A (Final) Supersized Serving of Scandipop: My Top 50 Melodifestivalen Entries, 2006-2015! (The Top 10)
Meghan Trainor might be all about that bass, but me? I’m more about that Melodifestivalen. The search for Måns Zelmerlöw’s successor began on Saturday, with Ace Wilder (predictably) and Robin ‘Bedroom Eyes’ Bengtsson going direkt till final, and the duos of Albin and Mattias/Samir and Viktor heading off to Andra Chansen. Melfest has certainly started on a good note (if I may make a musical pun without you throwing yourself through the nearest window), but I suspect the show’s best is yet to come. That makes me even more excited to set my next super-early Sunday alarm, so bring it, SVT!
Speaking of which…I’m doing a bit of ye olde ‘bringing’ myself today. But rather than bringing you two hours of camp, poptastic entertainment feat. several glorious utterances of the phrase ‘Sverige, vi har ett resultat’, I’m FINALLY bringing you the conclusion to my Melfest Top 50 countdown. I guess I can still say ‘Vi har ett resultat’ – it’s just that the resultat in this case is my Top 10 from 2006-2015.
Forty other Melfest entries from that period have graced my list so far. In case you’ve forgotten which, here’s a recap:
- #11 Heroes by Måns Zelmerlöw (2015)
- #12 Why Am I Crying? by Molly Sandén (2012)
- #13 This Is My Life by Anna Bergendahl (2010)
- #14 In The Club by Danny Saucedo (2011)
- #15 Try Again by Dilba (2011)
- #16 My Heart Is Refusing Me by Loreen (2011)
- #17 Keep On Walking by Salem Al Fakir (2010)
- #18 Efter Solsken by Panetoz (2014)
- #19 Det Rår Vi Inte För by Behrang Miri feat. Victor Crone (2015)
- #20 Echo by Outtrigger (2014)
- #21 Aldrig Aldrig by Andreas Lundstedt (2012)
- #22 Empty Room by Sanna Nielsen (2008)
- #23 Better Or Worse by Julia Alvgard (2011)
- #24 Baby Goodbye by EMD (2009)
- #25 Busy Doin’ Nothin’ by Ace Wilder (2014)
- #26 Alla by Sofia (2009)
- #27 Like Suicide by Christian Walz (2011)
- #28 Temple of Love by BWO (2006)
- #29 The Boy Can Dance by Afro-Dite (2012)
- #30 Där Och Då Med Digby Emelie Irewald (2015)
- #31 Euphoria by Loreen (2012)
- #32 Yes We Can by Oscar Zia (2014)
- #33 Living To Die by Andreas Johnson (2015)
- #34 One By One by Elize Ryd and Rickard Söderberg (2015)
- #35 Red by EKO (2014)
- #36 Möt Mig I Gamla Stan by Magnus Carlsson (2015)
- #37 Around The World by Dr. Alban and Jessica Folcker (2014)
- #38 Bröder by Linus Svenning (2014)
- #39 I’ll Be Fine by Molly Pettersson Hammar (2015)
- #40 För Din Skull by Kalle Johansson (2015)
- #41 Falling by State of Drama (2013)
- #42 Sean Den Förste Banan by Sean Banan (2012)
- #43 Hello Goodbye by Tone Damli and Erik Segerstedt (2013)
- #44 Begging by Anton Ewald (2013)
- #45 Stormande Hav by Timoteij (2012)
- #46 Stay The Night by Alcazar (2009)
- #47 Make Me (La La La) by Dinah Nah (2015)
- #48 Don’t Stop Believing by Mariette (2015)
- #49 På Väg by Abalone Dots (2012)
- #50 Jag Är Fri (Manne Leam Frijje) by Jon Henrik Fjällgren (2015)
And if you want to revisit rather than recap, you can check out #50-#31 in detail here, and #30-#11 here.
Och nu, without further ado, here is…
#10 | Why Start A Fire? by Lisa Miskovsky (2012)
The overwhelming fan favourite of Melfest 2012 may have been Loreen, but personally, I have more of a soft spot for Miss Miskovsky (among other 2012 alumni). I know, I know – I’m a terrible person, and I’ve just bought myself a one-way ticket to Eurovision purgatory as punishment. But before you consider dropping any atomic glitter bombs on my head, hear me out. I know as well as you do that Euphoria was the right representative for Sweden at Eurovision in Baku, and it’s definitely one of my all-time favourite winning songs. But when I look/listen back at Melfest that year, I find that there’s something about the guitar-driven, electro-tinged Why Start A Fire? – something ethereal and otherworldly – that hits me right in the goosebump generator (wherever that is). Euphoria never achieved quite the same thing. Lyrically intriguing and melodically stunning, Lisa’s self-penned entry had me hypnotised from the first time I heard it in full. Its place on this list is a declaration of love it deserves.
