The wait is over — Melodifestivalen 2017 has begun. The first semi final of Melfest takes place this Saturday in Gothenberg. Of course, Sweden’s SVT are in full teasing mode ahead of the show, and today released 30-second rehearsal snippets along with one-minute studio samples. As they tease we can’t help but think Melodifestivalen 2017 is going to be very strong!
Taking part in this week’s heat are a who’s who of Melfest veterans. Boris René kicks off the proceedings, alongside the likes of Eurovision 1999 winner Charlotte Perrelli and former Melfest runner-up Ace Wilder.
Melodifestivalen 2017: Deltävling 1 Gothenburg
1. Boris René – “Her Kiss”
Chris: There’s only flashes of it, but you can tell just how grand the stage is this year. “Her Kiss” has a definite throwback, retro vibe to it. The chorus in the rehearsal clip doesn’t grab me as much as Boris’ effort last year. That being said, the opening verse does connect with me. The song promises to have a lot more of a routine to it though, so it might work better in full.
William: He tells us she’s “got the sunshine”, but I’m not really feeling the heat. This is so retro it’s dated. I appreciate his charisma and the on-point choreography, but I’m not convinced that’ll be enough to pull him through this intense semi-final. Wuh-oh, wuh-oh….
Check out the “Her Kiss” lyrics
2. Adrijana – “Amare”
Chris: This is pretty much exactly what I expected from Adrijana, based on her previous releases. Swedish rap has been attempted before at Melfest with muted success, though. Although if you wanted a like-for-like comparison, I already prefer this to “Rik” from last year. The staging seems a little odd, however, especially given that it’s supposedly a “love song”. Ballerinas in darkness doesn’t give me the feels.
William: Move over Sia and hello Adrijana! “Amare” rides the dirty pop wave beautifully and features a stirring, somehow inspirational chorus. Adrijana clearly has sass in spades and she manages to make the Swedish language sound mysterious and intoxicating. A new face — and clearly a good one!
3. Dinah Nah — “One More Night”
Chris: I wanted Dinah to send me to the dancefloor and she delivers. There’s hints at a subtle evolution from “Make Me”, showing her growth as an artist. This, for me, is going to be where the semi final really starts. Although maybe they should lose the Dolly Style pastel wigs from the backing dancers…
William: Dinah is like an expensive construction worker in Tokyo. In this first minute she lays the foundation for a house that will, no doubt, experience an earthquake during the chorus. I get the feeling it will be epic, memorable and just a little unhinged — judging from all her backing dancers with brightly-coloured wigs. Open that can of crazy and let’s drink!
Check out the “One More Night” lyrics
4. De Vet Du — “Road Trip”
William: They’ve cultivated a massive YouTube following with their witty lyrics and undeniable sex appeal. And while the latter is on full display, it’s hard for me as a non-Swede to judge whether this is actually amusing. Musically this doesn’t live up to their more seasoned rivals — they are the David in a sea of pop Goliaths. But given their momentum in Sweden maybe this off-kilter performance will be enough to get them to the Second Chance round.
Chris: As expected, De Vet Du slot perfectly in to the spot vacated by Samir & Viktor and Sean Banan before them. With both acts, obviously staging was key, something DVD seem to have taken on board. So far though, it seems underwhelming. Road traffic signs and a topless DJ Hunk doesn’t seem enough to make the humour work to a wider audience, unlike their predecessors’ efforts.
Check out the “Road Trip” lyrics
5. Charlotte Perrelli — “Mitt liv”
William: Well that was disappointing! Charlotte re-established herself as the Queen of Schlager with her Schlager Diva routine during last year’s final. But now she’s swerving toward the serious and it’s a total downer! Yes, she’s got a lovely voice and her Swedish is on point. But it’s leaving me feeling as empty as her chances of advancing direkt till final. It’s a no from me.
Chris: Charlotte said she was going to do this one “for herself”. Lo and behold, she’s doing it for last place. This is so out of place for Melodifestivalen 2017 that it’s untrue. It’s a lovely melody, Charlotte’s vocals are lovely, but “lovely” does not motivate people to tap their app.
6. Ace Wilder — “Wild Child”
William: It’s as if Ace has taken a slice of Icona Pop and put it through the same machine that produced Emmelie de Forest’s “Rainmaker”. The mix of warehouse, EDM and tropical house is refreshing, but as of now I’m not finding any WOW moment. Ace knows how to slay a chorus, so I’m going to keep the faith that one is coming. But as for now I’m slightly underwhelmed.
Chris: The more I hear “Wild Child”, the more it screams “album track” than “Melfest winner”. Ace’s problem, perhaps, is that everything will always be compared to “Busy Doin’ Nothin'”. This just doesn’t compare. The chorus may be catchy on repeat listens, but the verses are a little too harsh in this snippet.
Check out the “Wild Child” lyrics
7. Nano — “Hold On”
William: Nano has this on lock down. His voice is melodic and soulful and you get the sense that this former prisoner turned father is drawing from some very deep and dark experiences. The choir in the chorus coupled with the swell in production and tempo really suck you up into the chorus — and now I’m DYING to hear it. I think we have our SF1 winner.
