You: The 2013 Winner

As you know, Robin Stjernberg's song, "You", took home the prize in this year's contest. How does it stack up in the Eurovision odds? The song is currently rated #3 out of the 26 entries competing in the May contest. It means Sweden has yet another chance to take home the Eurovision crown in 2013.

If Sweden wins again, it would give the country their sixth win since 1956. Only Ireland has done better with seven total wins. All three Nordic countries hold the best odds so far. Denmark is first, Norway second, and Sweden third. Could it be a Nordic sweep in Eurovision 2013? We'll find out on May 18th.

Malmö is already ready to host the show:

68 days 5 hours 18 minutes and 11 seconds: A countdown clock for Eurovision sits in the main square in Malmö. The structure was not set up on February 23rd during my first visit. When I returned on March 11, two days after the Melodifestival final, it was already standing.

As previously mentioned, "You" is about thankfulness and joy. "Everybody has problems, everyone has had some pain in their life. No one is alone on that account. And this song is for all those who have someone fighting for them, everyone who has someone who loves them", Stjernberg said.

Robin Stjernberg performing an acoustic version of his song on February 28th, 2013 before the Second Chance round in Karlstad.

Sweden, We Have A Winner

Twenty-two year old Robin Stjernberg couldn't believe it when the final votes were posted on the board. His face registered disbelief and shock as Yohio and the other artists congratulated him on his win. Stjernberg is the first ever artist to win the entire show after advancing from a Second Chance round.

When Robin was invited back on stage to sing his song to end the show, he could barely sing the first few notes after being overcome with emotion. He beat big contest favorite Yohio and two teen heartthrobs to take the top spot this year with his song, "You", a song about saying thank you to those we love.

Robin Stjernberg's "You" will represent Sweden in Eurovision this May.

Apart from Terese Fredenwall's "Breaking the Silence", his song was my second favorite overall, so I am quite pleased. The audience here at KTH was surprised by the result. Poll questions were asked online and the results were projected on a wall. When the question, "Did the right song win?" was asked, five percent of the audience of about fifty said yes.

The international jury favored Robin over all the others and that's what made the difference. If it weren't for the international jury, Yohio would have won handily. We'll see what the press has to say about the result tomorrow morning.

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 Second and Last Chance to the Final

Tonight is the Second Chance round for all the artists who made it further in the competition but did not grab the top two spots in their qualifying rounds. There are two places left in the final and the artists will fight hard to get those spots.

The remaining contestants include:

Robin Stjenberg - You
Eric Gadd - Vi Kommer Aldrig att Förlora
Caroline af Ugglas - Hon Har Inte
Behrang Miri - Jalla Dansa Sawa
Erik Segerstedt and Tone Damli - Hello Goodbye
Anton Ewald - Begging
Cookies 'N' Beans - Burning Flags
Martin Rolinski - In and Out of Love

One difference between the Second Chance and the qualifiers is the duel round. Once these choices are narrowed down to the top four selections, they will go on to a final duel round. They will be seeded. Number one will meet number four. Number two and three will duel it out. The two big winners from the duels will stamp their ticket to the final in Stockholm on March 9.

You can watch the program tonight at 8 pm Central European Time here: svt.se/play

Melodifestivalen Celebrities

I'm sitting in the Middle of the City. That's the name of the shopping center in Karlstad where several artists will appear. The first artist up is Eric Gadd and he will be on stage shortly. People are milling about waiting for the show to begin. I have a good seat next to the stage and two semlor at my side. They're from the grocery store, so they're smaller than the bakery versions. That's right - semlor and song.

What happens when celebrities from the biggest show of the year appear in person? How do people in Sweden react?

They react mildly.

An orderly crowd of young teenagers and students wait in line to get a look at the artists. Guards stand around. They chat with each other, since there's not much to do.

