New Music Round Up: May 2018!

With the thrill ride that was Eurovision 2018 now over us, we look towards new music from our past contestants. Hot off the heels of their appearance this year, we get new tracks from UK artist SuRie, Italy’s Ermal Meta and Armenian representative Sevak Khanagyan. Also joining the May line up of new music is 2017 Eurovision champ Salvador Sobral, Austria’s Nathan Trent who teams up with J-MOX, Belgian artist Blanche, Sweden’s Robin Bengtsson and a duet from Melfest winner and runner up (and best mates) Benjamin Ingrosso and Felix Sandman. 

Review: Latvia- Aminata ‘Love Injected’

Aminata seems to be Latvia’s answer to hugely popular dance acts LaRoux and Kiesza. And let’s face it there are worse acts you could try to emulate given that both of them have had great success in the European charts as of late. ‘Love Injected’ utilises Aminata’s hauntingly powerful vocal very well, especially with the perfectly timed pause just before she launches into the chorus. The vocal is complimented by electro-synth dubsteppy sounds that work brilliantly well and really sets the song apart from any of the others in the field for having a unique sound.

Four Acts Qualify from Melodifestivalen Second Chance

The results are in from the last of the Melodifestivalen live shows before the final. The Swedish selection process saw eight songs given a second chance  with four one on one battles which sent four acts through to the final and sent four acts home.

10 Things About Sanna Nielsen

Melodifestivalen hosts Sanna and Robin

1. Sanna Viktoria Nielsen was born on 27 November 1984 in the small village of Edenryd in Sweden’s southern reigon of Skåne.

2. Nielsen represented her country at Eurovision in 2014 with her power ballad ‘Undo’ but did you know that this was her seventh competing in the Swedish national selection process Melodifestivalen? Previous songs she tried out with included ‘I’m in Love’ which came fourth in 2011, ‘Empty Room’ which was second in 2008, Vågar du, vågar jag’ which was seventh in 2007, 2005’s ‘Du och jag mot världen’ which came in eighth place, ‘Hela världen för mig’ coming fifth in 2003 and her first attempt was in 2001 with ‘I går, i dag’ which came third.

Eric Saade and Jessica Andersson progress to Melodifestivalen Final

Eric Saade progresses to Melodifestivalen Final with ‘Sting’

Tonight the first of the Melodifestivalen heats kicked off with a bang. Hosted by last year’s winner Sanna Nielssen and accompanied by Robin Paulsson, the show opened with the duo singing a parody of Nielssen’s winning song ‘Undo’.

Proceedings quickly moved straight to business with Molly Petersson kicking off the show with ‘I’ll Be Fine’ follwed by the second song ‘Pappa’ by Daniel Gildenlow.

Twitter Battles: Quarter Final Results, Semi Final Battles Revealed

 

With just three days to go to Eurovision final day our Twitter Battles are really starting to heat up.

 

Below are the Quarter Final results and the Semi Final match ups which will both take place tomorrow Thursday 8th May.

Armenia Drop in the Betting Odds, Netherlands Gain.

Following last night’s first semi final there has been huge alterations in the bookies betting odds. Sweden are now the firm favourites

Semi Final 1- Predictions

Here are my predictions ahead of tonight’s Semi Final One. Please note that the ones I think will qualify for the final on Saturday are not necessarily my favourites. For instance I actually despise the Belgian entry this year but I do think it will qualify. I am also not a huge fan of the Armenian entry but you can not deny its popularity. Let me know if you agree with my predictions. 

Azerbaijan and Greece join Austria and Armenia in the YouTube 1 Million Hits Club

Aram MP3 still most viewed on YouTube

It’s that time of the week again where we take a look at the least and most viewed videos on YouTube. At the top end Aram MP3 still dominates with over 2 million views, while Austria’s Conchita Wurst is catching with also over 2 million hits. Azerbaijan’s ‘Start a Fire’ is now in third and Greece is fourth as both entries hit the 1 million mark. Sanna Nielsen rounds up the top ten, falling three places with ‘Undo’.

The Eurovision that could have been: Sweden

After weeks of live qualifying events as part of their Melodifestivalen selection process , Sweden opted for Sanna Nielsen as their Eurovision entry with song ‘Undo’. But which songs could have been the Swedish representative had she been unsuccessful? Here are our favourites that narrowly missed out: