VoR
Take it or leave it
Heat one of a new Melfest year tends to be very 'whelming', and Saturday's show was true to form, with John Lundvik winning almost by default, and Maja Ivarsson invoking the spirit of Kim Wilde to nab the other spot. Neither seems likely to be on the ticket to Basel come May, so will there be anything more inspiring to look forward to in Heat Two?
1. Nomi Tales - Funniest Thing
Nomi Bontegard, Adam Breitholtz, Herman Gardarfve, Jacob Lundahl, Simon Weidersjö
Interesting choice of opener here. Nomi Tales is one of the least familiar faces in this semi final, a graphic designer with a sideline in witchy alt-pop, her biggest hit to date was featured in a video game series called Mistfall, which looks a bit Everquest-y. The songwriters aren't the usual bunch either, although Herman Gadarfve did have a hand in Move by The Mamas. Basically, this could go anywhere, but if cosplay and tarot are your bag, this might be worth a second look.
2. SCHLAGERZ - Don Juan
Anna Engh, Mikael Karlsson
Sad to say it, but with 2025 marking the third consecutive year with none of the 00s Schlager divas even making the lineup, it's probably about time we called the genre, if not dead, then certainly temporarily buried. In what feels like a very half-hearted effort to keep the old school fans onside, we're instead getting served up this trio of C-tier dansband singers with a song penned by the team behind Arvingarna's recent comeback. Hopefully it'll be fun, but it's hard to shake the feeling that we're being asked to feast on rancid scraps and feel grateful for the opportunity. Humbug.
3. Erik Segerstedt - Show Me What Love Is
Mattias Andréasson, Erik Segerstedt, Pontus Söderman
Formerly a member of 2009 Melfest finalists EMD, Erik Segerstedt was last seen at Melfest in 2013 with Hello Goodbye, a well-regarded country ballad which was knocked out in AC. Now he's going in fully solo with a track co-written with his former EMD bandmate Matthias Andréasson. Not much information on the track so far but all signs probably point to something blandly MOR.
4. Klara Hammarström - On & On & On
Peter Boström, Moa "Cazzi Opeia" Carlebecker, Thomas G:son, Klara Hammarström, Jimmy Jansson, Dino Medanhodzic
Arguably the closest thing Gen Z has to a Linda Bengtzing figure at Melfest, good old Klara made three consecutive Melfest appearences from 2020 to 2022, each time doing better than the last. 2022's Run to the Hills felt like it could have been her moment, a massive #1 chart hit that ultimately fell a bit by the wayside as the final shakedown came down to Cornelia Jacobs and Anders Bagge. The songwriting team is basically an allstar lineup of winning entry composers, and on paper, this should be Måns Zelmerlöw's strongest competition. However, while she should be a safe bet to get out of the semis, I can't help feeling that Klara does have the air of somebody the Swedes just won't ever be able to fully trust with the plum job of representing them at Eurovision. Again, she's their new Bengtzing.
5. Fredrik Lundman - The Heart of a Swedish Cowboy
Erik Bernholm, Maja Francis, Thomas G:son
If any entry is going to throw a spanner into the works for Klara this week, it's likely to be this bit of cowboy cosplay. The Swedes love a bit of ersatz country music for some reason, and the title plus presence of G:son suggest this will have all the subtlety of a Trump rally. Brace yourselves, because the older voters are going to eat this shit up.
6. Kaliffa - Salute
Kaliffa Karlsson, Jakob "Big Brain" Malmlöf, Robert Skowronski, Jimmy "Joker" Thörnfeldt, Anderz Wrethov
One for the Spotify generation, Kaliffa (45) had a massive 2017 hit with Helt Serios, which spent several weeks at #1 and has over 65 million streams to date, which is undeniably impressive for a Swedish language song. Subsequent releases don't quite appear to have hit the same heights, but there's obviously enough faith in him to give him a plum spot in the draw.
Tuesday: Initial reviews
Thursday: SNIPPETS
Friday: Full tracks
1. Nomi Tales - Funniest Thing
Nomi Bontegard, Adam Breitholtz, Herman Gardarfve, Jacob Lundahl, Simon Weidersjö
Interesting choice of opener here. Nomi Tales is one of the least familiar faces in this semi final, a graphic designer with a sideline in witchy alt-pop, her biggest hit to date was featured in a video game series called Mistfall, which looks a bit Everquest-y. The songwriters aren't the usual bunch either, although Herman Gadarfve did have a hand in Move by The Mamas. Basically, this could go anywhere, but if cosplay and tarot are your bag, this might be worth a second look.
2. SCHLAGERZ - Don Juan
Anna Engh, Mikael Karlsson
Sad to say it, but with 2025 marking the third consecutive year with none of the 00s Schlager divas even making the lineup, it's probably about time we called the genre, if not dead, then certainly temporarily buried. In what feels like a very half-hearted effort to keep the old school fans onside, we're instead getting served up this trio of C-tier dansband singers with a song penned by the team behind Arvingarna's recent comeback. Hopefully it'll be fun, but it's hard to shake the feeling that we're being asked to feast on rancid scraps and feel grateful for the opportunity. Humbug.
3. Erik Segerstedt - Show Me What Love Is
Mattias Andréasson, Erik Segerstedt, Pontus Söderman
Formerly a member of 2009 Melfest finalists EMD, Erik Segerstedt was last seen at Melfest in 2013 with Hello Goodbye, a well-regarded country ballad which was knocked out in AC. Now he's going in fully solo with a track co-written with his former EMD bandmate Matthias Andréasson. Not much information on the track so far but all signs probably point to something blandly MOR.
4. Klara Hammarström - On & On & On
Peter Boström, Moa "Cazzi Opeia" Carlebecker, Thomas G:son, Klara Hammarström, Jimmy Jansson, Dino Medanhodzic
Arguably the closest thing Gen Z has to a Linda Bengtzing figure at Melfest, good old Klara made three consecutive Melfest appearences from 2020 to 2022, each time doing better than the last. 2022's Run to the Hills felt like it could have been her moment, a massive #1 chart hit that ultimately fell a bit by the wayside as the final shakedown came down to Cornelia Jacobs and Anders Bagge. The songwriting team is basically an allstar lineup of winning entry composers, and on paper, this should be Måns Zelmerlöw's strongest competition. However, while she should be a safe bet to get out of the semis, I can't help feeling that Klara does have the air of somebody the Swedes just won't ever be able to fully trust with the plum job of representing them at Eurovision. Again, she's their new Bengtzing.
5. Fredrik Lundman - The Heart of a Swedish Cowboy
Erik Bernholm, Maja Francis, Thomas G:son
If any entry is going to throw a spanner into the works for Klara this week, it's likely to be this bit of cowboy cosplay. The Swedes love a bit of ersatz country music for some reason, and the title plus presence of G:son suggest this will have all the subtlety of a Trump rally. Brace yourselves, because the older voters are going to eat this shit up.
6. Kaliffa - Salute
Kaliffa Karlsson, Jakob "Big Brain" Malmlöf, Robert Skowronski, Jimmy "Joker" Thörnfeldt, Anderz Wrethov
One for the Spotify generation, Kaliffa (45) had a massive 2017 hit with Helt Serios, which spent several weeks at #1 and has over 65 million streams to date, which is undeniably impressive for a Swedish language song. Subsequent releases don't quite appear to have hit the same heights, but there's obviously enough faith in him to give him a plum spot in the draw.
Tuesday: Initial reviews
Thursday: SNIPPETS
Friday: Full tracks
at SCHLAGERZ = RANCID SCRAPS
