Sweden – The third heat of Melodifestivalen took place last night in Växjö and the two acts successfully going directly to the final were Robin Bengtsson and Owe Thörnqvist. The third and fourth placed acts, Anton Hagman and FO&O, get a second chance in the Andra Chansen final.
Robin Bengtsson and Owe Thörnqvist join Ace Wilder, Nano, Mariette and Benjamin Ingrosso in the Melodifestivalen final.
Next week’s heat 4 in Skellefteå sees the eagerly anticipated return of former winner Loreen with her entry ‘Statements‘.
The second chance Andra Chansen event will take place on 4th March in Linköping and the Melodifestivalen final at Friends Arena, Stockholm on 11th March 2017.
The Eurovision Times 
Another pretty boy + one of the few songs that comes across as being alive, even if it sounds corny here and there. Congratulations to both qualifiers.
In this semifinal my favourite was Anton Hagman with “Kiss you Goodbye”. Well, at least he made it to the AC. I hope that he will make it to the final.
Robin Bengtsson is spot on in attitude, staging and looks. It shouts: Here comes the winner. Here comes Sweden.
Unfortunately the song is not spot on. Don’t get me wrong, it’s more than ok, but It’s still just almost there, but eventually it turns out to be just another solid mello 8. This has been the biggest disappointment of the season for me.
Still it would beat in final all of the selected songs with exception of Italy.
Gutted about Krista, of course.
Robin was my favourite MF act last year. I loved the voice and the brilliant simplicity of the staging despite the obvious Kygo plagiarism. This year he brings the requisite big MTV- Justin Timberlake number. I am very annoyed by the constant repetition of the F word – you just know they will be chicken and change it to “freaking” if it ever goes to Kiev so this is just an obvious attempt to confer some street “credibility” on something extremely polished and calculated. It’s catchy and it has treadmills so I guess that’s all that matters here. But once more, you see Sweden abandoning its very special pop sensibility in order to become America’s half-way house to Eurovision.
As for “Boogieman blues” I couldn’t help but notice the fun they were having on stage and that all the singing was actually live. So in this very disappointing MF season, it is no wonder they went direct to final.
Mello has become for second tier Swedish composers and producers the half way house to America. As Sweden is one of the key players in defining sound of US and global hit radio, it’s obvious that their eyes are set for the big time and we can hear that. In that sense Mello’s pop sensibility is even bigger than before at the moment.
Fuck is absolutely annoying. As is the stupid hand sign from Mad men era hairspray ad. Strong hold! Even in the rain!
A hair styling ad. And I was wondering what that staging reminded me of :)
I think they can recycle it to J Lindeberg AW 17 Milan show. Wait a sec. They might be actually recycling J Lindeberg SS 17 set.
Better semi this week with a better overall quality to them:
1. Boogieman Blues: 7 ( I loved this performance and he had such positive energy ^^)
2. Crucified: 6 ( Best song of tonight, but that live was sometimes hard to listen to)
3. I Cant Go On: 6 (I dont understand the word ”fuck” in songs at all, dont think its needed for this very catchy tune and songs in general)
4. Gotta Thing About You: 6 (I mean its catchy, but thats about it, the diva of the group is a bit annoying tbh)
5. Kiss You Goodbye: 4 (As with a lot of other entries in this semi, its extremely mainstream and just plain boring imo)
6. Gravity: 4 ( I kinda love and hate parts of this song, it felt awkward at times. I just cant understand why artists want to go for the cool effects when most of the times it just looks cheap if its not done well)
7. Snurra Min Jord: 3 (Sorry to all Krista fans, but this was bad, a lot of awkward moments and with that false high note this easily wraps up the last place for me)
Where is the Shlager Mello! I thaught Krista would bring it, but alas I was wrong :(
If we exclude Boogieman Blues going directly to Final, this has been another predictable heat with a strong anti-girl bias…(get rid of the application)
My most favourite package made it yesterday and I believe Robin is a deserved qualifier. Great production and even greater stage values. My 2nd pick would have been the girl duet and then Owe Thörnqvist.
1.Robin Bengtsson 7+/10
2.Bella & Filippa 7/10
3.Owe Thörnqvist 6,5/10
4.Anton Hagman 6/10
5.Krista Siegfrids 6/10
6.The Fooo Conspiracy 6-/10
7.Jasmine Kara 6-/10
Melodi Festivalen keeps on serving songs hovering at 6-7/10 on my list. I keep missing a 9 or 10/10!!!
Owe has this left field act only swedes understand I was certain he would make it.
Robin was excellent last night. Potential winner and such a slick performance. Loved it.
FOO and Anton also delivered big time so glad they made it to AC.
Very sad for Bella & Filippa though they were really good.tl
Thank you MF for continuing to provide good contemporary music and reminding to the likes of San Remo and FiK what being relevant and good at the same time sounds like :-)
I wrote this while I was watching but it was too late to post it yestarday :P
Robin: The executive Bengtsson has returned with a boring song, the idea of the staging is good.
Krista: Was that a song? Another bad (and sexy, but bad) return.
Anton: The guy with the bad tattoos. I don’t like Shawn Mendes.
Jasmine: The song is hard to follow. The “drop” is bad, it ruins the song.
Owe: I enjoyed this song after the previous performances, and I don’t like rockabilly at all.
Bella & Filippa: The singing of the verses is a bit annoying. It’s not bad but not good.
FO&O: I’ve watched them once on TV here and they didn’t have good vocals or charisma. The new guy is the best, for me it was a great change :P (I’ll change the others two, I hate them :) ) The song is not too bad.
This is the worst semi since I started to watch MF. If I have to pick 4 I’ll say Owe and FO&O to the final, Anton and Robin to AC, but I didn’t like any of them. The interval and the opening were better songs and shows.
and then…
Robin looks boring on stage, he doesn’t know how to play the sexy character, the choreo was really bad. His previous song was so much better.
Can we replace FO&O with the Backstreet Boys or any other boyband? Their reaction to the AC was so fake.
Good for Owe, he was boosted by the line-up. SVT should stop the TV animations, they look bad. Comparing Hasse (:D) to Owe (:/) is a crime.
Anton to AC… meh, I think he’ll make it.