If there is one thing high on the list of Eurovision fans in the National Final season it is to watch the schlagerfiasko that comes around every year from Sweden. Melodifestivalen has been the pinnacle of National Finals over the last decade, but what is it about the contest that makes it so highly anticipated? We ask ESC Insight’s resident Swede Ben Robertson to create a countdown answering why we are all so excited for the return of #melfest.
It Breaks Records Year After Year
Melodifestivalen is big news for us Eurovision fans because Melodifestivalen is big news. Swedish TV ratings put the show constantly top of the tree for viewing figures each and every year. When viewing rates drop as this year to a shock second place, the media generate a frenzy asking why the quality has dropped in the competition. A successful Melodifestivalen is a figure of national pride.
The move to the brand new Friends Arena creates a massive centrepiece that the rest of Europe can envy. The attendance for Friends Arena’s Melodifestivalen Final is more than the population of San Marino and more than the people attending Eurovision Finals in Malmo and Copenhagen, combined. No other event on the Eurovision calendar even comes close.
When something is as big in the culture as Melodifestivalen is, it is important. The excitement and the interest created spurs the competition to new heights unattainable elsewhere.
The view from the back of Friends Arena during the 2014 Melodifestivalen Final
High Numbers Of High Quality Songs
Although down to 28 entries this year, the move to a 32 song Melodifestivalen was a brave move by SVT. Melodifestivalen previously was shown on the broadcaster’s 2nd channel, consisted of ten songs with some known if not huge stars scattered amongst debutants creating an appeal with was niche rather than overarching.
Svante Stockselius was the man credited as being instrumental to Melodifestivalen’s big change to a tour across the country during the depths of winter. With the commercial risk of selling tickets taken on by sponsors Melodifestivalen was able to grow to the size it is today.
This though was not possible without an increase in both the quality and quantity of songs. This happened. Over the three year period after Melodifestivalen became a multi-week event the numbers of entries doubled and at its peak had just shy of 4,000 songs entering (one for roughly every 2,250th Swede).
While numbers are dropping in recent years hits are still being churned out. Ace Wilder’s hit Busy Doin’ Nothin’ reached the top 10 most played chart on Spotify Sweden for this year as the standout example. That this year only produced one clear stand-out commercial success is unusual for the contest with is infamous for plastering itself all over the Swedish charts during March.
The Swedish Singles Chart in March 2006 is a display of the power Melodifestivalen has
Train As You Play
The combination of big arenas and high quality songs means that you are looking at potential Eurovision winners from the first outset. Songs have to be ready in their fully produced versions and the camera work needs to be bang on the money to get enough votes to progress to the next round.
Sometimes in Eurovision world we find songs that just don’t work when they arrive on the big stage. There is no danger of that with Melodifestivalen as these are weeded out well before even the final of this competition.
Even little parts of the culture, such as the need for heavy rehearsals all week in-front of the press, and also a jury final on the Friday and Family show on the Saturday help to prepare artists for what happens during the Eurovision circus. Many acts fall foul of over-doing themselves during Eurovision fortnight but it is rare for this to be one from Sweden’s delegation. They are simply used to the pressures that having cameras following their every move can create if they reach the buzz of Eurovision.
Bringing Up The Next Generation
It may sometimes be a tokenistic nod during the battles of Swedish superstars that play out during Melodifestivalen, but broadcaster SVT do want to make sure that the doors to the country’s biggest TV show are not just open to those with glory already attached around them. One song each year since 2010 has been committed to being from a previously unsigned songwriter, providing an opportunity for someone perhaps without the production skills of the top labels the chance to get their foot in the door.
During the broadcast each year the team ensure that adverts go out to advertise the fact that Lilla Melodifestivalen is coming up to take part in over the summer. Not only have Molly Sanden and Ulrik Munther been successful in both Lilla MF and the Senior equivalent but a new generation such as Idol 2014 winner Lisa Ajax are making the moves from Junior level competition up to adult careers via the family of events surrounding the Eurovision Song Contest.
There is also a commitment to ensure that SVT does deliver quality in the correct way. SVT made the call this year to ensure that at least 50% of the songs in the final 28 were written by at least one female. This recognition of the need to showcase gender equality demonstrates how seriously SVT want Melodifestivalen to be a beacon across all levels of Swedish society and how they want to develop more opportunity for others in the future.
Emelie Irewald will compete in the Second Semi Final of Melodifestivalen after winning the amateur ‘Allmänhetens’ competition
Not Just Good Songs But Diverse Songs Too
Since ABBA (well to be honest, before ABBA), Swedish music with its sing-a-long language was a great breeding ground for new music. In the post-ABBA years Swedish pop music developed a distinctive sound which travelled the globe as one of the country’s leading exports.
That Melodifestivalen has now become synonymous with this sound we refer to as schlager is not a surprise. Schlager songs with their simple structure and catchy lyrics provide many of the features of the modern Eurovision hit.
It would be easy for Sweden to run a contest awash with these types of songs, but SVT ensure that they only take away the top slice of the pile and create a contest full of diversity as well, just like Eurovision.
What we find is that usually winning songs take flavours of the schlager structure and provide their twist on this, such as with Sanna Nielsen’s ballad Undo or Loreen’s dance-tastic Euphoria.
