Poor Nour

This week's storm in a teacup concerns a subject I thought about touching ever since the first week of Melodifestivalen this year. Partially, MF has been one great big television fest - brilliant television and an exciting contest in a luxurious wrapping. Even Sven Stojanovic, responsible for some of the most mediocre camera work through the history of MF and ESC, is doing his best and the result is very good.

Some things are not as hot, though. Some ideas have not worked out, but that is normal. SVT have tried to vary the show and some ideas don't work. Natural.

One of the things that have worked really badly is the short interview sequence after each song, where young Nour El-Refai has tried to get something sensible out of the singers. Mission impossible. They are on an adrenaline high and just scream things like "What a wonderful audience!" and other deep thoughts.

Last year, Christer Björkman tried the same and failed the same way and had some criticism for that. And now some singers have made some very explicit comments on Nour and her (lack of) talent. Poor Nour took the whole thing really badly and has been absent from the rehearsals today.

I have seen Nour in other contexts, where she came across as very bright, funny and intelligent. The complete fiasco in MF is not her fault, it is the sequence that doesn't work. It should be cut out - nobody can make anything good out of it.

Being angry with Nour is very much like shooting the weather guy every time there is a storm or rain on its way. Don't shoot the messenger. Or the interviewer. Be angry with the producer instead.