We are already on the third week of Melodifestivalen, the music extravaganza that has most Swedes transfixed every Saturday for six weeks. The song competition is an institution in itself, but it also results in finding the Swedish representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, to be held in Malmö this May.
There are another six acts up for voting this week and those gaining the first and second position will go straight to the final. Those on third and fourth places will still have another chance in a vote that takes place after the fifth heat.
We were given a sneak peek at the rehearsals for Heat 3 ahead of Saturday’s live show, so below you can read some thoughts about what to expect from the competitors this week.
1) Jacqline – Effortless
Jacqline made a strong impression on Swedish Idol 2021, ending up second place in the final, in which she showed she belongs on the big stages. So the expectations are high, but she can really pull off both the singing and the dancing in her number, seemingly effortlessly. And she looks good while doing it. The song is from the Dua Lipa school of pop and it is definitely one of the better tunes this year. The synth riff brings to mind Swedish House Mafia‘s Greyhound, though. The staging includes four female dancers, and Jacqline gets a bit of a dance break on the floor. This needs to be a finalist!
2) Clara Klingenström – Aldrig mer
Clara Klingenström made a splash in Melodifestivalen 2021 and was one of the big faves of the audience. She is now back with a very similar effort both in terms of the song and the performance. What felt fresh the first time around, is not really lifting off this time around, being so predictable. She is singing about never going to regret anything again and the song attempts to be anthemic, but the vocals and the staging don’t really carry the message.
3) Kim Cesarion – Take My Breath Away
Kim Cesarion had his big breakthrough hit more than ten years ago in 2013 with Undressed and he is now making a bit of a comeback with his Melodifestivalen debut. The song sounds very similar to what Marcus & Martinus brought to Melfest last year, and it might have sounded something like The Weeknd, if the production was kicked up a notch. As it is now, the song is lacking any surprising elements. The vocals are good, including a nice falsetto, but at least in rehearsals Kim is holding the mic so he is hiding his face pretty much all the time (a big pet peeve for me as a photographer). He is joined on stage buy six guys, four dancers and two backup singers, but unfortunately even that part of the number lacks any surprises.
4) Klaudy – För dig
24-year old Gothenburger Klaudy is another one of the first-timers in this years Melodifestivalen. Some may remember him from the series Songland, in which he wrote the song Svarta Moln for Cherrie. His song is in the vein of Swedish pop acts like Victor Leksell or Thomas Stenström, but the vocals don’t sound very strong except when the backing vocalists help carry the chorus. The staging is based on some kind of vegetation, which brings to mind Anna Bergendahl in Melfest 2019, but in a smaller scale.
5) Gunilla Persson – I Won’t Shake (La La Gunilla)
Known from the reality series about Swedish Hollywood housewives, Gunilla Persson has mainly been brought in to get the people talking, as we basically know already beforehand that she can’t sing. And indeed, the backing singers get to do most of the work on her song that has country sounds mixed with some oompah-oompah. The message is clearly directed at her haters, who are gonna hate, hate, hate. The staging is rather predictably four dancing cowboys in black leather.
6) Cazzi Opeia – Give My Heart a Break
Moa Carlebecker aka Cazzi Opeia has been one of the most successful songwriters in Sweden in recent years, gaining loads of K-pop hits as well as winning both the Eurovision Song Contest with Loreen‘s Tattoo and the American Song Contest with Alexa‘s Wonderland. She of course had a big breakthrough as an artist in her own right with her previous Melfest entry in 2022. Like last time around, she brings a positive message, a catchy tune and a colorful stage show. She has a glittery pink outfit and the dancers are in crazy-fun polka dot outfits, with eyes on their palms and heart hats on their heads. This is pop perfection and pure unadulterated fun that deserves to go straight to the final.
Be sure to catch Melodifestivalen Heat 2 at SVT1 or SVTPlay on Saturday the 17th of February at 8pm
All photos: Stina Stjernkvist / SVT
