WHEN?: 7pm (UK time) 22/2/20
WHERE?: Malmö Arena, Malmö
Whisper it but we think a woman might win Melodifestivalen this year for the first time since Sanna Nielsen sang Undo in 2014.
- Read on for reasons including why a woman soloist is going to win this year’s Melodifestivalen
We say this because after bemoaning a run of male winners who included Måns Zelmerlöw, Frans, Robin Bengtsson, Benjamin Ingrosso and John Lundvik, we think by far and away the strongest songs in this year are sung by solo women. But what of this heat?
- Frida Öhrn We Are One (Frida Öhrn, Hampus Eurenius, Nicklas Eklund) PREDICTION: Andra Chansen
We weren’t especially looking forward to hearing this but it’s well done and, if you’re looking for a dark horse, look no further. Tuneful backing vocals always help propel MF songs and this, with its rather by numbers sentiment, is going to be up there at the end.
2. William Strid Molnljus (Cloud light) (Markus Lidén, Christian Holmström, David Kreuger, William Stridh) PREDICTION: 7th
Each song sung in the second slot has finished 7th and we think Strid might struggle to break that sequence.
3. Nanne Grönvall Carpool Karaoke (Nanne Grönvall, Peter Grönvall) PREDICTION: 6th
All over the place which fans of Nanne (us particularly) have come to love. It’s no Håll om mig but Nanne deserves her place in this field of strong women looking for the first win for their sex since 2014.
- LISTEN to 60-second snippets of each song
4. Victor Crone Troubled Waters (Dino Medanhodzic, Benjamin Jennebo, Victor Crone) PREDICTION: Finalen
Swede Crone mentions the title of last year’s Estonian finalist in another water-based song idea which builds pleasingly and should see him progress in some form in this contest.
5. Ellen Benediktson and Simon Peyron Surface (Paul Rey, Laurell Barker, Anderz Wrethov, Sebastian von Koenigsegg, Ellen Benediktson) PREDICTION: Andra Chansen
We loved Benediktson’s finalist Songbird in 2014 and this is a quite different proposition. In a contest where acts are predominantly soloists, this benefits from its novelty. It’s catchy and boasts depth despite its title.
6. Jakob Karlberg Om du tror att jag saknar dig (If you think I miss you) (Nanne Grönvall, Isak Hallén, Henrik Moreborg, Jakob Karlberg) PREDICTION: 5th
Karlberg co-writes with Nanne for a song that bursts into life when it needs to and is a pleasant, middle-of-the-road stomper.
7. Hanna Ferm Brave (David Kjellstrand, Jimmy Jansson, Laurell Barker) PREDICTION: Finalen
Singing last inevitably cranks up expectation and Ferm is currently the favourite to win the whole thing after Felix Sandman could only make Andra Chansen in Heat 1. Great chorus.
- Picture via YouTube courtesy SVT Melodifestivalen. Tickets
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