Lopez Blogs

Going back to the late 70s/early 80s mod revival to start with tonight :-)
Although for some strange reason the lead singer annoyed me, I did like a couple of songs by this band. My favourite songs of theirs were "My World" and "Time For Action". Find a Top of the Pops 2 clip of the latter at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1kqQHl5q6g

The last of the 4 heats to determine the remaining finalists....and arguably the strongest heat so far, as every song had some redeeming feature or another.

As ever, an amazing show this week in Karlskrona, contrasted with the apology for a national final which I was watching on BBC1 at the same time....

Niklas Strömstedt kicked off the proceedings tonight with an easy going old fashioned number which was OK but despite his wildcard status was never a contender tonight.

Calaisa just sounded like every other female close-harmony combo of the last 10 years, from The Corrs to the Dixie Chicks. Nevertheless, it worked, unlike Ainbusk from last week. Enough voters must have agreed as they made it to this week's top 5, and came fifth.

"Pame" was always going to be a favourite for this blogger, based on three things:

1) Men named Daniel !
2) Big hair!!
3) Songs that sound like "Cara Mia" will always be a big hit at EuropeCrazy HQ!

Much messageboard criticism was aimed in Daniel Mitsogiannis' direction, but I liked it anyway, even if I was in a minority.

Linda Bengtzing has never been one of my MF faves in the past, but she won me over tonight with her 'Grace Kelly'-type song (although what was with the tartan styling?) She has really made so much progress since her last MF outing and is such an enthusiastic performer. Wasn't her new look very reminiscent of Rihanna?

Nordman always seem to tap into that Swedish national vibe which worked for Roger Pontare all those years ago, and I was surprisingly impressed by the show that they put on tonight.

I'm no fan of big power ballads and the one by Sibel Redzep was no exception. The poor girl also looked quite sickly in her outfit and did she really need a wind machine? Vocally outstanding though, but not really my bag, baby.

I found Sebastian Fronda quite appealing and charming, although I knew that his song didn't really have any chance.

Everything comes to an end......finally, the return of Charlotte Perrelli to MF. She performed the Kempe/Ljunggren song "Hero" perfectly and I was very impressed. Prior to hearing this song I'd never really been a fan of hers but she has the professionalism and the pedigree to go all the way to win MF this year and do some serious damage at Eurovision.


Was it just me, but I didn't like the water-themed interval dance act, although a 'drunk' and trouserless (!) Bjorn Gustafsson managed to steal the show yet again.

Results!
To Globen: Linda and Charlotte.

To Andra Chansen: Nordman and Sibel.

So that's it for the MF heats. Next week sees Andra Chansen, where two songs will be chosen to join the finalists at Globen, two weeks tonight. Predictions to follow next week - it's going to be a tough one to call!!

Poster Girl's gonna go into meltdown!!!

Congratulations to Charlotte Perrelli and Linda Bengtzing. At least I got that one right! Two very assured performances tonight which we in the UK can only dream of....

Nordman and Sibel to Andra Chansen, setting up the following head-to-heads next week in Kiruna:

E-Type & The Poodles vs Sibel; Carola & Andreas vs Nordman; Ola vs Caracola; Therese Andersson vs Suzzie Tapper.

Full review of tonight's show to follow.

..yes it's embarrassment time again. This year it won't be called "MYMU" but it will be called "Eurovision - Your Decision" but let's not bother because whatever the Beeb calls it, the fact remains that they're embarrassed to be part of Eurovision at all. (Contrast this with Sweden's Melodifestivalen and Norway's Melodi Grand Prix, two brilliantly produced and staged weekly extravaganzas). Tonight my head will be bouncing from left to right as if I was at Wimbledon watching a tennis match (!!) because I'll be watching our selection on TV and watching Melodifestivalen on the computer at the same time.

By the way, I've deliberately avoided listening to any clips of the six British finalists so tonight's show will be the first time that I hear them. May the best song and performer win, although the great British public having their particular idea of what a British Eurovision entry sounds like, I very much doubt it and I'd love to be proved wrong.