This Saturday, seven acts will compete at semi-final three of Melodifestivalen 2021. And today, media is getting a first listen to the studio versions of the competing tracks. Join us as we bring you our first reactions to the seven competing entries in semi-final three.
Seven acts will compete in the third semi-final of Melodifestivalen 2021. Two acts will go directly to the grand final, while another two will get another shot in the andra chansen round. Fans will get their first listen of the semi-final one entries when 60-second snippets of the songs are released on Thursday.
Melodifestivalen 2021: Semi-final 3 first reactions
Charlotte Perrelli – “Still Young”
Sample lyric: “Cause we’re still young / We are invincible”
Anyone fearing another subdued folk-pop track like 2017 entry “Mitt liv” can relax. “Still Young” is classic Charlotte Perrelli. The song is a rousing anthem, asserting how La Perrelli hasn’t lost it — and the song will surely also appeal to those fans in that demographic. It has a slight folky undertone, but there’s plenty of rhythm and drama — and an enjoyably big dramatic pause that you just know is going to be even bigger live. (Robyn)
Emil Assergård – “Om allting skiter sig”
Sample lyric: “Om allting skiter sig ikväll / Kan vi börja om och om igen”
(“If everything screws up tonight / We can start over and over again”)
“Om allting skiter sig” is all about being resilient, a message that can apply as much to the pandemic era as to personal relationships. The song has a rousing chorus and brings a kind of sea shanty vibe (but not in a cheesy way). There’s really good energy here, but I can see the song connecting more with Swedish viewers than international Mello fans. (Robyn)
Klara Hammarström – “Beat of Broken Hearts”
Sample lyric: “Honey, there’s no other reason / Don’t care about the silly season”
This is the poppiest track of this week’s contenders. The song strikes a fine balance between heavy backing with Klara’s lighter vocals over the top — though sometimes it’s hard to gauge the overall round via the preview audio. The song isn’t super hooky, but it does have a comforting familiarity to it, like a romantic theme tune from a teen movie. (Robyn)
Mustasch – “Contagious”
Sample lyric: “When you’re laughing it’s contagious / It’s a little something that’s so painless”
A classic heavy metal song (Black Sabbath-esque) complete with a church organ but also with modern electronic sounds. The song serves as a vehicle for Ralf Gyllenhammar’s powerhouse metal vocals and has plenty of moment that seem engineered to be amazing live. I’m still trying to make sense of the song lyrics though. (Robyn)
Elisa – “Den du är”
Sample lyric: “Se mig i ögonen / Och känn att jag vill vara din / Bara din”
(“Look me in the eyes / And feel that I want to be yours / Only yours”)
This is an elegant synth ballad, in Swedish. It builds a little, but generally keeps a restrained feeling. Elisa’s vocals are clear and expressive, but the song never turns the drama up to 11. It’s also not super memorable. I get the feeling this might be a “granny pleaser” type of tune. (Robyn)
Alvaro Estrella – “Baila baila”
Sample lyric: “Ma ma ma ma mamasita / Come here, come here, sweet bonita”
“Baila baila” is of the “Spanish-ish holiday song” genre. The lyrics are mostly English but Spanish 101 vocab thrown in. And is that a Spice Girls reference with “viva la forever”?! It’s a fun pop tune, but it just feels very generic, something we’ve heard so many times before. At best, it might remind people of the before-time, when sunny holidays were a thing. (Robyn)
Tusse – “Voices”
Sample lyric: “Can’t stop us now, forget the haters / Get up and live and make it matter”
“Voices” is easily one of the best songs in this semi-final. It’s an electro-pop song, with a slightly dark feel to it. The lyrics are perhaps a little let down by obvious rhymes. but that sort of thing generally doesn’t matter too much. Tusse has great vocals — and he’s sure to bring a stand-out performance on the semi-final stage. A possible distraction for Eurovision fans: the chorus frequently mentions “A million voices” but it’s nothing like Polina Gagarina’s Eurovision 2015 song! (Robyn)
What do you think? Which songs are you excited to hear on Saturday? Which entries do you think have the best shot of making it to the grand final? Tell us your thoughts below!
Alvaro Estrella making it through to the Andra with a dull, bland cheesy and full of topics and clichés song, is happening. How I dislike these entries trying to imitate the latin vibe and just being overall plain ridiculous… yeah, DJ Mendez, I’m looking at you too!
How can they imitate latin if the performers are latin?
Alvaro and Mendez are from Chile
OUT ON THE LINE, LIKE A STAR, LIKE A HERO, LOVE WILL SURVIVEEEEE
Darn…. I loathe that song… But couldnt help myself singing that out inside myself while reading it still ;-D
To be honest, from Charlotte I would prefer more Something like 2017, than the usual schlager.
Moustache Will be great!
Alvaro Estrella cringe competition 2021
Don’t be a melt
I think it sounds like the equivalent of don’t be a wet blanket. That’s an English expression that means somebody who’s a downer on fun.
nothing promising from the descriptions robyn provided (she loves the word “rousing” this year !). alvaro’s song sounds like the type of spanish holiday song that was popular in the 00s, charlotte’s song will be about 90% as dated as we expect it to be, klara keeps serving no purpose, the songs in swedish are written off as forgettable fillers… and the other two songs with some potential have awful lyrics. at least we still have dotter.
