Okay, Melfest then. I listened to the second chances and the ones who are through and made a list of favorites and stuff like that. Disclaimer: I don't like Melfest. There is almost no variety, pretty much everything is so middle-of-the-road it's a long hard slog for me to get through this. I don't mind three bullshit songs in a row, but this was likely to be 16 of them and it turned out to be exactly that. Usually at some point I just can't afford to pay the attention a song deserves, so I have to do it in like four sittings to really make a proper judgment which takes about 2 hours with pauses and it's not particularly fun. It would be fun if there had been just a single interesting song, but it's just not there. This means that my accompanying texts are much less positive than they might normally be. I'm sorry for that, but it is what it is. Just think of it as an attempt at comedy, maybe it'll sound less scathing. Melfest is just too draining guys.
I'll start from the bottom and work my way up:
Robin Bengtsson - Take A Chance: 6,65
This is just shit. I don't know what the hell this is doing here. It has no originality, the lyrics are stupid, the production is laughable. Dude tries to make something out of this train wreck and kind of pulls this off, but he isn't the best singer around and has to rely on his charm to get anywhere. This will just not even qualify in Rotterdam. Horrible.
Frida Öhrn - We Are One: 6,68
Much like the one before. Very unoriginal, old-fashioned production, dumb lyrics. I mean it's kind of entertaining as some sort of Disney-like spectacle, but just gtfo Sweden. This has to rank among the least interesting songs I have ever heard.
Ellen Benediktson & Simon Peyron - Surface: 6,8
The boring production is seriously letting this song down, because there's something here. It's not melodically strong or anything and they could do a whole lot more with the staging, but there's some chemistry and I like how this song has such an effortless flow. It just sounds extremely dated in a non-ironic way, that will kill any song. If this looked and sounded like a million dollars, it would be among the potential winners. Now it's just dead.
Drängarna - Piga & dräng: 6,85
Yes, I'll grab my beer and raise it to a song like this, but inside I'm still cringing. This is children's music. There is nothing to listen to, this is just goofing out. There's a time and a place for that, obviously. Just hope that's not ESC 2020. For what it is, it's genuinely fun and entertaining, but it's not something I rate.You can be fun and entertaining while having an interesting song, see The Roop or Icelandic Dathi this ESC season.
Anis Don Demina - Vem e som oss: 6,88
So they simply rip off Macklemore and think they can get away with this? No.
Paul Rey - Talking in my sleep: 6,90
This has no identity at all. This is just Ed Sheeran and I really hate that idiot, both his music and his stupid melodies (Castle on the Hill was magnificent though). I can't for the love of god work out why people would listen to shit like this willingly. What are they actually listening to? The instrumentals do absolutely nothing beyond giving a beat and some chords to sing over and the melodies are boring. This is pop music at its worst. A quite competent polished turd.
Mendez feat. Alvaro Estrella - Vamos amigos: 6,9
Yeah ok, this is fun and all, but ugh. Production is so basic, such vapid lyrics, vocal performance is nothing special. There's no oomph to this and then there's the cringy Spanish stuff (could you be any more American?). I can see why people like this as a summery dance track, but leave that shit to the pro's please. This is just bad.
Hanna Ferm - Brave: 7,00
If she had tits she would be like 9,5/10 in the looks department, but this is still going to be entertaining me for 3 minutes whatever she does and this also means that I simply feel sorry for her that she just doesn't have the pipes and this song is just tedious and utterly unimpressive. Let's just say that if she was a man she would rank just above Robin Bengtsson and all that applies there also applies here. She's still young and can improve, she should keep trying but please make it interesting next time.
Mariette - Shout It Out: 7,00
Finally something competent then. This has decent production, if a bit predictable. Staging has issues, but there's an idea. Vocals are decent. Main problem here is that this song really just has a single bullet and it's already fired in the first chorus. Rest of the song is basically plodding and this would be okay if this is actually interesting, but I just don't feel like it's strong melodically in any way. I wouldn't mind this song in Rotterdam, but it's just too weak to do anything.
Mohombi - Winners: 7,03
This is soooo Sweden. This song has pretty much every box checked. Everything that has been popular in the last decade is in this song. None of that really matters, because they are just cameo's and basically easter eggs for those who listen carefully. Song itself beyond that is just solid, but nothing great. It never really shifts gears and although this is fine as it is I then have problems with the singer. He doesn't have the vocals or the charm to really elevate this in any way. Net result is that this is just kind of there. Who is going to vote for this?
Malou Prytz - Ballerina: 7,08
If you can do this at age 16 that's impressive. Vocals are still way too unstable, song isn't great, but she can perform. This was entertaining even though there wasn't that much happening. She should simply try again in coming Melfests. I think she understands that she has the power to unbutton pants with her eyes. That's a rare skill.
Anna Bergendahl - Kingdom Come: 7,18
There's a lot of buzz around this track, but I don't know why. Seems sickeningly derivative and although it kind of dodges that bullet somehow I'm not convinced that stuff like this actually works. It's a barrage of strong melodies, so there's certainly going to be some appeal there but it sounds so painfully old-school Sweden I can't imagine people really voting for this in droves and the jury is not going to like this one, that's for sure. Other problem: are you going to go for the dancers or the backing vocals? Problematic entry, I think it's very overrated.
Victor Crone - Troubled Waters: 7,23
One of those happy IKEA commercials. Just die please. I know this is something a lot of people like, but I can just feel my brain cells dying when I listen to this.
Felix Sandman - Boys With Emotions: 7,23
If he can fix his vocals this is actually a pretty cool track. I don't mind this. The lyrics are hammy, but they raise an issue that I'm okay with. I like the production here a lot, the melodies are weak but that doesn't really matter that much here. Staging is okay I guess. Yeah, I can get behind this one. Problematic vocals, but it's underrated right now. Still, we're talking Sweden here. Sweden has to do better than an entry like this.
The Mamas - Move: 7,55
Strong vocals? Absolutely. Strong melodies? Yes. Good production? Kind of, it's fine. Good staging? Could do more, but it works like this. Entertaining? Sure. Yeah, this is just a strong entry then. That tall one is MILFing the shit out of all the papas as well. There are no obvious downsides to this either, this is just going to have a comfortable mid-table finish I would assume.
Dotter - Bulletproof: 7,55
Yeah ok, so I have some problems here. That 'whoo whoo'-thingy in the chorus is just weird. Also, her vocals could be a notch better, especially the falsetto's are a bit meh. Song also has some pretty underwhelming production. It doesn't really shift gears anywhere and it's just missing dynamic range altogether. But let's be clear, this song is fine as it is because the melodies are pretty cool (which is the single most important thing) and all I'm saying is that there's stuff you can improve on. The Mamas have a finished product, this is a diamond missing some cuts that has the potential to be better than The Mamas. Also, Dotter seems very likable. Staging is basically just two dumb gimmicks but it works. It's cool. Keep it.
So yeah, it's The Mamas or Dotter for me. The Mamas I feel is the safest entry and I don't have that much confidence in Dotter. Brain says The Mamas, other body parts say Dotter. Better go with Dotter then.