28.3.09

ESC goes Bollywood

It has been pretty busy a casa Posh since after the Globen weekend. I finally saw Melodifestivalen on TV four days ago. I even saw the voting again and loved Måns look when Petra Mede read the televotes. Classic tv. Alcazar's number looked very good but I was disappointed that you couldn't hear how everybody in the hall cheered and clapped the whole song through. In Caroline's number on the other hand the spontanious clapping was very much there and it gave me goosebumps. Again. Just a shame she got so taken that she forgot the lyrics in the end...

On Monday night Posh was reunited with old Becks and our pal Thomas for dinner and eurovision-gossip. We agreed on most songs in 2009 but as always my taste is the most exquisite! Wednesday I had a little marathon watching the preview videos of all Eurovision songs. I now own them on a dvd. Hurrah!

One of the songs that surprised me the most was Armenia. I didn't like it very much when I saw the performance from their final with shaky sound quality on youtube. This is why one should really wait for the previews and listen to all songs in good quality the first time instead. Most songs grew for me. Specially this one.


Armenia. Inga & Anush - "Nor Par"

Thanks to the success of Slumdog Millionaire I am sure that Armenia will score more than well. I wouldn't be surprised or particularly unhappy if the sisters gave the young Norwegian a run for his money. Start betting now!

17.3.09

Not going solo anymore


The presenters for the two semi finals in Moscow have been made public. The name Andrey Malahov doesn't say me much but apparently he is a TV-presenter in Russia. His co-host on the other hand is a well-known name in Eurovision circles - Alsou - who came 2nd in Globen 2000 singing Solo. She is as gorgeous as ever and knowing that she has spent a lot of time in London over the years would mean that her English is fluent. If I remember correctly her English was good already 9 years ago when she was only 17. I'm sure they will make a good team and make their mother country proud.

16.3.09

The draw has been made

Earlier today the running order in the semi finals was made. It's not the best possible draw for Sweden but I still think that Malena will sail through since the average standard of songs is quite low. I will be as bold as to predict the 10 from each semi that will get to the final already at this stage. Remember this and then scroll down to this piece in May and we'll see if I was right or not. The qualifyers are marked with a star (*).

The first semi-final
Tuesday 12 May
1. Montenegro *
2. Czech Republic
3. Belgium
4. Belarus
5. Sweden *
6. Armenia *
7. Andorra
8. Switzerland *
9. Turkey *
10. Israel
11. Bulgaria (chosen with a wildcard)
12. Iceland *
13. FYR Macedonia
14. Romania
15. Finland *
16. Portugal (chosen with a wildcard) *
17. Malta (chosen with a wildcard) *
18. Bosnia & Herzegovina *

The second semi-final
Thursday 14 May
1. Croatia
2. Ireland
3. Latvia
4. Serbia
5. Poland
6. Norway *
7. Cyprus
8. Slovakia
9. Denmark *
10. Slovenia *
11. Hungary *
12. Azerbaijan *
13. Greece *
14. Lithuania *
15. Moldova *
16. Albania *
17. Ukraine (chosen with a wilcard)
18. Estonia (chosen with a wildcard) *
19. The Netherlands (chosen with a wildcard)

Only 5 countries are already in the final (the big four + the host country) out of the 25 entries we will see on stage Saturday 16 May. They were drawn to sing in this order:
3. France
10. Russia
17. Germany
23. UK
25. Spain (chosen with a wildcard)

15.3.09

The voting almost killed me



Winner of Melodifestivalen 2009 is Malena Ernman with "La voix". Congratulations to her and composer Fredrik Kempe. But it was a close race with my big favourite Caroline af Ugglas who came second, only 11 points behind. And more interesting - less than 4.000 televotes differed between the two women. It has never been that tight in the top ever before. Also, never before have the jury and the people had such different taste. I was well disappointed when Måns was in the lead and questioned what the members of the jury actually listened to. Fine, the voting sequence was TOO exciting for words and pretty darn good television but why, why, why would the juries vote for a song so similar to what we sent last year that fell flat in Eurovision? Aren't they supposed to have guide lines on how to think? (Fresh sound etc.)

