Last Saturday the audience got to see a show that’s going in the history books: two former Melfest winners in the same semi-final and the entertaining content we haven’t seen for many years!
Why aren’t Pernilla Wahlgren and Per Andersson always the hosts for Melodifestivalen? Their presence reminded me of a past time when the content in the show contained lovely humor ala Edward af Sillén with lots of complaints to the Inspection Board for Radio and TV. Craziness, burning angel wings and a beaten choir boy was exactly what we needed after last week’s sleeping tablet! And the third host Christer Björkman complemented them well as the more responsible informer.
The Mamas were well-earned, directly qualified to the final accompanied by the woollen boy Eric Saade who danced himself sweaty to a cool, but plagiarized song. Lots of debutants got a second chance while the disco queen Tess and the charter positive dance band Sannex unfortunately were eliminated.
All the songs in Melodifestivalen 2021 are now released and it has been a great mix of different genres and artists, which actually is very unusual in the contest. Usually Spotify lists and mainstream pop controls the selection of participants, but now we’ve seen everything from Danny in cardboard kaos to joddeling ladies to the great comeback of the schlager diva. It’s also very fun and unusual that two rock bands and two dance bands have competed. But who will be the winner?
None of the duellants in The Second Chance will challenge Tusse to victory, but The Mamas, Dotter and Eric Saade will be right behind him.

The Second Chance – Saturday 6th March
Duel 1:
Alvaro Estrella – Baila Baila
Lillasyster – Pretender
Duel 2:
Frida Green – The Silence
Paul Rey – The Missing Piece
Duel 3:
Eva Rydberg & Ewa Roos – