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[LMBTO] Will Anyone From Svensktoppen Nästa 2016 get to Eurovision?

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It is August and normally there will have been announced a couple of artists who will be singing at the following May's Contest, but almost certainly the city where Eurovision will be hosted is known.  As we have had neither this year (every country that has confirmed is keeping their cards close to their chest and Ukraine still have three cities in the running for hosting the ESC in 2017), the first glimpse of anything remotely Eurovision related is Svensktoppen Nästa, the Sveriges Radio P4 music contest, running since 2008 and supplying a contestant for Melodifestivalen each year since 2012.  
The main draw for each of the eight artists above is to get better recognition throughout Sweden and regular gigs on the radio channel itself but getting to the Swedish selection process for Ukraine would be an additional bonus.  Now I have tried not to immerse myself in all things Melodifestivalen before, for fear of totally becoming an absolute dyed-in-the-wool Eurovision fanatic, but 2017 is possibly the year I succumb!  By having a quick read of all things Svensktoppen Nästa, an interesting point of note was that a separate jury picks the act to go onto possible Eurovision glory and that the winner here might not be the same artist.  I already realised fairly quickly that no act that has participated at this early stage has made it to the ESC itself but it could happen (Leicester City won the Premiership last season, as a case in point) - of course, the songs sung here will not be up for Eurovision consideration as the good old 'September 1st' rule still applies, even to the current Contest gods, Sweden!  Maybe this is why juries are involved to look at artist potential, rather than how good these songs are...

As there is absolutely nothing else going on Eurovision-wise at the moment, I decided to have a listen to each of the eight finalists (all pictures and soundbites provided by Sveriges Radio P4) and see what I thought.  I suppose that is another Eurovision-esque tick in the 'Martin must-do' box!  The whole announcement of all eight artists is here if you want an overall summary before having a look at what I thought about each act and seeing if you agree:





Jimmy Ottosson - Rising Rivers
First up, Jimmy is a lover of American rock/pop, although his entry has some underlying bluegrass elements to it:


This immediately reminded me of Firelight in Copenhagen, with its mix of country, folk and pop.  The banjo isn't often an instrument of choice at Eurovision but that is what hooked me into this song and the memorability of the chorus improved as the song progressed on its hillbilly way towards the end!  I was captivated by this on first listen - "Rising Rivers" is upbeat, well sung and I could imagine this being staged as a informal gig performance in a small club or bar.  This genre of music is becoming more popular and maybe Eurovision 2017 is where it makes its breakthrough - a good choice for this selection process in my opinion.  Jimmy would be getting my 10 points in a Eurovision context...


Mackan n’ Matthew - Allt som vi va (Everything that we write)
Apparently these guys are into 'melodic hip hop' with particular focus on the message of the lyrics:



No way is this hip-hop, this is a very delicate and mellow ballad!  Not being Swedish, I have no idea what the lyrics are about and looking at the group's bio, this is a shame as it would suggest that the words are their raison d'être.  The musicianship in this track is superb with a nice guitar background providing the right balance to show off the vocal talents in the group.  The stand-out singing voice here is the female one (Anna) who is very listenable and would never become tiring, although it does tend to overshadow the male vocals, in my opinion.  All in all, it is a very pleasant entry but I wonder if it is a little too laid back to win any sort of competition.  Despite that doubt, "Allt som vi va" would get my 7 points.


Vindstyrka 12 - Sluta gömma dig (Stop hiding)
Does the English translation 'Wind Force 12' sound a better name for a rock band?



I'd say that this is more uptempo pop than rock and it's not an unpleasant listen, to be fair - is there shades of Coldplay in there, perhaps?  Unfortunately "Sluta gömma dig" didn't reach out and grab me as I would have hoped a track from a rock band would have done.  The musicianship is good and kept my interest throughout but the actual vocals and lyrics themselves aren't that memorable, barely staying in my head much past the end of the song.  This would only get 4 points from me...