It was amazing to be in the audience inside Globen to witness the whole shebang. Alcazar was clearly the favourite among the schlagerfans there but EMD had heaps of fans of their own in the seats too. I was sitting on the right side of the stage, just above the greenroom. Great seats and fun to follow the performers after they had been on stage. Caroline was dancing with hands and legs like crazy just like during the dress rehearsal to the other songs and became totally wild when "Tingeling" was performed. All singers stood up and danced to that. I haven't seen the broadcast yet but the camera must have caught them. I want to go out partying with that Owl-woman at some point during my lifetime. Such energy and devotion. Petra Mede and Malena Ernman could tag along too. Now, that would be a night to remember!

The final result looked pretty much like what I predicted yesterday. Except that Malena got far less love from the jury than I thought and Måns got more. I had been extremely disappointed if Måns or EMD would have gone to Moscow. Malena wasn't my first choice but I am pleased with the result and I think she will land Sweden a top 10 placing in Eurovision for sure. The Moscow line up is not the strongest of years so perhaps she'll do even better. Måns and EMD would have disappeard in the middle. I am not bitter about Caroline's second place as I never dared to believe all the hype. It was just too good to be true and I know that Caroline is more than overwhelmed with the result. Although now that I know how close it really was I can't help but think the "what if"-game.

Here is the result!

1. Malena Ernman - La voix 182p
2. Caroline af Ugglas - Snälla snälla 171p
3. EMD - Baby goodbye 145p
4. Måns Zelmerlöw - Hope & Glory 144p
5. Alcazar - Stay the night 139p
6. Sarah Dawn Finer - Moving on 87p
7. HEAT - 1000 miles 82p
8. Agnes - Love love love 40p
9. Emilia - You're my world 28p
10. Sofia - Alla 12p
11. Molly Sandén - Så vill stjärnorna 2p


The Swedish televotes:
1. Malena Ernman 322.657
2. Caroline af Ugglas 318.952
3. EMD 231.098
4. Alcazar 199.014
5. Måns Zelmerlöw 182.651
6. HEAT 178.283
7. Sarah Dawn Finer 146.300
8. Molly Sandén 51.467
9. Agnes 49.819
10. Emilia 48.844
11. Sofia 19.885
A total of 1.748.970 televotes were registered.

The jury voted:
1. Måns 96
2. Sarah 75
3. Alcazar 67
4. HEAT 58
5. Caroline 51
6. EMD 49
7. Agnes 40
8. Malena 38
9. Emilia 28
10. Sofia 12
11. Molly 2

I'm off to a MF-dinner now with friends but when I come back I will sit down and watch Melodifestivalen on TV and then probably come up with more things I want to say about the show.

14.3.09

Melodifestivalen 2009 á la Posh

There is no way that I can predict the outcome of tonight's final but I'll give you my own opinions and a few pointers to how I think the jury and the Swedes might vote.

1. Måns Zelmerlöw - Hope & Glory 3/5
A good MF-song and could have worked in ESC a few years ago. Not one year after Hero though. The song will be played to death on radio and in schlager bars but that is enough thank you. 1-4th place.

2. Caroline af Ugglas - Snälla, snälla 5/5
Go back to my comment on the first semi final and see what I wrote. I knew quality from the beginning. I love the song and I love that Caroline is so different from all the other singers. I would be honored to have Snälla, snälla represent Sweden.

3. Agnes - Love love love 3½/5
While I hear the song I like it a lot but then I kind of forget about it. Agnes is gorgeous in her golden outfit but will her voice cut it tonight? Not too sure. I fear that she'll end up in the bottom and she deserves better than that. Think that many people could have the song as their second or third choice but not enough will actually vote for it.

