Sweden SWEDEN 2019 - John Lundvik - Too Late for Love

[A-lister]

Re: SWEDEN 2019

I don't know why, but I got this strange feeling that Agnes could consider doing Melfest. She did Så Mycket Bättre a couple of years ago and I think that is almost the same level of non-cred (that expression doesn't exist but I couldn't come up with a better one) as Melodifestivalen. She's still writing music and if they could convince her being an Eurovision interval act I can't see it being impossible to convince her about taking part in Melodifestivalen.

If she had a great song (which she probably would because I don't think she would do it if she didn't) it would be a great comeback for her, and it would create some buzz because she was quite successful around Europe for a while. If there was a given next swedish female winner of Eurovision, it would be her! One can dream

Actually, I think Agnes is going to take a complete different route so I don't think we'll see her in Melodifestivalen any time soon. Rumor has it she's jumping on the "cross-over-to-Swedish bandwagon" with a more "serious" approach and targeting the local market. Melodifestivalen IS local sure, but it lacks the "cred" (as you point out as well), and if they won't change the people running it, they will continue make it some sort of Pop Idols/has-beens/desperados Pop-fest where Swedish language entries are only added if they are joke entries and where the general approach seems kind of out of touch with the contemporary Swedish music scene in general. Agnes is aiming for the "Grammis" and P3-cred, not for MF... but I could be wrong

 

[prime]

Re: SWEDEN 2019

I don't know why, but I got this strange feeling that Agnes could consider doing Melfest. She did Så Mycket Bättre a couple of years ago and I think that is almost the same level of non-cred (that expression doesn't exist but I couldn't come up with a better one) as Melodifestivalen. She's still writing music and if they could convince her being an Eurovision interval act I can't see it being impossible to convince her about taking part in Melodifestivalen.

If she had a great song (which she probably would because I don't think she would do it if she didn't) it would be a great comeback for her, and it would create some buzz because she was quite successful around Europe for a while. If there was a given next swedish female winner of Eurovision, it would be her! One can dream

I don't know if it's fair to use Så Mycket Bättre as an indicator of who could participate in Melodifestivalen to be honest, as I think that the odds of artists such as Sabina Ddumba, Laleh, Little Jinder, Timbuktu or Moneybrother would ever enter Melfest are quite slim, at least in the current state that it (and ESC as a whole) is in. But yeah, as her career is pretty dead, Agnes probably will show up there sooner rather than later.

 

[Swedenvision]

Re: SWEDEN 2019

I don't know why, but I got this strange feeling that Agnes could consider doing Melfest. She did Så Mycket Bättre a couple of years ago and I think that is almost the same level of non-cred (that expression doesn't exist but I couldn't come up with a better one) as Melodifestivalen. She's still writing music and if they could convince her being an Eurovision interval act I can't see it being impossible to convince her about taking part in Melodifestivalen.

If she had a great song (which she probably would because I don't think she would do it if she didn't) it would be a great comeback for her, and it would create some buzz because she was quite successful around Europe for a while. If there was a given next swedish female winner of Eurovision, it would be her! One can dream

It would be amazing if Agnes enterd, with the right song she would win Mello and have a good chance to win Eurovision as well!!

But remember she has participated already in 2009, and i have some memory that she said "never again" after that.
Of course she could have changed her mind by now, since "Så mycket bättre" it has been way to quiet around her.
A win in Mello and to represent Sweden in ESC would bring here back to the charts!

Dose anybody remember her performance from Melodifestivalen 2009?

IF she enter again I want something like this, enjoy:

Would be so happy if she returned, she is such a star!

