Pyrotechnics, water, snow, sawdust — semi-final 1 of Melodifestivalen 2016 has it all! Last night, during the very first audience rehearsal in Gothenburg’s Scandinavium Arena, we grabbed a seat for all the action. This might be one of the toughest heats of Melodifestivalen this year. Below we explain why and serve our predictions on who is going direkt till final.

1. “Bada Nakna” – Samir & Viktor

Last year they ended up in eighth place with their song “Groupie”, which became a big hit in Sweden. The question is: Will they do it again? YES! You better get ready because this song is a smash!

It’s easy to sing along with, the melody is catchy and you just want to shake that booty. This song will, without a doubt, get stuck in your head whether you understand Swedish or not! “Bada Nakna” starts with a whistling sound and the energy builds to an explosion of dubstep/house. It’s a pure party track.

Compared to last year these guys have really improved their vocals and their choreography. It’s an energetic performance and will look great on TV. Even though Samir had a small issue when taking off his t-shirt these guys don’t have much to worry about tonight (especially once they get said t-shirts off). The audience loved it.

Final? Yes.

2. “Mitt Guld” – Pernilla Andersson

After Samir and Viktor’s energetic performance this may be tonight’s sleeping pill. It’s an OK ballad, not really much of a performance. Pernilla plays her guitar in front of a giant golden painting, which she made herself. The problem with this song is the lack of a catchy melody — you don’t even know when she is singing the refrain or verse. Looking around in the arena people seemed to use these 3 minutes to read the news on their smart phones and chat with each other. The show will only have been on for 20 minutes at this point, but people will still use this number as their toilet break. 

Final? Sorry, but this won’t reach the final nor Andra Chansen.

3. “Ain’t No Good” – Mimi Werner

Yeehaw! Slept good, y’all? Because now it’s time to wake up. Mimi owns the stage with her country influenced pop song. This song screams “Texas cowboy” with a touch of modern pop. You just want to step up on that bar counter and dance. Even though this is Mimi’s first time in Melodifestivalen she’s confident on stage, well synchronised with her backing dancers and delivers a great show. The staging is good and it is catchy and the response from the audience was great.

Final? No. Andra Chansen? This is a tough one. It’s either Mimi or Albin & Mattias. This song is the stronger of the two but the Swedish audience are more familiar with Albin & Mattias and this might be Mimi’s Achilles heel.

4. “Rik” Albin & Mattias

The fourth song is called “Rik” by Albin and Mattias. It’s a mix of rap and pop where Mattias really proves his vocal skills. But I’m not sure about this rap part. Albin is a great artist but it just doesn’t work in this song — in fact, it detracts from the number. They have the same issue as Pernilla – the melody doesn’t really get stuck in your head.

Final? No. Andra Chansen? Close but not close enough.

6. “Constellation Prize” – Robin Bengtsson

Yes, Yes and Yes! This is the song you will be humming after tonight. Robin is known from Swedish Idol 2008 and his song will be this year’s big breakthrough, mark my words. The whole performance is simple yet beautiful and powerful. It’s Robin and his harmonica. This song is catchy, the melody get stuck in your head immediately and you can’t help but fall in love with his eyes.

Final? I would say a big YES if it wasn’t because of Ace Wilder and Samir & Viktor, who are competing in the same heat. As I said, it is a tough competition this year. However, he will definitely end up in Andra Chansen and from there he will for surely qualify for the final.

7. “Don’t Worry” – Ace Wilder

She’s in it to win it! But will she win it? No. In 2014 Ace had her big breakthrough in Melodifestivalen with “Busy Doing Nothing” and ended up in second place. Two years later she is back and she is hungry for a victory. Ace definitely has the most advanced and powerful staging and performance in this heat. You can tell she has gone all in. But the song itself doesn’t scream “Douze points”, even though I am trying to convince myself that it does. Most fans were hoping this would be the winner but I don’t see that happening. It’s a great song, but I think the expectations on Ace have been so high this year that we wouldn’t be satisfied regardless what she performs. We will always compare it with “Busy Doing Nothing”.

Final? Definitely, no doubts.

Ace Wilder and Samir & Viktor the favourites

After last night’s audience rehearsals the Swedish fan club “Melodifestivalklubben” and the music site “Poplight” made an audience survey. A total of 940 people named their favourite and here is the final result:

1.    Ace Wilder – Don’t Worry  364 votes (39%)

2.    Samir & Viktor – Bada nakna  270 votes (29%)

3.    Robin Bengtsson – Constellation Prize  199 votes (21%)

4.    Albin & Mattias – Rik  44 votes (5%)

5.    Mimi Werner – Ain’t No Good  33 votes (3%)

6.    Pernilla Andersson – Mitt guld  30 votes (3%)

The result speaks for itself. Ace is, not surprisingly, on top followed by Samir & Viktor, with Robin in third place.

Which two acts will qualify to the final on March 12 in Stockholm and which two acts will qualify to Andra Chansen in Halmstad on March 5? Watch tonight’s show live from Gothenburg, Sweden at 20.00 pm (local time) here.

6 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Leaf
Leaf
8 years ago

Robin Bengtsson has the best song ….. The rest are just a big MEH even Ace, too repetitive and doesn’t grab my attention at all.

Jake
Jake
8 years ago

Tobias
Where have you been all my life? 😉
Thanks for the awesome report!
How did Anna Book go down in the hall?

Antranig Shokayan
Editor
8 years ago

I’m hoping Mimi can pull off a surprise and get through to the Final with Ace.

oooops
oooops
8 years ago

These are the ones I want to go through
1. Ace Wilder
2. Robin Bengtsson
3. Samir och Viktor
4. Mimi Werner
The two other songs are good, but those 4 are better

2015
2015
8 years ago

I’m afraid that Albin and Mattias go to andra chansen instead of Mimi, what would be so unfair based on the songs and performances only. However i hope Sweden votes for the songs and not the names, that would be great.