4. HEAT - 1000 Miles 2/5
Good voice. Good schlager-rock. Boring performance. Would go nowhere in Eurovision this year. It used to be Finland that sent songs 2-3 years after everybody else had the same style but in this case it would be the other way around. Mid-table.

5. Emilia - You're my world 3/5
Cute and nice. Sounds positive but those words never leads anywhere in this competition. You need to stand out more to earn votes. I enjoy the song but same as with Agnes I forget about it when the song is over. Bottom half.

6. Alcazar - Stay the night 4/5
Professional number and a very effective chorus. Clubs will play it after MF. Could work in Eurovision but it won't get that far because since when did Alcazar get higher than 3rd place? Mid-table.

7. Sarah Dawn Finer - Moving on 5/5
A bombastic rock ballad sung by a voice strong as Koskenkorva. I still don't understand why people don't rate the song higher? I got goosebumps when I heard it live yesterday and it just grows and grows on me. Top 4 would be fair!

8. EMD - Baby, Goodbye 2/5
I am so bored with this group. So, so bored. Danny should just ditch the other two and come back next year with a cracker song instead. That would work for me. At the same time I know how effective the chorus is and it will score well. Keeping my fingers crossed that they won't be our first choice.

9. Sofia - Alla 1/5
Not up to standard with the rest of the songs tonight. The song is ok but Sofia ain't no Anna Vissi as I've said before. Just think if the international jury had picked BWO for this spot instead! Bottom half for sure.

10. Molly Sandén - Så vill stjärnorna 1½/5
Molly is a good singer. Very good. But she deserved a much better song than this old fashioned standard ballad. With another song I would happily have showed her off for the rest of Europe to see. Oh well, maybe next year...

11. Malena Ernman - La voix 4/5
I did not like anything about the song when I heard the 1 minute clip online. I was annoyed with Malena's low voice in the verses too. Then I saw the performance and thought it was ok. Then I listened to the song some more in full and liked it better for each time. Now I see what the fuzz was about and I could very well send opera to Moscow. Never thought I'd say that but there you go.

Funny how my two favourites are from Andra Chansen.

Alright, so I think that the juries will give high marks to Sarah, Alcazar, Malena and Caroline. Low marks to EMD, Molly and Sofia (except the international jury perhaps).

The Swedes will give high marks to EMD, Måns, Caroline and Malena. A bit less to Alcazar, Sarah, HEAT and Agnes. That leaves Sofia, Molly and Emilia without points on the scoreboard from the televoting.

In this scenario the overall winner would then be one of the following: Malena, Caroline, EMD, Måns or Sarah. That is as much as I am willing to put on print. If you blackmail me I'd say that Malena will win...

Are you ready Globen?

I scribbled down a few notes during the dress rehearsal in Globen last night so everybody will know what to expect tonight...

- The opening is a clip of Petra Mede together with the singers in a board room. Then comes Christer Björkman driving into Globen in a golf cart with Petra as the queen of schlager singing a battle song to the music of Kylie's Your disco needs you. I couldn't hear much of the lyrics except the words Moscow, Hallelujah and Fight. After the golf cart the singers walk together in a troop up on stage. Petra then has a stand-up before the first song. She was witty all the way through the show.

- The audience were supportive of Måns throughout the song but I was getting bored half way through.

- Caroline got a spontanious applaud after the first "Snälla, snälla" and on one more occation. Oh, I am so in love with that song!

- Between song 2 and 3 Petra Mede is at it again. For me one of the funniest jokes of the night. Quite subtile but worked wonders. Exactly my kind of humour.

- Agnes did not get a heavy response before the song but when it explodes into disco after the first few lines people started clapping. The number is well placed after Caroline's naked performance. But what is wrong with her voice? Wonders if she was just saving it for today or if she's not well? She let the backing singers do the heavy work most of the time.

- The audince start clapping to HEAT from the beginning. The lead singer's voice is really very good. I couldn't sit still myself but the staging is boring. Little fires of pyro don't help much but the respons in the hall for 1000 Miles was good.

- A comedy postcard from Shirley Clamp is next. Perfect! Loved it and the line "Ett kycklinglår, åh så gott" will stay in my heart forever.

- What a joyful little number and Emilia is adorable. I couldn't sit still. Cute and with an addition of a pyro in the last chorus.

- Alcazar got a huge response before their presentation and before they even got up on stage. Talk about clapping along for support once the song started. And holy cow how good the number looks! The LED-screens works wonders when you are in the hall. The group saved their voices but still had heaps of energy and danced like crazy. Most applauds afterwards so far in the show.

- Sarah gave me schlagertastic goosebumps as soon as she opened her mouth. Whistles and applauds every now and then from the crowd. Her voice is increadably strong live. Almost lifted the roof. Wow!

- People with seats on the floor stood up throughout EMD:s performace clapping their little hands as hard as they possibly could. And the number IS a crowd-pleaser. The change of clothes was a smart move. Now you can actually see who is singing and who is just dancing. However, I could only hear Danny and not the other two guys. Loud applauds in the end. Me on the other hand just got Martin Stenmarck vibes. I don't believe in this in Moscow. At all.

- Poor Sofia coming after a big favourite. She recieved a few polite applauds in the beginning but they quickly faded away. It's an ok song but it doesn't touch people or speak to them whatsoever. The audience were suspicous and the applauds in the end stopped before Sofia got off stage.

- How sugary and innocent the stage show and Molly looks. The song is nowhere near as good as she is. Shame. But what's with the vibrato? Was something wrong with the microphone? Was she nervous? Or was it there back in the semi final as well?

- What luck Malena has coming straight after a Disney ballad and ending the whole thing. Handclapping as soon as the disco starts pumping in the first verse. Her voice is even stronger than Sarah's. My God, she doesn't even need a microphone to fill Globen. Amazing!

- At this point it felt rather obvious that the winner is going to be Malena. She blew the others away completely. But if people already decided before the show who they would vote for then they will probably stick with that choice as nobody made a fool out of themselves. (Except maybe Mathias in EMD but that's just my personal view...)

- During the reprise of the songs Caroline was gesticulating with great feeling in the greenroom. She seemed to like all the songs and was very supportive. Was fun to see. She reminded me of Siw Malmkvist in 1996 when she was singing and dancing during the songs when she was a presenter, standing on the side of the stage.

- Next is the international jury supposed to give their points while the viewers can still vote. A special guest who has been in this jury will come on stage to give the votes. Who it is is a secret until tonight but it appears to be someone people will recognise. A safe bet is Dana International.

- While SVT collects the voting from the regular juries we get to hear "Tingeling tingeling" on stage with a touch of Russia. Tacky dancers and the lot. I wonder what SVT was thinking? They will get in so much trouble over this when angry Russians take actions. It's not very flattering to the country and full of prejudice.

- Petra Mede is always hilarious in the greenroom chatting to the singers. She was saving the real jokes for today so she was just chit-chatting with them about nothing and still managed to be funny. Looking forward to this part tonight!

- The 11 juries cast their votes before the last reprise of the songs since the viewers can vote a few more minutes. This time Emilia was dancing away to all the songs in the greenroom and the members of HEAT went crazy when La Voix came on.

- While people are voting there's a clip of MF-songs in the last ten years ending with the obligatory performance of last year's winning song. This time MotoBoy interprets Hero. He does a decent job but wasn't as good as when I saw him do Dusty Springfield covers a few months ago.

- The televotes will be in at this point and the result will be ready to announce. During the rehearsal Therese Löf sang Hero as the show ended instead of a mockup winner from the competing songs. Caroline and Emilia were at it again dancing like crazy. On a personal level I would prefer if Caroline sing instead of dance at the end of the program tonight.