Looking on from the top balcony

The host for the show walks into the waiting crowd, asking if there are any big fans of Eric Gadd. The orderly crowd looks away. She walks into a group of waiting teens and attempts to get someone to chat. She has difficulty getting them to talk with her in front of the onlookers. The host finally succeeds in getting a few adults to talk with her. Maybe she will have more success when introducing teen heartthrobs like Robin Stjernberg.

She tries to pep the crowd again. A few people shake their head and tap their feet to the music. That's the extent of their celebration. She attempts to get a yell from the crowd and succeeds on the second try. It's not an easy job.

Walking by the stage. Quite empty a few minutes before the first artist is to appear.

I might suggest this reaction is a part of Swedish culture. Swedes just don't go crazy over celebrities in the same way the United States does. They're interested and will stop to watch. They might stare, even. The really "crazy" ones might ask for a photo or autograph. They usually don't go crazy with a red carpet and screaming fans. They leave that to America. And Americans like me.

150 votes later...

I'm glad I went to the Friday practice for Melodifestivalen. I was so busy voting this evening, I didn't see as much of the show this time around. I got in a good 150 votes before my money flew out of my SMS card. I ran out of money before I ran out of time!

I stopped voting long enough to hold up my sign as Terese hit the stage, though. As I picked up my sign, a cameraman holding a steady cam walked up to me and stopped. He put the camera directly in my face and I knew what was coming. I saw myself flash on the screen for a moment and promptly looked away. The only thing I could think of was, "Better smile. Seven million eyes are watching you." It's a creepy feeling. Then I thought, "I hope I didn't look like a dork and lose Terese some votes". Ha! My third and last thought was, "I don't ever want to see that clip in High Definition - or YouTube.", which leads me to the point of this post: I'm glad I'm not famous. One second is too much.

I couldn't hack the long-term circus, scrutiny, and pressure. I think I could handle the big buffets, though. It's fun sitting in the stands and being entertained. Being the entertainer? Not so much. Not even for a second! I applaud all the work every artist has put into the show. What we see on TV, those 90 minutes of live TV are just the tip of a huge glacier that goes so deep, it is difficult to measure. It's almost as if Melodifestivalen is a world and place all its own. It exists on its own plane of being. You're either on Melodifestivalen or Earth (or the Moon if you're Buzz Aldrin. He's Swedish-American, by the way). I'll leave it to the professionals to live on that planet. I applaud all the effort and work that goes into the program. It's enough work watching it from the stands. I cannot fathom the effort it takes to participate on stage.

We'll see Rolf "Piano Fire" Gyllenhammar and Ulrik "Tell the World" Munther in the finals. Behrang "Malmö" Miri, and Robin "You" Stjernberg will get a second chance next Saturday in Karlstad. Terese made it to the initial second round cut, but was unable to advance in the competition. I am thankful and happy I had the pleasure of seeing her and her bandmates, Simon Petren and Tobias Jonasson, perform "Breaking the Silence" live on the big stage. Half of Sweden has now seen what talent they have in Terese. I am certain the exposure from the contest is just the start of a lifetime career on the national stage.

The Green Room bump happened again. Fans crowded around for pictures and shortly thereafter, security cleared the area by escorting everyone out before having a chance to meet the artists. The show producers hold a wrap party of sorts an hour after each live event, and that's likely where the artists ended up after the Green Room interviews. The artists have a tight schedule after the practice runs and the live show. Meeting fans would require they break that schedule. I don't think the show's producers would chance messing up that tight schedule with autograph sessions. It is Sweden's equivalent to the Super Bowl and it goes to reason that security would be just as tight, at least around the stars of the show. Disappointing yet understandable.

For fans of Jenny Berggren reading the blog, I didn't see her in the arena itself either Friday or Saturday night. She was a coach and mentor for Terese during the competition, so she was surely quite busy behind the scenes during the event.

A few "snapshots" from the evening:

Crazy hair fans

Pink fluffy cowyboy hat

Time to pack up and go home! The crew will take three hours to break down the set and load it in the trailers bound for Karlstad

 Terese's aunt showing off her sign near the Green Room. It was two sided - for good measure!

