Penelope
striking, unique, 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘳
Party Voice is a song I never skip, and that’s high praise from someone with ADHD and the boredom threshold of a three month old Labrador.
Party Voice is a song I never skip, and that’s high praise from someone with ADHD and the boredom threshold of a three month old Labrador.
20. Jessica Andersson - Party Voice (2018)
Finalist – 11th place
“there's a reason you weren't asked to use your upper register too much in the past, Jessica.”
@Apoca, 17/02/2018
I’m just saying that if Edward Blom had sent this and called it Pastry Voice, maybe he’d have been the feelgood DTF of 2018.
‘Party Voice’ was Jessan’s return to the arena of slutpop after over a decade of trying to atone for flashing her ankles with a succession of diffident ballads. And WHAT a comeback it was
For the purpose of this rate, I’m going to cheerfully ignore the vocals in the verses and instead focus on what ‘Party Voice’ does well because there’s a LOT to love here. The verses are neither here nor there anyway because this is mostly chorus, which is the greatest gift any song can give me. It’s a schlager/disco/EDM banger about going out on the piss, so it’s designed to be a floorfiller – a function it serves magnificently. As I mentioned, it goes in heavy on the chorus which begins with a clap-along segment before going full on clack-out. The final chorus is a full on ‘punch the air’ moment and my only complaint is that it doesn’t last long enough, but what’s there is an absolute joy.
Jessica wisely opts for a baggy pant to ensure even the outline of her pins isn’t visible this time around, and she achieves a sort of work’s do aesthetic which pairs well with the lyrics. The vibe of the performance is very ‘Lambrini girls just want to have fun’, which I mean as a compliment; it’s accessible, relatable and kind of makes you want to pop down the local wine lodge for last orders. Jessica is clearly enjoying every minute, too, which helps with the relatability. Everything about 'Party Voice' felt CORRECT, which meant its qualification felt even sweeter - she worked her pert tits off here and fully deserved her moment.
Party Voice is a song I never skip, and that’s high praise from someone with ADHD and the boredom threshold of a three month old Labrador. It’s one that’s just synonymous with the contest for me and represents Melodifestivalen at its best and most triumphant. Had Jessan not gone DTF with it some of that lustre may well have been lost, but that’s entirely academic because SHE DID and, in the process, she gave me one of my all-time favourite feelgood Melodifestivalen stompers.
Smash Into Pieces (AKA Lidköpin Park)
It'll course correct soon. Maybe not straight away, but soon...This thread has taken an unfortunate turn.
The house dancers refused to be associated with eurovision failureWhy did she get six attractive dancers, and everyone else has to make do with the recycled stock ones?
Oh SHIT, that's why you don't do a write-up when you're knackered - I had a whole bit about how awesome the guitar solo is and completely forgot to mention it.Also the excellent electric guitar solo rift is BLISS
18. Smash Into Pieces – Six Feet Under (2023)
Finalist – 3rd place
“Why are you writing teenager music when you’re in your late thirties may I ask? GROW UP!”
@Lucille, 25/02/2023
TURN IT UP! TURN IT UP! TURN IT UP!
The reigning, defending metal God of Melodifestivalen is here. Jesus Christ, what a MOMENT this was for the contest.
Smash Into Pieces (AKA Lidköpin Park) destroyed the universe with a single live performance last year and sweet Jesus am I happy they did. This is one of those instances where the announcement of their participation alone was enough for me to get my hopes up unrealistically high, only for it to then EXCEED my every expectation. Seriously, this is a MASTERPIECE and I’ve literally only used that word for around forty other songs on the list so far.
‘Six Feet Under’ is whiny angst-metal done flawlessly. It’s like the last two decades never happened but still feels like a fresh and invigorating direction for Melodifestivalen. As with ‘Runaways’, the reason I love this is because it’s all so very exciting; the production is fucking GORGEOUS and it all builds to something truly monumental. The silence before the explosive final chorus and that power note… honestly, that’s pure catnip for me and so fucking effective – the crowd screaming to fill the void sends a shiver right down my spine. The staging is stunning, too; I couldn’t have asked for it to be presented any more perfectly than it was.
I got to see this live on my first visit to Sweden following the pandemic and it was such a beautiful moment for me; three minutes of overwrought BLISS which made the three long years of waiting to get back there entirely worth it.
This is a majestic, glans-out THUNDERCUNT of a song, which is a description I’m quite proud of after the eighty-odd times I’ve had to dig up superlatives to chuck at these songs so far. It makes me so genuinely happy that Six Feet Under was part of the contest and that it (alongside Heroes Are Calling) was so well received. I feel like this has rejuvenated the somewhat sagging rock delegation at Melodifestivalen. Smash Into Pieces cemented their legacy on the first go and I’m so hopeful that this is the start of a Tart-baiting new era for Mello.
17. Smilo - Weight of the World (2016)
Heat 3 – 5th place
“I swear we were listening to a different song to you lot when SMILO played. I had three non-MF watchers watching for the first time ever and they thought SMILO was the worst by miles.”
