Sweden SWEDEN 2018 - Benjamin Ingrosso - Dance You Off

[JamTomorrow]

At the end of the day this is Eurovision, not the MTV EMAs. One of the best things about it is the tremendous variety. There's a place for mainstream pop but why anyone would want a contest made up of just the one genre I have no idea. That's exactly the problem Melfest has had the last few years.

 

[LalehForWD]

I agree wholeheartedly with [MENTION=12489]Alaska49[/MENTION] here. Eurovision is special and unique, and what does it matter if the winner sets the charts on fire or not? You can still have a good, well respected and successful career in music without ever touching the top 40. "1994" and "Amar Pelos Dois" are my two favourite Eurovision winners of all time, and I don't think Jamala or Salvador need to be international chart topping artists to solidify what they achieved at the contest, which was reaching the hearts of Europeans on Eurovision night. The moment the contest starts pandering fully to the mundane is the moment I jump off ship. I'm not just here for pop. I'm here for everything.

I love Jamala too. I had here on repeat on Spotify for a week at the time. She is very much pop to me, with her special classic soul twist - yes indeed. 1944 is truly a fabulous song. Salvador not so much, but I liked Portugal to win. Problem here is I think you want Melodifestivalen to be something it never was and never will be, wjhatever it is.

 

[LalehForWD]

I think he refers to that Sweden got undeservedly high placments in the recent years though the quality of the songs themselves doesn't reflect this. It's not really about the genre Sweden represents.
Yeah... I want the winners to be up to date too. Eurovision really needs more songs which are contemporary AND good for their own good. Not just in Eurovision, but in the entire music scene. Diversity is the thing! The more we all are experimenting, then its more likely that Eurovision will produce its next smash hit that's actually great. Sweden recently do no flavor for that. The songs have been too safe, too calculated, too generic and way to focused on staging than to bothering about the songs. Yeah they were hits on the charts, but they need to offer something fresh and has to standout to have some lasting impact in the long run. SVT needs to rethink how they select their songs for melfest before the empire may fall apart like in the mid-2000s.

I fear for next year as I suspect there will be even fewer established artists. I believe the Loreen DQ was the final nail in SVTs effort for Melodifestivalen to be current. Benjamin was the only option this year IMO. Without good artists and commited labels there will not be any good pop songs. I can't see any solution on the problem as it really is the app which is destroying the diversity. No way SVT will take it away now.

 

[RainyWoods]

I love Jamala too. I had here on repeat on Spotify for a week at the time. She is very much pop to me, with her special classic soul twist - yes indeed. 1944 is truly a fabulous song. Salvador not so much, but I liked Portugal to win. Problem here is I think you want Melodifestivalen to be something it never was and never will be, wjhatever it is.

I want the Melodifestivalen back where I loved over half the songs that competed. Heck, i'd settle for even a small handful of songs. The contest has changed a lot over the years. It's not just me that thinks this. There's a distinct lack of variety now in my opinion, and the filler shoved into each semi with the sole purpose of filling the 6th and 7th spots can be smelt a mile off. Young people touching themselves and swearing in my face is not the Melo I obsessed over years ago. The songs have become crass and almost indistinguishable. All I want is to enjoy what was my favourite Eurovision selection again, which I used to love more than the actual contest itself.

Ending on a positive note: I love "Dance You Off" and it's in my top 3 ESC songs of this year. Despite what was in my opinion the worst ever Melodifestivalen, i've been left happy by the end result at least.

 

[SwedishFailurez]

I fear for next year as I suspect there will be even fewer established artists. I believe the Loreen DQ was the final nail in SVTs effort for Melodifestivalen to be current. Benjamin was the only option this year IMO. Without good artists and commited labels there will not be any good pop songs. I can't see any solution on the problem as it really is the app which is destroying the diversity. No way SVT will take it away now.

Yes, I know. That's what I don't really like when SVT takes the short termed approach. They're riding on what profits them now. The could easily fix the app to make it more functional in the voting, but instead SVT exploit the younger audience to impulsively vote on what their emotions telling them to do. The way SVT are running melfest very similar how american corporations works. They overmilking their products and exploiting everything for their own flavor. Even it's bad for their own employees, customers and brands for the long run.