 

[LalehForWD]

Re: SWEDEN 2019

Actually, I think Agnes is going to take a complete different route so I don't think we'll see her in Melodifestivalen any time soon. Rumor has it she's jumping on the "cross-over-to-Swedish bandwagon" with a more "serious" approach and targeting the local market. Melodifestivalen IS local sure, but it lacks the "cred" (as you point out as well), and if they won't change the people running it, they will continue make it some sort of Pop Idols/has-beens/desperados Pop-fest where Swedish language entries are only added if they are joke entries and where the general approach seems kind of out of touch with the contemporary Swedish music scene in general. Agnes is aiming for the "Grammis" and P3-cred, not for MF... but I could be wrong

I agree, the fact she canceled her first career in the States (as so many artists both before her and after her) was a sign. She launched her second go in 2011-2012 for the Scandinavian scene, but didn't really had the strength to make it fly. Veritas is a great pop album. In Så mycket bättre she made the mistake to use prerecorded backing tracks and not the excellent live band, therefore missed much of the point with the program. Yet she was shining so bright everyone else got starstruck. Comparing her with Molly Sandén, her potential is so much greater, but she just isn't there to pick it up. She already got enough P3 cred and more. If she's coming back, it is as a producer or in some kind of serious approach. And yes probably in Swedish. Definitely not as the Swedish Beyoncé everyone wanted to see.

 

[DaFlo]

Re: SWEDEN 2019

Is there a chance for Skott to take part @ swedish ppl itt ?

 

[Swedenvision]

Re: SWEDEN 2019

Well it is a very small chance that Agnes actually participate again but i really hope she will!

Speaking of Agnes, she and her boyfriend (Vincent Pontare) and Salem Al Fakir has made an amazing acoustic version of Axwell & Ingrossos super hit More than you know:

Anyway it is really time for to send a woman!

Wiktoria has been close two times, maybe it´s her time now?

We could have won ESC again with that performance!

Or why not a return from Sarah Dawn Finer?

I do think Lisa Ajax will try again, with a good song she could win, her latest song it really good imo.

I would not say no to Loreen either.

 

[midnightsun]

Re: SWEDEN 2019

We could have won ESC again with that performance!

I remember this and no, this sounds like the copy of the copy of a Swedish entry this decade. It's exactly this kind of song why people are tired of the Swedish songs. It's even more dated than Benjamin's this year and some Swedes always insist, Eurovision must be full of contemporary fresh songs.

I'd grant Sweden winning the ESC a lot. (Again, no hate against the country or its inhabitants)
But the song has to thrill a large audience.
Mans did that because he was energetic, had a solid likeable song, good contemporary staging and he is an entertainer.
Loreen had an epic song.

I even like your pop dance songs but it would be really nice to watch something different from you (Sweden).
Even if you won't go top 10 then. If this is Sweden's only effort then you should try being not so eager. Eurovision is not only about winning.

 

[Preuss]

Re: SWEDEN 2019

Obviously ESC wasn’t created with the sole purpose of winning, but the competition needs countries who want to win every year considering the quality of the contest... :/ this was a good year though

I haven’t been very fond of neither Robin or Frans, but everytime I grew to actually enjoy their performances and songs and wanting Sweden to do well. This year I want Wiktoria though

 

[LalehForWD]

Re: SWEDEN 2019

Being a fan, I don't want Loreen to ever compete in Melodifestivalen again. Her NQ 2017 was so painful and unfair. I'm so sorry she was convinced to participating in the farse that Melodifestivalen has turned into. It doesn't suit her persona at all. I fear she'll hide away even more now. I want her to produce music, lots of music. Especially deepdive into the trip hop that fits her like a glove, develop her own touch of it, growing old with it.

 

[A-lister]

Re: SWEDEN 2019

I remember this and no, this sounds like the copy of the copy of a Swedish entry this decade. It's exactly this kind of song why people are tired of the Swedish songs. It's even more dated than Benjamin's this year and some Swedes always insist, Eurovision must be full of contemporary fresh songs.

Do you refer to Wiktoria? It's far better than our last entries, and it has something (partly due to the performer herself) that the previous ones lacked and why I think we didn't do as good with the public (in particular in 2018); warmth.

Wiktoria has the whole package, that song was a throwaback at 90's Eurodance with Country-Pop added to the mix, what you call dated, I call a nice bland of nostalgia and modern.