#9 | Mystery by Dead By April (2012)
When Outtrigger’s Echo popped up in part two of this countdown, I told you guys I had a thing for Melfest rock. As you can see, I wasn’t kidding. I’m not saying I adore everything about Echo or Mystery (the throat-stripping screams in each track are far from being my cup of tea) but…come to think of it, the screaming is the only thing I’m not a fan of. Mystery made a big impact on me when DBA took on Melfest, and not just because I had an obsessive crush on lead singer (at the time) Zandro (and his tattoos). The song is well-written and was well-performed, with Zandro’s clear-cut vocals contrasting nicely with Stoffe Andersson’s death growls (‘death growls’ = a phrase I never expected would be defined for me by Melodifestivalen). There’s both vulnerability and aggressiveness to be heard here, and that makes for a dynamic listening experience. When you want to rock out, AND lament a lost love or a Netflix-related neck injury (for example) at the same time, Mystery is the perfect outlet.
#8 | You by Robin Stjernberg (2013)
Just thinking back to the days when Robin became the first Melfest winner to detour through Andra Chansen has happy tears moistening my eyes – so take everything I’m about to say with a grain of sentimentality. You was one of the most authentic, least forced winners Melodifestivalen has ever crowned. It wasn’t a formulaic cookie-cutter pop song trying desperately to come out on top – it was just one man + a pleasantly subdued neutral palette + a touching-but-not-cloying tribute + THAT VOICE. Oh, and a fire curtain. And all of that ended up creating an unexpected champion, via the most magical voting sequence ever recorded on film. Robin’s win felt so right. You is a song that builds and then builds some more, rising from a solid foundation of acoustic guitar and soft vocals to an explosive (literally, when you consider that fire curtain) conclusion, preceded by a show-stopping note from Robin that declared ‘I’m a contender!’. And shattered glassware from the north to the south of Sweden. It may not have shattered any records at Eurovision, but it will always be one of my most-loved host entries.
#7 | Bedroom by Alvaro Estrella (2014)
Aaaaand BOOM (boom boom boo-boo-boom) – just like that, you can say goodbye to sentimentality, and hello to my completely superficial love for a song about sex. Lyrical content such as ‘shoes off in the driveway, shirts off in the doorway, pants off in the hallway’ isn’t exactly the height of sophistication and significance, but it doesn’t have to be when a song’s this catchy. It wasn’t until I heard the Bedroom snippet prior to Melfest 2014’s first semi that I thought ‘THIS is what I’m talking about. THIS is why I devote all the time I’m not thinking about Eurovision to thinking about Sweden’s preselection.’ Because when I’m not weeping into a copy of SCAN Magazine over the raw beauty of a power ballad, I’m dancing wildly in my Bedroom to stuff like this. Alvaro suffers from Eric Saade Syndrome – he’s not a great live vocalist, but he can bust a move and churn out chart hits with ease. His Melfest entry was made for the dance floor, and is basically three minutes of proof that Swedish songwriters should continue to be in constant global demand.
#6 | Förlåt Mig by Mattias Andréasson (2012)
Is there any genre that doesn’t sound sensational i Svenska? The first non-English number in my top 10 is also an R & B song, and I don’t reckon it would have made an appearance at all if it’d been sung in English by ex-EMD member Mattias. Förlåt Mig (‘Forgive Me’) is so slick and well-produced in studio, it couldn’t quite live up to itself live (I’m convinced that those Kate Ryan light sabers are a bad-luck charm) which may explain why it didn’t progress past its semi. Or perhaps I’m just the only person on the planet who thinks it’s the shiz, and should have at LEAST made it to Andra Chansen. If I had to single out one thing I really commend about this song, it would be the way it manages not to repeat itself, in spite of its straightforward sstructure. What I mean by that (because that made zero sense) is, while the verses and the chorus and that other bit before the final chorus *forgets everything she was taught about song construction in music class* together form a cohesive whole, they’re all unique. This isn’t a ‘heard half of it, heard all of it’ kind of song – and that, combined with its general awesomeness, gets my fist bump of approval.