Les Gordon - Need To Feel
Energetic indie pop and rock is how these guys are described in their bio:


The synth repeat on this track is entertaining and the drumming made me nod my head in appreciation but the lyrics all sounded a bit cheesy and not in a good way.  It took me a couple of listens to even remember them, so memorability isn't a strong point for "Need To Feel", neither is the track's repetitiveness - it could easily be a minute shorter!  As you can tell, I wasn't a great fan of this song and it only got my 5 points...


Small Town Girls - Do Your Thing
They've known each other since the age of 5 and have been approached by The X Factor to audition, apparently:

There's that banjo again - does Sweden have a bluegrass and C&W scene going on at the moment?  I've got Darline from last year's UK NF or even The Corrs flashing through my head with this one - there's some very nice harmonies here, which you might expect from a group who have sung together for twelve years, and "Do Your Thing" is a very pleasant tune.  The song does stay at one level though - no peaks, no troughs - and this genre of music does benefit a lot from some light and shade that I feel isn't present here.  It is all nice enough and the Small Town Girls are obviously easy on the eye but there are better songs in the line-up, in my opinion.  They get my 6 points...


SAVE - 2 Wrongs Do Make 1 Right

It's obviously now the done thing to have your stage name in CAPITALS - this is Sofia Arvidsson:

Now I liked this - a strong vocal and a classic Clubland hook from the start got my interest immediately.  It then all goes a bit 'Icebreaker' on me, in that the chorus is nowhere as powerful as the verses and less understandable which makes this a good entry, not an excellent one.  All the superb build-up dissipates with the hook line of the song, which sounds too wordy and doesn't seem to scan that well.  Based on her voice alone, I could see and hear SAVE at Melodifestivalen - if it was based on the song, I'd have to say that the lack of a killer chorus would let her down.  My 8 points for "2 wrongs do make 1 right"...


LiRiC - Bullshit Affair

Award for the best song title ever - drum rolls please!


I have no idea if the first word of the song title means the same in Sweden as it does in the UK but I love it for that alone!  Combined with the fact that this entry works so well with the interaction of beautiful vocals by Lina and the understated piano playing of Rickard and this is the best of the eight on show.  Frans showed that anti-love songs can work and this 'relationship ending with a smile because I'm in the right' lyrical masterpiece is a potentially great start to the Eurovision season - it is a shame that LiRiC (will capitals within band names be the typographical 'in thing' this year?) will have to perform something else if they are chosen for Melodifestivalen.  I can picture Lina delivering her vocals with a beaming smile as in the picture, despite all the distaste she has for the person she is singing to in the song - I wonder if this has been lifted from the songwriter's personal experience?  All in all, the counterpoint of pleasant music and vocals contrasted with the venom of the lyrical message makes this my favourite - 12 points for sure...


Naomi - Intoxicated

Electropop is this lady's thing:

A stereotypical Clubland theme underlies this but Naomi's vocals are a bit overpowered by the music throughout this, all bar the 'Intoxicated' part.  The track doesn't really build up any head of steam either, it meandering gently on like a chilled trance track at best.  It's slow, repetitive, quiet and therefore unmemorable - I've listened to it a few times now and I can barely remember it a minute after each time.  Lowest score of 3 points from me...

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Oh, it feels good to be reviewing again!  We may never see any of these acts on a Ukrainian stage but one of them will appear somewhere at the biggest Eurovision selection process of them all.  There are at least two, maybe three of these acts that I could see winning Svensktoppen Nästa 2016 - as for which of these will make it into the 'big Swedish event' is a more difficult ask.  My rankings were:

12 points - LiRiC
10 points - Jimmy Ottosson
8 points - SAVE
7 points - Mackan n' Matthew
6 points - Small Town Girls
5 points - Les Gordon
4 points - Vindstyrka 12
3 points - Naomi

August 28th is when these artists will compete in the live national final at the Stadsfesten in Linköping - we get a winner of the competition itself and also see the artist who will sing at Melodifestivalen.  Whether they are one and the same is another matter - what is certain is that they will have to select another song for the Eurovision process.  

Svensktoppen Nästa is like being in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League...
What it does mean is that we can say...
Welcome back, Eurovision!


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