Hello everyone! National finals season wraps up tonight, and we are closing our Team Reviews with the Eurovision titan itself: Sweden!
We’ve subjected all 12 Melodifestivalen hopefuls to scrutiny for your pleasure and interest. Six written autopsies detailing why we (our motley crew of article gremlins) like or dislike certain Swedish finalists.
In the second part of the Sweden reviews we’re taking a closer look at the following 6 acts:
Participating in the final round of Team Reviews are:
- Boris Meersman – falling in love with tripe again.
- David Popescu – hates you so much (like actually).
- Daniel “DK” Kennedy – just a cowgirl in a rodeo.
- Jasmin Prisc – will show you what “mild like” is.
- Rebecca Green – her voice won’t be silenced.
- Sam Siegal – has opinions that will change the world.
Each editor has submitted a review for each of the 12 finalists with a score out of 10. Highest percentage wins the ranking. If there’s a tie, the highest and lowest score are deducted and we look at the median percentage. If there’s still a tie, then the highest unique score takes it.
But before we jump in: here’s the ubiquitous disclaimer:
All opinions stated in Team Reviews belong to the person quote and do not represent the views of ESCUnited as a whole! Also, they’re subjective opinions of other people, so you’re bound to disagree with some of them down the line. Be an adult and get used to it.
And now that we’ve lectured the Twitter Stans lurking on our website, let’s continue with a self-destructive life:
Boris – 5
“Some songs have to make up the bottom of the rankings. Unfortunately for Maja, I went into her song with a fully formed bias – I missed the first heat because I was attending the Belgian final in person, and my bestie described the second qualifier as “the Wine Mom version of Kids in America”. And of course, once you have that idea imprinted in your mind it’s all you hear and see, supplemented further by Maja’s karaoke vocals. “Kamikaze life” is a puzzling finalist without knowing how bad the heat was (and it was dreadful!) but why bother ripping into the low hanging fruit when we have bigger Zelmerfish to fry?”
David – 2
“Lyrics are some of the most nonsensical I’ve long heard. You can hear we’re back in time with this song, but the text doesn’t make any sense. What is it that is exactly a “kamikaze” life? Anyhow, I do like this girl-power rock, cause it’s energetic, but it’s hard to ignore the lyrics and how the song sounds basically the same during its entirety.”
DK – 2
“Ok so I am one of the reviewers who will probably give passes towards women giving something fun and campy (see my review on Dolly Style). HOWEVER. For the life of me I do not understand how this song made the final of Melfest, and I don’t see how any song does better than this in the final. The song truly makes no sense, and I don’t even think she knows what a Kamikaze Life is. Her vocal is just not there either. This will be my bathroom break.”
Jasmin – 8
“This is one of those songs I didn’t expect to like too much but when that chorus hits, I just surrender to it. The vocal is surprisingly consistent and on the pitching key all the time, despite her running around the stage. The vocal support is heavy tho, so I don’t know how would that sound without it. It’s a catchy and well-produced pop-rock song, I approve.”
Rebecca – 2
“I can’t remember which review I said it in earlier this season but I stand by my statement that “haters gonna hate” hasn’t been a cool or edgy thing to say since Taylor Swift drove it into the ground. Given that this song STARTS with that line, I immediately rolled my eyes and checked out. And don’t even get me started on the use of the word “kamikaze” because I am SICK AND TIRED of people using that word so liberally because it “sounds cool” or whatever. Google it for five fucking seconds and you’ll see that it’s decidedly not the kind of term to be throwing around in your generic pop song with metaphors about flying.”
Sam – 6
“I first became aware of Maja Ivarsson from her feature on Cobra Starship’s seminal classic, “Snakes on a Plane (Bring It).” You know, the song written for the movie. I was 11 or 12 years old at the time, and through this introduction discovered The Sounds, a band I would listen to frequently throughout my teenage years. All of this to say: I am a big fan of Maja. I think she’s a very cool person who has sung some very cool songs, and it pains me that “Kamikaze Life” isn’t one of them. It’s not bad. On the surface it sounds very much like a Sounds song. Scratch that surface, though, and you find something dated, sanitized and frankly corny. It doesn’t help that with no staging to speak of, she’s competing with Mans and Kaj and Dolly Style. Still a fan, just disappointed.”
Total: 25/60
Highest: 8 (Jasmin)
Lowest: 2 (David, Rebecca)
Percentage: 42%
Boris – 6
“The penmanship of Laurel Barker is painfully present in this borderline culturally appropriative number (“oriental culture” is such an unnecessary blob to entangle yourself in, especially when you force an Afghan performer into a Egyptian bedlah to perform a Turkish choreography while singing a song with a Spanglish hook), which brings it down quite a bit. “Hush hush” is a bare step above “Wheels on the Bus” in terms of complexity and is hard-carried by its nondescript oriental nonsense, but I cannot deny that it is a damn’ catchy tune. It is -for its many flaws- an entertaining finalist, and one that doesn’t detract from this strong line-up.”
David – 3
“I wouldn’t even call this lyrics, but instead random sounds to some over-produced music. The song tries to have this Arabic sound, but has been absolutely brutalized by trying to be a pop song. The fact that it doesn’t sound more Arabic, truly bothers me, because the music from that region is mesmerizing as it is.”
DK – 10
“This is my most played song from Melfest, and one of my favorites from this entire NF season. It is just so infectious and a different sound from what we normally get from Sweden. It was an instant winner for me, so to see her not go DTF was very surprising. What was even more surprising was her hitting number 1 on Spotify Sweden for such a long time after her performance. Her live vocal needs work, maybe an extra pitch correction would benefit her. However, our Love is Blind Sweden alum has my favorite song from Melodifestivalen 2025.”
Jasmin – 7
“Oh Lord… my problematic fave. This happens when I hear a song like this several times. I start liking it and that directly conflicts with my initial thoughts about the song. You cannot unseen the cultural references in her performance, staging and styling. I love the color pallete used in the visuals and the choreo is spot on. However, that doesn’t change the fact that the song is just average at best.”
Rebecca – 3
“Absolutely do not wink at me like that, I will throw you out of a window. I’m pretty sure the only thing I like about this is the colour palette—other than that, it’s an uninteresting mess of nonsense lyrics like “I wanna feel / Da boom da boom da bae” and uninspired sex appeal.”
Sam – 6.5
“A perfectly respectable entry. I can’t decide if I appreciate its restraint or if I want it to be a little more bombastic (Düm Tek Tek obviously comes to mind here). “
Total: 35.5/60
Highest: 10 (DK)
Lowest: 3 (David, Rebecca)
Percentage: 59%
Boris – 3
“On a strict surface level, ‘Revolution’ is far from an unpleasant song. However, it is one of those tracks that worsen rapidly the more you scrutinize it. You start noticing flaws you do not expect in a worthy contender: How the soundtrack is riffs and chords from better songs such as ‘Wrecking Ball’ and Barei’s ‘Say Yay!’ dovertailed together, then window-dressed to sound like ‘Heroes’. How the lyrics are so basic they come across as AI-written. How the message -as one of the Aftonbladet people correctly noted- feels like a protest song for those with no true desire for change. Måns’s superhuman charisma barely keeps it afloat as he flails around inside a giant paper vulva. The song however is also peppered with big notes he cannot (and does not) land. By no means is ‘Revolution’ a song that should win Melfest, let alone Eurovision, but it sure as hell loves to behave like it is ‘The Winner’. This arrogance may blow up in Sweden’s faces like a frag grenade in Basel if left unaddressed. I am aware certain individuals are manifesting Måns as a Eurovision winner because the notion of an Israeli victory terrifies them, and those people underestimate the latter’s penchant for pathological unlikeability in the face of sympathy. Song contests should be won by the best song, and ‘Revolution’ -of all evils the least foul- isn’t that entry.”
David – 2
“All I’m hearing is the word “revolution” being screamed over and over. I’m personally bored from the song, it’s clearly aiming to be a pop song, so no idea why the need for a bit of country-vibe. Music is not as easily memorable either, and actually becomes stale and boring quickly. Over-producing songs, just don’t carry that authenticity, which is so hard to create.”
DK – 7.5
“Ok, let’s start with the obvious. Mans just knows how to do Melfest. If all the other male entries teeter towards that “mid-tempo” pop that is palatable to the cat ladies, Mans knows how to bridge that gap with everyone else. Let’s continue with the obvious, if he hadn’t won already with a song that sounds almost exactly like this, he’d be even more of a favorite. The vocals are clearly there and are impressive. He has an extremely contagious stage presence. For some reason I cannot shake that this will inevitably be a jury winner at Eurovision 2025… with barely getting a Top 10 televote. Sweden needs to choose wisely if they want to win again, and it’s not with Revolution.”
