Live from Globen: Melodifestivalen 2012 final

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Tonight Erika Couchman, Jamila Alhassan & Myself (Miceal O’Kane) will report live from Globen Arena in Stockholm. Sweden will select the representative for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. The winner will be selected by a combination of jury and televoting. The jury verdict will be made by eleven countries which will have the half power to decide this year’s winner, whilst the other half will be by televoting. Ten entries will be performed tonight and the show will be presented by Gina Dirawi, Sarah Dawn Finer and Helena Bergström. Special guest tonight will be Eurovision 2005 winner Helena Paparizou performing last year’s winner entry “Popular”.

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Below you can view the line-up for Melodifestivalen final and the results of our poll;

01. David Lindgren – “Shout it Out”
ESCDaily.com poll: 39 votes – 2.18%, 7th

David Lindgren started the show with a Bang with this upbeat and high energy performance. He had a really great stage presence and got the audience captivated and interacting which always helps to gain votes. His electro-pop song sounds incredible in the arena, leaving you enthralled and anticipating what else he has to offer. The one criticism we may have is that his style of clothing did not ‘suit’ this particular genre of music and should be left to the ballad singers.
We predict that he will place at number 5.

02. Thorsten Flinck & Revolutionsorkestern – “Jag reser mig igen”
ESCDaily.com poll: 9 votes – 0.5%, 10th

Although this performer is a well-established artist in Sweden, his act fails to translate to other audiences in regards to the Eurovision. We find the song does not draw you in very easily and it is overshadowed by some of the more upbeat acts that take place tonight. Thorsten Flincks voice is not very easy on the ears and could do with a softer touch, ,as foreign viewers he fails to connect with us, however he has a big following and he may surprise us. The song also has a key change which lifts it as it was going nowhere.
We predict that it will place number 10.

03. “Mystery” – Dead by April
ESCDaily.com poll: 60 votes – 3.35%, 4th

Dead by April has received a lot of online support in the past few days; present tonight is an international jury and with their growing support internationally it will be interesting to see if they get the approval of the jury. This song has a lot of energy and lifts up the spirit of the crowd, making them want more. With a mixture of great vocals, stage presence and the scream singing this song is sure to do well. The fact that is an unique genre in the competition may work in their favour as it is one of a kind in this particular competition; this certainly leaves the audience with a refreshingly good impression.
In keeping with the Eurovision factor they have included a key change.
We predict that they will place number 6.

04. “Why Start a Fire?” – Lisa Miskovsky
ESCDaily.com poll: 55 votes – 3.07%, 5th

One word and that is “Nice”. As we’ve seen before “nice” doesn’t work well at all. We found that we were more drawn to the dance act behind her more that her song itself. Her vocals are good by her performance is greatly over shadowed by the earlier act by Dead By April. As a respected song writer she may gain points for her lyrics rather than the actual tune itself.
We predict she will place number 8.

05. Top Cats – “Baby Doll”
ESCDaily.com poll: 16 votes – 0.89%, 9th 

The rockabilly band Top Cats performs Baby Doll in fighting spirit, evidently these guys take inspiration from 1950s American artists such as Elvis. Their song is a very happy up-tempo retro song which made us hum along. Above all we were surprised by the enthusiasm on the stage despite having very difficult instruments to perform on stage with. This rockabilly is popular in Sweden and so we predict they will place number 7.

06. Loreen – “Euphoria”
ESCDaily.com poll: 1.184 votes – 66.11%, 1st

This is the most anticipated song of the evening. She has amazing vocals and this song is Thomas G: son at his best. The performance although captivating may well leave the younger generation wanting more, this is due to contemporary art not be to their liking. Saying that she has managed to build the strongest fan base and from the sound of the audience here at Globen she is most definitely in the top two. The song has a MASSIVE chorus and to top it off..a key change!! Her vocals are very hunting and with the ethereal dance music it works so well.
We predict she will place number 1.

07. Ulrik Munther – “Soldiers”
ESCDaily.com poll: 46 votes – 2.57%, 6th

As everyone has noticed this Swedish Justin Beiber seemingly has the whole package. He has the voice, the looks and the pure raw talent. Judging by the crowd reaction if all his young female fans pull together tonight he is in for a chance. Either way he is a beautiful talented entertainer who has a bright future ahead of him. Maybe the Swedish public and the international jury will recognise that he is playing his own instruments at such a young age and result in a higher placing. We predict he will place number 4.

08. Björn Ranelid & Sara Li – “Mirakel”
ESCDaily.com poll: 34 votes – 1.9%, 8th

This act is too dated and is not moving along with the new trends of the Eurovision, we all know that it has been done before and therefore it does not surprise or create any anticipation. We have seen this before back in the 90s, we should move on. The performance is very strange, the only thing holding it together are Sara’s vocals which are strong. It was a good entry but we do not think it will get higher than position number 9.

09.  Molly Sandén – “Why Am I Crying?”
ESCDaily.com poll: 80 votes – 4.47%, 3rd

We really like Molly and this time around she is more confident than ever, with a strong stage presence which sends the message of her song to the audience in a simple yet effective way. Her personality is very relatable as there is so much emotion poured into the song. As part of the audience tonight we can’t help but think this is about her break-up with last year’s MF winner Eric Saade. Her vocals are flawless tonight as usual and she powers through the song. The classic wind machine is brought in for the final chorus and rightly so for dramatic effect. Could this be another “Empty room”? We predict she will place at number 3

10. Danny Saucedo – “Amazing”
ESCDaily.com poll: 268 votes – 14.96%, 2nd 

As predicted this song is literally “amazing” and as always he meets the expectations of the audience and keeps us fascinated and wanting more. He is simply made for performing and for this competition. This is what makes him the ideal Eurovision contestant. The Wow factor of this performance is his impeccable dance move with the amazing staging effect including his LED suit and his excellent vocals. By far this is the best All-around performance but what will the jury and the public say. Our prediction is that he will place number 2 but this could go either way with him and Loreen.

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RESULTS WILL FOLLOW

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After the international jury votes the scoreboard is as follows:

1. Euphoria = 114
2. Amazing = 92
3. Shout it out = 65
4. Soldiers = 62
5. Why am i crying = 55
6. Baby Doll = 35
7. Mystery = 25
8. Why start a fire = 21
9. Jag reser mig igen = 3
10. Mirakel = 1

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Swedish tele-vote will follow soon

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18 points: Why start a fire
22 points: Why am i crying
23 points: Shout it out
24 points: Mirakel
26 points: Soldiers
27 points: Mystery
33 points: Baby doll
40 points: Jag reser mig igen
106 points: Amazing
154 points: Euphoria

Euphoria will go to Baku