 

[Alaska49]

OK, really don't feel up for another pointless argument about the tiresome forum hate on Sweden. I have no idea what you mean with a "good melfest back". So to be constructive, why don't you exemplify some aspects you like Christer to change to next year? The most common argument right now is to remove the heart voting. The app is probably here to stay.

a. limited app voting
b. no on-screen heart
c. give more chances to not-yet-established composers
d. prioritise a variety of genres (which happened as recently as 2014)
e. actually select songs that all have a chance to win instead of playing favourites
f. create a gigantic laser beam that removes every stick that is currently up swedish eurovision fans' butts and doesn't allow them to read one complaint about melfest without voing WAHHHH SWEDEN HATER

i don't ask for much i don't think

 

[LalehForWD]

a. limited app voting
b. no on-screen heart
c. give more chances to not-yet-established composers
d. prioritise a variety of genres (which happened as recently as 2014)
e. actually select songs that all have a chance to win instead of playing favourites
f. create a gigantic laser beam that removes every stick that is currently up swedish eurovision fans' butts and doesn't allow them to read one complaint about melfest without voing WAHHHH SWEDEN HATER

i don't ask for much i don't think

I agree on all your points except for the last - lol. I want the laser to burn everything at the thread gates. No look, criticism with a heart is fun and interesting. The complete downer is the bitter-angry resentment with that unmistakingly political undertone which used to be the common thing before. For me, it's exactly that political undertone which is the trigger. Just look at the 2012-2013-2014 threads and you'll understand.

 

[LalehForWD]

Yes, I know. That's what I don't really like when SVT takes the short termed approach. They're riding on what profits them now. The could easily fix the app to make it more functional in the voting, but instead SVT exploit the younger audience to impulsively vote on what their emotions telling them to do. The way SVT are running melfest very similar how american corporations works. They overmilking their products and exploiting everything for their own flavor. Even it's bad for their own employees, customers and brands for the long run.

Somehow I don't think it's Christer who is responsible for the app. I've tried to catch any hints and gossip about it, but haven't got any clues at all. I still think it's someone in the management, possibly attached with some idea of cutting costs. The development costs for the app is probably a factor as well and any major change will of course add considerable to that sum. I don't know but at least 100000 SEK inital I think (1 developer for ~2 weeks).

 

[LalehForWD]

I want the Melodifestivalen back where I loved over half the songs that competed. Heck, i'd settle for even a small handful of songs. The contest has changed a lot over the years. It's not just me that thinks this. There's a distinct lack of variety now in my opinion, and the filler shoved into each semi with the sole purpose of filling the 6th and 7th spots can be smelt a mile off. Young people touching themselves and swearing in my face is not the Melo I obsessed over years ago. The songs have become crass and almost indistinguishable. All I want is to enjoy what was my favourite Eurovision selection again, which I used to love more than the actual contest itself.

Ending on a positive note: I love "Dance You Off" and it's in my top 3 ESC songs of this year. Despite what was in my opinion the worst ever Melodifestivalen, i've been left happy by the end result at least.

Some time ago I watched Melodifestivalen 1999 (the one with Charlotte Nilsson, Tusen och en natt) just to compare with this year. Many editions are available at SVT arkiv,. I don't know if it's available outside Sweden (if not there are well-known fixes to that). I don't think anyone is challenging you saying this year was truly awful. Pretty good songs but terrible entertainment value. There are bad years and good years. For me, 2009 (Grotesco Tingeling) and 2012 (Gina, Sarah and Helena) were great, while 2011, 2017 and 2018 were awful. Somehow it's also part of the charm (not this year though). Anyway, Melodifestivalen 1999 had all the feels of a true Melodifestivalen, just simpler and a bit more charming than current years. I think the Swedes really want the format to be the same year after year with a slow developing progress, but the songs clearly should be current pop with chart potential. The "fillers" on the other hand could be selected with better care (Edward Blom really?). That is: Considerations about content vs songs. Personally I hope the song selection will be more P3 than P4 and for example, P3 could have a slot or two reserved for promising emerging artists (instead of the pointless Svensktoppen nästa). Most important, songs are written by existing professional songwriters and they are performed by existing professional artists in the context of their existing careers. It is what it is and sometimes there isn't just the right combination for esc and sometimes there is. Melodifestivalen isn't and have never been a talent show. It is a symbiosis between SVT and the commercial record companies in Sweden and nowadays a multimillion business.

 

[Alaska49]

I agree on all your points except for the last - lol. I want the laser to burn everything at the thread gates. No look, criticism with a heart is fun and interesting. The complete downer is the bitter-angry resentment with that unmistakingly political undertone which used to be the common thing before. For me, it's exactly that political undertone which is the trigger. Just look at the 2012-2013-2014 threads and you'll understand.

i started posting for real in 2015 and i am brazilian. i have no interest in posting anything political against sweden. i am just loud and abrasive lmao. i don't doubt that people take it to politics but my problem with svt is 100% their artistic decisions, i guarantee you.

 

[LalehForWD]

i started posting for real in 2015 and i am brazilian. i have no interest in having anything political against sweden. i am just loud and abrasive lmao.

