Sunday, February 13, 2011

Melodifestival Part II: The horror continues



I will admit, whatever enthusiasm I had for this competition waned a long time ago – so it didn't really matter if we had cable last night or not – I wasn't going to sit through an entire episode of Melodifestival. Not even if I was surfing the web and playing The Game of Life on my Iphone at the same time.

So, I tried my YouTube tactic, but I was too slow. The winning entries had been taken down. It seems there is some sort of rule as to how much the competing songs can be shown before the final vote or something. Because if you see these songs too many times, you will realize what crap they really are. That means the winning entries are a mystery to me. Oh the drama and excitement.

The losers, however, are fair game. And to be honest, I actually kind of liked one of them – and was almost sad they lost.

Babsan – Ge mig en spanjor – Babsan is a Swedish transvestite (think Dame Edna) singing about wanting a sophisticated Spaniard. And there is that weird Swedish music mogul hanging out in the background at a bar, who then dances with Babsan. There are also lots of Spanish stereotypes. It's great. I'm sure this entry would have won Great Britain's vote, and quite possibly even Spain.



This one – Like Suicide – is truly dreadful. The poor singer looks so uncomfortable I feel bad mocking him. I think he looks like he could use a hug. And the song – I mean what girl doesn't dream about being compared to suicide at some point in her life.  What do they mean by 'She's like suicide all night' ?

Also, enunciating lessons before a song contest are great - but sometimes sounding natural helps, too.



Then there was this one – this entry seems to target the middle- aged viewer. She must have stolen quite a few votes from Babsan.  I know my Swedish in-laws always bemoan how Babsan and After Dark make such a mockery of Melodifestivalen. I wonder if that generation will ever notice that Melodifestivalen has become a mockery of itself?  


3 comments:

  1. I can´t believe you are following this show and competition. I admire you for your patience and persistence. You are getting really Swedish. I think I would fall asleep if I tried to watch it.
    Have a good one.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ha! Don't worry too much about me - I think I have maybe watch max 2 minutes of these clips in total. Although it did take a while to find them. We did have the show on in the background for about 20 minutes before someone shut it off.

    Oh, OK, maybe I should just admit it - I am assimilating damn it :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for commenting on my blog! Now I got to find yours too which is definitely a bonus! I am absolutely coming back for more.

    As for the Melodifestival. My Amerivan husband hates it and I hate it more and more for every year. The songs are terrible, the show is just a parody now. The UD thing and the interrogations (spelling?)...
    Na. :)

    ReplyDelete