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My foot has struck again, keeping me mostly static today. The only good thing about this state of affairs is that I could watch Melo from Malmö on SVT Play this morning while Mirinda was working on her latest essay in the stuga. Sadly, it was a bit dull – Melo not her essay. Happily, I could fast-forward through most of it, only listening to the songs then seeing who won, came second and managed a second chance.
First place went to a band called Smash into Pieces, featuring a drummer who wears a weird costume and mask that looks a bit digital. His bandmates all wear black. They gave off all the signs of being a great heavy metal band but their song, Hollow was a bit of an eponymous let-down. I wasn’t sure what slot it was trying to fill.
It marked their third time trying to win Melo. I don’t know what the other entries were like but can’t imagine how they could be less appealing than Hollow. Clearly, I am in the minority.
In second place was Cimberly (pronounced Kimberley) a sugar sweet singer with a nice enough voice but whose song was a bit saccharine. The song was called Eternity. Harmless enough, but not enough to pull it out of mediocrity. I would be very surprised if it won the final.
The woman in the audience, on the left in the photo above, the one wearing green, was clearly so entertained that she would rather check out her phone than take part in Cimberly’s enjoyment.
I was a bit disappointed in the Varmland entry Från landet, sung by Erika Jonsson. The title means From the Country and is definitely what it was, given it sounded very much like Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love a bit of country but I prefer it to sound original.
Mind you, I do like someone who stands by their principles. Erika had an opportunity to perform in Nashville which was sort of her dream gig, with her song Rainbow Cowgirl but decided not to when confronted by a possible boycott of the song by people who think being gay is bad. Well done, Erika.
The second chance winner was the only one I thought was worthy of winning anything. It was called Dooset Daram and was sung by Meira Omar who managed to go through to the final last year.
I really liked the fusion of Persian and pop.
At least the worst song didn’t get anywhere. Timo Raisänen looked like someone they’d just dragged off the street to make up the number of entries to six. His song, Ingenting är efter oss (Nothing is after us) more or less summed itself up.
So, all in all, a rather disappointing Melo this week which, I can only say, was enriched by my being able to fast-forward a lot of the time.
Fingers crossed for next Saturday’s offering.
I should add, at this juncture, that the popular favourite on reddit, for becoming the Swedish entry into Eurovision, is Felicia from round two with her song My System.