Check out the “Hold On” lyrics
Keep checking back for more rehearsals and reviews throughout the day
(Photo: Stina Stjernkvist/SVT)
That nano song screams vibes of rudimental. We have our deltävling ett winner! Nano and Ace will go direkt till finalen, Dinah and Mariette/Boris will go to Andra Chansen
Its Ace and Nano in the final and Dinah Nah and Adrijana in andra chansen.
#germanvote
I’m guessing:
1. Nano
2. Ace
A.C. Dinah Nah and Boris
Charlotte is out. I have never liked the fact that she came back and uses Melodifestivalen just to promote a new style and sound when she did so much better with the old one. This is not her. They could have given that spot to someone else! Such a waste when Björkman said they had to say no to many potential hits. But just because it’s Charlotte.. If she passes to the final or A.C I will be dissapointed.
Even Charlotte herself thinks she won’t pass. If she doesn’t believe in her chances why should we? The song is out of place and would have been out of place in the 80’s as the article says. Acoustic songs sung in Swedish never works, it’s really niche’ Why some international fans on here think she might qualify is beyond me. My predictions: Ace Wilder will pass with flying colours, but it’s her weakest effort. Won’t do as well as previous two entries, Nano is surprisingly good and is probably the best. He should and might qualify but I’m not convinced… Read more »
Swede here too – Charlotte doesn’t stand a chance. Swedish people couldn’t care less whether you’re popular and famous or not, if you have a shitty song you’re not going anywhere. I’d go so far as to say it’s actually a burden to be well-known and well-established, because people expect a lot more out of you, and if you don’t live up to those expectations you’re in for a baaaad time. If you’re a completely new face nobody has any expectations, so if your song is good there’s a high chance you’ll do well. The app decides who moves on,… Read more »
YAAAAAS
Also swedish and agree 100%, laughable how people outside of Sweden thinks she stands a chance..
Lmao at y’all thinking Charlotte will advance. No one here cares about her, the app votes are what counts and she will get none since it’s mostly kids/teens using the app.
@Craig
Charlotte is coming dead last. Not many swedes except for hardcore schlager nerds like her. It seems like she has more fans outside sweden judging by the comments here and on twitter lol
I don’t like her at all, take me to your heaven is bad, Hero is bad, The Girl is ok and Mitt Liv is terrible.
One thing I don’t understand is Nano’s staging, what does that female dancer have to do with anything. Can’t wait to see the final result.
2010 all over again for Sweden if they go with that Charlotte Perelli song.
Queen ACE I hope she makes it!!
The Kidz will wote for De vet du! espacially the boys! If they would bring a tractor insted of a car, they would probably win the hole MF. ; )
My order goes: 1) Nano – love the song and his other songs which I’ve been listening to since he was announced as a melfest participant. I’ll be really surprised if he doesn’t advance straight to the final from this semi with this song/performance 2) Dinah Nah – it’s a great modern sound that will appeal to many Swedes and Melfest and Eurovision fans. Hopefully the performance will have a lot more energy on the night 3) Adrijana – a better song than some of her other songs I’ve listened to. I think this will have great support from fans… Read more »
I almost wished they gave us 45 seconds of each rehearsal clip.
Be that as it may, I have to go with Nano (absolute certainty) and Ace (fairly decent certainty). The rest will fight for A.C. I don’t think Charlotte will be one of them, unless her name alone gets her a spot.
The 4th round is the deadliest. With Jon Henrik, Wiktoria and Loreen, someone will have to sweat the A.C. round.
don’t worry y’all just like last year Sweden will send former ESC winner Charlotte Perreli with the crappiest song, DIREKT TIL FINAL
Melfest is all about reputation, and if you don’t believe me just let me take you back to last year’s first semi final.
The final 99% POSSIBLE RESULTS ARE THE FOLLOWING
1 Ace wilder
2 Charlotte
3. Du vet du
4. Nano/Boris
5. Nano/Boris
6. Dinah
7. Adrijana
Charlotte Perelli will go to the final…. All other songs sound pretty much the same… Plus she sings in swedish.. I’d give her my vote if could.
I think Nano and Adrijana have been able to capture how the music industry is evolving and proof of that are their fresh songs! From what we’ve heard, Nano’s ‘Hold on’ reminds me of a Rudimental-worthy track and Adrijana’s ‘Amare’ has got this r&b-pop sound to it. William says Sia, I think it’s like a mix of Rihanna and Zara Larsson & it sounds so promising!
Dina Nah and Ace Wilder on the other hand have basic pop songs with nothing that stands out… more like a ‘yeah, not bad’.
