[LMBTO] The Equivalent of a Eurovision "First Qualifying Round"? Sweden's P4 Nästa 2017...

It's mid-August.  There's not much going on Eurovision-wise.  Portugal have already announced their host city.  There appears to be no major dramas at the EBU.  Yep, much like last year (although for different reasons)...



I would still love to see her represent Iceland - surely that would secure THEIR first Eurovision win?

Anyway, the only musical news of any note is that the Swedish radio competition P4 Nästa is down to its Final selection of eight artists:

Now you may remember my post last year about this contest, which has always led to one of the artists getting a wildcard to Melodifestivalen since 2012.  Admittedly it is not always the winner, as Noomi found out in 2016 - Christer Björkman decided to give Les Gordons a go.  A fairly safe bet to cover this for my blog, you'd think - one of these artists being a potential (if highly unlikely) Eurovision winner...but that might not be the case this year, if the response of the digital producer of P4 Nästa to my question is anything to go by:
Okay, so the winner/"most suitable" artist might not be selected for MF...

"As it is for now" does suggest that it might still happen, that one of these acts could be singing somewhere competitively in Sweden in February/March 2018.  I had listened to all the eight artists and songs before I got this news, something seemingly ignored by the Eurovision news community, who were still going with the "one entry to MF since 2012 so it must happen again" - it did make me stop and wonder if I would be writing about a singing competition that might NOT have anything to do with Eurovision 2018!  Having pondered this for six days, I have taken the positive approach - you know that I love to put my thoughts down in type, it would be rude not to now!

For those who know Swedish and want to hear the whole show announcing the eight acts (bear in mind that this won't be here in a year's time, as I have found out when trying to listen to last year's show), here you go:


Enjoy that?  Okay, for those that don't know the lingo, let's go one by one with the audio...


Stiko Per Larsson - "Kumpaner (We Are Like)"
First up is some folky pop, to my ears at least.  Now this guy apparently is gigging every fourth day on average and does a lot of charity work whilst doing so.  All very admirable and he is an experienced performer - as far as this entry is concerned however, it is all very nice, very pleasant but not very exciting.  It's got a decent guitar hook but it comes across as muzak, something to have in the background whilst chatting rather than actively listen to.  There's nothing wrong with it, it just doesn't stick in my head and blandness seems to be the order of the day.  6.5 - sixth place.

MIAH - "That's when we all come falling down"
Once you get past the tricky start, where MIAH's enunciation is a little bit difficult to understand, this becomes a great listen with a heavy gospel influence that I love.  Maria has a superbly soulful voice and hits all those high notes spot on, this vocal wonder backed up by the pounding drum beat and musical punch that completes this entry nicely.  This is a song to really listen to if for no other reason than it is an amazingly well constructed song.  This will be a definite contender for the P4 Next title - 8.5, second place.


Chris L Svensson - "Drive"
 Look at the picture - what sort of music do you think that Chris will be playing?  Hearing a Country influenced song come out of this man's mouth is not that much of a surprise, although it verges on hillbilly with the banjo strumming, rather than guitar.  It links in nicely with the lyrical content of the song, which is nice and light with a simple message of a first meeting between a guy and girl where there is an immediate attraction!  Now C&W has never been my favourite genre but this is a fun song and extremely listenable, with the chorus sticking in my head long after the last twang of those strings.  I prefer some of the other tracks of the eight but this doesn't disgrace this singer or his favoured song style and it could be an outside bet for the win.  7.0 - fourth place.


Sisanda - "If This Is Love"
I could imagine dancing to this at the end of a dance or disco, a lovely slowie that you could drift a few paces at a time to whilst staring into the eyes of your date but unfortunately I get the same reaction to the song - I'm not concentrating on it, my attention is elsewhere.  It is a very nice mellow ballad and Sisanda has a beautiful voice - it's the structure of the song that makes this forgettable for me.  It is very simplistic and is repetitive to the extent that I really wished there was more content to this entry - having listened to her interview, which was in English, she explained that she sung partly in the South African language Xhosa, with the distinctive clicking noises, something that I wished she had included here.  6.0 - eighth place.


Frontback - "On And On"
According to the P4 Next biog, this track is the 'softest' this band has produced and I agree that it is VERY soft rock.  Lead singer Anlo makes this sound like "heavy Fleetwood Mac", as if Stevie Nicks tried her hand at this genre of music.  I absolutely love the music, some superb musicianship there but the vocals don't mesh with it - the lyrics aren't memorable and it all sounds like a warm up track at a concert before the 'real music' kicks in.  I really hate the ending too with the false ending that leads into the 'band goes mad playing everything hard'.  I am all for having rock in anything to do with music competitions but this entry doesn't do it for me.  6.5 - fifth place.


Maija HomHom - "Skyskrapor"
Now this is chill of the highest order, the music flowing along in an electronic wave.  Maija's vocals overlay extremely nicely over the electronica and provides a wonderful effect that I could imagine would suit a venue in a chill room, somewhere you could let something of this quality flow over you and allow your thoughts to move through the music.  The actual lyrical content is not that great, to be fair, but in a way minimal is probable best with such a track.  It sounds great and it is listenable but not particularly memorable - for that reason, I'm not sure that this will contest the win in this selection of tracks.  It provides a great counterbalance to the 'soft rock' before it so maybe we do need the calm of this entry!  I did enjoy it though - 7.5, third place.


Michi - "Friday Night Club Escape"
Wow, now this track hooks you straight away!  Michi has an intriguing vocal style that I love, very listenable with a lot of depth and interest to it.  This is the most uptempo pop song of the eight and it's a definite toe tapper, you have to give it that.  Unlike a lot of earworm pop songs though, this one is intelligently written and intricate, with lyrics that are worth listening to and tell a story about Friday night clubland that most other songs wouldn't even scratch the surface of.  The musical hook of the drums completes this tour de force and I could listen to this entry over and over again.  As an aside, this 20 year old is hugely experienced musically and even performed as a stand-in rehearsal artist for Molly in Copenhagen!  Personally I have this as my stand out song of P4 Next and I would not be surprised to see this win on 26th August - it's a superb entry.  9.0 - first place.


Jo'& Eliah - "Since"
Very soft vocals at the start of this entry, almost feminine in tone - this simple folk ballad goes the traditional route with the guitars but is supplemented with electronics.  It is other worldly in parts and there is a pleasant mix between softness and power.  It is a decent effort that brings some elements of Simon and Garfunkel to the fore but it becomes quite messy in the second half of the song, where drum elements take over and spoil the soft melodies before.  It also doesn't stick in my head when it finishes - probably because I'm not a massive fan of this genre of music.  Nice enough but that's about it - 6.5 and seventh place.


The eight tracks are a decent mix of genres and styles and it will be interesting to hear how these all sound live in the heat of 'battle; on August 26th in Linköping Concert & Congress.  Voting is happening now - Swedish readers take note!  As for my ratings?  Here's my scores, Eurovision style:


Having said all that, the big question is:


I suppose we'll know for certain on Saturday 26th August...