Melodifestivalen 2020 Finalen Sweden’s Eurovision Selection By Fred Medeiros This is the 60th edition of one the most popular national finals again taking place in Friends Arena, Stockholm. After several surprise results this year, within the semi-finals, the final is bound to be a very close contest indeed. The bookies, the Swedish charts, Spotify, YouTube and press all have different favourites.
THE SHOW
The show starts off with our three hosts introducing the twelve finalists via an elaborate song and dance number.
Melodi 1 - Victor Crone “Troubled Waters” Last year’s Estonian representative delivers a singer/songwriter-style song whilst spending a great deal of time lying on the stage while interacting with the floor graphics. Although he is very handsome there isn’t much else to distinguish his performance against the other finalists. The song isn’t bad actually but I question his vocal ability without the pre- recorded/backing singers, he doesn’t portray the presence this song needs to truly shine.
Melodi 2 - Paul Rey “Talking in My Sleep” The first of the Andra Chansen qualifiers, Talking in My Sleep is an emotional ballad sung by a street rough vocalist. The song works well in delivering its message of longing for a failed love enhanced with holographic shadows during the chorus. Paul Rey lacks the raw emotion and stage presence that a song like this needs to buy into its narrative.
Melodi 3 - The Mamas “Move” Last year’s backing group of the winning Melfest song Too Late For Love with John Lundvik are back this year to take the lead on Move. Not vastly different in style to Too Late For Love but with a more of Supremes/Dreamgirls style performance without losing its gospel roots. The Mamas really deliver the song well and I feel this may be the dark horse of the evening.
Melodi 4 - Mohambi “Winners” Another finalist from last year, Mohambi finished fifth overall with Hello. Winners is another great song for Mohambi but it lacks the killer hook that Hello had. The only act to have a change to their staging from the semis, I’m not convinced will be enough to secure extra attention that Winners needs to make an impact even with Mohambi being the most successful artist outside the contest.
Melodi 5 - Hanna Ferm “Brave” Yet another finalist from last year, Hold You performed as a duet with LIAMOO finished in a very respectable third place. Brave is a female empowerment song performed alone in front of two slanted light boxes. It just feels it lacks the braveness she claims to have. Hanna doesn’t have the stage presence to command the very large arena ends up coming across a bit mousey rather than the lion she claims to be.
Melodi 6 - Mendez feat Alvaro Estrella “Vamos Amigos” Neither Mendez or Alvaro are strangers to the Melfest competition. This Latin novelty song comes across like a recycled forgotten album or Side B track rather than the hit single it is aiming for. This evening’s second qualifier from Andra Chansen is unlikely to make much of an impact with the juries or the public televote as it didn’t the first time around and this time around its competition is simply stronger.
Melodi 7 - Dotter “Bulletproof” Tonight’s most talked about song is Dotter’s second attempt to represent Sweden. Not only is Dotter’s entry the most commercial/radio-friendly song of the evening but its presentation is the most memorable and potentially at an overall Eurovision winner level. The simple but effective disco ball style outfit reflecting the spotlights towards the audience is one of the strongest I’ve seen in years. Definitely one to watch.
Melodi 8 - Robin Bengtsson “Take a Chance” The 2017 Melfest winner is back with an Abba style number. If even shares a title with an Abba hit but certainly lacks the quality. This comes across to me as a cheap inferior imitation with cheesy angelic-style lighting. I don’t see this standing at all and honestly I’m surprised it qualified for the final anyway.
Melodi 9 - Mariette “Shout it Out” One of the most successful artists in Melodifestivalen history, Mariette has reached the final in each of her four appearances. Unfortunately, Shout it Out is Mariette’s weakest song as it comes across as very safe and vanilla in style. There’s nothing here to make it stand out and it could end up in last place.
Melodi 10 - Felix Sandman “Boys With Emotions” After his runner-up position in 2018 with Every Single Day, Felix was the odds on favourite before the songs were even heard for the first time. Boys With Emotions is actually a well written modern message song dealing with a very topical mental health focus. Felix was the third qualifier from Andra Chansen and arguably the coolest song in the contest will be popular with the younger audience but I think it will alienate the older audience.
Melodi 11 - Anna Bergendahl “Kingdom Come” The 2010 Melfest winner and the infamous non-qualifying song This is My Life is still the only Swedish entry not to qualify for the Eurovision final. After Anna’s reinvention of her style into Country Schlager she finished in tenth place last year with Ashes to Ashes. Kingdom Come is not hugely different in style to Ashes to Ashes but the staging and presentation is vastly differently. With an mini army of hand naked male dancers, Anna delivers her entry with true diva presence even with her 80’s style Dynasty-like outfit. This is a true fan favourite but will the juries agree?
Melodi 12 - Anis Dom Demina “Vem E Som Oss” The last of the Andra Chansen qualifiers has actually won the hearts of Sweden being the most listened to song on Spotify and the highest charting song before the final. There is a lot of speculation that Vem E Som Oss could win overall but I don’t think the song will resonate with the international juries. The Swedish rapper delivers a slick animated “magazine cover”-style presentation with its rotund performer jumping about in a velour tracksuit. This song could face issues of copyright infringement as its melody does replicate a current dance hit.
VOTING RESULTS
After the international juries points were totaled up there is a tie between Move and Bulletproof. The scores couldn’t be any closer with any of the finalists being able to win after the televote. After one of the closest fought battles in Melfest history, Move wins the finalen by just one point over Bulletproof.