First Impression Festivalen 2023

[Hak]

Tennessee Tears
Tennessee Tears is a Swedish country duo consisting of Tilda Feuk and Jonas Hermansson. It's the first signing to Jimajomo, the newly started company by Maria Molin Ljunggren (CEO of Freebird Entertainment, wife of B. Ljunggren) and Jill Johnson. As such, MML is likely the driving force behind getting them into Melodifestivalen. Previously they've been trying to make it big in the US.

The duo started eight years ago and was born out of a songwriting collaboration with Billy Burnette (Fleetwood Mac) which brought Tennessee Tears to Nashville for a number of recordings which also gave the duo its name. They've been touring an infite amount of loccal pubs all around Sweden since then but I find no records of them being signed to a label before.

About Now I Know
Tennesse Tears will treat listeners to "Banjo, Pedal Steel and commotion" indicating they're going uptempo which some might consider suprising in view of their previous releases.


Live Performances & Releases

Shallow (Lady Gaga/Bradley Cooper Cover) ft. Erik Segerstedt


Do You Stil Think of Me (Potato Recording)


Head Over Heals (Audio)

 

[Hak]

Double post

 

[Hak]

Eden

Eden applied to Idol 2019 with her twin sister where her sister was axed immediately while she would as far as the qualifying rounds (Top 20). The year after they released their first single, Dina kuddar, to no success. Last year her girlfriend and she quickly started to gain a following on instagram and TikTok which is probably the launching pad for her being signed and getting into Melfest.

About Comfortable
"A very calm song with a lot of emotions, a bit sad". It's about being in a destructive relationship while still being comfortable enough to not be able to leave.


Live Performances & Releases

Twin Idol Audition


ALM - Dina kuddar (Audio)


Mera Tid

 

[Hak]

Ida-Lova

Ida-Lova talent was first noted when she performed Kent's Utan dina andetag at a Swedish Hero Gala at just 13 years of age, her performance caused a minor media stir and she was invited to do interviews and follow-up performances. Since then she's released 8 singles and got some minor radio and streaming traction, her debut EP came in June of 2022.

About Låt hela stan se på
"It's a majestic ballad about daring to live."


Live Performances & Releases



Utan dina andetag (13 years old)


Kan det vara kärlek?


På Låtsas



Christine Meltzer's daughter
Oh and she's daughter to the wonderfull comedian Christine Meltzer!


Christine Meltzer's rendition of Malena Ernman.

 

[Hak]

Signe & Hjördis

S&H are two completely unknown teenage amateur musical artists and theatre actors who loves everything from proggrock to jazz. Their father, Dan Bornemark, and more famously their 95 years old grandmother, Gullan Bornemark, are also singer-songwriters and S&H can sometimes be heard singing backing vocals on their tracks.

About Edelweiss
"It's a beautiful, warm and heartfelt folkpop song."


Live Performance with Daddy

Winter Nights (917 views)

 

[Hak]

Emil Henrohn

Emil has been a musical artist since 2012 and had a brief stint as a wanna kids idol as part of the Ace Of Bace tribute act A*Base in 2014-15, it never took off.

After COVID effectively stopped all possibilities of working as a musical artists Emil found him sitting at home with nothing to do. He turned to social media and quickly gained a massive TikTok following (550 000 at this moment). Last year he posted a bunch of socially aware comedic material, most famously playing a curling mom out shopping for her family while her man is chairman of their boy's soccer team.

About Mera mera mera (More more more)
"Expect uptempo Schlager but make it 2023 and with a nice show."


Live Performances & Releases

A-Base - Never Gonna Say I'm Sorry


Jag är mamma


Medveten mamma


Spela fortnight (vill du bli min tjej)


Social Media

 

[Hak]

That was all the artists presentations!