@cwej, 20/02/2016
So, come along, there's a place in this world
Where love and laughter is all we've ever heard
Where freedom is something that humans deserve
Together, we carry the weight of the world
I mean, come on… I don’t actually need to justify this one, do I? We all agree this is one of humanity’s greatest achievements and living in the same time period as it is an accomplishment we should all have on our CVs? Right? RIGHT?
‘Weight of the World’ was the 2016 entry selected by Svensktoppen nästa, which is sort of a Make-A-Wish Foundation for shit songs. It bucked the trend significantly, however, by not being shit. In fact, it was downright bloody amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever been more aggrieved by a fifth place finish than I am about this. Did we actually need Boris René in Andra Chansen more than we needed Smilo? Did we honestly?
Smilo consists of Arvid, the tiny one with very Swedish hair who basically performs the entire thing, alongside Dennis and Oscar, the two dark-haired chodes who just flail around behind the DJ deck and contribute nothing. Together, they carry the weight of the world but they’re perfectly happy to let poor Arvid carry this entire fucking song. Seriously, this whole thing rests on his shoulders and he does a great job with it - there's a genuine enthusiasm here that's so infectious and it's a shame his hard work couldn't have been rewarded by the malevolent voting public.
‘Weight of the World’ is a banger, an irrepressible bundle of positivity. It’s a song which appears on pretty much every playlist I make, whether or not it’s Eurovision-related. 2016 was a great year for me and this was the true MVP; alongside ‘Runaways’ this has been the song from that year that’s taken the biggest battering from me on Spotify. Every second of it is so optimistic and joyful – it EXUDES warmth and charisma. If any nästa winner should have made it out of its heat, it was this one; it's leagues above every other song from that competition and sits among the absolute best of 2016 in general.
I’ve spoken at length throughout this rate about how much I value songs that make me happy and ‘Weight of the World’ is the very codifier of that; it’s happiness distilled into a three minute package and I don’t think I will ever get tired of it. They're obviously not coming back to the competition ever again but their one performance has brought me no end of joy. Tack Smilo
14. Timoteij – Kom (2010)
Finalist – 5th place
“Can't say I liked it. It was like the Swedish Corrs go middle eastern.”
@win_the_game, 20/02/2010
And lo, did Melodifestivalen 2010 finally achieve representation in this accursed rate.
Timoteij last appeared right at the start of this odyssey, with Stormande Hav sneaking into the ranking at number 95. While I enjoy that song, ‘Kom’ is unquestionably their big hitter. I love it so much, in fact, that it was originally in my top ten before a reshuffle to ensure @madison is enraged by as many of my top choices as possible.
Anneka Rice, Stacey Solomon, Sarah Harding and Tina O’Brien single-handedly embiggened the 2010 contest with their cromulent song. Kom is, by anyone’s estimation, an absolute Mello CLASSIC. Quite why it wasn’t chosen to represent Sweden at Eurovision that year is anyone’s guess – it was OVEN READY.
From the moment that bombastic intro hits, ‘Kom’ wants you to know it’s here, and that you’d be wise to pay attention. It doesn’t sound like anything we’ve seen in the contest before or since; it’s unique and holds up as a powerhouse of a pop song fourteen years later. It boasts one of the most immediate and memorable choruses ever to grace the contest “Cum, cum cum on his Mum, Mum, Mum Marilena Hennessey-Coyle”. Quite why Ms Hennessey-Coyle should be doused in ejaculate – or whose parent she is – are questions Timoteij never answers, but there’s no denying that’s definitely what they’re singing.
There’s a sense of grandeur and power to ‘Kom’. It could be – and perhaps once was – a more understated folk-pop number but it’s dialled up to 11 by that thumping, overwhelming drum beat and the most gloriously dramatic instrumental right before the final chorus. The melody is engaging enough without all these embellishments but by Christ do they elevate it into Godhood. This, to me, is one of those songs which is an ambassador for the contest; It's a song which just IS Melodifestivalen through and through.
I’d be surprised and sickened to find out anyone disliked ‘Kom’. When I was drawing up this ranking and I genuinely had no idea who’d end up at number one, this was one of the songs I had on my mental shortlist for the top spot. Obviously, it’s fallen slightly short but that’s no fault of the song. It was, is and ever shall be one of my all-time favourites and rightfully occupies a space in the Melodifestivalen hall of fame*.
*not the actual one, because it’s not a scriptwriter nobody’s heard of.
I suspect Safura would have drip dropped down to sixth (at the very LEAST)"How would Kom have done at Eurovision 2010?" is a question that continues to plague me.
Obvious qualifier, surely?"How would Kom have done at Eurovision 2010?" is a question that continues to plague me.
Obvious qualifier, surely?
Well these have to be FAITH KAKEMBO.And as a special treat, here are the years represented in the top ten (there may be some winners bumping up the numbers, too)
2020
2022
And as a special treat, here are the years represented in the top ten (there may be some winners bumping up the numbers, too)
2005
2006
2008
2009
2011
2012
2020
2022
GUESSES PLEASE!