SWEDEN
Sweden's SVT has been legendarily known for its annual Melodifestivalen ever since ABBA became world famous. Though the rounds are the same since the early 2000s, the new rules as implemented since last year goes like this--in the four rounds of heats, there would be two rounds of voting--first to determine one outright finalist, then a second round of voting would commence determining the next automatic finalist and the next two who would undergo a semifinal round (which was fromerly known as Andra Chansen [Another Chance]). The scoring is not based on the actual number of votes but by points based on rankings by demographic segment distribution by age--so it's possible to have a higher popular vote but if you do not appeal to a certain age demographic you would be marked down. The semifinals was also subject to demographic voting, this time only one round where the Top Four would join the eight finalists selected in the heats. The final would be determined by an international jury and the same age-demographic-based televote.
This year's roster of 28 shortlisted entries featured an eclectic group of standouts. Let's start with those not lucky to advance to the final.
"Inga sorger [No sorrows]" - Loulou Lamotte. This member of The Mamas decided to go solo this time with this Swedish-language inspirational pop number. It's well sung but the song doesn't stand out much with the rest of the pack so it was expected not to advance to the semifinal round.
"Gorgeous" - Axel Schylström. There are some Eurofans who have treated this pop ballad entry with high regard, and noted if he didn't compete against a formidable group that included the runaway eventual champion, he would've had the chance to at least make the semifinal round and maybe even the final. I've noticed the song's theme is similar to Robin Bengtsson's 2016 entry, "Constellation Prize", about boosting a girl's self-esteem. He could've pulled off an upset as in the first round of his heat, he beat veteran Mariette in 4th place, but then with the revote, Mariette appealed to an older demographic that despite this guy receiving more actual votes, Mariette amassed points because she ranked higher in the older segments. A similar scenario happened to another favorite...
"All My Life (Where Have You Been)" - Wiktoria. She competed three times in this competition and made a standout impression in those previous appearances, placing 4th in 2016, 6th in 2017 and 6th in 2019. Almost every Eurofan expected her to still make the final with this melodic pop number, and if we base it in the first round of voting in her heat, she would have as she placed 4th and make the semifinals--but then the second round of voting came and it turns out she's weak in the over-30 age segments and was pipped at the post by...
"Now I Know" - Tennessee Tears. This act is very much inspired by 2014 Eurovision runner-up The Common Linnets from the Netherlands as they are a mellow country act. They connected very well with the over-30 segments in Sweden that the blocked Wiktoria from making the semifinal round and so Wiktoria ended up a 1st-round shock boot. They did not progress further in the semifinal as they finished 5th.
"Diamonds" - Victor Crone. After representing Estonia in 2019 with "Storms" he decided to continue trying to represent his home country, making the final in 2020 with "Troubled Waters". Though this entry is a solid listen and Victor looked very dapper with his black-shirt-and-white-pants ensemble, this slicked-up Mumford & Sons-styled number is not as impactful as those entries so the semis is as far as he could go.
Now, it's time to discuss the finalists.
"Rhythm of My Show" - Tone Sekelius. She is fierce and fabulous as this number, but despite not finishing last in either the jury or televote (it ranked 10th in jury and 11th in televote), it finished last in the final.
"One Day" - Mariette. She is a five-time competitor in this competition, finishing 3rd in 2015, 4th in 2017, 5th and 2018 and 10th in 2020. For many Eurofans this entry is her weakest of all her entries, and this is reflected how she had to pip past newcomer Axel Schylström just to be able to garner a semifinal spot. Still, in the final she managed to rank a respectable 7th in the jury and 9th in the televote to finish 8th overall and outrank her 2020 finis.
"Royals" - Paul Rey. He competed in this contest twice before, finishing 6th in 2020 and 12th in 2021. He secured his slot in the final with this sleek peppy pop number by winning the 2nd round of voting, so it's strange that in the final he became dead last in the televote. Fortunately he was salvaged by placing 3rd with the international jury, so he ended up in 7th place overall.
"Where Did You Go" - Kiana. The main hook of this bright pop song is the processed backing vocal repeatedly singing the song title in the chorus--which is now allowed because of the pandemic. Finishing 6th overall isn't something to sniff at as this year's competition is formidable, and I'm not even mentioning how the big favorite and eventual winner just won by a huge landslide over this group. Expect to hear more from her in future editions of this contest.