Tobias Jonasson, drummer for "Breaking the Silence". He was hanging out near the Green Room. A good guy and an excellent drummer!  

Having Fun is Hard Work

My plane to Copenhagen got in early, thanks to SAS and a nice tailwind along the way. My new EMV card worked perfectly when I went to buy my train ticket to Malmö. No problems. No issues. It saved me from a thirty person deep line at the teller window.

I was able to find the hostel easily thanks to a little Google Streetview research beforehand. I checked into the hostel at 5 pm and got to the arena around 6:30 pm. It took some work figuring out how to get there and back using the buses. I made it in one piece thanks to the helpful bus drivers one each line.

 I'll take you on a short tour of the arena before, during, and after the program.

Before:

Welcome to the show. An ad from my favorite program sponsor.

Shirts, caps, stars, feather boas, and baby clothes for sale.

The audience finding their seats. The catwalk for the artists splits the section in two.

The Green Room where the artists hang out after their performance. 

You have to get snacks for the show.

The house band entertains the crowd before the big show.

One of the producers of the show came out and spoke with the crowd, joked, and explained what he wanted us to do at different times. He gave us signals when we could clap and when we should quiet down. Another gentleman spoke with our section directly, letting us know that we should try to stay put during the performances between 8pm and 9pm, but if we had to leave, we should try to step gingerly around the recording equipment. We were so close to the camera cranes, we could have reached our hands out and grabbed them. Our section also sat next to an HD display showing what the TV audience would see.

During:

The opening of the show was in English with a smidgen of French mixed in for the Eurovision sketch. The sketch joked about Sweden hosting Eurovision this year and poked fun at how Sweden is seen abroad. You'll see it tomorrow during the live show.

Here are a few snippets of each artist's performance on Friday (pardon my camera's audio/video drops). These clips give an idea of what a live audience sees and what TV viewers at home see since our section sat near an HD screen with the live TV feed.

Army of Lovers - Rockin' the Ride

Lucia Pinera - Must Be Love (The songwriter just won a Grammy in the US!)

Robin Stjernberg - You

Sylvia Vrethammar - Trivialitet

Ralf Gyllenhammar - Bed on Fire

Behrang Miri  - Jalla Dansa Sawa

Terese Fredenwall - Breaking the Silence

Ulrik Munther - Tell the World I'm Here

In a live show, the audience would vote at this point. While the votes are "tabulated", the show continues with a humor sketch and a musical performance. The humor sketch is about rejected songs that were sent in to the contest. Another is a live performance by a well-known and well-loved band called Alcazar. The entire crowd stood up and clapped during their performance.

Since this is only practice, the show randomly chooses the winners. The artists and tech crew doesn't know who will be picked in order to replicate the live experience on Saturday. This time, Sylvia and Ralf won so they were able to play their songs again for the crowd. The show hosts repeated the "results" and waved goodbye to the cameras. 

After:

The audience filed out of the arena while the press descended upon the Green Room and the artists. Many fans waited outside to see if the artists would sign items or chat with them after the press was finished. After a few minutes, guards came and started ushering people out of the arena. The artists will still chatting with the press during this time, so they did not have the opportunity to meet with fans.

The entire show will repeat again a second practice tomorrow afternoon. Then the big live event will happen later on at 8 pm. It is shown live on TV and the Internet for anyone to see. I will post the link here tomorrow before it starts. The show can be viewed from any country.

A few things surprised me about being there in person. One was the size of the arena. The arena is supposed to be huge but it felt quite small. It may be because the arrangers decided not using the full capacity of the arena even though they could sell-out every show. It is assumed they're keeping full capacity for Eurovision instead. Another surprise is the amount of cameras in the building and how much they move about. I didn't think the cameras stood still, yet I didn't think they covered every inch of the arena either. 

A huge camera on a crane just behind my head. I could have put my arm out and reached it.