OK cool. I didn't mean to single you out if you perceived it that way. Just explaining my views.

 

[Preuss]

What's Salvador gonna say if Sweden wins..?

What might have lifted this entry for me a bit is if Benjamin showed some better dance skills during his performance
when i first watched this i expected some really cool dance moves from him

 

[DanielLuis]

What's Salvador gonna say if Sweden wins..?

What might have lifted this entry for me a bit is if Benjamin showed some better dance skills during his performance
when i first watched this i expected some really cool dance moves from him

"Congratulations, here's the trophy"

 

[SwedishFailurez]

What's Salvador gonna say if Sweden wins..?

What might have lifted this entry for me a bit is if Benjamin showed some better dance skills during his performance
when i first watched this i expected some really cool dance moves from him

Something like: ''I guess it's okay to eat junkfood sometimes within a healthy diet, congratulations!''

 

[Realest]

Btw. "Dance you off" is Gold went Gold in Sweden

 

[LalehForWD]

Btw. "Dance you off" is Gold went Gold in Sweden

Is he the first Swedish esc act to go promotion tour? I think it's not usually a customary initative.

 

[tsegaye]

Is he the first Swedish esc act to go promotion tour? I think it's not usually a customary initative.

No, Robin Bengtsson went last year.

 

[LalehForWD]

Another one of these scratch my head about forum consensus. Why is pop lazily considered Salvadorian "fast food music" while for example Singer-songwriter music is not? Like some genres are more worth than others? First, it's of course like comparing apples and pears, second I'm not sure what Salvadore meant exactly. third not everyone value lyrics above the musical parts of a song osv osv

Benjamin isn't a great singer and he knows it. He adapts his skills to what is possible for him to do good. It doesn't make him a lesser artist and performer, rather the contrary I'd say. There's obviously a lot of work behind his act. And tech. Is that work lesser worth than a singer-songwriter artist who is singing in a plain naked style seemingly honest and original? For me there are very few singer-songwriter artists that manage to catch my attention, usually the music is uninteresting, the beat terrible, the vocals subpar etc. Obviously for me Laleh is the golden exception. I wouldn't dream of comparing for example Opeth or Soen with Benjamin and trying to judge some kind of quality value.

 

[LalehForWD]

No, Robin Bengtsson went last year.

Yes, I got a hunch that was the fact. Benjamin is signed to TEN Music Group (Ola Håkansson) while Robin Bengtsson is signed to Capitol Music Group (Universal). So this is probably not a temporary limited circumstance, but a trend that will continue. Maybe there will be an event in Sweden as well?

 

[Sammy]

Another one of these scratch my head about forum consensus. Why is pop lazily considered Salvadorian "fast food music" while for example Singer-songwriter music is not? Like some genres are more worth than others? First, it's of course like comparing apples and pears, second I'm not sure what Salvadore meant exactly. third not everyone value lyrics above the musical parts of a song osv osv

Benjamin isn't a great singer and he knows it. He adapts his skills to what is possible for him to do good. It doesn't make him a lesser artist and performer, rather the contrary I'd say. There's obviously a lot of work behind his act. And tech. Is that work lesser worth than a singer-songwriter artist who is singing in a plain naked style seemingly honest and original? For me there are very few singer-songwriter artists that manage to catch my attention, usually the music is uninteresting, the beat terrible, the vocals subpar etc. Obviously for me Laleh is the golden exception. I wouldn't dream of comparing for example Opeth or Soen with Benjamin and trying to judge some kind of quality value.

Maybe it's because of the central fact that many people long for in art: you want to get presented something originally created by the artist because you feel that this is sort of an invitation to his/her world, which creates intimacy or a sort of feeling you are close to him/her. Which is always a nice experience - getting in touch with another human being (or in the case of the artist - have the impression to get in touch with him). So the lesser things there are in the production around him or her (lightning, show, technique...) the more "naked", the more "exposed to our eyes and ears", the artist presents him/herself. Whereas some might get the feeling of being distant to the artist because of the many things that come in between him (his song/his presence as a person on stage) and us - the audience. We might have the "disguised" / "masked" impression instead of the one I described before. So we don't really feel invited to his world, but rather left outside. One can still enjoy this construction around the artist for its professionally, for its aesthetic appeal or for many other reasons as they may in fact - as you pointed out - demand a great amount of skills and devotion. But if this construction covers the artist in a way that you can change him/her for another and you wouldn't notice this change, then people might loose the interest - which is unfair to the hard working artist, but understandable because the audience has lost the connection to him/her as a person.
But this is of course only one way to judge the quality of art, one can go for the technical skills, for the authenticity, for the mere aesthetic pleasure - neither of them seems to me more or less valid, than the others.