"Mer av dig [More of you]" - Theoz. He is catnip to the kids and teenybopper crowd ever since he debuted last year and placed 4th with "Som du vill [As you wish]". He stuck to his modern pop-funk sound with this entry and made major waves in the Swedish charts as a result. Still, it's unusual that this had to undergo a semifinal round as it ended up 3rd in its heat. And it outranked those two automatic finalists, Panetoz and Maria Sur that beat him in that heat. In the final, he finished 5th with the jury and 7th in the televote and finished 5th overall. Interestingly, in the demographic breakdown, he's the only one who got a top ranking in one segment--the 3-9 year-old set, who ranked the dominant champion in a surprisingly low 10th place. The eventual champion topped all other demographic segments and the telephone voting.
Where You Are (Sávežan)" - Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Arc North feat. Adam Woods. This is Jon Henrik's 4th go-round, and in my opinion, this is his most accessible number thus far, as this number follows the accessible pop approach delivered by Norwegian act KEiiNO. He debuted back in 2015, where he was the runner-up behind Eurovision 2015 champion Måns Zelmerlöw, then placed 3rd in 2017 and 4th in 2019. He's always been weak with the international jury as this time he ranked 8th, but his strong-enough 4th place showing in the televote helped secure him a 4th place overall finish. Interestingly his strongest demographic segment are the 60 year-old and above contingent, as here he's second behind the dominant champion.
"Six Feet Under" - Smash Into Pieces. This hard rock act made a major splash and there were some Eurofans who preferred this to win instead of the dominant champion. They prove consistently strong with a 4th place finish with the international jury and 3rd with the televote. They were strongest with the 30-59-year-old and telephone voting set as they were second behind the eventual champion.
"Air" - Marcus & Martinus. This twin teen act got major buzz with this state-of-the-art pop number. WIth that, they fully nailed the under-30 demographic, placing 2nd in all segments under those brackets in the final. It also got 2nd place with the jury, but we all know the eventual champion was just too dominant and unstoppable that this finishing 2nd overall is major achievement enough.
PORTUGAL
As is customary, Portugal's RTP staged its annual Festival da Canção [Festival of Song] featuring 20 entries. The 20 entries were subject to two semifinal heats where the top five performers of each heat based on jury and televote would advance outright to the final and an extra finals slot was granted via a 2nd round in televote. Due to a system error involving the last entry in the first semifinal heat, that entry was granted an automatic finals slot so the final resulted in having 13 entries instead of the expected 12.
First, let's talk about the notable non-finalists.
"Too Much Sauce" - Moyah. It's interesting to hear hip-hop in a country like this one, but it proved to be an engaging enough listen. Going into the 2nd round of voting, it didn't finish dead last as it got a bit of jury support and finished 8th, but televote proved to be its Achilles heel and hence officially finished last in its heat.
"Modo voo [Flight mode]" - April Ivy. Based on the studio recording, there are many Eurofans convinced this boppy 1980s throwback was a finals shoo-in, but her live vocals proved wobbly and this made it marked down by the jury as they pegged this dead last. But she still had a solid televote following that she beat Moyah to stave off that last place finish.
"Bandeiras [Flag]" - Bandua. There were also some Eurofans who dig this neo-traditional rhythmic number, and it's interesting to see the male singer sporting a skirt (which might be a kilt), which gave this a Celtic feel. But it didn't quite connect with the jury and the public in its heat, and officially it finished 8th in the 2nd semifinal heat.
"Enquanto é tempo [While there's time]" - Teresinha Landeiro. There are some Eurofans who love this torch ballad, and during her heat she almost made the cut as she was 4th with the jury and 6th with the televote and was 6th in the heat prior to the 2nd round of voting. However, it seems her support fizzled out during the second round of voting as she ended up 2nd to last.
Now it's time to discuss the notable finalists.
"Fim do mundo [End of the world]" - Inês Apenas. Many Eurofans, including myself, love this jazzy ballad with those rolling piano passages. It did really well in its semifinal heat, finishing 5th with the jury and 3rd with the televote to rank 3rd in the 2nd semfinal heat and automatically advance to the final. So it's baffling how it fizzled in the final--sure it ranked 9th with the jury and 10th with the televote, but that didn't prevent it from finishing 13th overall as it was overtaken by those acts that got nil point in one category that compensated by scoring high in the other category.
"Sapatos de cimento [Cement shoes]" - Esse Povo [These People]. This is a bright, tripical ditty that is engaging and they benefitted from a technicality to become a finalist--it turns out since tbey performed last in their semifinal heat and the phone company failed to add them as a voting option, they were given an automatic ticket to advance. If all systems were working, I have a feeling they would've probably missed the cut, considering they ranked 7th with the jury in their heat. In the final, they were in a similar situation with Inês Apenas, finishing 10th with the jury and 9th with the televote, and technically is tied in the rear with Ines but because they had a higher televote ranking, they became officially 12th place.
