VoR
Take it or leave it
After an underwhelming opening week, Melfest 2025 mercifully kicked up a gear last weekend with Klara Hammarström and Erik Segerstedt joining Jon Lundvik and Maja Ivarsson in the finals. Can anyone offer up a serious challenge to Måns Zelmerlöw for the win though? Let's see what week three has in store...
1. Greczula - Believe Me
Kristofer Greczula, Amanda Nordelius, John Russel
Despite being a relatively low-profile name, Kristofer Greczula is currently third in the odds to take the whole Contest this year (behind Måns and Klara). He seems to take himself rather seriously - I recommend reading his Spotify bio if you fancy a snort of derision - but he's eschewing the usual G:son, Jimmy Joker, Debs etc songwriting warhorses in favour of a self-penned number with two fellow Melfest debutants. So if this is as strong as the bookies predict, it may well be something that stands out among all the carefully calibrated Swedish pop.
2. Malou Prytz - 24k Gold
Julie "Kill J" Aagaard, Malou Prytz, Jimmy "Joker" Thörnfeldt, Anderz Wrethov
Spare a thought for poor Malou, still only 21 and already looking increasingly like a latter-day Linda Bengtzing on her last role of the Melfest dice. The good news is she'd have to work pretty hard to do worse than the last time she entered, when the lyrically bewildering Bananas (aka: B-A-N-A-S) scored fewer votes in its heat than a sad, sad Shirley Clamp ballad that even I couldn't feign much enthusiasm for. 24K Gold doesn't have the most promising running order slot, but the songwriting pedigree looks decent enough. If she can eke out a face-saving trip to Andra Chansen we can probably all consider this a job well done.
3. Björn Holmgren - Rädda Mig
Björn Holmgren, Jens Hult, David Lindgren Zacharias
Björn Holmgren ticks two seemingly essential boxes for a modern Melfest debutant. 'Tiktok personality' and 'act that had a big hit a few years ago and now needs a bit of a boost'. The hit was Ute med allt, a perfectly pleasant bit of radio beige that went to #1 in Svensktoppen in 2022. Given the presence of MOR king David Lindgren Zacharias on songwriting duties, we can probably expect much more of the same here.
4. Dolly Style - YIHAA!
Caroline Aronsson, Herman Gardarfve, Patrik Jean, David Lindgren Zacharias, Mikaela Samuelsson, Melanie Wehbe
The existence of Dolly Style continues to defy all logic, reason and good taste. Ten years and as many members since their 2015 debut, they return for a fourth roll of the dice. Not that it particularly matters, but of the four girls who were last seen at Melfest in 2019 with the bouncy Habibi, two remain in the lineup, though these things seem to change so rapidly that I may have to update those statistics by Saturday. Anyway, despite their remarkable tenacity they've never actually managed to get to the finals before. Will this be the year?
5. Angelino - Teardrops
Tusse Chiza, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Jimmy "Joker" Thörnfeldt
Not to cast potentially legally actionable aspersions, but if anybody on the Melfest lineup this year screams INDUSTRY PLANT, it's the mysterious Angelino. He emerged from nowhere in 2022 with a much-hyped Melfest debut 'The End' which was talked up as a potential winner, only to completely tank when people were actually confronted with a terribly boring song and a fairly charisma-free performer. For no reason that I can gather based on his career (or apparent lack therof) in the intervening years, he's back with an all-star songwriting team and threats of another 'emotional ballad'. Needless to say, nothing about this entry screams Moopy favourite.
6. Annika Wickihalder - Life Again
Herman Gardarfve, Patrik Jean, Annika Wickihalder
Class of 2024 debutant Annika Wickihalder infamously benefited from the staggeringly ill-conceived format of last year's Andra Chansen and took a slot in the finals that surely rightfully belonged to the effervescent LA GUNILLA. Somehow she's survived to tell the tale and now seems poised to build on that success with a victory lap pimp slot in one of the weaker heats. Even I couldn't muster much enthusiasm for her last year, but hopefully there's a bit more pep in her step this time around.
1. Greczula - Believe Me
Kristofer Greczula, Amanda Nordelius, John Russel

Despite being a relatively low-profile name, Kristofer Greczula is currently third in the odds to take the whole Contest this year (behind Måns and Klara). He seems to take himself rather seriously - I recommend reading his Spotify bio if you fancy a snort of derision - but he's eschewing the usual G:son, Jimmy Joker, Debs etc songwriting warhorses in favour of a self-penned number with two fellow Melfest debutants. So if this is as strong as the bookies predict, it may well be something that stands out among all the carefully calibrated Swedish pop.
2. Malou Prytz - 24k Gold
Julie "Kill J" Aagaard, Malou Prytz, Jimmy "Joker" Thörnfeldt, Anderz Wrethov

Spare a thought for poor Malou, still only 21 and already looking increasingly like a latter-day Linda Bengtzing on her last role of the Melfest dice. The good news is she'd have to work pretty hard to do worse than the last time she entered, when the lyrically bewildering Bananas (aka: B-A-N-A-S) scored fewer votes in its heat than a sad, sad Shirley Clamp ballad that even I couldn't feign much enthusiasm for. 24K Gold doesn't have the most promising running order slot, but the songwriting pedigree looks decent enough. If she can eke out a face-saving trip to Andra Chansen we can probably all consider this a job well done.
3. Björn Holmgren - Rädda Mig
Björn Holmgren, Jens Hult, David Lindgren Zacharias

Björn Holmgren ticks two seemingly essential boxes for a modern Melfest debutant. 'Tiktok personality' and 'act that had a big hit a few years ago and now needs a bit of a boost'. The hit was Ute med allt, a perfectly pleasant bit of radio beige that went to #1 in Svensktoppen in 2022. Given the presence of MOR king David Lindgren Zacharias on songwriting duties, we can probably expect much more of the same here.
4. Dolly Style - YIHAA!
Caroline Aronsson, Herman Gardarfve, Patrik Jean, David Lindgren Zacharias, Mikaela Samuelsson, Melanie Wehbe

The existence of Dolly Style continues to defy all logic, reason and good taste. Ten years and as many members since their 2015 debut, they return for a fourth roll of the dice. Not that it particularly matters, but of the four girls who were last seen at Melfest in 2019 with the bouncy Habibi, two remain in the lineup, though these things seem to change so rapidly that I may have to update those statistics by Saturday. Anyway, despite their remarkable tenacity they've never actually managed to get to the finals before. Will this be the year?
5. Angelino - Teardrops
Tusse Chiza, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Jimmy "Joker" Thörnfeldt

Not to cast potentially legally actionable aspersions, but if anybody on the Melfest lineup this year screams INDUSTRY PLANT, it's the mysterious Angelino. He emerged from nowhere in 2022 with a much-hyped Melfest debut 'The End' which was talked up as a potential winner, only to completely tank when people were actually confronted with a terribly boring song and a fairly charisma-free performer. For no reason that I can gather based on his career (or apparent lack therof) in the intervening years, he's back with an all-star songwriting team and threats of another 'emotional ballad'. Needless to say, nothing about this entry screams Moopy favourite.
6. Annika Wickihalder - Life Again
Herman Gardarfve, Patrik Jean, Annika Wickihalder

Class of 2024 debutant Annika Wickihalder infamously benefited from the staggeringly ill-conceived format of last year's Andra Chansen and took a slot in the finals that surely rightfully belonged to the effervescent LA GUNILLA. Somehow she's survived to tell the tale and now seems poised to build on that success with a victory lap pimp slot in one of the weaker heats. Even I couldn't muster much enthusiasm for her last year, but hopefully there's a bit more pep in her step this time around.
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