Jasmin – 6.5
“In 2015 we’ve fallen for the nice staging and a generic song and it seems most people decided that ten years later we should do the same. It must be the name that plays the role here because I believe this song wouldn’t have qualified if another singer had sung it. Sure, he can sing and the staging looks stunning, but the song lacks character. I definitely have some negative bias towards this and if it wins, I’m afraid we might be going to Sweden in 2026. Do you know an ostrich Emmanuel? I will quote its owner: “Sweden, don’t do it, don’t do it!” (they will do it anyways, won’t they?)”
Rebecca – 7.5
“Indulge me for a moment and pretend that “Heroes” doesn’t exist, and that you’ve never heard of this Måns Zelmerlöw guy before. Here’s what I think when I do just that: Måns is an incredibly charismatic performer with solid vocals and an impressive stage presence that works its magic on this admittedly pretty generic message. The song has a great piano riff to it and an awesome, hopeful energy that I get a little swept up in (partially thanks to Måns, if I had to guess). The biggest flaw that I can see here is the repetitiveness of the chorus (pre-chorus? I guess?), but that isn’t a criticism I can levy solely at this song. Another thing is the backing vocals—I feel like they drown Måns out in moments when he’s supposed to be belting strong notes that get your attention, and subsequently lessens the impact they could have. In all, I would say that this is a very standard Swedish package but it’s one of the more entertaining ones in my eyes. We’ve seen a fair few previous ESC winners return to the contest over the years, and without a doubt they are consistently held to a higher standard than most other artists—and for good reason. They already WON the damn contest once before, so if they want to do it again we have a pretty solid benchmark for what kind of quality it should be. Was Alexander Rybak’s “That’s How You Write A Song” as good as “Fairytale”? No. Was Loreen’s “Tattoo” as good as “Euphoria”? Also no. But the million-dollar question here: is “Revolution” as good as “Heroes”? Easily, the answer is once again no. However, I don’t think that means that this song is bad by any stretch of the imagination.”
Sam – 2
“It’s a tired pun, but I’ll make it anyway: “Heroes” was of its time. Its spiritual sequel, “Revolution” is also of that time. This is a song that would win Eurovision in 2015; I don’t see why it would in 2025. I think ESC winners should be banned from competing again, but at least “Tattoo” was both distinct from “Euphoria” and a good song in its own right – not just because Loreen sang it. “Revolution” isn’t automatically good just because it’s Måns. It isn’t good at all, in fact. Singing about a revolution is no small thing in the current global (and especially European) political climate. The most cynical take is that Måns knows this; that “Revolution” is a deliberate attempt to capitalize on the serious, scary, and legitimately consequential moment we find ourselves in from the safe side of the “no politics” rule. But Eurovision has always been political, and that rule has been skirted time and again with better songs that genuinely meant something to both the artist performing them and the voting public. “Revolution” is nothing more than lip service. It has nothing to say except, quite literally, “revolution,” over and over again. Its real meaning is what goes unsaid: “Is my inspiration porn turning you on?” Eurovision is a song contest; live performance is the medium through which the songs are conveyed, but a performance should draw out the song’s best qualities, not try to hide its shortcomings with a spectacle. With a song entirely devoid of substance, spectacle is all Måns has. The setting for Måns’ performance is a large black tunnel reminiscent of the life-size birth canal at Kendall Roy’s birthday party. He’s wearing a Matrix-style black trench coat. There’s confetti. The worst part is the climax, which is something straight out of Jesus Christ Superstar: the orchestral part comes in, the music swells, the wind machine kicks into overdrive, and the camera zooms in on Måns’ face gazing towards the heavens as if to say: “I’m so winning this shit.” I hope this loses to the silly sauna song. “
Total: 28.5/60
Highest: 7.5 (DK, Rebecca)
Lowest: 2 (David, Sam)
Percentage: 48%
Boris – 8
“It really just is strange how the sheer smell of success (such as randomly winning Heat 5 into a hilarious, Rylan-esque reaction) can cause one to do a complete 180 degree head turn turn. “I hate you so much” is loads of fun. Saga provides a great spirited performance of what is secretly a very well-written song about being stuck in a situationship that you both really want and yet don’t actually want to terminate. It’s a nice parable to how messed-up millennial relationships are these days, to a tune that couldn’t be more Swedish if it tried.”
David – 2
“I’m sorry, but this really doesn’t work out for me. You have this cheerful and energetic country-pop music, while singing about hating someone for the entirety of the song? It’s very contradicting and silly. Not a fan of these break-up songs, that just celebrates trash talking, you do you, but I don’t need to care.”