"Endless World" - Neon Soho. There are Eurofans who dig this avant-pop number, one of three entries sung entirely in English, and fortunately thanks to 2nd round voting, this advanced to the final. It was 12th in the televote but was saved by its 6th place jury standing to finish 10th overall.
"Encruzilhada [Crossroads]" - Churky. He reminds me so much of Italian artist Francesco Gabbani who was the favorite to win Eurovision 2017 with "Occidentali's Karma" but fizzled to 6th place. This guy just sounds almost exactly like Francesco and closely resembles him physically, only of course he's singing in Portuguese and is employing a folk-rock musical style. He is strongest in televote as he was 2nd in his semifinal heat in that round and was 6th in the final. The jury placed him in a tie for 11th place in the final, though, so he finished 9th overall.
"Contraste Mudo [Muted contrast]" - You Can't Win Charlie Brown. The name of this band is just so memorable, and it would make you wonder what sound they would make. It turns out it's acoustic mody indie rock sung strictly in Portuguese. This turned out to be a jury darling, as it was 2nd in its semifinal heat and 4th in the final. But during the final, its weak 12th place showing in the televote pulled it down to finish 8th overall.
"Tormento [Torment]" - Voodoo Marmalade. This band showcased Portuguese-style folk-rock with their combination of heavy acoustic guitar instrumentation and strong vocal harmonies. This struck a chord with the Portuguese public as they topped the televote in their semifinal heat and was a strong 4th in the same category in the final. Teir 11th place tie in the televote final though, made the drop to 7th place overall.
"World Needs Therapy" - Dapunksportif. At first glance I thought they were ripping off the name of the legendary French electronica band Daft Punk but I've gotten acclimatized to their name and appreciated their modern rock sound. This is one of three entries sung entirely in English. Despite the language, this band has a strong public following, that even if they were severely marked down by the juries they were able to harness their fan following to shore up their standing. They placed 9th with the jury in their semifinal heat that even if they placed 2nd in the televote they were not given an automatic ticket in the final and had to undergo a 2nd round of televote just to advance. They were likewise ranked dead last in the final with the juries, but their 3rd place showing in the televote helped them secure a 6th place finish overall.
"Povo [People]" - Ivandro. He infused soulfulness to this traditional morna ballad that it was almost a major darling with the juries, placing 3rd in his semifinal heat and 5th in the final. He's a tad weaker in the televote, as he was 7th in the semifinal heat and 8th in the final, resulting in a 5th place overall finish.
"Goodnight" - Barbara Tinoco. This wistful English-language pop ballad garnered a strong following, and its journey from semfinals to finals has an interesting trajectory. In her semifinal heat, she topped the jury vote, but was dead last in the televote, so it only eked a 4th place finish in the semfinal in 4th place, still automatically qualifying to the final but not as dominant as expected. As the finals came in, the juries seemed to be focusing their attention towards other acts that she dropped to 3rd place with the jury, but somehow she garnered some love from the televote this time, as she ranked 5th there and secured a 4th place finish overall.
"Nasci Maria [Born a Maria]" - Claudia Pascoal. From her 2018 Eurovision stint with the moody ballad "O jardim [The garden]" I wouldn't get that this lady is capable of being utterly fun, and that's what she delivered with this utterly catchy treat. Sure, if you read through the lyrics you realize there is a more somber, serious undertone about disadvantages being female (and at some level it could also be interpreted as sentiments of a female wanting to change her gender) but that catchy repetitive chorus just makes you want to bop along, and her stylized presentation cast a magic spell. She actually won her semfinal heat as she topped the jury, but her main rival, the eventual champion, has an extra trick up her sleeve in the final--in the semifinal heat, the eventual champion only had two female backup dancers and only ranked 4th with the jury; during the final she added two male backup dancers, and with that she topped both the jury and televote and handily won. Meanwhile this then ended up 3rd wit the jury and a surprisingly lowly 7th in the televote, but still managed to keep her 3rd place overall finish.
"A festa [To party]" - Edmundo Inacio. He jazzed up his traditional morna ballad with a modern look, most notably his red unisex outfit. Interestingly in his semifinal heat he was beaten by Barbara Tinoco in the jury but still perform strong enough to top the semifinal heat overall. He somehow grew in momentum, as he's tied at the top with the jury with the eventual champion in the final and then finished a strong 2nd with the televote to finish 2nd overall.
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