Well well well. I'm getting better at this predictions game. As Meat Loaf might have sang, "Three out of four ain't bad".
Andra Chansen, which used to be buried in some SVT Sunday afternoon slot, now has its own big show and it took place tonight in Kiruna, which is a very cold and snowy place. (Weren't those opening titles very reminiscent of MGP?) Strange one this week though - no Bjorn "hottest/funniest man in Sweden" Gustafsson, but host Kristian Luuk was on good form as ever.
Heat 1: "Line of Fire" - E-Type & The Poodles: I felt this was a better performance than their original one in the first week, but it was up against the Celine Dion-type power ballad of this year's MF.
"That Is Where I'll Go" - Sibel: I know my view is at odds with many others but I found this a bit whiny and as Louis Walsh might say, 'the song was too big for her', however I understood its appeal and wasn't too surprised when it progressed to tonight's semi-final.
Result: Sibel to the semi-final.
Heat 2: "Love In Stereo" - Ola. Rational reasoning now goes out of the window. Ola! Ola! Ola! This was great and again he was much better tonight than in his original performance. Good styling, good singing and a very very good retro-popsong which I just know will be a big big hit, and will figure in my playlist for a while too.
"Smiling in Love" - Caracola: I may just have been feeling more charitable tonight, but even this didn't annoy me.
Result: almost jumped off my seat when Mr Luuk announced Ola was going to the semi-final, although I realised that my celebrations would be short-lived as the ticket to Globen had Sibel's name on it...!
Heat 3: "One Love" - Johnson and Haggkvist: from the beginning I questioned the logic of this duo. I like Andreas and on reflection, he should have gone solo once again. This was all wrong tonight. She was far too old for that dress, and before you say anything, I'm two years older than her and I know what I'm talking about :-)
"I Lagornas Sken" - Nordman. Bald power! Nord-man! Clap clap clap! Nord-man! Clap clap clap! I'm not Swedish, but maybe I should apply now for Swedish nationality because I reckon that it would be enough to say I liked this :-)
Result: Nordman to the semi-final.
Heat 4: "When You Need Me" - Therese Andersson: She gave it her all, but the problem with this song was that the verses were very good but the operatic chorus actually let the song down. Nevertheless, she was a revelation in this contest and this will open doors for her.
"Visst Finns Mirakel" - Suzzie Tapper: A simple song with no gimmicks (except a big group backing singer finish) by a once-famous singer will always do well (like Tommy Nilsson from last year) but don't expect a high placing in the final though.
Result: Suzzie Tapper to the semi-final.
Interval act: in the absence of Bjorn, a rather fab James Bond-type sequence in which Kristian Luuk battled the triple schlager-threat of Arja Sajonmaa, Lasse Berghagen and Anna Book. Please, please, please put this on the DVD, it was so funny. "Goodbye Mr Luuk"!:-) Oh and by the way, Kristian was singing again ("Jag Saknar Dig Ibland"), maybe he should represent Sverige one of these years?
Semi-finals:
Sibel versus Ola: well the result was always a bit obvious. Despite Ola's best efforts, Sibel gave a faultless performance, enough to send her and her wind machine and floaty frock all the way to Globen next week.
Nordman versus Suzzie: Despite the simplicity of Suzzie's Eva Dahlgren-style song, it wasn't enough to keep the witch-burners at bay - Nordman are on their way to Globen!
Next week's finalists:
"Lay Your Love On Me" - BWO
"Thank You" - Amy Diamond
"That Is Where I'll Go" - Sibel
"Upp o Hoppa" - Frida featuring Headline
"I Love Europe" - Christer Sjogren
"Just A Minute" - Rongedal
"Hur Svart Kan Det Va" - Linda Bengtzing
"I Lagornas Sken" - Nordman
"Empty Room" - Sanna Nielsen
"Hero" - Charlotte Perrelli
And the winner is.... I am so convinced that Charlotte Perrelli will represent Sweden at this year's Eurovision Song Contest with "Hero". Will I be right? Answers one week tonight!!
