Earlier this afternoon we gave you the down-low on today’s rehearsal for the first semi-final of Melodifestivalen. Now it’s time to watch the Melodifestivalen videos for yourself! Below you can see one-minute snippets of the semi-finalists competing in Malmö on Saturday. Thank you, SVT! We’ve also included our predictions for Saturday evening. Who do you think will go direct to the Friends Arena?
YOHIO with “To the End”
YOHIO is back with a much more mainstream sound this year. It’s like he mated glam rock with Ulrik Munther’s song from last year and this was the result. He is rocking the black pleather and that studded hat carries with it an important message: DON’T MESS WITH THE YOHIO.
Prediction: Direct to the Friends Arena
Mahan Moin with “Aleo”
This is basically that song “Gosa” from last year with Tooji’s back-up dancers thrown in with a flash of Janet Leon. But only a flash. I’m sorry, this can hope for Second Chance at best…but even that is a stretch.
Prediction: Out
Linus Svenning – “Brothers”
Proving that people with pierced noses can be super tender, Linus’s song is an intoxicating mix of contemporary R&B, folk, and, dare we say it, a bit of magic. He’s going to be new to the majority of Swedes (who probably only know him from his Youtube covers), and that’s going to make it tough for him to get past superstars YOHIO and Helena. But we suspect he’ll get another chance to sing at #melfest.
Prediction: Andra Chansen
Elisa Lindstrom – “Casanova”
It’s like a bad version of something Linda Bengtzing would have sung…in the late 1980s…before she worked with professional songwriters. The worst of schlager rolled into three minutes (or, thankfully, one minute because this is a snippet). Thanks for stopping by Elisa, but it’s time to go home!
Prediction: Out
Alvaro Estrella with “Bedroom”
Alvaro borrows from the past. He took his sound from the 1970s, and his moving dance platform from Sakis Rouvas’ 2009 Eurovision performance. Sadly both were better the first time around. This is going nowhere fast. Boom-boom-boom boom boom boooom.
Prediction: Out
Ellen Benediktson with “Songbird”
The voice in the dark is probably saying, STOP SINGING. You have a great voice but this song is just so dull. Dull, dull, dull. This would be great in a musical after the main character has lost her man, but on its own it does nothing for me. I’m upset I’m going to have to listen to two more minutes of this on Saturday. I’ll switch to #umk14 during this number.
Prediction: Out
Sylvester Schlegel with “Bygdens son”
Sylvester looks homeless and the girl on the guitar in the black dress needs to lay off the caffeine, but this has personality! The melody is catchy, the performers have charisma, and this definitely sticks out following the snoozefest about the bird. Sweden loves a bit of quirkiness at Melodifestivalen (hello Sean Banan, Swingfly, and the guy with the flaming piano last year).
Prediction: Second Chance
Helena Paparizou with “Survivor”
She’s still got it. Some of y’all are saying you are disappointed, but you need to hold your horses until the final two minutes. Helena is a lady. And like a true lady she does not give it away all at once. Oh hellllz no. She is saving it, she is going to drop it like it’s hot, and all of y’all are going to be SMS-ing for her like no other. The song is a dance number with a rock edge. It’s like YOHIO at his best mixed with Loreen at her best. How are you gonna beat that?!
Prediction: Direct to Friends Arena
Who are YOU supporting? And who do you think Sweden will support? Which four acts will live to sing another day?
Willy Lee Adams contributed this report from London. Follow him on Twitter @willyleeadams. You can also keep up with the latest Eurovision news and gossip by following wiwibloggs.com on Twitter and Facebook.
Photo: SVT
My top 8:
1. Helena- Survivor (great!)
2. Linus- Brothers (touching ballad!)
3. Ellen- Songbird (calm peaceful ballad)
4. YOHIO- To The End (ok song, not origina though)
5. Sylvester- Byngdens Son (ok, gaining points for originality)
6. Elisa- Cassanova (would’ve been ok to be faced against to ”La Det Swinge” in 1985, still would’ve lost though, still remains an ok schlager song)
7. Alvaro- Bedroom ( nothing special here)
8. Mahan- Aleo ( mediocre, laking originality and rythm)
On betting odds TOP 8
1. Yohio
2. Linus
3. Helena
4. Ellen
5. Alvaro
6. Elisa
7. Mahan
8. Sylvester
For me
To the final
1.Alvaro Estrella
2.Yohio
To the second chance
3.Sylvester Schlegel
4.Helena Paparizou or Ellen Benediktson
I think result wili be
To the final
1.Yohio
2.Linus Svenning (suprise of the evening)
To the second chance
3.Helena Paparizou
4.Sylvester Schlegel
Do you think that we have a surprisingly big favorite waste in the semifinals as Charlotte Perrelli in 2012 in semifinal 4 , when she finished at 5 place in semi.
Maybe I had too high expectations from Melodifestivalen. The only two songs I like in this semi are “Brothers” by Linus and “Survivor” by Helena. All other entries seem washed out and recycled. There’s no really fresh or powerful sound. It’s going to be interesting to see how Swedish people will vote – we never know what to expect from them:-)
Well my fave was ”Survivor”. It is somewhat usual at the first minute, but antyhting can happen in the next two.
