Sweden SWEDEN 2019 - John Lundvik - Too Late for Love

[Pawhlen]

I still don´t think that any of the other entries we had in our final would have done any better than John did

 

[Pawhlen]

I did say it would flop in televote Pawhlen

9th place is not what I would call a flop, rather expected, I hoped he would manage top 10 and he actually did.

In fact I thought he would do much worse than that (below 12th would have been a flop in my book)

 

[Storm]

Yeah, you could see this coming. Juries would love it but his lead was obviously only very thin and the public isn't that excited for Sweden right now + a difficult song in many parts of Europe. Sixth is still a good result though!

 

[DaFlo]

Breaking News:

Björkman spotted having a phone call with Jon Henrik Fjällgren #2020 #soon

 

[simonPL]

Okay, so it's ridiculous - Sweden needs to be on 1st place everytime and everywhere. Being lower is beneath their dignity even if it's 6th place in general which is a really good result.
When I see posts about "pain" and being "heartbroken" I just can't.

9th place in televote is fair and good.
1st place in jury voting is... well... dubious, but hey.

It's not a tragedy.

 

[Mii11]

Well I was wrong about Sweden flopping. Well done!

 

[LakZaNokte]

Look, it’s kinda understandable why Swedes get so many jury votes. Their NF is based on international juries. Their entries are all well polished, well produced.

But I can’t help but wonder how on earth did anyone there thought gospel, higly americanised, would do well in esc, with audience? Those are low pts in number (regardless of placing in televote overall) for someone who throws in such effort like Sweden does.
I mean, this looks like something from any random Hollywood movie about southern USA.

Anyways, if something starts to repeat, it means u have to change something.

 

[Dessi]

Look, it’s kinda understandable why Swedes get so many jury votes. Their NF is based on international juries. Their entries are all well polished, well produced.

But I can’t help but wonder how on earth did anyone there thought gospel, higly americanised, would do well in esc, with audience? Those are low pts in number (regardless of placing in televote overall) for someone who throws in such effort like Sweden does.
I mean, this looks like something from any random Hollywood movie about southern USA.

Anyways, if something starts to repeat, it means u have to change something.

Well, 9th place in televotes is better than Croatia. Maybe you should teach your own country the same things you try to teach us.... just a thought! i

 

[wtf]

I don't think Melodifestivalen needs to change anything. It's a perfect NF with a perfect format. Not having a televoting dominated superfinal is brilliant, for example. Guess that also secures a jury friendly result.

I'd say keep doing what you're doing and you'll soon succeed again. Obviously no country has done as good for 2011-2019 as Sweden: 2 overall victories, 3 jury victories, ending third once and fifth twice. Sweden obviously rules the 2010s of Eurovison.

 

[LakZaNokte]

Well, 9th place in televotes is better than Croatia. Maybe you should teach your own country the same things you try to teach us.... just a thought! i

Where have I said we are doing literally anything right in esc?

 

[Citelis]

Actually Sweden was on t/v top 10 so after all its fair that they are on top 10.

 

[ZoboCamel]

6th seems fair for this - a strong song, and it's about what I was expecting after the performance. John's a great guy and a great performer with a pretty strong song, but watching the show live it just didn't stand out in the way that a lot of the other entries did. Wouldn't have complained if it had won (especially given I had some bets on it & would love to potentially go to Sweden next year), but I guess it wasn't to be.

As others here are saying, the way they revealed the votes here did feel a bit cruel for John. This was always going to be an issue under the new system of score reveals, and it clearly didn't help that they repeated the 250 point requirement so many times (which made Sweden's score sound much lower than the respectable finish it actually is).

Anyways - hopefully going into next year we get some more revisions to the voting reveal sequence and some more daring entries having a chance at Melfest. Great performers and staging are one thing, but I feel like the televote will continue to be an issue if Sweden keeps playing it safe like this.

 

[wtf]

What exactly could be changed in the format though? Dance You Off and Too Late For Love won the televoting in Sweden too. You can't change a nation's music preference?

Melodifestivalen is a well organised, open and fair contest. Lots of songs in the selection. People have a say. Juries have theirs. Both combined, a winner is decided. I'd understand this being a conversation if Sweden failed to qualify or even finished mid-table for a couple of years. It's a constant top 10 country we're talking about here.
I hope they never go for a boring internal selection.

 

[bstream]

Yeah, it really is just a matter of diversifying the final pool of songs at Melodifestivalen. Bring on a Jon Henrik, a female, etc.

The only thing is that it feels like any slight change to the formula would throw the whole thing off.

 

[ZoboCamel]

What exactly could be changed in the format though? Dance You Off and Too Late For Love won the televoting in Sweden too. You can't change a nation's music preference?

I think the main thing would be to include a more diverse lineup of entries in the NF. Obviously I'm not saying to go for an internal selection or anything - it's just that when, say, 75% of the lineup is often safe, mainstream pop, you can't be too surprised when safe, mainstream pop takes the win.

I do feel like 2019 was at least an improvement over 2018 in that regard, which is one positive. And hey, maybe SVT doesn't want to change their direction - 6th is an entirely respectable finish, of course. I'm just saying that if most songs on offer fall under a particular mold, the winner will likely be one of those songs.

 

[Stargazer]

I think the main thing would be to include a more diverse lineup of entries in the NF. Obviously I'm not saying to go for an internal selection or anything - it's just that when, say, 75% of the lineup is often safe, mainstream pop, you can't be too surprised when safe, mainstream pop takes the win.

I do feel like 2019 was at least an improvement over 2018 in that regard, which is one positive. And hey, maybe SVT doesn't want to change their direction.

I would say that SVT are definitely interested in finding out what the Swedish public actually thinks of the way Melodifestivalen is working. They recently posted on Facebook, asking for MF-loving Swedes to sign up to be part of some kind of on-going test panel of sorts. Not sure how it's going to play out, but it seems like all those they take on will be sent various kinds of surveys to fill out later in the year, about everything from the song selection process, to how the shows are done, to I assume the voting process - everything. It seems to me like they are interested in changing it up. I signed up of course, but I don't know if I'll get selected. I don't know if they'll take on everyone who applies, or if they only want a fair representative sample based on various age group/gender/region constellations.

But we shall see. I'm excited to see where it leads.

 

[Ana Raquel]

send a woman

 

[blajblaj]

send a woman

We sent four awesome women this year...

 

[Carian]

9th place is not what I would call a flop, rather expected, I hoped he would manage top 10 and he actually did.

In fact I thought he would do much worse than that (below 12th would have been a flop in my book)

John didn't flop as badly as Ingrosso last year, but don't focus so much on the places. It's the points that are telling - the gap was really big, just like with Macedonia. And if this wasn't a flop, go and check John's face expression after hearing how many points he got from public. I actually pittied him.

But no-one who is in right senses can deny that Sweden isn't somewhat treated differently as Sweden always gets to the top in juries vote, yet fares quite poorly in public vote. Sorry, this is now as plain as stars in the night.

And then you ask yourself why ESC fans show so much dislike towards Sweden? I am not surprised - I was one of them, but I don't feel this way anymore ever since I have come to the conclusion that it is not Sweden's fault. The problem are juries. In my humble opinion, they should be removed or something should be changed.

 

[crashworld]

Justice served. Although a no. 9 in the televote is still respectable, but no. 1 in the juries? Ugh. Knew it's going to get overrated by juries.