I should be so lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky

Tonight is the night! It's all very exciting because about half of the songs have a good shot at winning. It's been years since it was such an open field. So please vote tonight!

My dreams last night were full of schlager references. Petra Mede and I became best friends for instance. We were tipsy and giggly and had lots of fun. At some point Malena Ernman showed up as well together with a bunch of children. (My daytime job is in a pre-school. They were extremely envious of me going to the dress rehearsal. When asked who they'd vote for the answer was Malena and Alcazar.)

Then I woke up with Moving on playing in my ears. A few years ago that was a sure tip for what song would win on the night but lately I've lost my ability. In a few hours we'll know. Well actually I woke up to a text message from a Finnish friend asking if I would want a ticket for the live show as he had a spare one. I said yes please. So now I'm off to Globen again! Two nights in a row! That sort of thing has happened to me before. A ticket falling into my lap in the last minute. Eurovision 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006. Lucky me!!

12.3.09

Posh's Dream Final

As promised, my dream 11 out of the 32 songs in Melodifestivalen 2009. In no particular order.

1. Caroline af Ugglas - Snälla, snälla
2. Alcazar - Stay the night
3. Måns Zelmerlöw - Hope & Glory
4. Sarah Dawn Finer - Moving on
5. Agnes - Love love love
6. Malena Ernman - La voix
7. BWO - You're not alone
8. Anna Sahlene & Maria Haukaas Storeng - Killing me tenderly
9. Velvet - The Queen
10. Cookies n Beans - What if
11. Jennifer Brown - Never been here before

All in all the Swedes chose good songs to go to Globen but I would have skipped five of them in order to save some gems I will listen to for a long time to come. Admit that my personal top 11 looks much better than the actual result?!


BWO so deserved a place in the final. This will bug me forever.


Easily one of my top 3 songs of the year. Anna & Maria.

Tomorrow night will be spent in Globen with the real finalists singing their little hearts out during the dress rehearsal. Will be back with comments. But I doubt I'll change my mind on who will get my vote on Saturday. Caroline is the one and only for me. My crush on her song keeps growing and growing.

10.3.09

Sweet Schlager Hallelujah!


Just to let everybody outside Sweden know exactly how big Melodifestivalen is in my country... Today I found out that the Swedish church in London will be showing the final of Melodifestivalen on big screens. Imagine that. It won't be inside the actual church though but still on their premises. Yes, schlager is as close to a Swedish religion you can come. Thumbs up to the Swedish church in London! (Once upon a time when I lived in London I used to go there for movie nights and to read Swedish gossip magazines. Very friendly place.)

The Balkan Alcazar

The Montenegrins go all copycats on us too. They don't want to be worse than the Belgians of course. But instead of Elvis they have cloned Alcazar and Deen for their video clip.



But when you think about it, it's much more Ralph Siegel than Alcazar after all. Siegel on a somewhat good day I might add. No Corinna May in sight, thank God!

Elvis has left the building

The Belgians are going all Elvis on us! In a year without many novelty acts this Copycat stands out. I kind of enjoy the song and think it could work better live on stage than in the video clip.


Belgium 2009. Patrick Ouchène - "Copycat"

8.3.09

MF 2009 Running order

The running order in Globen has been decided. Who gets your vote on Saturday? Vote in the poll on the left side and comment below.

1. Måns Zelmerlöw - "Hope & Glory"



2. Caroline af Ugglas - "Snälla, snälla"



3. Agnes - "Love Love Love"



4. H.E.A.T - "1000 Miles"



5. Emilia - "You're My World"



6. Alcazar - "Stay The Night"



7. Sarah Dawn Finer - "Moving On"



8. EMD - "Baby, Goodbye"



9. Sofia - "Alla"



10. Molly Sandén - "Så vill stjärnorna"



11. Malena Ernman - "La Voix"



Looks like SVT has made up their minds about what songs they want to see fight it off in the top. Statistically starting position number 1, 6, 7 and the last one (here 11 instead of 10) are the ones they put the songs with the biggest potential.

