It's a Swedish guilty pleasure and we LOVE it! It's that odd time of the year when the fun winter holidays are over and the nice spring weather hasn't shown up yet. The musical acts range from disgustingly bubble gum pop to weird brooding-slam poetry type songs. There are some good acts but Jon and I are always disappointed when they don't make it through to the next round. Think of it like American Idol where people watch for the good acts as much as they watch it for the disaster performances. Either way, no one can argue that it's pure entertainment. The hostess seems to wear a different outfit every time the camera comes back to her and her sidekick, this year it's last year's runner-up, Danny, is the perfect Ken-doll with a microphone.
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| 2013 Melodifestivalen Hosts |
- Each act has to sing the same song, wear the same outfit, perform the same dance, etc throughout the competition
- The winning act goes on to compete in Eurovision with the same act
- 4 weeks of regular competition where the public votes (via SMS) for the top 2 acts each week
- 1 week is a "last chance"/wildcard round where the 2 runners-up from each week get another chance to make it to the Finals
Since you probably will not search YouTube for the entire episode, I've broken Round 1 down for you so you can follow along with the rest of Sweden.
Melodi 1: David Lindgren singing Skyline
Bold Move: Ripping off Danny's song "Amazing" but singing it with better proficiency.
As Jon said, "Just build a better mousetrap."
Melodi 2: Cookies n Beans singing Burning Flags -- basically they are the Dixie Chicks, just with less talent, fame and stage presence.
Bold Move: Having a gross band name.
Melodi 3: Jay-Jay Johanson singing Paris -- go back to France, this was boring
Bold Move: None
Melodi 4: Mary N'Diyae singing Gosa -- happily upbeat but I had no idea what she was singing until I googled "Gosa" and it translated into "cuddle." I can get behind a song that tells me to cuddle. Fun times.
Bold Move: Employing unattractive back-up dancers.
Melodi 5: Eric Gadd/Eddie Izzard singing something I can't remember in Swedish -- all I know is Eddie Izzard is hilarious.
Bold Move: Telling the audience, "I'm going to rock your soul!" and then hitting the stage with a chill lounge lizard number.
Melodi 6: YOHIO singing Heartbreak Hotel - YOHIO is a cross between Avril Lavinge and the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo only he is a boy. Apparently he is a huge superstar in Japan and is now after the Swedish market.
Bold Move: Showing the broken heart glove to the audience/camera no less than 30 times in 2 minutes.
Melodi 7: Anna Järvinen singing a lullaby in a housecoat and pajama bottoms
Bold Move: Not falling asleep to her own song.
Melodi 8: Michael Feiner and Caisa -- two words, "SAX APPEAL!" They would have benefitted from less of her singing and more of his awesome sax playing.
Bold Move: Not singing fully in either English or Swedish -- at times I forgot what language I was hearing since I couldn't make out any of the words. (...it was in English)
The most entertaining, however, was Danny Saucedo stealing the attention by showing off his hairless chest and a weird S&M outfit with a spikey codpiece. I would say that Americans would be "above" this type of entertainment/humiliation but since the Kardashians still have a reality show, nobody can make that argument.
Danny took on multiple personas during the show...
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| Frank Sinatra Danny |
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Forward-fashion Danny
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| Brave, bold S&M Danny |
