Melodifestivalen 2010: Heat Three

My thoughts on the songs/performances/etc:

Oh no, it's not good when the video stream starts out bad. What is going on? I mean, why even offer the service if it's not going to work?

Oh well, it's back on now. The only question is... how long will it last?

What the heck, by the way, was that "commercial" thing M�ns was doing?

Alcazar: Somehow their songs always get better when watching them live. The vocals struggled just a little bit, but I loved the staging and the song's quite good as well. An easy qualifier, and one of my favorites so far this year.

Johannes Bah Kuhnke: I liked the anthematic quality of this, but the vocals didn't live up to the song. I bet the studio version's great, though.

Elin Lanto: Wow, she sounded GREAT. I actually loved everything about this. Maybe the girls have a chance this year after all.

Erik Linder: I feel like this melody has been stolen from another song, at least during the verses. To me this was boring as hell, but I wouldn't be surprised if he gets to andra chansen. Trotting out the background singers at the end was a wise move.

Getty Domein: I could be in the minority here, but I really like this. Something about it feels very refreshing. It's probably not catchy enough to make a dent in the competition, but I enjoyed the strangeness of it all, even though his voice did kind of grate after awhile.

Timoteij: This was one of the most cheesy-bad performances I've seen in awhile. The whole instrument thing was weird, especially at the beginning, as were the various facial expressions. The accordion was probably the most ridiculous part. On second thought... strike that, it was the flute.

Darin: It started out a little rocky but improved quite a bit after the first chorus. I love the melody and especially the instrumentation, but the lyrics are still really, really bad. Still, it's probably my favorite ballad so far this year.

Crucified Barbara: I feel like this was a missed opportunity. The vocals were great, but I didn't love the song as much. Still, depending on voters' tastes this week, this could find its way into the top five or even knock out Erik or Elin. It sounds like something that would do really well in Finland. And the fire was cool.

My hopes to make it through: Alcazar, Elin, Getty, Darin
Who will make it through: Alcazar, Elin, Erik, Darin (with Crucified Barbara in the top 5)

UPDATE: Top 5 - Crucified Barbara, Timoteij, Alcazar, Darin & Erik. WHY THE HELL WASN'T ELIN IN THE TOP 5?!?! And Timoteij are the highest vote getters? I've completely lost faith in the Swedish voting public this week. They were probably my second least favorite act today behind Erik, who better get knocked out the next round of voting.

UPDATE: My new prediction - Darin to final, Crucified Barbara & Alcazar to second chance.

UPDATE: Wow, Blue Man Group were kinda awesome. Maybe they should go direct to Globen?

UPDATE: Crucified Barbara and Alcazar to andra chansen and Darin to the final. Can't say I'm 100% excited about these results, but at least Erik's out.