Tonight Sweden selected it’s representative for Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna. With a lot of experienced artists that participated before there where not one but several favourits for victory. After a very exciting voting procedure Måns Zelmerlöw was crowned winner of Melodifestivalen 2015.
The songs
Song number 1: Samir & Viktor – Groupie
(Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad, Kevin Högdahl, Maria Smith, Viktor Thell)
Although these guys can’t sing very well they do have a very catching song and they send out so much joy during their performance. It’s very hard not to be affected by the two bouncy guys. The song about taking a selfie with a group of people is almost infectious and you sing the lyrics whether you like it or not. Samir & Viktor has also grown as artists since their semi final and their performance has gone from chaotic mess to something entertaining. The two guys are accompanied on stage by three male and two female dancers and lots of lighted boxes which are moved around and piled in different ways during the performance to form various figures. Towards the end of the performance they run out in the audience and pretend to take groupies and on their way back to the stage they run through a rain of golden confetti.
The audience in the arena is standing up, cheering and claping along.
Song number 2: JTR – Building It Up
(John Andreasson, Tom Lundbäck, Robin Lundbäck, Erik Lewander, Iggy Strange Dahl)
Brothers John, Tom and Robin starts their performance on a podium in the middle of the audience. During the first verse Robin and Tom leaves the podium and heads for the stage while John remain on the podium for a while longer. For the first two minutes of the song the three guys are alone on stage, but for the last minute they are accompanied by a band consisting of a drummer, a keyboardist and a guitar player.
These guys have had problems finding the notes during the rehearsals this week and they unfortunately still do from time to time. Also they look really tired on stage and don’t have the same energy as they had in the semifinal. Though they seem to get the audience in the arena on their feet dancing and claping.
Song number 3: Dinah Nah – Make Me (La La La)
(Dinah Nah, dr alban, Jakke Erixson, Karl-Ola Kjellholm)
This song is one of the hardest to predict where it will end up. It can just as easy one of the top three songs as one of the bottom three. Probably it will end up somewhere in the middle. This is a song that’s very hard core if you see to the type of music we usually see in Melodifestivalen. Dinah Nah is an excellent singer and performs this song very well on stage and she really know how to connect with the camera and the viewers at home. In this performance all of the focus is on Dinah Nah and her six male dancers. During the parts of the song where Dinah Nah doesn’t sing there is a lot of flashing white light to complete the feeling that you are at a night club. Dinah Nah really seem to raise the temperature in the arena and people in the audience dances, waves and cheers.
Song number 4: Jon Henrik Fjällgren – Jag är fri (Manne Leam Frijje)
(Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Erik Holmberg, Tony Malm, Josef Melin)
Jon Henrik is the one that made the most visible change of clothing between the semi final and the final. In the semi final he had a reddish-brown leather frock on but has now changed that to a blue one. During the rehearsals on Thursday Jon Henrik looked bored, but both on yesterday’s dress rehearsal and tonight he really connects with the cameras and smiles. The kind of singing Jon Henrik does is called yoik and is a traditional Sami type of song. Jon Henrik has a really strong voice and it’s a shame that the viewers at home can hear just how powerful it really is. On stage he is accompanied by three female choralists and the sensational about them are that they are haning from the ceiling wearing huge white dresses. The white dresses are supposed to make them look like the nothern light. To the left of the stage there are also a male and a female dancers. At the end of the performance there are white confetti falling over Jon Henrik and the stage.
Song number 5: Jessica Andersson – Can’t hurt me now
(Aleena Gibson, Fredrik Thomander)
Jessica Andersson is an excellent singer and this emotional ballad really suits her voice. In the arena this is not the most fun performance of the night since Jessica stands by her microphonestand through the whole song. The viewers at home have the advantage of seeing this on tv and the finished production where the camera angles can help the song come even more to life and get the viewers in the right mood. Something that also helps to set the mood is that the audience lighted their cell phones and it looks like stars all over the arena. Jessica only uses one effect in her performance which is a wind machine. Other then that Jessica stands all alone on stage and just use hands and arms to emphasize the meaning of the words in the lyrics.
Song number 6: Måns Zelmerlöw – Heroes
(Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb)
Måns technically advance performance must have caused him much trouble and sleepless nights both during the semi final and during the rehearsals this week. In the beginning of the song Måns sits down in front of a big screen, and when he snaps his fingers a little stick figure appears. The stick figure imitates everything Måns does for a while and then fly off to a pillar where he sits down and looks a supposed sky and at Måns. When the first chorus starts Måns runs towards the front of the stage where he stays until the second verse. He then gets back to the screen where he is accompanied of a whole group of stick figures who looks like they are marching out from the screen. This is one of Måns best performances of the week.
Song number 7: Linus Svenning – Forever Starts Today
(Aleena Gibson, Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad, Fredrik Kempe)
Linus has been very stable during this weeks rehearsals, not surprisingly since he had to go through the second chance heat to qualify to the final and has had a lot of rehearsals during the last couple of weeks. When the song starts he walks from the back of the stage towards the front of the stage between burning steel drums. During the first verse he is accompanied on stage by six dancers with big drums. Not only do they play the drums, they also push them around and send them back and forth between eachother. They also use the drums to form pattern which Linus walks through.
Linus is calm and confident on stage and delivers a solid performance today.
