Last night’s andra chansen round selected two more songs and filled the last two slots of the Melodifestivalen 2013 final. Meaning we now have the ten songs which will compete next Saturday. And the running order in which they’ll perform.
Andra Chansen’s victors: Anton Ewald with ‘Begging’, and Robin Stjernberg with ‘You’.
Before last night’s result, we would have said that the winner of this year’s Melodifestivalen was going to be either Ulrik Munther, YOHIO, Ralf Gyllenhammar, or one of the songs that comes through from andra chansen. However, since both artists who won andra chansen in many ways share a fanbase with Ulrik Munther, and since one of the songs in particular (‘You’ by Robin Stjernberg) is of the same genre as Ulrik’s ‘Tell The World I’m Here’, well we reckon there’s gonna be a lot of vote splitting going on. Anton and especially Robin are going to be taking a lot of the votes that would otherwise have gone to Ulrik. And vice versa. So we’re now seeing next week’s final as a straight two horse race between YOHIO and Ralf Gyllenhammar.
YOHIO is so far winning a lot of the online polls, but we’re putting some of that down to his fans being quite mental. Which they are – about him anyway. Our favourite song in the final though, and the one we’ll be rooting for in Friends Arena next weekend, is Ralf Gyllenhammar’s ‘Bed On Fire’. A brilliant track with a powerful melody and a theatrical tone. And leaving aside Melodifestivalen for a minute, it would also make a fantastic Eurovision entry for Sweden. It’s a massive contrast to Loreen’s ‘Euphoria’, yet still downright amazing. So it would truly hammer home the point across Europe that Sweden really is an incredible force when it comes to making great pop music. And it would do a tremendous job of defending their Eurovision title too. That may or may not be what SVT is interested in this year, but the point still stands. And as for YOHIO – well it’s certainly an enjoyable performance to some degree. But the song is bland, forgettable, bordering on a little bit rubbish. No thanks.
Elsewhere in the final, it’s certainly an eclectic bunch. Well in all areas aside from gender anyway – with Louise Hoffsten the sole (no pun intended) woman who will take to the stage next weekend. David Lindgren and Anton Ewald bring the dancepop. Ulrik Munther and Robin Stjernberg bring the uplifting, mid-tempo, pop ballads. Ralf Gyllenhammar and YOHIO bring the camp rock spectacle. And both Ravaillacz and Sean Banan bring the ‘jokes’ – to varying levels of appreciation.
Where’s the schlager though?
Well, Sweden’s reigning Queen of Schlager, Carola, has been called upon to remedy that. Celebrating 30 years since ‘Främling’, she’ll be performing on the night, and no doubt showing many of the artists how it’s done, while reminding Sweden that they really shouldn’t be killing off schlager just yet. All hail.
So then. Running order and performances. Here’s exactly what the final is gonna look like next weekend;
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
Ulrik Munther: ‘Tell The World I’m Here’
David Lindgren: ‘Skyline’
State of Drama: ‘Falling’
Anton Ewald: ‘Begging’
Louise Hoffsten: ‘Only The Dead Fish Follow The Stream’
Ralf Gyllenhammar: ‘Bed On Fire’
Ravaillacz: ‘En Riktig Jävla Schlager’
Sean Banan: ‘Copacabanana’
Robin Stjernberg: ‘You’
YOHIO: ‘Heartbreak Hotel’
The Melodifestivalen 2013 CD, featuring all 32 songs, is now available from our store.
