For the first time this year I was able to watch the MF experience live on the internet - thanks to SVT for a mainly flawless live stream.
It began with a great James Bond-style intro - host Kristian Luuk being kidnapped by none other than Lasse Berghagen and Arja Sajonmaa (!) before escaping and heading off to the Scandinavium to present last night's show.
Week 1 of MF is always notoriously the "rubbish one" with none of the big hitters. However I wasn't prepared for just how rubbish it would be. OK that's maybe a bit extreme, but let's just say that in all the years I'd been following MF, I can't remember a heat as unspectacular as this week's.
Talking of unspectacular, I wasn't too delighted with the perspex and metal stage set either. It looked like scaffolding. I don't have a great understanding of Swedish, but Kristian Luuk was as ever a very comfortable host, and the in between song "postcards" were good fun.
But what about the songs?
1. "Line of Fire" - E-Type and The Poodles.
The idea of this collaboration sounded quite exciting to me initially, but the end result was less so. Some old fashioned hair metal. I was expecting something a bit more techno/dancey and I wonder why E-Type even bothered showing up.
2. "Alla Gamla X" - Face-84.
Looked like a schlager-pop version of Sahara Hotnights. Pleasant but that was all. A bit shaky in places, and I never ever saw it as a qualifier, even if it did throw in an awkward key change.
3. "Deja Vu" - Velvet.
I was looking forward to hearing this as I still love "Mi Amore". Unfortunately her vocals were a big let-down, just not good enough. This fan favourite could have maybe qualified in the hands of someone like Jessica Andersson (sadly missed at MF this year).
4. "Lullaby" - Brandur.
He's sooo young - looked as if he should be in "Hollyoaks". Simple piano ballad. I liked bits of this in a strange way, but it lacked a strong enough hookline and the one it did have became annoying after a while.
5. "That's Love" - Michael Michailoff.
Tonight Matthew, I'm going to be Andreas Johnson. Very Johnson-esque style retro-rock-pop which Andreas does better. Mr Michailoff was a bit of a charisma-free zone and my attention wandered during this.
6. "Thank You" - Amy Diamond.
There is no question that she is a very assured and professional performer for one so young. But that is the problem - she looks and sounds like a little girl, and this was more suited to Junior Eurovision than its adult version. This was always going to be a qualifier though.
7. "Visst Finns Mirakel" - Suzzie Tapper.
From the youngest competitor to one of the oldest. I didn't see all her performance of this Eva Dahlgren-style ballad, but file it under the "oldies' career resurrection" section of the MF filing cabinet.
8. "I Love Europe" - Christer Sjögren.
And file this under the "car crash" section along with this year's Estonian and Azerbaijan entries. LOL, LOL, LOL. The Vikingarna singer (even older than Suzzie Tapper), surrounded by Vegas-style showgirls, redefined the meaning of bad cheese. It did make me smile, for all the wrong reasons, but that didn't mean that people had to vote for it!!
Prediction: Amy and Suzzie to Globen, Velvet and the Poodles/E-Type to Andra Chansen.
Result: Amy and Christer to Globen, Suzzie and the Poodles/E-Type to Andra Chansen.
Yes you heard right. Christer to Globen. All I'll say is ???????????
A bad night and a suitably bad result. Can't see any of last night's qualifiers as a possible winner, but Amy could be dangerous.
Next week: the circus comes to Västerås, and fingers crossed for Ola - but next week also sees the first schlager-diva battle - Carola (with Andreas in tow) versus Sanna Nielsen. Wind-machines at dawn! It can only be better than last night's let-down....
