Melodifestivalen 2010: Heat Two

My thoughts on the songs/performances/etc:

First question: where's Dolph? Was that just a one week thing? They showed a clip of his "performance" last week on the American clip show The Soup yesterday. Cracked me up.

Eric Saade: I still can't get over the lyrics to this. The vocals were kind of weak, as was the general energy until the dance break (why backwards?) and the neat water thing. It's definitely catchier than anything else this week, though.

Andra Generationen & Dogge: It wasn't as bad as their last entry two years ago, and that made it through, so I wouldn't be that surprised to see this crap get votes. Musically, it's not my thing at all.

Anna Maria Espinosa: This improved a lot for me hearing the full version. I much prefer it to the ballad last week, but going against Andreas in the ballad category may be a problem, as he's more popular. Still, she performed very well.

Highlights & MiSt: Despite looking really creepy at the beginning, these guys have the best song so far by a mile. The woman (MiSt?) didn't really have much to do, though, did she? I hope the voters appreciate a straight-up gimmick-free pop song like this.

Pauline: I actually really liked this, despite it being a complete Amy Winehouse rip-off. She sounded great live and totally pulled off the performance. I'm a little doubtful if it'll make it through, though. And the black & white thing was unnecessary.

Andreas Johnson: Nice performance. The song's adequate, but he does a good job with it. This will get the votes because it's Andreas Johnson. In fact, it may be the highest vote-getter of the week. It does seem a little too serious for Melodifestivalen, though.

Kalle Moraeus & Orsa Spelm�n: This is so left-field that it's hard to know what to say. The song's pleasant, and definitely goes for the Alexander Rybak vote. It will get through, no doubt, despite the performers having absolutely no x-factor. The audience ate it up. Maybe they'll get more votes than Andreas?

Hanna Lindblad: This surprised me by being a lot better than I expected. Lots of energy and she sounded great. The choreography was great, too. Kind of Chicago-esque. She could benefit by going last, as well, and may just take Eric Saade's place.

My hopes to make it through: Eric Saade, Highlights & MiSt, Pauline, Hanna Lindblad
Who will make it through: Highlights & MiSt, Andreas Johnson, Kalle Moraeus & Orsa Spelm�n, Hanna Lindblad

UPDATE: Ah, there's Dolph! And in a wig and freckles, too! Pretty funny.

UPDATE: Sad for Highlights! Top 5 - Eric, Andreas, Pauline, Kalle, Hanna

UPDATE: Manboy got the highest votes?!?!?!?! I am actually way stunned about this. Not entirely disappointed, but VERY stunned. I guess Kempe + rain = straight to final.

UPDATE: The internet feed is really starting to cut out now. And it's been so good for the rest of the show :( In fact, now it's not playing at all...

UPDATE: Still not working. Svt needs to get this sorted out. I thought they had this year, but no video is even worse than choppy video.

UPDATE: Now listening on radio (sigh). Pauline makes it to the second chance and poor Hanna is 5th.

FINAL UPDATE: Andreas goes straight to the final and Kalle is in the second chance. Kind of surprising, really. I thought Kalle had it in the bag. Can't say I'm too disappointed, though. It was a weak heat no matter what. Next week will be better (and hopefully have video throughout the entire show!)