Adrijana and Nano both are really cool entries imo
the buildup in Hold On gave me chills oml and as for amare it sounds chart-worthy
ace wilder… yikes
Not good song, this is weak semifinal (compare to 2015 first semi). After 30 sec of rehearsals and 1 min od song , my TOP 7 To final 1.Nano 2.Boris To second chance 3.Ace (no chance for wining with this song,and worst her song at MF) 4.De vet du Out 5.Adrijana 6.Dinah Nah (100 % better was You make me la la ) 7.Charlotte Perrelli I think result wili be To final 1. Nano 2. Ace To second chance 3.De vet du (surprise of first semi) 4. Dinah Nah or Charlotte ( second surprise like Hasse 2015,Ravailacz 2014 and Lotta… Read more »
Nano and Adrijana easily the best (I think Swedes will agree and choose with good taste as always)
The rest thanks for coming
I believe this could be the first time Ace is not gonna qualify. That cheap chorus is awful.
I’m really sorry, but I might skip this heat altogether and watch either Ukraine, Hungary or Lithuania!
I do like Ace Wilder, but I’m not overly enthusiastic about the others here. Sorry:(
For Me Nano’s song is very similar to Rudimental – Feel The Love feat. John Newman. What do you think?
My top:
1. Nino
2. Dina Nah
3. Boris Rene
4. Ace Wilder
5. Adrijana
6. Charlotte
7. De vet cu
Nano and Dinah Nah are slaying this
I love adrijana <3
@Polegend Godgarina – It takes a good song to even advance to the melfest finals, watch her be one of the 2 on saturday, together with Nano.
Charlotte is doing her best Caroline Af Ugglas impression.
I predict Nano and Boris Rene to advance
Don’t be disappointed y’all, we all knew this semi would be the weakest. I guess SVT already has in mind a couple winners so they structured the semis in order to obtain what they want, nothing new here.
I feel like Ace’s song won’t be in the Melfest final. It’s simply THAT bad. As basic as it gets, but not even catchy, if that’s even possible! Poor girl, she’s over.
This semi is relatively weak.
My prediction:
Final – Nano, Ace Wilder
Second chance – Adrijana, Dinah Nah
Out – Boris René, Charlotte Perrelli, De Vet Du
Ok I will say
I completely get the hype for Nano: this clip of his song sounds very right now!
But can he sing live? The other clip leaves me wanting something more, a lot more.
I really enjoy Dinah and Ace, everyone really agrees here.
But why do little love for Charlotte???
Charlotte is a princess of Melodifest and our winner of ESC, ok she is not serving the schlager of before but she is beautiful and making an honest offering for us. I think she deserves some more love and respect 🙂
Slightly disappointing to say the very least. Nothing really stand out to me The only ones i quite like are Charlotte’s song. Her voice is amazing as always. And the other one is Nano’s song, what a voice also. The rest are pretty mediocre. Looking forward to the other semi finals to see what the other artists have to offer.
Really disappointed semi!
The only one wich I like from this 1 minute songs is Ace… Cant get the hype of Nano right now…
None of the songs really stand out for me, except Nano. Now THAT is a song that I would download and listen to. I really really hope he will do well!!
Actually I’m really disappointed by every single song/artists…
Ohhh no..Very dissapointed!
I epected more.At least we have three more semis
None of this could win Eurovision or either reach top-5
ace wilder song is dope. pop masterpiece
I’m a little disappointed. Yes, the standard is very high, but none of these make me say “wow” – last year’s first semi contained Ace and Robin, and I LOVED them both. I hope the other semis are stronger.
And same here! Nano gave me goosebumps, this is easily top 5 in the final.
OMG Nano.. I have goosebumps. This sounds soooo promising!
The fact that this is semi 1 and all the songs except Charlottes are at least decent.
What I hope:
Final: Nano and Adrijana
AC: Ace Wilder and Dinah Nah
What I think:
Final: Nano and Ace
AC: De Vet Du and Dinah Nah
I actually prefer the newcomers over the ones who have competed before. I also like Ace and Boris is pretty good. I also like DVD but it’s not as impressive as their other songs. As for Charlotte? That song belongs in the UK national selection, not Melodifestivalen!
@mawnck – Ever thought the problem isn’t everyone else, but it might be you? 😉
@mawnck
Back to the home, gramps.
Wild Child and Hold On are my faves from the 1 min clips.
My opinion will probably change once we get to listen to the full songs though.
Final – Dinah Nah and Nano
Second Chance – Adrijana and Ace Wilder
I think its safe to say that both Ace and Nano will take the first and second final spot. The rest is fighting/singing for the andra chansen spots, except for miss Perelli xD Boris and Dinah 3th/4th based on the 1 min track, but if ”Amare” would’ve been in English then she would have a great chanche going to andra chansen aswell.
Great start! All songs have good quality! I don’t want to think about the other semis if the 1st has these songs! Nano’s song is great! I love it! I want to watch it live though to have a complete point of view! Ace Wilder is amazing! After listening to all the snippets, her song is the only one I remember! It’s modern, up-beat and her voice good as always! I think these two will go to the finals! As for the 2nd chance I have no idea! I would probably pick Boris Rene (yes, it sounds dated but I… Read more »
I hear the potential in Nano’s song but I need to hear the whole song to judge if it’s great and I want to see it on stage. The others are good songs as well. Well Charlotte’s is underwelming though.. So far I can’t hear a Melodifesivalen winner, but it’s a good start. This is the semifinal I was least excited about in the first place so I’m more excited about the other semifinals now!