 

[prime]

Re: SWEDEN 2019

I think the main issue of Melodifestivalen unfortunately is its overemphasize on Eurovision. I do not really have much of an idea of how successful the careers of the acts that participate in San Remo tend to be, but from my outsider perspective their relevance on the Italian music scene seem to be way much higher than the likes of the people who decide to compete in Melfest. I know the rules have always been that way, but I think one of the main issues may lay in Melfest adapting the 3 minute rule. Currently the incredibly vast majority of the songs that compete seems to have been specifically tailored for either Melfest or ESC (apart from some obvious exclusions, such as If I Were Sorry), and I think that may play a part in why some turn it down. Let's face it, most songs are not simply 3 minutes in length, and I think the change of this rule may make it so that some """bigger""" artists (at least compared to the likes that tend to compete now) spontaneously might send in a song or two just to promote themselves, like The Ark did.

And like I said in the beginning I also think that the direction the contest has been heading towards in the recent years, making the focus a celebration of Swedish music rather than a reality show would be pretty great. (Wildcard, but maybe make the chance to represent Sweden at ESC optional even)? Instead of making the pre-song postcards the Fab Freddy character spraying glitter on everyone, make it something more intimate with the performer and composer, such as they've started to do in Festival da Cancao. Furthermore, the whole Festival da Cancao approach with the TV station inviting successful or credible songwriters would make for a positive change, as inviting Salem al Fakir and Darin turned out pretty great in 2010. Maybe getting rid of the international jurors would also make it seem less Eurovision focused?

 

[A-lister]

Re: SWEDEN 2019

I think the main issue of Melodifestivalen unfortunately is its overemphasize on Eurovision. I do not really have much of an idea of how successful the careers of the acts that participate in San Remo tend to be, but from my outsider perspective their relevance on the Italian music scene seem to be way much higher than the likes of the people who decide to compete in Melfest. I know the rules have always been that way, but I think one of the main issues may lay in Melfest adapting the 3 minute rule. Currently the incredibly vast majority of the songs that compete seems to have been specifically tailored for either Melfest or ESC (apart from some obvious exclusions, such as If I Were Sorry), and I think that may play a part in why some turn it down. Let's face it, most songs are not simply 3 minutes in length, and I think the change of this rule may make it so that some """bigger""" artists (at least compared to the likes that tend to compete now) spontaneously might send in a song or two just to promote themselves, like The Ark did.

And like I said in the beginning I also think that the direction the contest has been heading towards in the recent years, making the focus a celebration of Swedish music rather than a reality show would be pretty great. (Wildcard, but maybe make the chance to represent Sweden at ESC optional even)? Instead of making the pre-song postcards the Fab Freddy character spraying glitter on everyone, make it something more intimate with the performer and composer, such as they've started to do in Festival da Cancao. Furthermore, the whole Festival da Cancao approach with the TV station inviting successful or credible songwriters would make for a positive change, as inviting Salem al Fakir and Darin turned out pretty great in 2010. Maybe getting rid of the international jurors would also make it seem less Eurovision focused?

You have some points, but I'm not sure if I agree that MF is "tailor-made" for ESC, in fact it's a much bigger affair in Sweden than ESC is and many artists entering don't even care about winning, they see this as a boost for their careers locally, so a top. 10 in MF alone is enough for many. I think the problem is the people who are currently in charge (and has been for years), I mean I don't mind a "Poppy contest" since we shouldn't deny the fact that Sweden is an international Pop super power and it would be odd to not have that reflected in our biggest annual music show when it's such a big part of Swedish music (hence a comparison with San Remo that is very conservative contest music-wise is a bit flawed, although I get your point about bigger/popular/established names), but these MF people seem to be out of touch though even with their "type" of chosen Pop. Instead of making MF a relevant reflection of the Swedish music scene as it actually looks like, they created a bubble within the Swedish music scene which is clearly "MF-tailored" (if anything) and sometimes years behind the actual trends in Swedish music (also the "Pop scene"!). It's clear that the people running the show has their specific "taste" and "ideas" and we can also see lots of cronyism, nepotism and same faces each year. One example of how disconnected they seem to be from the actual Swedish music scene is how they treat Swedish language music for instance, it's like they completely missed that for years now there's a trend in singing in Swedish and many popular acts now choose to sing in Swedish or cross-over to Swedish, yet the MF people still think English is the "cool" thing and ridicule the Swedish language with joke entries and pointless fillers. You can clearly feel these people are middle age because English considered this "cool" is very 1980's/1990's to me.

