SELECTION SEASON 2019 | A four-song Saturday + an A Dal analysis + more Melodifestivalen

By Jaz, February 23, 2019

In news that will shock no one, it’s Saturday. It’s almost like it comes around every seven days or something! Wild.

On this particular Saturday, ESC NF traffic is pretty high. If you don’t believe me, take a look at tonight’s event list:

• Denmark Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, final
• Hungary A Dal, final
• Lithuania Eurovizijos Atranka, final
• Portugal Festival da Canção, semi final 2
• Sweden Melodifestivalen, semi final 4
• Ukraine Vidbir, final

Not too shabby, is it? DMGP is shockingly mediocre this year (and so is Melodifestivalen, if I’m honest…what’s up Scandinavia?) but a final is always exciting, and the likes of Hungary and Ukraine are on hand to rescue us from the Scandi-crisis. I’m going to cover a bit of both today – a high and a not-so-high via A Dal and Melfest.

What can I say? I’m always going to make Sweden one of my priorities. But first, Hungary!

 

 

This is it! A Dal is at its most anticipated point, now that 30 songs have become eight with one disqualification along the way (for which Gergő Oláh must be very grateful). Here are the lucky last songs standing:

• Nyári Zápor Acoustic Planet
• Szótlanság Bence Vavra
• Holnap Bogi Nagy
• Kulcs Fatal Error ­
• Hozzád Bújnék Gergő Oláh
• Madár, Repülj! Gergő Szekér
• Az Én Apám Joci Pápai
• Roses The Middletonz

It’s a great final lineup, even if it is missing a few of my favourites (on the other hand, the few songs I disliked have also been disposed of). Before I take a stab at guessing the winner and Hungary’s representative at Eurovision 2019, I want to review what’s left while I still have the chance. From my least-loved songs all the way up to my FTW faves, this is my top eight.

Kulcs kicks off my list…at the bottom. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind it. I’d just file it away under ‘Songs That Are A Lot Like Viszlat Nyár But Not As Good’, and to me that’s not the sort of song Hungary should send to Tel Aviv (particularly so soon after Viszlat). Fatal Error are a little too frantic and noisy for me to rank them any higher.

Next up I’ve got Nyári Zápor, which has surprised me by a) getting this far in the comp, and b) scoring so well with the jury. It’s a nice, feel-good song that I’m happy to listen to in the car or while I’m housecleaning (I vacuum 47% faster accompanied by music, FYI) but I don’t get the hype coming from A Dal’s panel of music pros. Am I continuing to underestimate Acoustic Planet when I say that if they make the “super final” stage tonight I’ll be surprised? Probably.

Szótlanság is another song I thought would have been eliminated by now, but I have to give props to its (performance) props and Bence’s solid vocals. Apart from that I feel like it’s pretty anonymous compared to most of the other songs – Madár, Repülj! and Roses, for instance, are way more distinctive. But it’s still a decent track.

Heading into my top five and the songs I wouldn’t mind seeing in Israel, here’s Holnap. This flew under the radar pre-performance, only to impress a lot of us once brought to life by Bogi. I’m keeping a close eye on it and wouldn’t count it out of winning contention. It’s a simplistic but beautiful ballad, and the fragility of Bogi’s voice is captivating. She doesn’t need to swing from a hoop suspended six feet off the ground to grab attention…but that actually adds value and interest without cheapening a classy song.

Gergő Oláh is lucky to be in the final at all after Hozzád Bújnék replaced Petruska’s Help Me Out of Here earlier this week. I wanted him there all along, so I can’t help being happy that he’s making up the numbers. Of the two traditional ballads in this eight, Hozzád is the more dynamic and powerful one, and Gergő belts it out without breaking a sweat. He won’t win with it, but that’s okay because until he tops Gyóz A Jő I don’t really want him to.

It’s top three time now, and my (hypothetical) bronze medal goes to Gergő No. 2 with Madár, Repülj!. I was confused by this song at first because it’s all over the place structurally and stylistically, but those are the same things I’ve come to appreciate about it. If it goes to Eurovision, it’s sure to be a standout no matter what else is it’s up against. Side note: Gergő is super cute and I want to fly to Hungary expressly to run my fingers through his hair. Is that weird?

Funnily enough, I’ve ranked what I think is the best song in this final 2^nd overall (you’ll get an explanation in a minute). I’m talking about Roses, easily the best effort from András Kalláy-Saunders in A Dal since Running. This song is contemporary, radio-friendly, original and has more hooks than a fishing supplies superstore. To top it off, I thought it might be disastrous when The Middletonz performed it live, but they NAILED it. Sadly it hasn’t had a heap of jury support, but the public vote has been strong – so if they manage to make the top four tonight a win isn’t out of the question.

Last but obviously not least is Az Én Apám. This is a sentimental favourite of mine because it’s Joci Pápai and I could not adore this guy more. His song might be more understated than Roses – and basically everything else left in the comp besides Holnap – but there’s something spellbinding about Joci’s musical style, vocals and authenticity on stage that makes my heart beat faster. And if you Google the lyrical translation of Az Én Apám (non-Hungarian speakers) and don’t experience some feels, why the heck not?!? To sum up, Joci’s sequel to Origo in terms of A Dal entries was always bound to be my most-loved track of the NF.

So there you have it. Unfortunately, I have no say in the actual results tonight. All I can do is predict them, which is the logical next step, so here goes.

Being methodical and looking at the scores from the heats helped me guess last week’s qualifiers pretty accurately, so I’ve done the same this time with the semi scores. If you do it too you’ll end up with these guys as your frontrunners:

• Joci Pápai 36 jury, 9 televote = 45
• Acoustic Planet 37 jury, 8 televote = 45
• Gergő Szekér 34 jury, 9 televote = 43
• Bence Vavra 34 jury, 8 televote = 42
• Bogi Nagy 34 jury, 8 televote = 42

Joci is in prime position despite receiving a slightly lower jury score than Acoustic Planet. Because his public vote score was higher, if both acts make it into the final four with 100% televote deciding the winner, Joci will have the edge. Gergő is a safe bet to accompany Joci and/or Acoustic Planet to that last decider, having had jury AND televote appeal at each point of the process.

This is where it gets tricky. Bence and Bogi can’t be separated based on their semi results, except to say that Bence placed equal 2^nd in his semi while Bogi placed 3^rd (but that just speaks to a more competitive second semi). And we shouldn’t assume that another act entirely – and I’m thinking of The Middletonz when I say this – won’t rise in the jury’s eyes on this occasion and score themselves a spot in that all-important four. If Roses does do it, the public backing is there (with a 9 on the televote in its semi) to potentially win. As annoying as it is, however, the jury is more likely to roadblock it while paving the way for something they’ve liked better previously.

Let’s get down to business. I’ve made my decision (after way too much INdecision) and this is the top four I’m going with:

• Joci Pápai
• Acoustic Planet
• Gergő Szekér
• Bogi Nagy

Once the A Dal jury input becomes irrelevant and it’s all about that public vote, there’ll probably be a battle between the male soloists. My heart wants Joci to win again and take his magical self to Tel Aviv, but my head is saying it’s Gergő who’s going. And you know what? I won’t have any complaints about that. In fact, if Hungary chooses a song that isn’t Kulcs/Nyári Zápor/Szótlanság, I’ll have the opposite of resting bitch face – and if they choose Roses/Az Én Apám/Madár, Repülj!, I’ll have a new no. 1 in my Eurovision 2019 ranking so far.

But yes, I’m officially predicting victory for Gergő Szekér. How about you?

 

 

 

Moving on to the last straightforward Melfest semi now, and…well, it’s been an underwhelming edition of the show to say the least. I’m easily pleased as Eurofans go and have liked most of the entries. But at the same time, there’s been hardly anything to love with a passion and literally nothing that has made me sit up, take notice and proclaim it The One for 2019.

I’m actually concerned that Sweden could be looking at a 2013-esque result off the back of last year’s televoting disaster. The upper right side of the ESC scoreboard would be a win for some countries, but not for a country that has only finished outside of the top 10 once and won twice in the last eight contests. But I might just be getting ahead of myself.

Let’s look at tonight’s seven. For all I know, The One is right here:

1. Stormbringer Pagan Fury
2. Känner Dig Anton Hagman
3. Torn Lisa Ajax
4. I Do Arvingarna
5. On My Own Bishara
6. Kärleken Finns Kvar Ann-Louise Hanson
7. Too Late For Love John Lundvik

It’s a deltävling full of familiar faces, with Anton and Lisa already having competed against each other in the 2017 final. Lisa came out on top then, and I’ll tell you if I think she’ll do the same now or not after I’ve mentioned my personal favourites from this semi.

My top four Too Late for Love, Torn, On My Own and Känner Dig. I knew John Lundvik and Bishara (with Benjamin Ingrosso backing him as a songwriter) would be my 4^th semi highlights as soon as their names were announced. That’s because I loved Lundvik last year; and because Bishara is adorable in every way, and as an Ingrosso fangirl from way back their collab was made for me. Lundvik going uptempo and Bishara sticking with what works for his voice/image is working for me so far.

Lisa Ajax is another artist I’ve cheered for previously in Melfest, and though I prefer I Don’t Give A to this latest entry (which you can tell was originally meant for Loreen), I think Torn could be more successful for her. It’s a moody ballad with sparse verses and a belter of a chorus, and I’m curious to see how she handles it live. There won’t be any toilet paper hanging from the roof or useless but pretty raincoats this time, that’s for sure!

And yes, I enjoy a bit of Anton Hagman even if nobody else does. I mean, if he butchers Känner Dig tonight we can just hit mute and look at him, right?

So, who’s going direkt? John Lundvik and Bishara. But take this with a grain of salt because I actually have NO IDEA. Turning to either the odds or the rehearsal poll (which was topped by these two) isn’t helpful when you consider how wrong those indicators have been for the last few shows. I think this prediction is more of what I want than what I’ll get – but Lundvik is a safe bet and the most likely to go DTF. Bishara could be too JESC, or could score well with tweens, teens, mums and grandparents all over Sweden. Based on rehearsal reports I’m not convinced Lisa will have more mass appeal than he does.

Who’s getting a second chance?  Arvingarna and Lisa Ajax with the possibility of a Pagan Fury curveball. Arvingarna has their Melfest/ESC history and nostalgic brand of musical Prozac to stand on, and I think they could actually squeeze straight in to the final…but I’ll leave them with AC. Lisa could blow everyone’s minds or underwhelm, and that’s the kind of risky business that deserves a compromise (though I’d happily have her in the final in a way that Wiktoria would not). If one of these guys only gets as far as 5^th place, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Stormbringer slip in to Andra Chansen instead.

 

 

And that concludes this monster of a prediction post in which I didn’t actually do much predicting. It’s not always the fun part, to be honest.

Let me know what YOU think will happen tonight, anywhere and everywhere in Europe. And don’t forget to follow me on Twitter/Facebook/Instagram @EurovisionByJaz, for catty selection show comments and first impressions of the songs for Tel Aviv as they come along. I’ll follow back if you like to talk about Eurovision and send me some freshly-baked cookies!

 

 

 

 

 

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