Congrats to Måns Zelmerlöw For Winning Melodifestivalen, Being Hot

We have a winner from Sweden! Congratulations to Måns Zelmerlöw for his crushing victory over the competition. And great job, Sweden, for choosing correctly! This is a song that will do very well at Eurovision in May.

Eurovision Experts Speak Out

I am lucky. I live in Chicago where approximately 0.07% of the population knows what Eurovision is. But I have surrounded myself with a group of friends who not only know what Eurovision is, but care deeply, passionately about it. Every Saturday for the past few weeks, these friends (and a few that live outside of Chicago) gather around a television hooked up to a MacBook to watch a program that is entirely in a language none of us speak.

Chicago winters are cold, long, and bleak. I imagine they are a lot like Swedish winters, except Swedish snow never turns into a black fusion of cigarette butts, PBR cans, and what we hope is dog poop. Melodifestivalen starts up exactly at the time in the season that many of us are contemplating taking a trip to California and never coming back. It gives us hope. It gives us a reason to get out of bed in the morning. Spring is coming.

Last Saturday, which was the Andra Chansen round of Melodifestivalen, it was the first day of the year that temperatures were above freezing. The sun was out, clumps of dirty snow were melting, and every Chicagoan was outside, soaking up the much-needed Vitamin D we have been without for months. Except for five of us. We were inside, eyes glued to the television, watching a program that is entirely in a language none of us speak. That is dedication. Or obsession. I'm not sure which.

So it is with great pleasure that I present the opinions of my friends, a group of Eurovision Superfans, on who should win Melodifestivalen this Saturday, and have the great honor of representing Sweden in Eurovision this year.

So Who Will Win Melodifestivalen?

After five weeks of watching amazing and/or insane Swedish pop music, we now have twelve lucky finalists.

So who will not win? That's easy, so let's get that out of the way. "Groupie" will not win. No, it is just too stupid. Jessica Andersson will not win because she is boring. Linus Svenning will not win because I think voters can see through his "Hey, look at me doing a pop song, you like this, right?" routine. Hasse Andersson will not win because he is old, and though The Olds™ are a strong voting bloc, Hasse is performing last in the show, and they will all be asleep before then. Isa, Dinah Nah, Magnus Carlsson, and JTR are all great, but none of them will win because their songs aren't new and exciting.

So that leaves four performers, and no surprise, they are the four that closed out each week's semi-final: Eric Saade, Mariette Hanson, Jon Henrik Fjällgren, and Måns Zelmerlöw. These four were shown such clear favoritism from the very beginning, getting to close out the night, being allowed extra set dressings, animation sequences, and moving stage pieces.

Eric and Måns have been through this before; each have competed in Melodifestivalen three times, with Eric winning in 2010 and finishing third place overall at Eurovision. The Swedish public love these two. Mariette and Jon Henrik Fjällgren are both newcomers, with a good amount of buzz surrounding them.

Running order, just as in the Eurovision Song Contest, is of utmost importance. Generally, producers save the best for last, and there is a lot of potential voting power in the last quarter of the show. If we leave everything up to the running order, Eric Saade (going 10th) or Mariette (going 11th) are in the strongest position to win. But if there is a movement behind a particular song or a singer's story, such as with Jon Henrik Fjällgren (going 4th), they'll get the votes no matter what. And Måns (going 6th) has been holding the number one position on Swedish iTunes downloads for the past few weeks, which is a good sign for him.

So who will win, and get to represent their country at Eurovision? I don't know. It will be one of those four, and any of them will be a good choice for Vienna.

Since "One By One" and Midnight Boy are no longer in the running (and, I have to face the facts: they never were), I would like to see Måns win because I have been a fan since his 2009 "Hope and Glory" days. "Heroes" is new and different, and it would do well at Eurovision. Plus, he's probably the prettiest man in the world, and that helps.

Melodifestivalen: Andra Chansen

The Andra Chansen (second chance) round of Melodifestivalen took place on Saturday. Eight songs were paired into duels, and four winners advanced to the final.

The line-up:
1. "Bring Out The Fire," Andreas Weise VS. "Forever Starts Today," Linus Svenning
2. "Guld och gröna skogar," Hasse Andersson VS. "I See You," Kristin Amparo
3. "Hello Hi," Dolly Style VS. "Make Me (La La La)," Dinah Nah
4. "Det rår vi inte för," Behrang Miri feat. Victor Krone VS. "Groupie," Samir & Viktor

Melodifestivalen: Heat 4

The last of Melodifestivalen's four heats was broadcast from Örebro on Saturday. We have seen all the contestants at this point, and the line-up for the Andra Chansen (second chance) round is set.

More importantly, there was a sighting of my favorite Swedish back-up dancer, Daniel Koivunen, formerly known as "Anton Ewald's Left Back-Up Dancer." After lots of research (internet stalking), I finally figured out his name, and I have requested to be his friend on Facebook. Fingers crossed he doesn't think it's weird that an American girl with zero connections to Sweden is trying to be his friend!

Anyway, Daniel Koivunen performed this week in two numbers! First, the opening, which featured host, Sanna Nielsen, singing "Free Your Mind" by En Vogue, for a reason I do not understand because I do not speak Swedish. And secondly, in Dinah Nah's entry, "Make Me (La La La)." But back to the competition.

The line-up this week:
1. "Don't Say No," Midnight Boy
2. "Black Swan," Caroline Wennergren
3. "Building It Up," JTR
4. "Guld och gröna skogar," Hasse Andersson
5. "Make Me (La La La)," Dinah Nah
6. "Ett andetag," Annika Herlitz
7. "Heroes," Måns Zelmerlöw