 

[Hak]

This will be the scoring for the Prognostic Prowessor (PP) and Most like Moopy (MlM) awards:

Heats
1st: 12pts
2nd: 10pts
AC: 3pts
5th: 2pts

Andra Chansen
1st: 6pts
2nd-4th: 4pts
5th: 2pts
6th:1pts

Finalen
1st: 12pts
2nd: 10pts
3rd: 8pts
4th: 7pts
5th: 6pts
6th 5pts
7th: 4pts
8th: 3pts
9th: 2pts
10th: 1pts

 

[Hak]

Use the following format (or any way you like, to post your predictions:

HH: Wiktoria
HH: Paul Rey
SS: Smash Into Pieces
SS: Casanovas
UU: Maria Sur
UU: Rejhan
UU: Signe och Hjördis

 

[Hak]

@Kratz , @D5K , @PopLife , @Kala , @Apoca , @Suomi , @VoR , @babun , @The Unholy Ghost , @ZenGiraffe , @Soldi , @lvtz , @Haiku Rewrites , @tr4962 , @Will , @Kevin , @dUb , @Music , @Ill Advised , @Madison , @Alla , @Tisch , @Penelope , @Jacques , @Raining On Me , @ButterTart , @RJN @sewerynsven , @Sheena , @Iguana , @Pingu , @auretz , @Eyes

Please post your dream team of seven by 1900 GMT on the Monday the 30th of January!

Artist allocations
All you have to do is choose 2 Heavy Hitters, 2 Seasoned Sludgers and 3 Unknown Underdogs for your team of 7.

Heavy Hitters (Choose 2)
Loreen
Marcus & Martinus
Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Arc North feat. Adam Woods
Mariette
Tone Sekelius
Wiktoria
Paul Rey
Panetoz

Seasoned Sluggers (Choose 2)
Nordman
Theoz
Victor Crone
Loulou LaMotte
Eva Rydberg och Ewa Roos
Elov & Beny
Axel Schylström
Smash Into Pieces
Uje Brandelius
Casanovas

Unknown Underdogs (Choose 3)
Laurell
Emil Henrohn
Kiana
Melanie Wehbe
Maria Sur
Rejhan
Tennessee Tears
Eden
Ida-Lova
Signe och Hjördis

 

[Penelope]

No x

 

[Penelope]

Check if there's any demand for something first before you tag everyone into things!

 

[Penelope]

(The previews were cute though those were good x)

 

[Hak]

Check if there's any demand for something first before you tag everyone into things!

Noted, I will from now on only tag users who have expressed explicit interest.

 

[Alla]

Not interested @Hak but feel free to tag me anytime you want, luv. x

 

[RJN]

I’m going to participate fully just to spite @Penelope

 

[Hak]

This thread wasn't spectacularly well received but I'm at least gonna try to give my own prediction at least and we'll see were it leads.

HH: Wiktoria
HH: Marcus & Martinus
SS: Axel Schylström
SS: THEOZ
UU: Maria Sur
UU: Laurell
UU: Tennessee Tears


If Wiktoria could win her SF with "Not with Me" she'll surely make the finals with an uptempo banger and if they somehow nail her staging she might finally take the title too!

Marcus & Martinus are true professionalls and I have difficulty seeing anyone in H3 beating them. I also sincerely hope they do well as that could inspire other international artists to try out MF.

How can THEOZ in a pimp slot, with a pimped up song and staging go wrong? I believe he will find his way to the finals.

If the presentation of this is done properly Axel Schylström is a dark horse to win the whole thing. Imagine him starting out singing in front of a mirror with just the intact side of his face showing. Then come the first chorus he looks into the camera as it pans out to reveal his burnt face and bare torso.

As long as Maria Sur is good enough live her Ukraine back story will give enough good will to push her over the edge.

Laurell is a solid live performer and if Paul Rey and Nordman are too boring Laurell could do an upset.

Tennessee Tears is in a similair spot to Laurell, I'm not convinced about their star quality but uptempo country songs usually moves on from the heats.

 

[Suomi]

HH: Loreen
HH: Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Arc North feat. Adam Woods

SS: Nordman
SS: Uje Brandelius


UU: Tennessee Tears
UU: Ida-Lova
UU: Signe och Hjördis

 

[Hak]

HH: Loreen

Of course my heart is also longing for Loreen to set things right. I'm just scared she'll mumble everything away in a sea of smoke.