I don't know if Festival da Cancao is the best example, atleast not quality wise as much of the songs are dreadfully dull and dated there and maybe it's something that works for Portugal, but that is so not Swedish taste, although I agree with your point of bringing the contest "closer" to the public and make it more authentic. I'd rather look at the Hungarian A Dal or Estonian Eesti Laul then, they aren't really catering to Eurovision but most importantly they seem to be more focused on lifting up the local music scene and make the contest a reflection of that rather than build its own bubble. In both those selections we get a wide range and variety of music, but something feels more organic than MF. Melodifestivalen is sometimes pretty good though and we shouldn't be ashamed of the fact that whether we like the concept/type of music or not, it is often one of the better national selections for ESC (2017 had good quality for instance imo), 2018 was dreadful sure but I guess quality goes in waves (although I sense a decline), but yeah I think Europe moved on and I think authenticity is more asked for these days and we can also see that MF is loosing popularity among the Swedish viewers as well, and the solution would be to bring the Swedish music scene to MF and make it a real reflection instead of continuing year after year of keeping this "bubble" alive. I also agree that the show itself should be less circus and more music oriented, it would boost it's credibility, characters like "Fab Freddy" are hardly helping the cause here.

 

[LalehForWD]

Re: SWEDEN 2019

[MENTION=4544]A-lister[/MENTION] We all know who is in charge of song selection and the song competition layouts, even if there's a crown princess announced. However, they can only choose from the pot of songs they receive from foremost the record companies and established songwriters. Even if they say they receive thousands of songs, my guess is it's a limited selection every year from the big songwriters and labels, the rest is more or less amateur attempts. It's a give and take situation and it's only natural a kind of bond is developed between the Melodifestivalen team and the big players in the business., or a "bubble" as you say. I even believe the song selection choice is probably done as much at Warner Sweden as it is done at SVT. Personally, I'm not against that situation or particularly worried about any implications it might bring. I think it is more about promotion than money anyway. While it is not fair, I think it gives a pretty true image how the music business works and most important it get SVT a current selection of this type of genre.

 

[A-lister]

Re: SWEDEN 2019

[MENTION=4544]A-lister[/MENTION] We all know who is in charge of song selection and the song competition layouts, even if there's a crown princess announced. However, they can only choose from the pot of songs they receive from foremost the record companies and established songwriters. Even if they say they receive thousands of songs, my guess is it's a limited selection every year from the big songwriters and labels, the rest is more or less amateur attempts. It's a give and take situation and it's only natural a kind of bond is developed between the Melodifestivalen team and the big players in the business., or a "bubble" as you say. I even believe the song selection choice is probably done as much at Warner Sweden as it is done at SVT. Personally, I'm not against that situation or particularly worried about any implications it might bring. I think it is more about promotion than money anyway. While it is not fair, I think it gives a pretty true image how the music business works and most important it get SVT a current selection of this type of genre.

I think the choices of songs aren't as transparent and "fair" as we believe, yes many are probably homemade stuff by amateurs, but I still refuse to think that for instance the mess we got in 2018 were the "best of the best" out of all 1000s of entries sent in. I think in many cases, and this is why we see the same names over and over again, it's simply Björkman calling his friends to "send in entries" (which we all know will be chosen in the end).

I think we need a new team, and I don't know if the "sending in entries" is the right way to go, I think SVT should approach acts directly and labels as well. Maybe there are some that didn't think about entering, but getting an invite from SVT might change their opinion. I also feel that the approach "quantity over quality" needs to go, I wouldn't mind strip down MF a bit, but I know SVT wouldn't agree to that.

