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

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...


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: