The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continues to listen to and review the songs competing in the Andra Chansen round of Melodifestivalen 2017. Ahead of the show on Saturday, we turn to Axel Schylström and his song “När ingen ser” (“When no one is looking”). Did he make us want to sneak a peek? Read on to find out!
Axel Schylström – “När ingen ser”
About Axel Schylström
After being severely burned in an accident in 2012, Axel overcame his injuries and competed on Swedish Idol in 2015. He was a popular contestant and placed fourth. “När ingen ser” is his Melfest debut.
Wiwi Jury reviews När ingen ser
Antranig: Axel didn’t really stand out from the snippets but after watching the live performance, “När ingen ser” came to life. There’s a lot to like about Axel and I’m not talking about his tragic story. He is a charismatic performer with amazing stage presence and he commands your attention. While Axel won’t win Melfest this year, this is a terrific performance that deserves a place in the top half of the final.
Score: 7.5/10
Josh: “När ingen ser” is Swedish pop gold. It has an underlying beat that makes you want to dance like nobody is watching. During the live show, I was anticipating SVT to harp on about his accident and use that as a focal point in his entry. I’m pleased to see that although it was addressed briefly in the introduction, he burst out on stage full of confidence and happiness and making the song the priority.
Score: 7/10
Robyn: “När ingen ser” reminds me of Andrea Weise’s “Bring Out the Fire” from 2015 – a bold pop performance delivered with a very Swedish sense of showmanship. And I love it. Axel is a brilliant performer, has a great voice and just brings so much life to the performance. Easily the best Swedish language song in Andra Chansen — and it beats a few of the English-language finalists as well.
Score: 9/10
Anthony: Axel is a talented artist, especially after going through difficult times over the years. But despite repeated listens, “När ingen ser” has still left me feeling empty considering Alice lost out at deltävling 4. However, Axel managed to liven it up with his performance. His stage presence truly shines with a slick choreography, whilst confidently singing in Swedish.
Score: 5.5/10
Bernardo: Why need a Magnus Carlson when you have Axel. Pop tunes in Swedish are usually associated with dated schlager beats. “När ingen ser” takes it to another level, giving life to a language understood and spoken by few. It misses a good hook, but Axel’s charisma and confidence make up for that.
Score: 7/10
William: This song has a dated, 90s warehouse feel, the costumes are equally throwback and I’m assuming that Axel isn’t a natural dancer. Yet for some reason this just really works. Axel’s personal story is quite inspiring and I find myself willing him on (as I pray they change that appalling white jacket). Owing to strong production and Axel’s total belief in this, “När ingen ser” is Swedish language pop that actually works for English-speaking ears. Well done.
Score: 7.5/10
Chris: Whilst I doubt that Axel was ever really seen as a major threat when they put together the contest, he’s hardly been treated badly. “När ingen ser” is a great, catchy number that works best on stage. There’s the stock “young guy at Melfest” dance routine, of course, but Axel pulls it off well. It’s not overly memorable though and doesn’t stand out enough to do that well. On the plus side, I suspect it might be a dry run for a more serious attempt by Axel next year.
Score: 6.5/10
Jordi: Is it his white jacket? Is it his charisma? I don’t really know, but he caught my attention during the whole performance in Melodifestivalen. “När ingen ser” is electrifying and pop pleasure, but sounds quite generic to me. He brings 100% Sweden feeling with that song. It’s catchy but at the same time, a little bit repetitive in my opinion. He has the look and he knows how to move, but I don’t get the big hook. However, I do enjoyed the fast beat of the song.
Score: 7.5/10
Our jury for Melodifestivalen 2017 contains 29 jurors, but we only have room for eight reviews. The remaining 21 scores are listed below.
Angus: 5/10
Antony: 7/10
Dayana: 7/10
Deban: 5/10
Edd: 7.5/10
Erdi: 5/10
Forrest: 6.5/10
Jason: 5/10
Jovana: 7/10
Luis: 7/10
Mikhail: 8.5/10
Natalie: 8/10
Patrick: 3/10
Rezo: 6/10
Ron: 7.5/10
Sami: 8/10
Sinan: 6.5/10
Steinunn: 6.5/10
Tobias: 4/10
Zakaria: 3/10
Before calculating the average score, the highest and lowest scores are dropped. This is to remove outliers and reduce potential bias. We have removed a low of 3 and a high of 9.
ben005
he pretty much decided to play subway surfers but irl, no but he received 16 000 volts through his body after he climbed up on a train (as a joke) and almost died as a result
This was performed much better than Alice’s song. To be fair, this was the first semi-final where the songs that got through actually deserved it (Even though I hate Wiktoria’s song).
Axel did well. He overdelivered and deserved his AC place.
Could someone explain what happened to his face? I’m just curious about those scars. Tried to google it but couldn’t find any infor in English. Thanks.
Both have a good song, but Axel would be at the bottom 3 in the final for sure. I don’t think Lisa will be the winner of melodifestivalen, but finalist? yes. b’tween 7-10th place or something i would guess
Best song in MF.
This is my new Don’t Worry, the beat the flow, the live performance. I was scared Axel was going to end up with a cornfest a la David Lindgren or a trying too hard sex song a la Saade, but this is perfect. I am hooked, I can’t stop hearing it. This HAS to make the final over the overrated swearing girl.
Just for the people claiming justice for Alice, yes, her song was awesome and probably better than Axel’s but she was a terrible performer. Dont get me wrong me, she is a cutie, you really love her and wanna hug her, but she did not deliver it, she looked too amateur. Axel did it best and his song is catchy. I was not surprised he did it to AC and I wont be surprised if Lisa emulates ISA’s echoes.
He’ll beat the trash girl without problem.
I don’t really like this song. Way overproduced and not memorable enough. The performance is completely unoriginal, also.
Colin, I agree, and I’m one of those mothers wathing mello/mellfest whith my dauther that don’t like the the f world. I don’t get that film behind her that has nothing to do about the lyric. We se Lisa! That is not do swedish. Focus on beaty that obvious can irritate many people. I don’t think that is a good rolmodel for my girl. Axel i more of a good rolemodel – and I think the song is ok and better than Lisas. And I like the text. Lisa has no chance to win the hole thing so people won’t… Read more »
Alice was much better than this! He qualified only because the song is very up-tempo and we all know Sweden cannot live without that. It’s fun but I’m not totally convinced. Lisa should easily beat him, but I’m afraid she may have trouble.
I’m afraid repeating “i don’t give a” for 3 minutes will win over this, which is way better. I don’t love any of these two, anyway.
Hey wiwiblogers!
Croatia has published instrumental version of song in youtube!
Check it out!
https://youtube.com/watch?v=7DHDh8EFiOU&ebc=ANyPxKqp3BlC1xZIH_z7s2hwMqdBqTP6nVa5UoRzkdwBzYkRldsUphCHIa6OcohykmhL0r8ZD1GO2319gN9ybMXDqLnaK59uRg
Personally, I prefer Axel’s song over Lisa’s. It’s catchier, more likable and overall nicer.
Oh my god !!!! ” Tous les mêmes ” song’s from Stromae
Lisa will win at sutarday if you should belive the swedish spotyfychart
Hope Lisa Ajax wins over him. Otherwise, I could never forget Sweden.
He’s trash how did this get above a 6 when he’s copied Donny Montell with the outfit, the song, most of his entire production, etc. #JustForAlice