However throughout the list of entries we will find many songs in rock, pop, gospel, rap, ballads and all the types of artistry in-between. Furthermore this crosses over to make Melodifestivalen full of different cultures that make up Swedish society. With Serbia hosting in 2008 the decision to allow three entries into the competition in Serb-Croat languages was a nod towards making Melodifestivalen mainstream for a large section of Sweden’s population. This consideration for diversity is rare to find considered at such a high level as Sweden succeeds in creating.
The Team Knows How Eurovision Works
It is not just that SVT know how to create a successful Melodifestivalen, they are experts when it comes to all parts of the arrangements for Eurovision as well and can easily pull the strings to replicate this. Figurehead Christer Bjorkman not only is Mr. Melodifestivalen but also has a seat on the EBU Reference Group. Many of the team still working on the production of Melodifestivalen 2015 were part of the crew that developed Eurovision 2013 in Malmo.
This experience means that even the little aspects of the contest can be re-created at ease. Christer Bjorkman’s contacts around different delegations help to organise Melodifestivalen’s International Juries which give half the points in the final for one extra check on if a song is suitable to win Eurovision again.
This is a broadcaster with a strong ability to create a great TV show as well as concert experience. For OGAE members Melodifestivalen tickets can be bought through the fan club just like for Eurovision (and yes in most years with demand exceeding supply) and a big nod is giving to creating a party atmosphere inside the arena which translates across the screen. Balloons are distributed by sponsors and homemade signs are actively encouraged. It is little surprise this broadcaster led the movement for the now staple arrangement of standing room only on the floor of Eurovision.
Creating The Idea Of Duelling
The idea of a Second Chance round for songs is one that squeezes out every last drop of the Melodifestivalen format. What helps this to stand out is that they create at this level the concept of songs competing directly against one another in duels. Like in other sporting competitions, there are fewer things more exciting than cup contests and Melodifestivalen is no exception.
When the songs have already been heard before something else is needed to generate excitement and interest for the viewing public which this provides. Also the nature of duelling means that as much as you may be voting for a song you like, you now have a unique chance to actively vote against a song you hate and knock it out of competition.
Whilst generally this is at odds with how Eurovision works for the purpose of weeding out the last entrants to a National Final it works rather well. Classic moments of light entertainment have come about from this too. Nordman created enough controversy in Melodifestivalen 2008 with their ode to witch hunting, but before being knocked out of the road to Belgrade Second Chance created the opportunity to knock out Carola in record televoting figures. Few things are more exciting than seeing who wins and who loses.
The Frolics Of Family Fun
Unlike many other National Finals, Melodifestivalen crams all the action into a convenient two hour window on Saturday night prime time. Late enough that it is exciting for kids to be allowed to stay up for, and short enough for boredom not to ensure, but not too late that parents are worried about them getting up on the Sunday morning. When we compare to other countries not only is Sweden full of colour and happy tunes but it squishes it all in with a format that is full of laughs for everybody. The supermarkets cater to this with special offers on crisps and soda for the perfect cozy night in as sponsors produce scorecards and prediction tables.
Melodifestivalen is simply huge not just amongst fans but also is top of the mantelpiece on the viewing for young people too. Preschools across Sweden will be learning and dancing along to each of the songs in the run up. Pre-teen girls will be making up large voting blocks. Preview shows will air each week on the kids channel in anticipation.
That Melodifestivalen is pitched to captivate the young audience is on the keys to its success in being a part of pop culture in Sweden. It takes itself very seriously, but does allow for young people and their tastes and their experiences to get up close to the action as well (social media helping a lot in this regard). It is very much a party for all people living in Sweden.
Girls meeting Anton Ewald in a signing session on the morning of the Melodifestivalen 2014 Final
It Keeps The Suspense Until The Final Moment
One of the things that makes Melodifestivalen such an excitement is that lots of the big parts of the show are revealed at the last possible moment. The songs for each Semi Final for example are revealed to the press late on the Wednesday evening, but even still the general public will have only got chance to hear a snippet before the big day and need to rely on the official media channels to try and gauge what to expect in the show.
This means that shocks are likely to happen as little concrete information escapes the walls of Melodifestivalen until the show itself despite the thirst for information which trickles out through the days leading up to the contest.
This isn’t kept just to the songs though, but the parts of the show that make it the audience hit, the interval acts, guest artists and gags are fresh, contemporary and have a reputation for poking fun at itself, Sweden’s biggest TV show. This attitude is what makes a simple Song Contest must watch TV.
Yes, Melodifestivalen delivers great songs each and every year, and overall those songs are the main reason we all come back to it. However for this to happen those great songs have to arrive through the mailbox to SVT every September. The whole carnival Melodifestivalen creates is the inspiration to many to make it such a wonderful occasion of new songwriting each year. However there are parts of the Contest not quite fit for purpose and we’ll give you seven ways Melodifestivalen could improve in an article later this week.
While we are waiting, what are your favourite moments from Melodifestivalen history that make it must-watch TV for you?
Ben, would it be fair to say that Melodifestivalen is the crown jewel of the national finals season, in the eye the fans??
Traditionally that is completely fair to say. ESCToday back in the good old days had annual awards for the best national final which I can only recall on one occasion (2010) Melodifestivalen not winning.