 

[LalehForWD]

Re: SWEDEN 2019

I think the choices of songs aren't as transparent and "fair" as we believe, yes many are probably homemade stuff by amateurs, but I still refuse to think that for instance the mess we got in 2018 were the "best of the best" out of all 1000s of entries sent in. I think in many cases, and this is why we see the same names over and over again, it's simply Björkman calling his friends to "send in entries" (which we all know will be chosen in the end).

I think we need a new team, and I don't know if the "sending in entries" is the right way to go, I think SVT should approach acts directly and labels as well. Maybe there are some that didn't think about entering, but getting an invite from SVT might change their opinion. I also feel that the approach "quantity over quality" needs to go, I wouldn't mind strip down MF a bit, but I know SVT wouldn't agree to that.

I think the main selection of songs is pretty self-evident from the start. Sure, I believe it's very difficult to penetrate the exclusive inner circle of branch people, be a valued member and be able to have real influence. For each new member, there's an old one kicked out. But it is done, the latest being The Family (Debbs) AFAIK. I think Christer Björkman is extremely good at this job, but he's not irreplaceable. Karin Gunnarsson will soon make her mark on the process. In my opinion, having fresh current artists delivered fully equipped from the labels is terrific and the core strength of Melodifestivalen. It's a bit narrow selection with a focus on mainstream pop, but it will do, Melodifestivalen being a kind trademark for this kind of music.

The essential problem of the song selection is we can't have a contest with only mainstream pop, there needs to be a strong inflow of new ideas. So far these spots have consisted of "fillers" with different genres, which mostly turned out to be dated embarrassing failures recently. The streamlined finals must be broken. I'm hoping Karin Gunnarsson can bring a let say "P3 genre" with focus on for example promising exciting emerging artists with new sounds and ideas.

 

[Qami23]

Re: SWEDEN 2019

Please Sweden, take a risk and send something other than a pop song xcrossed

 

[A-lister]

Re: SWEDEN 2019

I think the main selection of songs is pretty self-evident from the start. Sure, I believe it's very difficult to penetrate the exclusive inner circle of branch people, be a valued member and be able to have real influence. For each new member, there's an old one kicked out. But it is done, the latest being The Family (Debbs) AFAIK. I think Christer Björkman is extremely good at this job, but he's not irreplaceable. Karin Gunnarsson will soon make her mark on the process. In my opinion, having fresh current artists delivered fully equipped from the labels is terrific and the core strength of Melodifestivalen. It's a bit narrow selection with a focus on mainstream pop, but it will do, Melodifestivalen being a kind trademark for this kind of music.

The essential problem of the song selection is we can't have a contest with only mainstream pop, there needs to be a strong inflow of new ideas. So far these spots have consisted of "fillers" with different genres, which mostly turned out to be dated embarrassing failures recently. The streamlined finals must be broken. I'm hoping Karin Gunnarsson can bring a let say "P3 genre" with focus on for example promising exciting emerging artists with new sounds and ideas.

Where is this Karin from? Who is she?

The problem is I think the Pop presented in MF is still kind of unrelated to how the Pop scene actually looks like in Sweden, I don't mind Pop songs, but it still feels like a bubble and the type of music seems rather dated and manufactured for MF rather than a true reflection of how the Swedish music scene actually looks like. We had acts in MF that no one cared about what so ever outside of its bubble, then we had acts that actually "crossed-over" from the MF bubble to deliver stuff that is more fitting with the current trends of Swedish music like Danny and Molly Sandén for instance, but you don't hear that type of stuff that they're doing now in MF.

You very true about the fillers comment, either they use some "genre quota" to make it look diverse on paper, wheres in reality most of these "diverse entries" are either bad or so compromised to MF that they really aren't that diverse in the first place, but in particular it's sad when it comes to Swedish language entries, what rock is SVT living under? Did they miss that some of the biggest hits for the past 5 or so years were in Swedish and didn't even sound like the stuff we get on MF? So why oh why always choosing these dreadful Swedish-language entries that are either complete joke entries or complete hopeless from start to finish. Obviously foreign fans maybe don't know about the Swedish music scene (apart from what is released internationally), but just take a look around this forum for instance and people think that all we do is plastic Pop in English, well that is really not the truth, Sweden is a producer of quality fresh-thinking Pop, and we have a pretty healthy market in Swedish language, but it's never shown in MF.