 

[D5K]

Heavy Hitters
Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Arc North feat. Adam Woods
Loreen

Seasoned Sluggers
Nordman
Theoz

Unknown Underdogs
Kiana
Laurell
Maria Sur

 

[D5K]

Feeling a bit anxious that Suomi's votes got love, but mine just got care.

 

[Kala]

Heavy Hitters
Loreen
Marcus & Martinus

Seasoned Sluggers
Nordman
Smash Into Pieces

Unknown Underdogs
Kiana
Laurell
Maria Sur

 

[Kala]

Feeling a bit anxious that Suomi's votes got love, but mine just got care.

Mine almost exactly the same as yours, with Theoz swapped out for Smash Into Pieces

 

[Kala]

It’s interesting that two unknowns are right at the top of the betting - Maria Sur and Kiana. That is quite unusual for Melodifestivalen.

 

[Hak]

Feeling a bit anxious that Suomi's votes got love, but mine just got care.

My friend, you vote with your brain and Suomi with his heart!

When you speak with your heart you will be open for receiving love too

 

[Hak]

It’s interesting that two unknowns are right at the top of the betting - Maria Sur and Kiana. That is quite unusual for Melodifestivalen.

Maria Sur makes sense but Kiana is a total surprise for me. I wonder what kind of inside information bettors have on her?

 

[VoR]

@Hak I fully support your efforts to keep this forum alive, but I have NO IDEA how I'm supposed to vote in this

 

[Hak]

@Hak I fully support your efforts to keep this forum alive, but I have NO IDEA how I'm supposed to vote in this

Thank you VoR, I appreciate you stopping by
If you wanna have a go at it just pick seven acts you like (Suomi) or you think will do well (D5K).

The single restriction is that you have to pick 2 Heavy Hitters, 2 Sloppy Sludgers and 3 Unknown Underdogs (otherwise everyone would have just picked out the same 7 favourites)!

 

[Hak]

Winners Trophy for the Prognostics Prowessor​

 

[Hak]

The poll is done and only six acts managages to excite Moopy

100% Loreen
77% Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Arc North feat. Adam Woods
77% Mariette
54% Wiktoria
54% Tone Sekelius
54% Linda Bengtzing (After Show Hostess)

Bottom four is all newbies and Victor Crone

8% Victor Crone
8% Rejhan
8% Eden
8% Jesper Rönndahl (Presenter)

 

[Hak]

The journalists will be listening to the first snippets at 10am CET Tuesday. Submissions for first impression festivalen will be open to 9am GMT or until the first reports are out.

 

[Hak]

Closed.

 

[Hak]

Standings
12 - DK5 (7/7 artists left, 6/7 still in Heats)
12 - Suomi (7/7 artists left, 6/7 still in Heats)
00 - Hak (7/7 artists left, 7/7 still in Heats)
00 - Kala (7/7 artists left, 7/7 still in Heats)

Spoiler

Team DK5
12 - HH: JHF, Arc North feat. Adam Woods +12
00 - HH: Loreen
00 - SS: Nordman
00 - SS: Theoz
00 - UU: Kiana
00 - UU: Laurell
00 - UU: Maria Sur

Team Hak
00 - HH: Wiktoria
00 - HH: Marcus & Martinus
00 - SS: Axel Schylström
00 - SS: THEOZ
00 - UU: Maria Sur
00 - UU: Laurell
00 - UU: Tennessee Tears

Team Kala
00 - HH:Loreen
00 - HH:Marcus & Martinus
00 - SS: Nordman
00 - SS: Smash Into Pieces
00 - UU: Kiana
00 - UU: Laurell
00 - UU: Maria Sur

Team Suomi
00 - HH: Loreen
12 - HH: JHF, Arc North feat. Adam Woods +12
00 -SS: Nordman
00 - SS: Uje Brandelius
00 - UU: Tennessee Tears
00 - UU: Ida-Lova
00 - UU: Signe och Hjördis

 

[Hak]

Our community's first impression was that last week's Heat would be a cakewalk for JHF but then total slugfest around who's going to AC. This take turned out to be largely correct. Tone and Crone were surprisingly safe despite shaky vocals.

