SWEDEN– LIVE BLOG of  Melodifestivalen Semi Final 1 from 2000 CET!!!

Sweden– Join us today at 20:00 CET for our LIVE rolling blog of the first Semi Final 2017 of Melodifestivalen where 7 acts will compete for a place in the Final in Stockholm and hope to go on to represent their country in Eurovision 2017. The Semi Final is being beamed live from the Scandinavium arena in Gothenburg. The hosts of the show will be Clara Henry, David Lindgren and Hasse Andersson.

You can watch the show live here at 20:00 CET. Just refresh our page here to get the views, comments and points of view from Andrew Main who you will know from previous musings  here at Eurovision Ireland and his sparkling charm and witty repartee should keep you entertained… or bored to hell, who knows!!

The 7 Acts tonight are :

1. Boris René – Her Kiss
2. Adrijana – Amare
3. Dinah Nah – One More Night
4. De Vet Du – Road Trip
5. Charlotte Perrelli – Mitt Liv
6. Ace Wilder -Wild Child
7. Nano – Hold On

The results will be decided by public voting. Soon we will find out who will succeed in taking on the Swedish golden ticket from Frans who finished 5th in the Grand Final last year.

So sit back and get ready for Andrew to give you his spin on tonight’s offerings from Sweden – JUST REFRESH THE PAGE for the up to date comments – at your own risk!

ROLLING BLOG

So the show begins and we get a quick look back at last years show. Our three presenters are on stage and introduce the show. Clara looked rather bland in her outfit but we got a lovely reveal of a glittery pink/purple/ red dress.

Now we get the hosts singing a very high energy uptempo opener.  Lots of dancers and all very glam. We are introduced to all the artists.

Song 1 – Boris René – Her Kiss

Song 1 tonight and in Melfest is very uptempo and retro sounding. Boris is in a red a jacket and has some dancers on stage with him. This is a good opener for tonight and am liking this a lot. I can see this getting through tonight for sure.

Song 2 – Adrijana – Amare

Adrijana is wearing a long grey coat that looks like fur. This is very Sia like but unfortunately is very out of tune. It is actually very painful all the right notes but clearly not in the right order. It is a a good song but not going anywhere sorry Adrijana

Song 3 – Dinah Nah – One More Night

Dinah Nah looking every inch like a drag queen from Ru Paul pink hair and sparkly blue dress. This is a good disco stomper and is getting a good vibe here. She is lying on the floor and rapping now but its still better than the last song. The best song so far for sure.

Song 4 – De Vet Du – Road Trip

Its boyband time now. They are in a orange VW beetle while they are singing. All the boys are drop dead gorgeous. Oh wait I should be concentrating on the song. One member of our party thinks it is a big pile of pish. But our boys here are loving it, I think this could get lots of girly and boy votes. And the have a couple of girly dancers on too.

Song 5 – Charlotte Perrelli – Mitt Liv

Charlotte with a guitar and a lovely Swedish lyrics ballad. This could be a dark horse for sure. It is the sort of gentle ballad that does well in Sweden, it is sung well and deserves to do well but sadly among the the pop of today will probably not get through. A shame as I love it.

Song 6 – Ace Wilder -Wild Child

One of the favourites on next from Ace. This is sounding quite good a good build to the song and Ace has some dancers on stage. I like it and can see why it would do well. Its not a winner but should get through.

Song 7 – Nano – Hold On

The last song tonight and a big favourite for sure. Its a very melodramatic song. Different to anything else tonight and helps it to stand out. The vocals are really good and it has a good vibe to it. It has a bit of a gospel undercurrent to it too.

So now we get a run through of all the songs with the voting details. So while we are waiting who do I think will get through tonight? I feel Nano for sure is direct till Final while Ace Wilder and Boris Rene will go to Andere Chansen, The other one direct till Final for me is the boy band De Vet Du. I rarely get it right  so we shall see.

Our interval act are a heavy rock group called Mustach with a song Hound from Hell with Hasse in black leather singing along too.

WE have the first result in. Dinah Nah is through. Boris Rene is through. De Vet Du are through. Nano is through and Ace Wilder is through. Adrijana came 6th and Charlotte came 7th.

Now we have another voting window open for the top 5 songs to see who goes to the Final and who goes to Andere Chansen and of course who comes 5th and leaves the competition. Our second interval act is a modern dance act which was amazing. We are now in the green room chatting to the artists.

We have a result in Sweden. The first song direct till Final is………… Nano with Hold On.

Nano sings his song again now.

The next two song to go to Andere Chansen are …….. Boris Rene with Her Kiss and De Vet Du with Roadtrip.

The second song through to the Final is ………… Ace Wilder with Wild Child.

So Dinah Nah finished 5th.

So there we have it folks tonights show was the first from Sweden. Tune in next week where I will be covering the 2nd Semi Final live in my living room along with a Swedish news team who are over covering Melodifestivalen from a Scottish perspective. Thanks and good night.

Author – Andrew James Main

Source: Eurovision Ireland, SVT