Song number 8: Isa – Don’t Stop
(Isa Tengblad, Johan Ramström, Gustaf Svenungsson, Magnus Wallin, Oscar Merner)
Isa is this year’s youngest participant but she acts like a already established artist. At the back of the stage she has what looks like huge speakers which she dances in front of throughout her performance. She is also accompanied on stage by two male and two female dancers. Despite her young age and the fact the she doesn’t have that much experience she can both handle the pressure and the camera angles really well. She also flirts with the cameras and the viewers at home like she hasn’t done anything else than perform in tv shows. For the first two minutes of the performance all focus is on Isa, but for approximately the last minute of the performance there is also pyrotechnics added which unfortunately that takes a lot of focus away from her.
Song number 9: Magnus Carlsson – Möt mig i Gamla Stan
(Thomas G:son, Lina Eriksson)
Magnus Carlsson has not had the best week so far. Rumour says he has had a cold and therefore was forced to take it easy during Thursday’s rehearsals. And then at the dress rehearsal yesterday one of his female dancers sprained her ankle and had to be carried out from the arena on a stretcher. However she is performing with Magnus on stage tonight. The focus is almost entirely on Magnus and his dancers, the only props he has is black boxes which the female dancers dances on from time to time. Magnus lets the song speak for himself and has almost no effets on stage, only pillars of smoke from time.
Despite having difficulties during the week Magnus now has put in an extra gear and delivers a solid performance. Certainly his best performance of the week.
Song number 10: Eric Saade – Sting
(Arash Fahmi, Fredrik Kempe, Hamed ”K-one” Pirouzpanah, David Kreuger)
Eric is an experienced artist when it comes to Melodifestivalen. This is his third time in the contest. Eric has had a hard time finding the right notes during the rehearsals.
Luckily for him his positive energy and happiness is catching and you forgive him for the false notes. In the beggining of the song Eric stands behind a screen and the viewers on tv sees prerecorded close ups of Eric’s moth and face mixed up with clips on him behind the screen. After a while the screen drops to the floor and Eric is accomopanied on stage by dancers. Towards the end of the show Eric steps up on a see through platform
that soars over the audience in the arena and finishes the song in the air over the audience heads. At yesterday’s rehearsal he had just a little to much energy, but today he found the right balance.
Song number 11: Mariette– Don’t Stop Believing
(Miss Li, Sonny Gustafsson)
Time to lover the pace for a few minutes with Mariette’s song Don’t stop believing. Mariette stands in the middle of the stage at a microphonestand. She is accompanied on stage by four dancers covered by black thin fabrics. Mariette herself has a long thin fabric attached to her wrists. During the rehearsals she tried a longer piece of fabric but it caused her too much problems as she almost was dragged back by the fabric when the wind machine caught it. Now they changed to a shorter one which is not as heavy and hard to manoeuvre.
Song number 12: Hasse Andersson – Guld och gröna skogar
(Anderz Wrethov, Elin Wrethov, Johan Bejerholm, Johan Deltinger)
Hasse is this years oldest participant and probably the one that is most talked about among the Swedish fans and on social media. This is a song that you either love or hate, there is nothing inbetween. Hasse starts out to the right of the stage where he sings the first verse. He then walks to the middle of the stage where he is accompanied by a female violinist and four female and two male dancers. Hasse has had a long and succesful carrier in Sweden and is of course calm and confident on stage.
The show
The show is opened with a recap of the finalists way to Melodifestivalen. After that, hosts Sanna Nielsen and Robin Paulsson sings Europes former hit song The final countdown with new lyrics together with last years Eurovision Song Contest winner Conchita Wurst. After the song Sanna and Robin leaves the stage and Conchita sings her winning song from last year Rise Like A Phoenix.
After all 12 acts have performed the viewers gets a recap of all competing songs and information about which telephonenumbers to call. This is followed by interviews from green room.
The first interval act of the night is norwegian duo Ylvis singing their song Stonehenge together with former Melodifestivalen participants Lili & Susie and a big choir.
The second interval act of the night is Swedish group Dirty Loops who sings their version of Sanna Nielsens song Undo. Dirty Loops has their own uniqe sound with a fusion of rock and jazz.
The result
In the final 50% of the points comes from an international jury that consists of jury groups from 11 European countries and 50% of the votes comes from the viewers.
The international jury
Top 3
1. Måns Zelmerlöw – Heroes
2. Mariette – Don’t stop believing
3. Jon Henrik Fjällgren – Jag är fri (Manne Leam Friije)
Viewers
Top 3
1. Måns Zelmerlöw – Heroes
2. Jon Henrik Fjällgren – Jag är fri (Manne Leam Friije)
3. Hasse Andersson – Guld och gröna skogar
The full result
1. Måns Zelmerlöw – Heroes (288p)
2. Jon Henrik Fjällgren – Jag är fri (Manne leam frijje) (139p)
3. Mariette – Don’t Stop Believing (102p)
4. Hasse Andersson – Guld och gröna skogar (78p)
5. Eric Saade – Sting (77p)
6. Linus Svenning – Forever Starts Today (59p)
7. Isa – Don’t Stop (56p)
8. Samir & Viktor – Groupie (49p)
9. Magnus Carlsson – Möt mig i Gamla stan (28p)
10. JTR – Building It Up (25p)
11. Jessica Andersson – Can’t Hurt Me Now (23p)
12. Dinah Nah – Make Me (La La La) (22p)
Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest
Sweden debuted in the contest in 1958 and has an impressive record in the contest with five wins: 1974, 1984, 1991, 1999 and 2012. The country has many top 5 finishes but had some rather disappointing results in the end of the 00’s until Eric Saade restored some of the glory by taking 3rd place with Popular and the year after the success was a fact with Loreen’s Euphoria.