Rehjan did well for a complete unknown with a song more suited for radio. Whether this was a sign of overall competence, the "dick effect" or just a byproduct of an almost total domination of the top 3 over everyone else might be revealed a few days after Finalen. Never before has a 7th placer received more than 21 points (a record held by Nanny, Niello & Lisa Ajax) and with a bit of luck (or rather better production values) anyone of the bottom 3 could've made it past Elov & Beny. Luckily they didn't and the song most Fun For Finalen advanced.

W	HH	JHF, Arc North feat. Adam W.	Where are you (Sávežan)
94	HH	Tone Sekelius	Rhythm of my show
80	SS	Victor Crone	Diamonds
43	SS	Elov & Beny	Raggen går
32	UU	Rejhan	Haunted
32	SS	Eva & Ewa	Länge leve livet
31	SS	Loulou LaMotte	Inga sorger

Our punters where right to largely stay clear of this heat. Now on to the next.

 

[Hak]

In this heat there seems to be a consensus that the Heavy Hitters are very vulnerable, with only Wiktoria having one pick. THEOZ is of course the obvious challenger here, who with an extra year of experience and a pimp slot to boot one would think should be guaranteed at least an AC ticket. Enter Tenessee Tears and Maria Sur - a double whammy of beautiful accessible country and exploitative emotional blackmail which makes this heat increasingly hard to predict.

This Week's Top Picks
UU: Maria Sur - Hak, Kala, D5K
UU: Tennessee Tears - Hak, Suomi
SS: THEOZ - Hak, D5K
SS: Uje Brandelius - Suomi
HH: Wiktoria - Hak

 

[Hak]

Well done @D5K who's now built up a sizeable lead over the first two weeks. Of the trailers Kala seems to be in the best position to strike in the upcoming heats. Moppy we're right in sensing opportunities in the second heat although I believe few would've predicted a NQ from three time heat winner Wiktoria.

Standings after Heat 2
27 - DK5 (7/7 artists left, 5/7 still in Heats) +15
20 - Hak (6/7 artists left, 5/7 still in Heats/AC) +20
15 - Suomi (6/7 artists left, 5/7 still in Heats/AC) +3
12 - Kala (7/7 artists left, 6/7 still in Heats) +12

Spoiler

Team D5K
12 - HH: JHF, Arc North feat. Adam Woods
12 - UU: Maria Sur +12
03 - SS: Theoz +3

H3:
00 - SS: Nordman
00 - UU: Laurell

H4:
00 - HH: Loreen
00 - UU: Kiana

Team Hak
12 - UU: Maria Sur +12
03 - SS: THEOZ +3
03 - UU: Tennessee Tears +3
02 - HH: Wiktoria +2

H3:
00 - HH: Marcus & Martinus
00 - UU: Laurell

H4:
00 - SS: Axel Schylström

Team Kala
12 - UU: Maria Sur +12

H3:
00 - HH: Marcus & Martinus
00 - SS: Nordman
00 - UU: Laurell

H4:
00 - HH: Loreen
00 - SS: Smash Into Pieces
00 - UU: Kiana

Team Suomi
12 - HH: JHF, Arc North feat. Adam Woods
03 - UU: Tennessee Tears +3
00 - SS: Uje Brandelius

H3:
00 - SS: Nordman
00 - UU: Ida-Lova

H4:
00 - HH: Loreen
00 - UU: Signe och Hjördis

 

[Hak]

Despite some uncertainties regarding how Swedish patriotism and Twink Rot would affect voter turnout, Moopy pretty much agreed that M&M and Nordman should qualify in some form. Instead the brunt of pre-contest discussions surrounded hate subject of the week Victor Crone Paul Rey and if he would be able to carry the promised Cazzi styled banger intended for LIAMOO. Tried and tired Casanovas was left completely left without mention despite winning numerous awards for the 2022 dansband song of the year!


The more difficult question to answer were that if these established acts were to fizzle out, who would take their spot? Moopy has tried to make sense of this for months now. Who in this "weakest female line up" of all time could make it out alive? Soumi suggested Ida-Lova but others rejected it since similairly spelled acts like Lovad went nowhere. Instead most came to the conclution that accomplished songwriter Laurell might be on to something. Rumours had started circulating that summer hit Habit was in fact a Mello-reject.

