1. Charlotte Perrelli - "The Girl"
IN SUMMARY: A very easily accessible song and as you would expect from Perrelli, extremely strong vocals. There are a lot of heavy drums, some very curious arrangements, and a knowing riff on ABBA's song "Mamma Mia." There is also an essential key change - but not where you would expect it. Very autobiographical lyrics. Not the disaster that some Eurovision sites have predicted, not at all.
USE OF EUROVISION SPECIAL SOUNDS: Quite a bit of "whoa whoa".
MY PREDICTION: Very hard to say. It is a very good quality song but there is some very strict competition.
JOURNALISTS' REACTION: There was a lot of frantic typing, note taking and conversation between everyone.
2. OPA - ""Allting blir bra igen"
IN SUMMARY: When a band is called OPA, it may give you a clue of what to expect. In this case it has a traditional Greek sound mixed with a hint of Middle-Eastern flavour and sounds more catchy and romantic than I expected.
USE OF EUROVISION SPECIAL SOUNDS: Not much present here.
MY PREDICTION: I liked it a lot, but songs that don't fit into a pop/schlager/upbeat style tend to fall out of the contest early. May not stand a good chance but a good song regardless.
JOURNALISTS' REACTION: Nothing special.
3. Dynazty - "Land of Broken Dreams"
IN SUMMARY: The obligatory hair metal song that each year requires. Sounds mostly like late 80s Def Leppard, which was a great thing (in the late 80s)
USE OF EUROVISION SPECIAL SOUNDS: Consistent "whoa whoa"-ing.
MY PREDICTION: Out in the first round.
JOURNALISTS' REACTION: Blank faces throughout.
4. Lotta Engberg and Christer Sjögren - "Don't Let Me Down"
IN SUMMARY: You know when you see the words "Christer" and "Sjögren" in the same sentence you are going to get something incredibly lush and cheesy at the same time. The best way to describe this is a mix of 70s Motown disco, 80s Olivia Newton-John, and 90s dansband. Plus this seems to be the first MF song this year to feature heavy usage of castanets.
USE OF EUROVISION SPECIAL SOUNDS: Very high use of "ahhh ahhhhh".
MY PREDICTION: Will either go to Andra Chansen or straight through to Stockholm.
JOURNALISTS' REACTION: Absolutely huge. After the first play, the room went totally crazy with delight. The second time, everyone sat and listened carefully and when the song was over, they were even louder than the first time. You know this is going to get the media into a frenzy.
5. Hanna Lindblad - "Goosebumps"
IN SUMMARY: Midtempo. Hard to compare this to something else. Picture Pat Benatar singing something like this around 1985. It was generally felt that Hanna gave a very strong performance in MF 2010 with her song "Manipulated" and the fact she has a lot of musical theatre experience will mean a very solid performance.
USE OF EUROVISION SPECIAL SOUNDS: Not much in evidence:
MY PREDICTION: Not certain. Maybe out in the 2nd round. It's catchy but I couldn't remember the melody 5 minutes later. But that could have to do with age.
JOURNALISTS' REACTION: A lot of tapping of toes.
6. Axel Algmark - "Kyss Mig"
IN SUMMARY: Upbeat and punky - sounds like The Cure in their 80's heyday. Axel has a very interesting voice and the song tries hard to impress in 3 minutes.
USE OF EUROVISION SPECIAL SOUNDS: Frequent usage of "la la"s.
MY PREDICTION: Out.
JOURNALISTS' REACTION: The guy next to me was dozing. But that could be because the room was hot.
7. Lisa Miskovsky - "Why Start A Fire?"
IN SUMMARY: A midtempo ballad that starts brilliantly but loses steam once the chorus kicks in. The tone reminds me of "A Place To Stay" by Jenny Silver from MF 2010. Lots of key changes.
USE OF EUROVISION SPECIAL SOUNDS: Nothing to see here, move on please.
MY PREDICTION: Andra chansen maybe, possibly out.
JOURNALISTS' REACTION: Not too bovvered.
8. Danny Saucedo - "Amazing"
IN SUMMARY: Very upbeat song which is built around more modern schlager and 90s house vibe. The lyrics are less complicated than last year's "In The Club" but they make Danny sound very sympathetic. This song has an absolutely amazing secret weapon - what I assume is going to be a very big dancebreak using a Skrillex-like dubstep riff. This is the only song that pays any attention to what is on the radio now.
USE OF EUROVISION SPECIAL SOUNDS: High usage of "whoa whoa".
MY PREDICTION: If this doesn't go direct to Stockholm, I will never make another prediction ever again.
JOURNALISTS' REACTION: Lots of fingers tapping on tables, feet tapping on the floor, and nodding of heads.
Other things of note after the press conference when I moved to a lounge to type this article:
1. Danny Saucedo heard me sneeze and wished me good health. If I was a squealing 14-year old Swedish girl this would have been the best thing that happened to me EVAH.
2. Dynazty were in the hotel foyer wearing heavy eye make-up. If I was a squealing 17-year old Swedish goth, this would have been the best thing that happened to me EVAH.
3. MF host Sarah Dawn Finer just entered the room singing her heart out to announce her arrival. I always pictured her as someone to have a dirty gossip with over a cocktail and I was right. She spotted me typing away in the corner, apologized for interrupting and then called me handsome. If I had the same reaction from a gay man, it would have been the best thing that happened to me EVAH.
