Oh So Many People

 The last two artists on the schedule are David Lindgren and Yohio:

David Lindgren performing Skyline

David Lindgren's Skyline

Yohio merchandise for the younger crowd

The elevators are packed and everywhere else, too.

People finding any free space they can get.

The presenter holding up a Yohio poster, which elicited a teen squeal fest. I remember those days. 

                                                                                                                                                                            

Yohio's Heartbreak Hotel

The signing table is wrapped so deep, there's no way Yohio can meet everyone. There was a rush to get to the table after the performance. I was wondering if the shopping center was going to bring out the guards to corral people, but Swedes are still pretty good about order, even when trying to meet their favorite singers. The line is calm yet long. Very long.

Testosterone City

Two more teen heartthrobs, Anton Ewald and Robin Stjernberg, made it through to the final during Saturday's Second Chance round. Their win means the final on Saturday will be the most manly Mello since 1965. Out of the ten finalists, only one is a woman. Louise Hoffsten is the lone survivor among all the female contestants.

The lopsided result is something of a shocker for the contest. There haven't been so few women in Melodifestivalen since 1965 when Ingvar Wixell sang all six entries. Back then, one artist sang all the entries and an in-house jury voted on the winner for Eurovision.

This lack of estrogen has caused something of a stir in the press and on social media sites like Twitter. Swedes are known for their progressiveness on equality between men and women. Sweden has worked to get women into areas of society like government and business where they would have difficulty breaking through otherwise. And Sweden is one of the most progressive nations when it comes to women's rights. All this is to say it surprised many when the final turned out to be nearly all men.

When it seemed this year's final would heavily favor men, some speculated in the press that the contest was stacked. Others considered officially launching a complaint with the ombudsman of equality. Still, it's the viewers who vote, so the final was created by the people watching. And they've made sure this particular final is full of men.

The finalists for Stockholm are:

1. "Tell the World I’m Here" – Ulrik Munther 

2. "Skyline" – David Lindgren 

3. "Falling" – State of Drama 

4. "Begging" – Anton Ewald

5. "Only the Dead Fish Follow the Stream" – Louise Hoffsten

6. "Bed on Fire" – Ralf Gyllenhammar 

7. "En riktig jävla schlager" – Ravaillacz 

8. "Copacabanana" – Sean Banan 

9. "You" – Robin Stjernberg 

10. "Heartbreak Hotel" – YOHIO

The Artists - The Final (So Far)

In the Final: These singers have their final spot all wrapped up. They will be joined by two artists from Semi 4 and two from the Second Chance round. The final 10 will duke it out to represent Sweden in Eurovision 2013.

Yohio - A 17-year-old Swede who is a superstar in Japan with scores of teen groupies following his every move. He sings in a style called Visual Kei in Japan where visuals, costume, and make-up are just as important as the music. In Mello, he has decided to perform a song with a more Western sound. His entry, "Heartbreak Hotel" is reminiscent of 80s rock a la Bon Jovi. His live performance includes heavy use of fire, confetti and pyrotechnics, creating a memorable performance for both the live audience and TV viewers.

David Lindgren - A showman, singer, break dancer and family man who was relatively unknown until last year's program. His breakthrough came last year with his performance of "Shout It Out" in Gothenburg. He opened the contest this year with "Skyline", a dance number similar to last year's entry. David was a favorite to go straight to the final and he stamped his ticket in early February.

Sean Banan - Another artist who debuted in the 2012 program. Sean Banan is your typical class clown, using corny visuals and no-so veiled euphemisms in interviews. This year's entry, "Copacabanana" is full of puns, inside jokes, cultural critiques, and light celebrity roasting. Last year he made it to the second chance round with a song poking fun at himself and Sweden, but was knocked out during a duel. This year, he went directly to GO and has a secured place in the final. His song number is a spectacle complete with fireworks, confetti, and a rigged harness to hold up his angel wings.

Louise Hoffsten - A well-established adult contemporary artist with jazzy undertones. Louise was close to declining her invitation to the contest when she had difficulty deciding on a song title. A few days before the deadline, she walked down the street and saw graffiti scrawled on a wall, "Only the Dead Fish Follow the Stream". She took it as a sign and used it as the title for her song entry in MF 2013. Critics did not expect her to advance to the final, but she is ready to perform her song for the big prize in Stockholm.

Ravaillacz -This band was put together just for the contest. The members are well known singers from different groups and constellations. One member, Tommy Körberg, has won Melodifestivalen and competed in Eurovision twice. This group of guys stunned the country yesterday when they were voted into the final. Their song makes fun of schlager music, which is how Melodifestivalen got its start. They took a risk with the song, as it could have alienated many listeners, considering it both makes fun of the contest and contains a swear word in the title. Their bet paid off and they're straight into the running for Eurovision.

State of Drama - This West Coast rock band came in second in a national radio contest in 2009. Since then, they've been honing their craft throughout the country. They sent in an entry for the 2013 edition and won a ticket to Stockholm after voters sent their song "Falling" directly into the final during the third semi in the northern city of Skellefteå.

*Clips can be found on YouTube, but broadcaster SVT works hard to have those videos taken down in accordance with contest rules which says advancing songs cannot be played on the radio, TV,or internet. This rule is meant to level the playing field for the artists still involved.

Photos:  SVT 

Do It Right

The live broadcast of Melodifestivalen typically runs smoothly and without a hitch. It's likely due to the practice, practice, practice beforehand. The artists, dancers, show hosts, backing singers, tech crew, camera crew, etc. run through the program at least three times before the event hits the airwaves every Saturday. Many of the artists need the extra time to try out their routines and work out any issues because of the complicated show numbers. One artist, Sean Banan, has several wardrobe changes, pyrotechnics, confetti, and harness work in a three minute span. Another, David Lindgren, tried the harness route but decided to scrap his idea of flying over the audience because it restricted his overall dance number. I'm sure the head of choreography has waking nightmares for six straight weeks. My condolences.

Many Swedes are meticulous about the way things are done. Things should be done right. With so many cues and details baked into a live production like Mello, it's inevitable something will go wrong. And when it does, it gets noticed. The first semi in Karlskrona had a few hitches. A few graphics and a song recap were delayed when a computer froze up. One of the show hosts, Gina, had to redirect the audience while the tech crew worked out the kinks. You think this would pass without much notice. Think twice.

Some countrymen took to Twitter and Facebook to tsk-tsk the broadcaster and crew for the slip-up. Comments of "This shouldn't happen." and "Why do I pay for this?" were common. One of the more sensationalist daily newspapers, Aftonbladet, event wrote an entire article about the short lived but well noted snafu.

How did the show respond to the error? They made fun of their mistake during the next semi in Gothenburg. The song recap starts up. Black and white footage from the 1950s flashes onscreen instead of the true 2013 footage. Gina, our host, abruptly returns to the screen, "What?! Another problem? What a fiasco!" The real recap is queued up, the audience snickers at the joke, and all is forgiven.

I wonder what the country would have thought about a 30 minute power outage in the middle of a broadcast, a la the 2013 NFL Super Bowl.