DK – 6.5
“One of the biggest shocks this entire NF season was Saga Ludvigsson winning her heat. As a Nashville native, I tend to lean towards these country-pop songs, mainly because while I am oversaturated with the next singer/songwriter moving here trying to chase their dreams, I do enjoy a cutesy bop. She is gorgeous, and has great stage presence. And yet, you hear the typical Sweden “HEY’s!” throughout that it made me sad and longing for Wiktoria to go back to her country roots.”
Jasmin – 7
“Sweden really has a thing for producing country excellence. This song slightly falls behind that category just because I find the chorus too weak and overly repetitive. However, the staging and performance are both in the excellence category. It is such an easy listen and it lifts my mood.”
Rebecca – 4
“I wouldn’t have expected a SECOND country pop song out of the Melodifestivalen final this year, but hey, sure. This is a very early Taylor Swift coded song with a modern Taylor Swift coded performance. On that note, I’m not much of a Taylor Swift fan, so this isn’t doing it for me. A lot of what I said about Klara Hammarström applies here, because objectively there’s not much wrong with this, so it basically comes down to personal preference. Frankly, I think Dolly Style gave us a more memorably country pop performance.”
Sam – 6.5
“I do like this. It’s very cute, offering early Kacey Musgraves vibes. That said, do we really need this if we have “Yihaa?” While “Yihaa” leans hard into its Y2K roots, “Hate You So Much” flirts dangerously with 2010s stomp-clap-hey music. “
Total: 34/60
Highest: 8 (Boris)
Lowest: 2 (David)
Percentage: 57%
Boris – 9.5
“FALLING IN LOVE WITH LIFE AGAIIIIIIIIIIN ::twirls skirts::. Once again, I am BLINDSIDED by how much I love Annika Wickihalder! She’s on Måns’s level in terms of sheer charisma – there’s no other place that woman would rather be than on a stage, performing her songs and it shows. “Life again” is a fairly standard gospel ballad that would be a dead fish with a lesser performer. However, Annika breathes life into it and turns it into a very endearing three minutes. Can we please stop handing inane mid-range hand-me-downs to this very talented, highly charismatic performance wonder? As soon as Annika is given anything resembling “competitive” she will Melodifestivalen and then Eurovision, mark my words.”
David – 2
“A cheerful and positive song, which quickly becomes boring. The song starts out with a bang and is like that all the time, so there’s no build-up really, and it remains the same in sound the entire time. The song quickly becomes stale because of that, and easily the interest is gone, despite the cute and positive message of the song.”
DK – 6
“Annika comes back with another power ballad, and a staging that is eerily similar to Lisa Ajax’s My Heart Wants Me Dead. Let’s start with some positives, she has an amazing vocal, and clearly has a tone that will take her far. The song is good, with a lower case g, not great. This song comes and goes for me, and in a sea of competitors that give me just a little more, she fades in the back”
Jasmin – 6
“A lot of vocals, fabric, and above all, positive vibes. Something in the production gave me The Mammas vibes, I think they would sweep the competition with this song. That being said, I am not the biggest fan of it. It’s good for what it is but I’m not connection with it for some reason.”
Rebecca – 7
“Wow, what a stunning voice. Annika has such a cute, sweet stage presence. Her little shuffle-dance while holding her skirt is so adorable and endearing. The song has a great message that I immediately click with, and even makes me feel a little choked up. Everything here just falls into place very nicely for me. So wonderful!”
Sam – 3
“I won’t make the obvious Hera Bjork comparison, except I guess I just did. This song does nothing for me. It feels…sterile. Corporate, even. Music to listen to while trying on jeans at the mall. Her dancers stomping around on that stage don’t help matters. “
Total: 33.5/60
Highest: 9.5 (Boris)
Lowest: 2 (David)
Percentage: 56%
Boris – 8.5
“I don’t know whether three Finnish Swedes in suits singing a homebrew shanty about sauna culture can beat the ghost of Måns Zelmerlöw – that we can consider the outcome is excitement gold on its own. What is definitely without question however, is that KAJ went viral in Sweden for a reason. “Bara bada bastu” is a party banger in its own right, a STARK contrast with the tried, tired and terminally unfunny novelty proliferated by the likes of Tommy Trash and Joost Nein. The key lies in that “Bara bada bastu” is also beautifully choreographed, sung very well and feels authentic. It is a song as much as it is an act. The title of “Final Obstacle for Måns to Overcome” doesn’t quite do KAJ justice. If Sweden went for this one (and frankly, they should), they would do very well in Basel.”