Final: Survivor,To The End (screams mainstream)
Andra Chansen: Songbird, Bygdens Son or Border
Aleo, Cassanova, Bedroom out
Helena’s Survivor is the best song in the semi final imo, it’s fierce
@Nancy: Lovely words from you, thanks … and by the way say hi to all Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber freaks out there … enjoy immaturity while you are all still young. 🙂
@D: Don’t worry … this year your country seems to be focusing all its attention on Sanna Nielsen with her ballad, though we haven’t heard it yet … she is considered the favourite this year. I can see Helena and Yohio in the final for the reason you mentioned. But … come on … to point out “Songbird” as a favourite it must mean you do like it even if it’s not in your musical comfort zone. It’s nice to leave our nest and listen to different things and actually liking them. It does not hurt and does not requite… Read more »
@Jordan; I’m sure many televoters would vote for your fart for is originality, uniqueness and … complete lack of musicality, If you want better, do it yourself 🙂
uh oh.. I’m an ESC fan & a dance music lover and I like…. Ellen….. my brain must be programmed wrong 😛 😛 But it IS pretty. It makes you sit back, relax and listen to the melody. loll oh god, the full version of Bedroom is going to be interesting to hear to say the least 😛 I wasn’t convinced at Helena’s song when it started, then it exploded into the strong chorus 🙂 Loved it! Elisa is my guilty pleasure 😛 & as for Yohio, a little surprised at the transition from last year :O will have to… Read more »
I’ll be supporting Helena all the way! It’s the only decent song from the first semi-final.
Final answer 🙂 To the final: Yohio, Alvaro and Helena.
You know what? I really like Alvaro Estrella with his “Bedroom”. It’s not boring like the others…
“Brothers”
“Bedroom”
to the final.
But they wont go. Oh, Sweden.
“Brothers” has that “personal” touch (the other ballad is not sound enough, for me) while “Bedroom” made me dance – that is a good thing.
Everything else…hmmm…well, #Melfest is bad at missing predictions, so YOHIO and Helena MAYBE will sail to the Final. Hopefully not.
FINAL:
Helena
Yohio
SECOND CHANCE:
Ellen
Mahan
OUT:
Sylvester
Alvaro
Linus
Elisa
Awful. The sound of my fart is better than this….
The only song I liked was the one by Ellen Benediktson
Papariziou is the second best of the snippets as all others songs are probably crap.
Being I’m Swedish, I’m so much more critical of Melodifestivalen than any other show. This semi-final is by far the weakest. I did not like one song out of the 8. Sadly, YOHIO and Helena have a good chance of qualifying because of their star power but their songs are just clichés with nothing special about them. I’m praying that we haven’t heard the winning song yet because if we have….Sweden has a good chance of not qualifying. Comparing Helena and Loreen is just wrong. Like no. If I had to pick a favourite it’d probably be “Songbird” but I… Read more »
Wow, I’m actually surprised at myself but I like Helena’s song (well the snippet at least). It’s much better than “My Number 1”. For sheer mischief value I think my guilty pleasure is Alvaro Estrella, so much innuendo, too little time.
Charles, I am amazing. I am beautiful. I am strong. And I have YOHIO on my side.
“When the day breaks
in this cold place
When you feel like
there’s something missing
Your head hurts
and your mind’s a blur
When you realize you’re second guessing
You will be loved, will be loved”
So screw you.
I can’t hear any good song here! All songs in this heat are really boring!
@Nancy: I wonder if YOU are SOMEBODY with a BETTER song … just wondering. Or are you wearing pink Manga Japanese make up to state what a true artist and real vocalist you are? Maybe you need to grow up a bit more to fully understand the true reason why people do music … just a hint for your own personal growth. You see … we all have to get older and with that … we learn to love better music .. trying to stick our guns into teenish rubbish is not going to make you look good, trust me!… Read more »
Yes I skipped one perfomer:
8) Linus Svenning: Not that I find this song that bad but his singing is just awful … or maybe … this is not best choice of a song for the kind of performer he is … which kills both the essence of the song and does not make him look any good as a performer. It’s like asking Céline Dion to sing an Eminem song … totally “logical” right? I don’t believe this will move forward to AC.
!) YOHIO … I will not mess up with him cause all that Manga Japanese look is not something I can really care about but I still think this kid has much more popularity than an actual vocal talent. Nonetheless … I have to admit that his song does possess some song writing qualities so besides expecting him to go to the final for all the obvious reasons … as far as the song is concerned, he definitively deserves. I just wish he was a better vocalist … 2) Mahan Moin: Rubbish! 3) Elisa Lindström: Typical schlager rubbish … same… Read more »
SYLVESTER FOR THE WIN
@Robin. LOL. Ellen is NOT going straight to the final. NO WAY. She is a nobody with a BAD SONG
To final:
Helena
Ellen
To the second chance:
Yohio
Alvaro
You have a bad taste.
Meh. Send them all home. But if you have to let someone advance, YOHIO and Sylvester, please.
I like the chorus of Helena’s song but not so much the verse. I’m hoping that the verses after the snippet resemble the chorus 🙂
lol marcus
wow yohio’s song really sucks……….
helena’s song sounds great!
It’s like a box of chocolates when they’re some toffee and some fudge but not caramel. Basically nothing is wrong with them but none of them are great like caramel and the final can go either way but I know that Casanova and Aleo won’t qualify. Survivor is ok but the chorus needs to be more juicy and more exciting. And songbird is very nice and should come 4th at least but I would expect it to qualify for the final. YOHIO’s song might qualify due to his popularity and last year Sweden thought he had the best song (I… Read more »
omg. elisa’s song is really bad in that maria serneholt way with salt n pepa. FILLER SONG. next.
For me Helena’s song is also a disappointment. I’m going to hope it improve dramatically in the final two minutes…
Nothing spectacular from Yohio or Paparizou. I am desappointed