#5 | Undo by Sanna Nielsen (2014)
There are two kinds of people: those who think Sanna was handed a pity win after her seventh attempt to take home the Melfest trophy; and those who think the time was right because she won with her strongest contribution to the competition. There are no prizes for guessing which camp my tent’s pitched in. I have been besotted with Undo from the moment I met it, and I firmly believe it to be one of Melfest’s – and Eurovision’s – greatest-ever ballads. Helping that mindset along is the fragility Sanna conveyed during each and every performance of the song. Thanks to her crystal-clear voice that is seemingly expelled at the push of a button (I think it’s on the back of her neck, like those Barbie dolls that have “growing” hair), she didn’t really have to focus on nailing her vocal. What she could focus on was making us believe her heartbreak was as fresh in Denmark as it had been during Deltävling 2 back in Sweden. And that, my friends, is what made for the dictionary definition of ‘spine-tingling’ produced by Undo. That and THE MOMENT!!! before the second chorus, which sent the wow factor shooting straight into the stratosphere.
#4 | Kom by Timoteij (2010)
Do you ever just sit and think about all of the things you’d never have discovered if it wasn’t for Melodifestivalen? No? Well, I do. And one of the main things I think about is the glorious girl band Timoteij. Their signature blend of Celtic instrumentals and Europop has led to a string of hits, and it all started with Kom (‘Come’, in case you didn’t see that Kom-ing). If this song is any indication, then Swedish-born ethno-pop can totally hold its own against the Armenian/Spanish/Turkish equivalents. The iconic opening riff ignites a sense of mystery that carries on through the rest of the song, interwoven with a pulsing, toe-tapping beat. The chorus is simple, but so effective; the melody is irresistible; and the ubiquitous key change arrives at the perfect moment. And that rolecall of redeeming features doesn’t even take into account the power of Timoteij harmonies (which, when on point, could poke a hole in a house brick). Even in a super-strong Melfest final, it’s hard (for me) to believe this finished fifth, and not higher.
#3 | Soldiers by Ulrik Munther (2012)
This track, co-written and performed by Peter Pan Ulrik for his Melfest debut (he’d go on to try way too hard to win the following year, only to end up 3rd again) was THE arena anthem of 2012 – if we’re talking down-tempo arena anthems, as the up-tempo trophy obviously goes to Loreen and her Euphoria. Heavy on instruments – guitars, drums, and a harmonica that gave an authentic bluesy feel to a polished pop song – it relied on sincerity and sing-along power (plus that angelic, seemingly prepubescent face of Mr. Munther’s), rather than flashiness, to harness votes. Remind you of anything? Say, Melfest 2016’s freshly-qualified Constellation Prize? It should. Soldiers is such a great song in all aspects of song…ness (songery?). The melody is memorable, the structure makes for a smoothly-navigated but not-too-predictable three minutes, and the lyrics have substance (but not so much that I have no idea what the manboy in the flat cap is on about). In an epic edition of Melfest, this was my standout entry.
#2 | Hela Natten by Josef Johansson (2014)
(No decent videos of this performance appear to be available on Youtube, y’all. Apologies.)
There are certain songs that I gravitate towards because they’re catchy. Then, there are those that make me feel all the feelings that tend to give one goosebumps. Relatively unknown prior to his Melodifestivalen debut, Josef Johansson provided us with a song that was the best of both worlds – a total tune, and a heartstring-puller. That’s what makes Hela Natten (‘All Night’) magic. No, it didn’t get anywhere in its semi, but it left an impression on me that has outlasted the impression left by any other participating songs from 2014 that did progress. The song’s build-up to explosive moments is stellar, ensuring the chorus packs punch whenever it pops up. And the introduction of a choir during the last thirty seconds or so was inspired, giving Josef the vocal support he needed to make the final stretch of the song bigger and (almost) better than the rest. I also credit this song for kick-starting my fangirling of Josef’s subsequent releases, like Blickar Kan Mörda, which was completely different to Hela Natten – i.e. a true testament to Josef’s artistic versatility.
And now, after two previous installments of Scandipop-oriented gushing, and my #10-#2 countdown above, it’s time to say hej to what is probably a rather predictable number one.
