Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Tone Damli may have entered Norwegian MGP as sort of a pre-favorite but the reception by the fandom was very cold once the song was out, and the live performance the night didn't help her either. In the end she placed only 5th. But for me this is perfect pop with a lot of 80's/90's vibe to it aka the period I was young and love the music of the moment. Also this has been one of the most earwormy songs for me from the national selections. For that alone this deserves a spot in this series, despite the somewhat uninspired and awkward performance. 

Here we have them. Two more will make the final line up in Friends Arena in Stockholm next week and then travels from the huge arena to small intimate Malmö in May for the Eurovision 2013 final. Will it be Martin "I always wanted to be in Modern Talking" Rolinski? Will Behrang sawa dance to the final? Is it the last hello and goodbye to Erik & Tone? Will Cookies burn their flags? I think I would go for Martin and Cookies 'n Beans (or Robin or Anton depending on mood!) Robin Stjernberg - You ( here ) Eric Gabb - Vi kommer aldrig att förlora ( here ) Caroline af Ugglas - Hon har inte ( here ) Behrang Miri - Jalla dansa sawa ( here ) Erik Segerstedt & Tone Damli - Hello goodbye ( here ) Anton Ewald - Begging ( here ) Cookies 'n Beans - Burning flags ( here ) Martin Rolinski - In and out of love ( here )

Melodifestivalen started big time last week and the show was great even if the songs ween't maybe the strongest ever. Things may change this week (or then not). I will be watching UMK 2013 final when this is on so I will be back with results in due time. The most important thing to know about the rehearsals is Pernilla Wahlgren fell on her ass with high heals when she got a bit too dancy.... here: And it's worth mentioning Sean Banan has 15 people involved in his number. The rules say max 8 people on stage in melodifestivalen (instead of the 6 in Eurovision) but he's got a way around it: there are max 8 people on stage at the same time . When does someone try this in Eurovision?! And in this semi we have the writers of Eurovision 2011 and 2012 winner up against each other, too. Excited yet? Anyways, it's a very solid pack this week this blogger has difficulty to pick up the faves and yikes (from the reheardal videos, that is). Erik & Tone? I must support Sea...

Anywhere else 2.549 songs sent to the national final would be a huge amount but in Sweden it's actually the lowest since 2002! And a drop of 936 since last year. But maybe it only means those unlucky ones that have sent their songs year after year, again and again have finally decided to give up? Or did simply Thomas G:son give up after winning, too, and didn't send in his usual about a zillion songs? :-) Seriously, all that matters here of course is the quality, not the quantity like in many other things in life, too.  Now the SVT jury will pick up 16 songs for the semifinals, one of them at least must come from the so called amateur selection (647 songs in total). Svensktoppen selection winner Terese Fredenwal has already her place secured and the remaining 15 places will be filled by SVT as they please; among the songs sent in or by inviting artists and songwriters directly to make the usual 32 semifinalists. The song titles and their writers will be publis...