas Mittet)
7. Pernilla Wahlgren, Hanna Hedlund, Jenny Silver – On Top Of The World (Peter Boström, Thomas G:son)
8. Louise Hoffsten – Only The Dead Fish Follow The Stream (Louise Hoffsten, Sandra Bjurman, Stefan Örn)

There are quite a lot names that I've never heard before. I can't say a lot right now coz I need to listen to the songs first. If we just see the artists, I'm rooting like hell right now for Pernilla, Hanna and Jenny! And judging by the composers (combined with the artists) it's safe to say we're talking about a schlager song! Yay! :D 

I'm also interested in David Lindgren's song since I love "Shout It Out". 

You guys should google Yohio! Personally I don't like him (her?) at all. Well he's an interesting person (I watched an interview) but I don't like his music.

Then we have a comeback for Cookies N Beans. I can't say I'm a big fan of "What If" but sometimes I enjoy it... When I'm in the country mood. It's weird but I see that the Swedes really enjoy country and rockabilly music...

Oh I'm also interested in Erik Segerstedt and Tone Damli's duet! And it's more interesting that the song is written by Måns Zelmerlöw, among others. I've never heard of Tone before but when was the last time we saw, well heard, a duet by two young singers? No, Lotta and Christer aren't young!

Joakim Cans is 2013's Dead by April I guess. xD It's good to have a variety of genres. Even if his style is not my cup of tea.

Finally let me puke coz I saw Sean Banan's name there. Eeew!!


These are my comments for now. The rest of the artists will be revealed next Monday at 10:00 CET. And I have a full schedule that day as well. -.-

Melodifestivalen 2012 - LOREEN TO BAKU!!

Photo: Olle Kirchmeier/SVT

ÄNTLIGEN SVERIGE! RÄTT LÅT VANN!!!!!!

I don't know where to start vol ∞. I've said this phrase so many times that I lost count. EXTATIC! That was the best day of the entire 2012 and I don't care if it's still March!

Poor Danny... Once again he came 2nd. I really wouldn't wanna be in his shoes! As soon as I arrived in Globen I knew Loreen would be the winner. Everyone around me said Loreen, Loreen, Loreen. There were some contests where you were supposed to guess the winner. Everyone was saying Loreen. And then in the arena! PANIC! I don't know if you noticed that but while Sarah (Dawn Finer) was introducing Loreen, the public, well including me, was screaming and clapping. Honestly I didin't hear a word of what Sarah said! I seriously doubt if this ever happened before! Actually I'm sure about it! Not to mention the new record she made! 670.551 votes just for Loreen! 3 of them were mine! Hahahaha

Full results:

1. Loreen – "Euphoria"
2. Danny – "Amazing"
3. Ulrik Munther – "Soliders"
4. David Lindgren – "Shout it out"
5. Molly Sandén – "Why am I crying?"
6. Top Cats – "Baby Doll"
7. Dead by April – "Mystery"
8.Thorsten Flinck & Revolutionsorkestern –  "Jag reser mig igen"
9. Lisa Miskovsky –  "Why Start a Fire"
10. Björn Ranelid feat. Sara Li – "Mirakel"

You can't possibly imagine how happy I was when Danny got those 106 points coz right then we knew Loreen was the winner! I literally jumped off my chair! My hands hurt so much from all that clapping! Well they hurt last year too but this year was x2! :P

And then we have the one and only! Helena Paparizou!

 
Amazing performance of "Popular". Better than Saade!

Well I don't know what else to say about the night. I always forget all that! Oh I loved Sarah's video with Azerjan. Ajerban. Azerbaijan! :P And shame on Sweden for giving the minimum votes to Lisa Miskovsky! Less than Ranelid? Gee!


And now the fun part! Waiting for the artists at the efterfest entrance. Just like last year! ;) It was freezing cold! Really windy! When I left I couldn't feel anything! Seriously! But anyway, when I got there, there were very few people. I was looking left and right all the time to see if any of the artists was coming. As I turn my head I see right in front of me Sandra Kim!! Oh my God!! Sandra Kim!! Yup! Got a photo! :D Yay! Then my beloved Helena!! We had a little chat too! Then Eric Saade! I only took a photo with him because people hadn't seen him yet. Hahaha Had people jumped on him, I wouldn't wait for a photo but I had a chance so why let it go? Also, Marie Serneholt, Love Generation, Youngblood, Dynazty, Dead by April and David Lindgren were there but I didn't take photos with any of them. Well Marie was on the phone when she arrived so I didn't want to interrupt her. Actually out of all the artists tonight, I only wanted to see Helena and Lisa. As I said I met Helena so now I had to wait for Lisa. Luckily I recognized her while she was too far. I went to her, asked for a photo, we took it and then I said "Thank you! Now I can go home!!". Hahaha She thanked me back, hugged me and when I started walking away she said "Wait! That's for you"...

..."It's bad but..." "Haha it's ok! Thank you!" *HUG* hahaha I had the feeling that Lisa would be very friendly in person. Well I was right. ;)


And now that Loreen is going to Baku, what's the new slogan? I mean we can't keep saying "Loreen to Baku" right?

Melodifestivalen 2012 - The final's running order

Damn you Christer Björkman!

1. Shout it out - David Lindgren
2. Jag reser mig igen - Thorsten Flinck & Revolutionsorkestern
3. Mystery - Dead by April
4. Why start a fire - Lisa Miskovsky
5. Baby Doll - Top Cats
6. Euphoria - Loreen
7. Soldiers - Ulrik Munther
8. Mirakel - Björn Ranelid feat. Sara Li
9. Why am I crying - Molly Sandén
10. Amazing - Danny Saucedo

Look what he did to Loreen! David is in #1 and Danny in #10. These two are Christer's favourite! Let's hope the Swedes will vote wisely. Yeah right...


LOREEN TO BAKU!!!

Melodifestivalen 2012 - Second semi - Results

Photo: Olle Kirchmeier/SVT

Ulrik Munther and David Lindgren made it to Globen.

Timoteij and  Top Cats made it to andra chansen.

5th place - Thomas Di Leva
6th place - Sonja Aldén
7th place - Andreas Lundstedt
8th place - Mimi Oh

Too predictable that Ulrik would make it to Globen. David was the surprise but only because he wasn't so famous. Timoteij's song wasn't "Kom" vol 2 so ac was quite expected. Top Cats? What are they doing to ac?

Despite his name Di Leva couldn't go through. To me it's a surpriste that he finished 5th! Sonja.... well the song was a bit boring... Poor Andy! :( He did his best tonight and he finished 7th! :( Not even in ac! And Mimi Oh? Well I thought she'd be around 7th to 8th. Well 8th it is.

The possitive thing is that Ulrik, David and Danny will split the votes in the final and they will cancel each other out leaving the first spot for Loreen! I mean isn't that what happened in 2010? Eric Saade, Darin and Salem Al Fakir cancelled each other out and Anna Bergendahl won! ;)

LOREEN TO BAKU!!!