Melodifestivalen 2012: First Semi-Final Preview and Prediction 2

by Vebooboo Nadella • Sweden • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The time has finally come. In less than 48 hours, the first eight Melodifestivalen contestants will take to the stage in their tightest pants, kicking off the most intense national selection process for Eurovision 2012! In honor of that, SVT has released a one-minute sneak preview of each of this Saturday’s songs. The WiwiBloggs.Com team has sat though the good, the bad and the ugly, and have reached the following conclusions.

Sean Banan: Comedian-cum-singer

1. Sean Banan — “Sean den Första Banan” 
Melodifestivalen’s opening number is potentially offensive. Sean, an Iranian-born Swedish comedian, sings about being an Arab king. Is that gonna go down well at a time of increasing anti-immigrant sentiment? Con-tro-ver-sial!

Word on the street is that Sean puts even Linda Bengtzing to shame with a number of costume changes during the act. Unfortunately we just get to see one during the sneak preview. The song is pretty basic…Think “Me and My Drum” from last year’s competition, but with a Middle Eastern twist.  But who are we to judge? That song made it directly through to Globen…

Banan reached number 8 on the Swedish singles list with “Skaka Rumpa” (Shake that Ass) in 2010.  We think he’ll score in the top 4 on Saturday.

Prediction:  Second Chance

2. Abalone Dots — “På Väg”
This is one of the few songs that we actually wanted to hear all the way through.  The girls’ voices blend perfectly, and they can really sing.  The song itself is similar to “Desperados” from our favourite gap-tooth singer Pernilla Andersson, and that bodes well for the trio. Vebooboo and Wiwi think we’ll be hearing them again.

Prediction:  Second Chance

3. The Moniker — “I Want to be Chris Isaak”
One minute is only 33% of the song’s length, and we have to say we aren’t looking forward to the remaining 67%.  After his great run via the Second Chance to third place last year, we had big hopes for this bald cutie. The song just doesn’t have the same charm as last year’s entry, though, and we fear The Moniker will need to rely on his MF popularity to secure a spot in Stockholm.  Even sadder is the fact that his popularity will probably be enough.  Ugh.

Prediction:  Direct to Globen
4. Afro-Dite — “The Boy Can Dance”
Is discrimination alive and well at MF?  Why is Afro-Dite’s clip the only one that doesn’t seem to work?!?!?  That “glitch” aside, we love this song. It has spunk and funk, even if it does belong more in the ’90s than this decade. It’ll appeal to all the middle-aged schlager lovers out there, but unfortunately we don’t think that’ll be enough to help out our girls.

Prediction:  OUT

5. Dead by April — “Mystery”
This song lives up to the title. Why it was constructed this way is a mystery. On the one hand we are happy to see different genres present at MF this year. On the other hand, this one needs to go. The Lordi-wannabe background singer needs to go too. Just leave it to the cute punkster who takes centre stage. We aren’t looking forward to hearing this song on Saturday, but think we will only have to put up with 3 minutes throughout the entire competition.

Prediction:  OUT

6. Marie Serneholt — “Salt & Pepper”
Well, she has hosted MF with hot daddy Rickard Olsson and has participated in it before. Will the brand around Marie, who finally split up with shortie Måns Zelmerlöw in August of last year, be enough to carry her through despite singing this mediocre pop song? Normally we’d say definitely not, but given the weakness of Saturday’s field, it just may be enough.  Nonetheless, we’re predicting Marie will say goodbye in Vaxjo.

Prediction:  OUT

7. Thorsten Flinck — “Jag reser mig igen”  
Lasse Stefanz didn’t make it through last year, and we’re hoping the same holds for oldie Thorsten, who forgot to put on shoes ahead of his dress rehearsal.  The dude is charismatic on stage but the song just doesn’t belong in this century. Most people in the age range that would vote for this are already deaf or don’t have a touch-tone phone. Aw, bless.

Prediction:  OUT

Loreen: We think she's headed to the final with "Euphoria"

8. Loreen — “Euphoria”
We always knew Loreen was a bit kooky.  Last year’s performance stretched boundaries and made us want to pass Loreen the bottle of Prozac. This year Loreen keeps up the weird factor, and it works.  We were left wondering how the song will develop in the next two minutes.  One thing is for sure — this girl can sing.  We just hope the choreography works on Saturday.  If it does, she could book herself a direct ticket to Stockholm.

Prediction:  Direct to Globen

Wiwi and the team will be live blogging the semi-final. You can join the fun on Twitter (@wiwibloggs) or by clicking here.