Sweden 2007

A Little Bit Of History...

Of late, Sweden have been one of Eurovision's most successful nations, with their last win just 8 years ago in 1999. Of course, Sweden are famous for quite possibly the biggest Eurovision export ABBA who won in 1974. Between then and 1999 they won twice more, in 1984 and 1991 with the popular Carola. Their recent run of Eurovision success has been great - entering sound songs securing them 1st in 1999, 7th in 2000, 5th in 2001, 8th in 2002, 5th in 2003 and 6th in 2004 - never once facing relegation. Unfortunately their time was up in 2005, when Martin Steinmarck finished a terrible 19th place out of 24 - one of Sweden's worst ever results. The song wasn't great - but as a member of Europe, you really shouldn't sing about America - alot of countries really aren't taking to kindly to it. Last year Carola returned to save the day and she surely did with a scorcher of a performance in the Semi, which she then went on to better in the Final. She acheieved 4th place in the Semi and 5th place in the Final, so Sweden are qualified to this year's Final on 12th May.

Singer & Song

The Ark The Worrying Kind

I love it!! Sweden try so send a rock song and it still sounds like something ABBA could have penned! Sweden chose glam rock group The Ark to represent them in Helsinki with 70’s sounding ‘The Worrying Kind’. The song’s great, upbeat and catchy, sounding something like ‘Shang-A-Lang’ by the Bay City Rollers. In the National Final, The Ark gave a lively, glamorous performance, and it all looked perfect for Eurovision success. My only quibble was the lead singers vocal – he was maybe overly confident on home turf after having been the favourite the whole way through Melodi Festivalen. If he gets this together for the Final it should sound great and Sweden can possibly look forward to another top 5 placing. It’s no Carola, but for me it’s certainly something fun and special and should qualify Sweden for the 2008 Final.

Prediction

Grand Final: Possible Top Ten 11th-13th

The ironic thing about this entry is that had Sweden tried the whole schlager thing, they would have been in with a shot of winning it. As much as I like this, and as well supported as it is in Sweden, I don't think this has what it takes. The performance needs to be alot slicker than that of the National Final - but even then I'm not quite sure just how much this will appeal across the board. I think it's a contender for a top ten placing, but not for a victory.

Prediction after Semi-Final

Top Half/Middle: 11th - 13th

The Ark is one that I'm really looking forward to. I hope everything comes together for them, but it's difficult to say just how much support glam rock will pick up this year. I think a disappointing placing in the middle of the scoreboard is what Sweden should expect - although I'd love to see this in the top ten.

Review of Eurovision Performance

As one of the early bookies favourites to win, there were high expectations for Sweden, but I did have a niggling feeling that the performance would be too loose and confident, with the lead singer forgetting that he was performing for a broader audience, unlike in Sweden where they knew they had a sporting chance of winning. Unfortunately for Sweden, lead singer of The Ark seemed to have this attitude, forgetting that in order to do well, everything needs to be perfect. The vocal wasn’t great and the whole thing seemed too laid back, almost coming across as cocky. This is why I think Sweden lost out this year, where they are usually one of the best performing Eurovision participants. As for my prediction, 11^th-13^th isn’t a far cry from 18^th, nonetheless, it’s just too far to call a close, so I guess I’m wrong!