David – 9
“Sauna! It’s quirky, it’s silly, but if this doesn’t make you smile, then nothing will. An absolute charmer of a song, which shows that Swedish music can be awesome, even with a few Finnish words thrown in. It’s a party starter that just shouldn’t stop. Really easy for people to even hop along with and sing along to.”
DK – 9
“Eurovision 2025 has a plethora of campy, fun songs that are clear televote baits. Yet, none of them have the heart and soul that KAJ has. Normally a song like this gets and eyeroll and pass from me, yet there are so many moments in this song that really impress me. The vocal is passable, actually trending towards GOOD rather than shitty like similar songs coughs Tommy Cash. The song is extremely catchy. The staging is captivating, tells a story that you can clearly understand even if you don’t speak Swedish. While I don’t expect Sweden to go with KAJ, I think they are due for a changeup that would not only bring joy and fun to the contest, but make the world fall in love with Sweden all over again.”
Jasmin – 9
“I’d expect something like this from Latvia, but not from Sweden. I don’t believe they have a courage to send something quirky and fun like this. 2025 surely is a year of “whacky” so this would fit in just right. The chorus is contagious, the performance is hilarious, what is there not to like? They even brought sauna on stage… Sweden, I hope you can make smart choices because this sweeps the televote in the final easily.”
Rebecca – 8.5
“Do my ears deceive me? Am I hearing… a song sung in Swedish? And not just Swedish, but a dialect on top of that?!? What alternate dimension did I fall into??? Okay, so forget what I said all the way up the top about Dolly Style being the closest Sweden will ever get to a “gag” entry, because this is CLEARLY the superior on that front. This is so much fun, and honestly I think it would be the perfect addition to this year’s fun, eclectic group of songs with good vibes, silly shenanigans and bangin’ beats. Sweden has become known in recent years for their perfectly polished English-language pop songs, and this is just the most satisfying palate cleanser. It’s absurd without being messy or pandering. It has a clear tie to local culture and language. It has an unreasonably catchy chorus that I will be humming for weeks. AND it still has Swedish levels of polish in the production. What’s not to love here?”
Sam – 9
“While the rest of us chuckled at the Moomins during last year’s interval performance, the members of Kaj were having a eureka moment. The thought of “Revolution” losing to this very silly, very fun, and very well-executed song about the joy of the sauna fills me with, well, joy. And I mean it when I say well-executed; something like this could have been sloppy, it could have been half-assed, but instead it’s staged like a musical theatre number and I am so pleased.”
Total: 53/60
Highest: 9 (David, DK, Jasmin & Sam)
Lowest: 8.5 (Boris, Rebecca)
Percentage: 88%
THE RANKING
Now that we’ve rated everyone, let’s look at the ranking and see who wins:
- KAJ – “Bara bada bastu” – 88%
- Dolly Style – “Yihaa!” – 73%
- Scarlet – “Sweet ‘n’ Psycho” – 68%
- Klara Hammarström – “On and on and on” – 66%
- Greczula – “Believe me” – 59%
- Erik Segerstedt – “Show me what love is” – 59%
- Meira Omar – “Hush Hush” – 59%
- Saga Ludvigsson – “Hate you so much” – 57%
- Annika Wickihalder – “Life again” – 56%
- John Lundvik – “Voice of the silent” – 54%
- Måns Zelmerlöw – “Revolution” – 48%
- Maja Ivarsson – “Kamikaze life” – 42%
KAJ obliterate the competition in our poll, and take first place with an impressive 88%! they got over 8/10 from all six of our editors! Meira Omar loses the median tiebreaker to Erik Segerstedt, and strands in 7th place, followed by Saga and Annika. Måns and Maja score a failing grade and make up the bottom two.
A clear statement from our six reviewers that they would like to see something else happen at Melodifestivalen tonight. Whether the Swedish audience and the international jury share this sentiment remains to be seen. We’ll know at 20:00 CET, which is when the Melodifestivalen final starts!
VOTING CHART
For a more comprehensive look at who voted for what song, consult our voting chart:
As a final note: thank you for reading our reviews all season. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading our ramblings as much as we’ve enjoyed writing and bickering about them. We’ll be back next year with more opinions, for as long as there is a contest to write about! See you next year!
What do #YOU think of the Melfest finalists? Let us know on our forum, or visit us on Facebook, X(Twitter), Instagram, Youtube, and Discord.