My favourite Melodifestivalen entry from 2006-2015 is…
#1 | You’re Out Of My Life by Darin (2010)
YEAH IT IS! If you’ve read virtually any of my past posts, you’ll know that ’04 Idol runner-up Darin is my personal pinnacle of popstardom. He’s a bit of a musical chameleon, and I’ve loved every stage of his career – his folksy phase of 2015/16, for instance, has seen me flog his latest album Fjärilar I Magen like my life depends on it. When Darin decided to give Melfest a go in 2010, he was in more of a power ballad phase, and that’s how he came to be partnered with You’re Out of My Life. If Sanna’s Undo is the female ballad to end all other female ballads, then YOOML is its male counterpart. I can’t even describe in detail why I love it as much as I do (you’ll be relieved to learn) – it’s just undying, could-listen-to-it-on-repeat-forever love. So if you don’t understand why I even find this song listenable, and you head down to the comments to say so, don’t expect me to emerge from my love bubble long enough to notice. The rose-coloured glasses have been super-glued to my face by the magnificence of Darin’s attempt to get to Eurovision.
Okay…so that was the written equivalent of the London Marathon. If you crossed the finish line, congratulations. If you just scrolled down to see how lengthy this post was and swiftly thought ‘As if!’ upon finding out, here’s what you missed:
- #1 You’re Out of My Life by Darin (2010)
- #2 Hela Natten by Josef Johansson (2014)
- #3 Soldiers by Ulrik Munther (2012)
- #4 Kom by Timoteij (2010)
- #5 Undo by Sanna Nielsen (2014)
- #6 Förlåt Mig by Mattias Andréasson (2012)
- #7 Bedroom by Alvaro Estrella (2014)
- #8 You by Robin Stjernberg (2013)
- #9 Mystery by Dead By April (2012)
- #10 Why Start A Fire? by Lisa Miskovsky (2012)
What are your thoughts on my Top 10? Would any of this back-catalogue Melfest music make your shortlist? If not, which entries would? If you’ve got something to say, I’m hanging out to hear it.
While I’m waiting for your words, I’ll be figuring out how to handle the upcoming Super Saturday – one that makes the six-show evening just gone seem sedate by comparison. Join me on the weekend to see if the stress sent me into meltdown mode, leaving me unable to string a sentence together; or if I managed to rank, review and predict in spite of the pressure. If Laura Tesoro is still wondering what the pressure is, somebody had better tell her that it’s THIS FREAKIN’ SATURDAY.
Until THIS FREAKIN’ SATURDAY…
eurovisionbyjaz.com 
2 Responses to “A (Final) Supersized Serving of Scandipop: My Top 50 Melodifestivalen Entries, 2006-2015! (The Top 10)”
Postscript:
My statement #2 is not correct. One of my top 10 songs only made it to Andra Chansen in its year, so this would be a kind of DNQ, at least to the final!
And in statement #6 it must be precisely: …, but 3 Melfest winning artists of the past ten years (since we are talking about 2006 – 2015!). Including ALL Melfest winning artists of the past, there are 4 in my top 10!
Confusion’s perfect now? I’m sorry for that!
Until some time soon,
Wolf XD
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Woohoo! I got it, got it, got it! ;)))
Unbelievable, did I read that right?!? That’s impossible: ALL 10 right!!!
For the first time EVER I predicted a whole top 10 right!
Okay, cool down, Wolfgang!
It wasn’t all me, but Jaz’s very helpful, target-aimed clues, of course!
But also: it wasn’t too easy for me, since I needed a few hours for the solution.
I loved this Melfest puzzle and your top 10, of course:
I’d say 8 out of the 10 I like too, 3 of them very much, while 2 out of the ten are not all mine. There were quite some surprises in there that I didn’t expect!
I will be back with my top 10 Melfest songs of the past ten years soon, and until then here are some clues to my places #10 to #1, which are VERY predictable a.k.a. the usual suspects:
1. My top 10 consists of 6 incredibly talented, powerful and voice-gifted female solo artists singing power ballads (mostly!) and 4 equally talented, energetic and (extremely) handsome male solo artists with some very danceable pop anthems, just perfect for Eurovision.
2. All of my top 10 songs qualified to the Melfest final in their years. No DNQ’s!
3. Half of my top 10 (that makes 5) is to be found in your top 50 countdown.
4. Two songs each are from the years of 2011 & 2014, while none of my top 10 songs comes from 2006, 2010 or 2013.
5. The first letters of the first names of my top 10 artists are (in the right order starting with #10): E M M M L D S D M S !
And finally:
6. There are no Melfest winning songs included, but 3 Melfest winning artists!
For today, I’ll leave you with that mind sports until I’ll be back with my solution. So if you like, have a guess!
Very happy greets from Germany,
Wolf XD
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