VoR
Take it or leave it
Well the last heat went rather well, all things considered. With two major returnees in the mix, heat four looks rather stacked as well. Is this one a foregone conclusion, or can any of the other cast members cause an upset?
1. Albin Tingwall - Done Getting Over You
Jimmy "Joker" Thörnfeldt, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb
A runner-up on Swedish Idol in 2022 now making his Melfest debut. He's released a couple of likeable but inconsequential electro-pop singles prior to this, and the songwriters present on this suggest more of the same. A Jacqline-esque banger is probably too much to hope for, but probably fun 4 Andra Chansen.
2. Lia Larsson - 30 km/h
Axel Schylström, Jimmy Jansson, Lia Larsson, My Söderholm, Thomas G:son
Another debutant, Lisa Larsson has enjoyed a couple of modest Swedish hits to date, most notably this affable slice of heavily vocodered trash. Could we have a new Dinah Nah on our hands? Oh I do hope so!
3. Dotter - It's Not Easy To Write a Love Song
Dino Medanhodzic, Johanna Jansson
The first of this semi final's aforementioned big hitters, Dotter has clocked up two top five finishes at Melfest already this decade, making this something of a make or break moment for her Eurovision hopes. The buzz on this one seems a little muted so far, and the song title veers worryingly close to Alexander Rybak's last Eurovision showing. On the other hand, she's promised that this is a sister song to Bulletproof and Little Tot so there's still ample cause for optimism.
4. Scarlet - Circus X
Emil Behmer, Henric Pierroff, Ian-Paolo Lira, Jessica Rachel Chertock, Scarlet, Simon Boustedt, Staffan Amberlind, Thirsty
Hoping to join the hallowed ranks of Browsing Collection and CRUCIFIED BARBARA, Scarlet appear to have the look down pat, but should probably work on a more actively ludicrous name. Should be a fun stage show, and 2024 has been shaping up as quite a witch-coded year, so perhaps they'll ride that broomstick to AC and beyond?
5. Lasse Stefanz - En sång om sommaren
Anders Wigelius, Anderz Wrethov, Robert Norberg
Paunchy old dansband acts are ten a penny at Melfest, but make no mistake - they don't come much bigger than Lasse Stefanz. They've done Melfest once before in 2011 and were considered a favourite on name alone, but the song was piss-weak and they ended up as surprise flops. This time they've got Anderz Wrethov on board, so don't write them off as total filler. The demographic vote may work against them, but those 60+ groups should eat this up with a spoon.
6. Danny Saucedo - Happy That You Found Me
Kristoffer Fogelmark, John Martin, Michel Zitron
For my money the on-paper frontrunner to win this year's Melfest outright. Danny has been a big Swedish chart star ever since his peroxide twink heyday with Tokyo and If Only You back in the mid 00s. He came close to winning Melfest twice in the early 10s, famously having a right old strop when Loreen wiped the floor with him in 2012. His 2021 comeback was more of a cautious toe in the water, but he's made no bones that he's going hard for the win this time - and with songwriters from the Swedish House Mafia/Alesso/Avicii eco-system behind him, this is shaping up to be a serious contender.
Schedule
Tuesday: Song lyrics. Journalists' reviews starting at 10am CET.
Wednesday: First Rehearsals.
Thursday: 1 minute studio version at 7am CET
Friday: 30 sec of the performance at 7am CET and the general rehearsal poll.
Saturday: Melfest
1. Albin Tingwall - Done Getting Over You
Jimmy "Joker" Thörnfeldt, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb
A runner-up on Swedish Idol in 2022 now making his Melfest debut. He's released a couple of likeable but inconsequential electro-pop singles prior to this, and the songwriters present on this suggest more of the same. A Jacqline-esque banger is probably too much to hope for, but probably fun 4 Andra Chansen.
2. Lia Larsson - 30 km/h
Axel Schylström, Jimmy Jansson, Lia Larsson, My Söderholm, Thomas G:son
Another debutant, Lisa Larsson has enjoyed a couple of modest Swedish hits to date, most notably this affable slice of heavily vocodered trash. Could we have a new Dinah Nah on our hands? Oh I do hope so!
3. Dotter - It's Not Easy To Write a Love Song
Dino Medanhodzic, Johanna Jansson
The first of this semi final's aforementioned big hitters, Dotter has clocked up two top five finishes at Melfest already this decade, making this something of a make or break moment for her Eurovision hopes. The buzz on this one seems a little muted so far, and the song title veers worryingly close to Alexander Rybak's last Eurovision showing. On the other hand, she's promised that this is a sister song to Bulletproof and Little Tot so there's still ample cause for optimism.
4. Scarlet - Circus X
Emil Behmer, Henric Pierroff, Ian-Paolo Lira, Jessica Rachel Chertock, Scarlet, Simon Boustedt, Staffan Amberlind, Thirsty
Hoping to join the hallowed ranks of Browsing Collection and CRUCIFIED BARBARA, Scarlet appear to have the look down pat, but should probably work on a more actively ludicrous name. Should be a fun stage show, and 2024 has been shaping up as quite a witch-coded year, so perhaps they'll ride that broomstick to AC and beyond?
5. Lasse Stefanz - En sång om sommaren
Anders Wigelius, Anderz Wrethov, Robert Norberg
Paunchy old dansband acts are ten a penny at Melfest, but make no mistake - they don't come much bigger than Lasse Stefanz. They've done Melfest once before in 2011 and were considered a favourite on name alone, but the song was piss-weak and they ended up as surprise flops. This time they've got Anderz Wrethov on board, so don't write them off as total filler. The demographic vote may work against them, but those 60+ groups should eat this up with a spoon.
6. Danny Saucedo - Happy That You Found Me
Kristoffer Fogelmark, John Martin, Michel Zitron
For my money the on-paper frontrunner to win this year's Melfest outright. Danny has been a big Swedish chart star ever since his peroxide twink heyday with Tokyo and If Only You back in the mid 00s. He came close to winning Melfest twice in the early 10s, famously having a right old strop when Loreen wiped the floor with him in 2012. His 2021 comeback was more of a cautious toe in the water, but he's made no bones that he's going hard for the win this time - and with songwriters from the Swedish House Mafia/Alesso/Avicii eco-system behind him, this is shaping up to be a serious contender.
Schedule
Tuesday: Song lyrics. Journalists' reviews starting at 10am CET.
Wednesday: First Rehearsals.
Thursday: 1 minute studio version at 7am CET
Friday: 30 sec of the performance at 7am CET and the general rehearsal poll.
Saturday: Melfest