Just as we agreed on Maria Sur being a badly concealed dark horse going into the competition, we also agreed on this being worthy of DTF or AC spot.

This Week's Top Picks
UU: Laurell - Hak, Kala, D5K
SS: Nordman - Suomi, Kala, D5K
HH: Marcus & Martinus - Hak, Kala
UU: Ida-Lova - Suomi

 

[Hak]

I had prepared a Week 3 results and week 4 preview post but it's somehow gotten lost in mother.

 

[Hak]

It's a tight race between @Kala and @D5K who both managed to bring 6 of 7 acts all the way to Finalen, the former benefitted greatly for including Sloppy Sluggers Smash Into Pieces on their team. It's even more tight for third place with a slight edge must be given to @Suomi for having picked Loreen.

Standings before Finalen
62 - Kala (6/7 in Finalen) +50
59 - DK5 (6/7 in Finalen) +32
40 - Hak (3/7 in Finalen) +20
40 - Suomi (3/7 in Finalen) +25

Spoiler

Team D5K

In Finalen
12 - HH: JHF, Arc North feat. Adam Woods
12 - UU: Maria Sur
12 - HH: Loreen +12
09 - SS: Nordman +9
07 - SS: Theoz +4
07 - UU: Kiana +7

Out
00 - UU: Laurell


Team Hak

In Finalen
12 - UU: Maria Sur
12 - HH: Marcus & Martinus +12
07 - SS: THEOZ +4

Out
05 - UU: Tennessee Tears +2
02 - HH: Wiktoria
02 - SS: Axel Schylström +2
00 - UU: Laurell


Team Kala

In Finalen
12 - UU: Maria Sur
12 - HH: Marcus & Martinus +12
12 - HH: Loreen +12
10 - SS: Smash Into Pieces +10
09 - SS: Nordman +9
07 - UU: Kiana +7

Out
00 - UU: Laurell


Team Suomi

In Finalen
12 - HH: JHF, Arc North feat. Adam Woods
12 - HH: Loreen +12
09 - SS: Nordman +9

Out
05 - UU: Tennessee Tears +2
02 - UU: Ida-Lova +2
00 - SS: Uje Brandelius
00 - UU: Signe och Hjördis

 

[Hak]

So how did it go for our acts?

Heavy Hitters
All but one Heavy Hitters met expectations even though Mariette had to work extra hard for it. Wiktoria was the sole embarassment not even managing to get out of the heats. Time will tell what this means for her future Melfest prospects.

24 - Loreen
22 - Marcus & Martinus
19 - Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Arc North feat. Adam Woods
14 - Paul Rey
10 - Mariette
10 - Tone Sekelius
11 - Panetoz

02 - Wiktoria


Seasoned Sluggers
All of the Sloppy Sluggers had some expectations on them, even if for some it was just representing a marginalized music taste (Uje and Casanovas). Smash Into Pieces was the surprise standout here and most of the others did in the area of expectations. Axel was once again very unlucky, basically being 1 points off from the Finals (anyone still remembers that 0.6% away from Finalen against Ajax?).

The two big flops in this category can probably explain why Heat 1 was so weak in retrospect. I believe SVT had much higher expectations from LouLou and Eva & Eva. These acts had qualified for at least AC a combined total of 5 times before being completely slaughtered in the weakest heat of MF 2023.


18 - Smash Into Pieces
13 - Theoz
09 - Nordman

04 - Victor Crone
03 - Elov & Beny

02 - Axel Schylström

00 - Loulou LaMotte
00 - Eva Rydberg och Ewa Roos
00 - Uje Brandelius
00 - Casanovas

Unknown Underdogs
Not much to say here really. The promising run of the mill popstars in the making with big label bacing made it to the finals. Melanie, Ida-Lova and Tenessee Tears did better than expected and might also hope for a return one day. Laurell and Emil both got decent streas and airplay after their elimination so a lot can be blamed on their stagings.

14 - Maria Sur
12 - Kiana

05 - Tennessee Tears
03 - Melanie Wehbe

02 - Rejhan
02 - Ida-Lova

00 - Laurell
00 - Emil Henrohn
00 - Eden
00 - Signe och Hjördis