The choreography of the tech crew also impressed me. Some of the show act have elements that are not easy to stage. One has a moving throne, another has a flaming piano, a third has giant acrylic letters that have to be placed and buffed by hand in a matter of seconds. It's both exhausting and fascinating to watch.

Changing the acrylic letters out for a piano

A fire extinguisher - just in case.

Hearts raining down during the Army of Lovers performance

The tech crew using leaf blowers to clear the stage of all the hearts before the second act.

Song Clips Posted!

Short clips from the contestant's performances have been posted online. Have a listen and pick your favorite from the eight competitors:

Army of Lovers - Rockin' the Ride

Lucia Piñera - Must Be Love

Robin Stjernberg - You

Silvia Vrethammar - Trivialitet

Ralf Gyllenhammar - Bed on Fire

Behrang Miri - Jalla Dansa Sawa

Terese Fredenwall - Breaking the Silence

Ulrik Munther - Tell the World I'm Here

This round is said to be the strongest heat of the entire contest.

The Artists - Semi 4

Time to pick your favorite artist from the remaining twenty. Choose your favorite and watch to see if they take the ultimate prize.

First up, Semi 4 in Malmö: Eight artists will compete. Four will advance. Two will go directly to the final. Two will get another chance in Karlstad.

Army of Lovers - A Swedish Eurodance group with international success, including the United States. They reunited in their original lineup for this contest. Their song "Rockin the Ride" opens semi 4. Alexander Bard describes the song as a mix of Swedish House Mafia and Gangam Style mixed in a washing machine with a ton of crack. The group members grab headlines with their provocative and sometimes controversial, statements and interviews. Expect their fans to show up in droves at the arena.

Lucia Piñera - A newcomer to the contest but she has competed in other song contests in the past, such as True Talent. Lucia is a Malmö native, so the crowd will be fully behind their hometown artist. Her entry, "Must Be Love" is described as a positive and happy soulful song.

Robin Stjernberg - Robin is a graduate of Swedish Idol, so he's no stranger to live performances in front of massive crowds. This 21-year-old is branching out to other contests. He wants to reach people with his music and show another side of his talent. Having a good show is important, but it's more important to reach out to fans and make a difference, he says. A self-identified perfectionist.

Sylvia Vrethammar - Sylvia is no newcomer to the contest or the music business. She has been singing in the spotlight since 1967. Sylvia has competed four times in MF, the last being in 2002. She has found international success in Germany and other European countries. This year, she will sing a Swedish song by the name of "Trivialitet". The lyrics focus on appreciating the small moments in life.

Ralf Gyllenhammar - Normally a part of hard rock band Mustasch, Ralf has chosen to enter the contest as a solo artist since his band mates did not want to take part. He sees the contest as entertainment and he's ready to entertain. He wants the audience to be pumped up and excited about the powerful performance they will witness.

Behrang Miri - Another Malmö local, Behrang has roots in Iran and has lived in Sweden since he was three. He loves to rap and can do beatbox. Music is for getting out your feelings, reaching people, and building bridges, he says. His song, "Jalla Dansa Sawa" means come and dance. The song is about being together and letting everyone take part.

Terese Fredenwall - Terese is a 26-year-old Stockholm native. Her song, "Breaking the Silence", is about breaking away from destructive things and embracing all the good things life can offer. She wrote her entry after meeting people in prison and being influenced by their stories. She won her place through a national song contest, but is no stranger to the music business. She has previously released three solo albums under her own record label and has written lyrics for well-known artists, including one of this year's co-hosts, Danny Saucedo.

 Ulrik Munther - Teen heartthrob and contest favorite, Ulrik competed last year and placed third. This year, he wants to win it all. "Tell the World I'm Here" is described as a strong hit-song with a subject that is easy to relate to. He doesn't just want to be a well known musician, he wants to expand his skills and grow as a singer and artist, which is one reason he has decided to compete again.

Photos:  SVT