That leaves Caroline af Ugglas with number 2 - the worst spot of them all. How cowardly of Björkman to do that. But if anybody is going to re-write history it is Ugglas. Fingers crossed. And I am basically just happy that Caroline will sing "Snälla, snälla" live to me in a crowded Globen Friday night during the dress rehearsal. It will be pure magic in the air!

Listening to all entries one after another like this make me realise what a strong line up we have. Still I would have preferred a few adjustments if I were in charge. Posh's dream 10 (or 11 rather) will be presented later during the week.

And over in the eastern parts

Russia and Estonia chose entries last night.


Russia 2009. Anastasia Prihodko - "Mamo"

Not as spectacular and modern as I had expected from Russia but it could grow if the performance changes for the better during the weeks to come.


Estonia 2009. Urban Symphony - "Rändajad"

I feel sorry for my favourite Laura and her Destiny which only reached 3rd place. But Rändajad was probably my second favourite with the Enya inspired sound. Could work quite well in Eurovision. I wonder what the other fiddle-country this year, Slovenia, think of this?

No surprises in Andra Chansen

Yes! Yes! Yes! The two songs I wanted to win last night actually did. I am so, so, so happy for Caroline af Ugglas. I voted 3 times for her. According to polls in tabloids and blogs she was the true star of Andra Chansen and I'm ecstatic that people fell for quality. Same goes for Sarah Dawn Finer. Powerful. My only loss is that BWO didn't beat Lili & Susie but I saw that coming. My predictions from last weekend were pretty accurate.

Scotts vs Sarah Dawn Finer
Jag tror på oss is dull as ditch water even though they shaped up the performance. Nothing could stand in the way of the Finest. Not even a bad cold.

Lili & Susie vs BWO
I love You're not alone but I was prepared for failure. Some Swedes just don't like that Alexander Bard speaks his mind and was, I guess, fed up with him and seeing BWO in the final every year. Shame. Show me heaven is a real stomper and people felt nostalgic but I thought the sisters had a bit too much fun on stage and forgot to sing in tune. It WAS a bit shouty.

Amy Diamond vs Star pilots
This duel was not exciting at all as I didn't care. Amy wasn't on top for some reason and Star pilots has a very effective chorus. Plus they were still in people's memory from last Saturday. But Becker was more screaming than singing in my opinion.

Rigo vs Caroline af Ugglas
I got u is fun while the song is on and it will no doubt become a hit on radio but I'm glad people realised that they will grow tired of the repetitive yoyoyoyoyoyooo and instead favoured the genuin and odd Snälla, snälla.

In the second round where SDF and L&S battled I weren't 100 percent sure but had my suspicions. Had L&S won then SDF had still got through with help of the international jury for sure. Now she got there without their help.

Between Carro and the pilots my hopes where sky high but underneath I was shaking. But I didn't have to worry as my fellow Swedes took to their senses and rewarded the best song and performance.

The International jury chose Sofia and her Alla to become the 11th entry in the final. With Sarah and Caroline already there the choice was just between Sofia and Amy.

2.3.09

Dress rehearsal Friday 13th


In all my anger yesterday over the stupid voting I went online to ticnet.se and bought myself 3 tickets for the Globen dress rehearsal. Wohoo! I thought everything would be sold out by now, even rehearsal tickets, but I was lucky. So now I can write a real review and publish it on here for the final. I won't be able to take any photos as we are faaaar, faaaar away (just under the roof in section C24-25 somewhere) but I'll listen good at Petra's jokes and response in the hall for the songs etc. etc. Really looking forward to this now! See you there?!?

1.3.09

And the winner is...

