Melodifestivalen Part III: If it were all up to me

OK, I have had enough. Although I haven't actually watched an episode of Melodifestival yet, I have watched more of the entries than ever before. This weekend the stomach flu has come to our house and to be honest, I have no desire to even be snarky about this weeks entries. I need a little pick me up.

So I've decided to be super-narcissistic (because isn't that what blogging is all about anyway?) and come up with my dream Melodifestivalen, in which my favorite Swedish artists compete for a place on the Eurovision stage. I know this won't happen, because none of these artists would sign up for the contest, and that is part of why I love them, but this is all in my head anyways.

The truth is Sweden has some pretty awesome music, and here are some of my personal faves:

I can't Change - Sophie Zelmani – This is one of my all-time favorite videos and it helped me discover Zelmani.

 Timbuktu – I know, earlier I really dissed Swedish rap. In Swedes defense I will say I think Swedish rap is far superior to Icelandic rap (would you believe I have been to an Icelandic rap concert? Yes, it was that funny). Timbuktu is the exception. His lyrics are smart, funny, and he's got 2 American parents as well.

Ok, so both of the above are a bit dated so this one is a new and not quite famous Swedish band

The Bernadottes

These guys seem to be some kind of Indie-pop group (is this still a music genre?) – they get points from me because they manage to sing about Safran Foer in a truly amusing way!

I think any of the above might not rock Eurovision, but they sure make my world a happier place.

Enjoy!

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?