But the same dated sound that Charlotte is serving is getting everyone excited in Norway. At least here, we have a good chance of somebody singing it slightly better. 😉
the ratlee girl i suppose ?
Wait you’re a fan of Dotter this year. Wouldn’t have expected it but not complaining!
i listen to singers. i very rarely listen to people who cannot sing !
Last year what polegend did was , he kept bashing Dotter when the snippets were released and even after the semi , but soon he gave up on the bashing and joined the Dotter is winning bandwagon !! Like a 180° flip . So you can take his stance with a pinch of salt always !!
literally
imagine not being able to change your mind and blindly keeping the same opinion for life, thankfully i, a gemini, cannot relate ! i was an obsessed christina perri hater for years and last month i started appreciating her, and what about it ?
“Cause we’re still young / We are invincible”
Ew what is this? Melodifestivalen 2004? Malta Song for Europe 2002?
Seems like they werent joking about Tusse being serious business! I think he, Dotter and Eric Saade will be the top 3 winners candidate
Eric saade will definitely win. Electro pop does not do well with juries and it’s not the Swedish public’s favourite either. Swedes love Eric. It’s going to be similar to the roop in lithuania. Have a nice day.
If swedes love him so much that he’s guaranteed to win, why did he only come 5th in 2015? People seem to be forgetting that he’s already tried once again since 2011 and , well, failed. The mamas on the other hand did not fail. So why are you so certain that he will win over the mamas??
OK? Eric Saade already won once, I don’ think he is that big of a favourite. And last year Dotter managed to win the jury vote with her electro pop, so there is enough love for it to go around.
Why ignore The Mamas?
Because no one thinks they can win. Only wiwifans think they have a high chance because they think Swedes will feel sorry for them and owe them something..
But they were great last year so why wouldn’t they do well?
So how did they win last year then? I think you are underestimating how good they are
They won last year, that is the point. They are former winners, the fact that they didn’t perform at ESC doesn’t change the fact.It will take a lot to convince us to vote on the same performers twice in a row, or third even if you count them with Lundvik. Especially if they have the same sound.. You seem to overestimate how popular you think theMamas are, or lack knowledge of how Swedes vote..
Speak for yourself and not everyone else please
I think this semi final will be the toughest yet. So many big names and good reviews so far.
oh boy was i wrong-
I’m soo excited for “In the Middle” by The Mamas!!
As always, thank you for your early reaction to these songs Robyn! Looking forward to hear these songs in full on Saturday.
Whoever’s writing Alvaro’s lyrics, just stop it and let him write them himself or anyone with remotely basic Spanish skills. Like, seriously. That sample is cringe enough.
The sample is typical non-native usage of a popular language – We’ll sprinkle it with some recognizable and presumably catchy words from the said language even if they aren’t giving us anything creative in particular.
I am all for bilingual parts in dance songs, but I’m rarely for using words from different languages back and forth within the same sentence, cause it rarely sounds organic.
I cannot tell the quality of the song from a single sentence, but if it is a good song, they didn’t really pick a representative sample to showcase it.
He actually did wrote them himself!
Okay, so no real contender this week? Seems like a weak Mello this year compared to 2020 (which was, to me, a really good year). Probably a battle between Dotter and Eric (and maybe Danny but the song is .. meh)
Do they write there are no contender this week?
The reviews seemed much more enthusiastic last week for Dotter, « here for business » etc
I believe Tusse has a chance but it will be either dotter or eric if the song is good enough or the mamas.
Actually Tusse seem to be a winner candidate..
Tusse Chiza is a contender
@Robyn do you think Tusse is a winner material or not? Comparing to Dotter and Danny
But Romania didn’t qualify in 2019 tho. Do you mean Romania 2020 (which was good) perhaps?
Oh, I guess I read it wrong.
yeahh agree, but I was just trying to get a better picture of the song, I know that an opinion doesn’t really mean anything:)
I agree they start to be really overrated and their view is very distant from the public one unfortunately.
The odds are meant for people to win and lose money easily. But they can be super funny at times. Klara is 7th in the odds to win Semi 3. But she’s 9th in the odds to win Melodifestovalen. Meanwhile Tusse is rising in the odds . So maybe like Janet said we have to see that wiwibloggers give us an opinion , a personal opinion and the majority public may not have the same opinion. Also it’s not William and deban’s fault that the song they liked didn’t click with the European audience. I didn’t think Laura’s song was… Read more »
If you sour grapes dont like the reviews of the wiwibloggers then you are free NOT to read them!! Its really that simple. I dont always agree with wiwibloggs, but i still enjoy their reviews and if i dont agree i throw in a constructive comment now and then (especially when it comes to reviews/reports related to my own country). Lets try to be nice this year. 2020 was just sad, lets be good now 😀
Aftonbladet says Charlottes song is very similar to Smith & Thell – Statue, are you of the same opinion ?
omg really I love Smith/Thell -they should totally do Melfest someday.
Voices sounds promising! Also rooting for Charlotte Perrelli and Mustasch