 

[LalehForWD]

Re: SWEDEN 2019

Where is this Karin from? Who is she?

The problem is I think the Pop presented in MF is still kind of unrelated to how the Pop scene actually looks like in Sweden, I don't mind Pop songs, but it still feels like a bubble and the type of music seems rather dated and manufactured for MF rather than a true reflection of how the Swedish music scene actually looks like. We had acts in MF that no one cared about what so ever outside of its bubble, then we had acts that actually "crossed-over" from the MF bubble to deliver stuff that is more fitting with the current trends of Swedish music like Danny and Molly Sandén for instance, but you don't hear that type of stuff that they're doing now in MF.

You very true about the fillers comment, either they use some "genre quota" to make it look diverse on paper, wheres in reality most of these "diverse entries" are either bad or so compromised to MF that they really aren't that diverse in the first place, but in particular it's sad when it comes to Swedish language entries, what rock is SVT living under? Did they miss that some of the biggest hits for the past 5 or so years were in Swedish and didn't even sound like the stuff we get on MF? So why oh why always choosing these dreadful Swedish-language entries that are either complete joke entries are complete hopeless from start to finish. Obviously foreign fans maybe don't know about the Swedish music scene (apart from what is released internationally), but just take a look around this forum for instance and people think that all we do is plastic Pop in English, well that is really not the truth, Sweden is a producer of quality fresh-thinking Pop, and we have a pretty healthy market in Swedish language, but it's never shown in MF.

Karin Gunnarsson used to work for SR P3, but is now at SVT and appointed (informally?) to replace Christer Björkman when he retires (2021?). She was the Swedish head of delegation to Lisbon this year. I mean instead of Edward Blom or Rorandz, we may hope for Mabel, Skott or Lamix. Note that I said "we may hope"

 

[A-lister]

Re: SWEDEN 2019

Karin Gunnarsson used to work for SR P3, but is now at SVT and appointed (informally?) to replace Christer Björkman when he retires (2021?). She was the Swedish head of delegation to Lisbon this year. I mean instead of Edward Blom or Rorandz, we may hope for Mabel, Skott or Lamix. Note that I said "we may hope"

Ok, now I recall you mentioned that some time ago. Well, the problem is that Swedish HipHop is pretty awful and I don't think that's what I'm thinking of when I meant "reflecting the Swedish Pop scene better", I hope more stuff like Veronica Maggio or Rebecca & Fiona or even contemporary Danny or Molly Sandén to name some... I'm pretty sure none of these acts would enter (well Danny and Molly has a history with MF but in its current format I don't see them coming back, Veronica Maggio I highly doubt, maybe as a songwriter... Rebecca & Fiona though I could see entering if the format was changed a bit and it became a more serious show).

Skott is awesome btw! Now that's contemporary yet authentic and quality POP and a proof that Pop is more than some shallow plastic music...

 

[LalehForWD]

Re: SWEDEN 2019

Ok, now I recall you mentioned that some time ago. Well, the problem is that Swedish HipHop is pretty awful and I don't think that's what I'm thinking of when I meant "reflecting the Swedish Pop scene better", I hope more stuff like Veronica Maggio or Rebecca & Fiona or even contemporary Danny or Molly Sandén to name some... I'm pretty sure none of these acts would enter (well Danny and Molly has a history with MF but in its current format I don't see them coming back, Veronica Maggio I highly doubt, maybe as a songwriter... Rebecca & Fiona though I could see entering if the format was changed a bit and it became a more serious show).

Skott is awesome btw! Now that's contemporary yet authentic and quality POP and a proof that Pop is more than some shallow plastic music...

I didn't want to mention Hov1 Rebecca & Fiona would be fun. Ji Nilsson is absolutly brilliant or our geniune diva Sophia Somajo, both at most perhaps possible as songwriters.