During the week you can vote for your 2 favourites in Andra Chansen in the new poll here on the left side. Please do! If you need to freshen up your memory of the songs then look and listen over at SVT Play or buy the CD. You don't need to think about what songs are competing against each other, just focus on what two songs you like the best and would want to see in Globen. On a personal level I have trouble leaving 1 out of this bunch: Moving on, You're not alone and Snälla, snälla.

Love love love la voix is moving on higher

Last night the result in MF semi 4 went like this:
Globen
Agnes - Love love love
Malena Ernman - La voix
Andra Chansen
Sarah Dawn Finer - Moving on
Star pilots - Higher
5. Thorleifs - Sweet kissin' in the moonlight
6. Next 3 - Esta noche
7. Sahlene/Haukaas - Killing me tenderly
8. Susanne Alfvgren - Du är älskad där du går

Was that the evening of the "skrälls" or what?!

- Sarah will meet Scotts in Andra Chansen next week while Star pilots will go up against Amy Diamond. I have a feeling they will both come out winners in those duels. But that does not mean that they are safe. Sarah will then meet either Lili & Susie or BWO. The pilots will meet either Rigo or Caroline af Ugglas. I sincerely hope it will be Caroline and that she will move on to Globen. I'm torn between Sarah and BWO as I'd love to have them both in the final.

- The international jury picked Moving on. Thank heavens for that! Even though I wouldn't have minded Killing me tenderly either. In previous weeks the jury has also picked Snälla snälla, It's my life and Alla.

- Petra Mede goes from strength to strength. She was great chatting in the greenroom and before and after the duels. Specially with the breast-and-voice-women. Did you see how resolute Fredrik Kempe looked when he came on stage to hug Malena and Sarah? He wrote both songs and probably felt like he couldn't be overly happy for just one of them. Also loved the "commercial spot" for Absolute Bortglömd. Hillarious! :)

- Agnes was ace! She looked gorgeous in her golden catsuit and her big hair. The whole number looked very professional and the song itself stood out in a very good way. Right choice to send her straight to Globen. I voted for her in the duel.

- On the other hand were Star pilots not the least fun to watch. The camera work lowered the act for me even more. But the song is pretty good and will get lots of airplay from now on.

- Susanne did her thing and was rather good at it but the song was too plain in its full 3 minutes. People forgot about it when it was time to vote or found other entries they liked better.

- I am still immensely annoyed and disappointed over the fact that people didn't get what a fabulous song Anna Sahlene and Maria Haukaas Storeng performed. Almost last? What a cruel joke! I voted and will love Killing me tenderly forever.

- I was afraid Thorleifs would go to Globen so thank you for not rewarding them higher than 5th. That was high enough after seeing their poor performance. If I thought the song had a little something based on the snippet then all fell apart when I heard the whole song and saw the dansband on stage.

- Sarah's voice is beautiful and her presence on stage is magical. The number looked wonderful and the song was lovely from the start. Why oh why wasn't she the winner in the last duel? Maybe people need to hear it more than once to understand. That's why I am confident that she'll walk it in Andra Chansen.

- More people voted for Next 3 than Sahlene/Haukaas. The scenario is like a nightmare to me. The chorus is ok but the rest... Am I getting old or what's the deal here?

- Malena Ernman's song grew a lot on me after hearing the whole song and seeing her on stage. It is still not my favourite and I hate the fact that it won over Moving on but it was probably my 4th favourite after seeing and hearing all entries last night.

The Swedes are killing me



I voted for Sahlene/Haukaas. For me it was the best song last night together with Sarah Dawn Finer. Perhaps even the two best songs in MF this year. What's the reward for that? A bloody 7th place (Killing me tenderly) and Andra Chansen (Moving on). I'm positive Sarah will reach Globen one way or another but her chances of winning the whole deal has reduced remarkably. In Andra Chansen she has to meet BWO or Lili & Susie. Tough game. Otherwise there's the international jury. The Swedes can be so phony sometimes...