WORTH A LOOK?: ****

OUT: now

Saturday was a kalla natt for Jessica Andersson who was eliminated from Heat 1 of Melodifestivalen with the anthemic Horizon but the good news is the performance is available to watch (read article below) and the single for download.

• Read on for reasons including to watch the Melodifestivalen performances by Nathalie Brydolf and Kadiatou

Andersson is a veteran of 8 Melodifestivalens since she won it in 2003 as part of duo Fame and you can read our Heat 1 preview for her many highs over the last 18 years with super producer Christer Björkman at the helm. 

Andersson is a double threat who can convincingly front an uptempo dance number as well as bring the house down with a show stopping ballad and Horizon was reminding us of Carola’s supreme Invincible before the material-waving styling och consulting.

It’s a country-ish tale of young lovers which builds into a rousing and memorable chorus that reminds of Melodifestivalen gone by with its timeless, gospel-esque hooks and Andersson really performs its more challenging aspects.

We successfully predicted the 2 winners, unusually the only Swedish language entries, in what was a night proving the Swedes were looking for fun – which might make it difficult for ballads to progress. The 4 male-fronted acts all made it through while it was farewell to all the women.

Kadiatou had a strong contemporary dance number at her disposal but gave a rather underpowered performance that was ranked either 6th or 7th.

The biggest injustice for us was the bottom 2 finish for Nathalie Brydolf and the big ballad which was performed 6th Fingerprints (watch below).

She impressed with the vocal, it had a beneficial position in the running order between the two uptempo fun numbers and we thought it deserved better.

It was an enjoyable first Melodifestivalen heat. Look out for our Heat 2 predictions dropping on Thursday 11 February and you can read our Heat 2 preview including the return of Dotter now.

• Picture via YouTube courtesy SVT and Jessica Andersson Watch Melodifestivalen on SVTPlay
• Have you seen any of these shows? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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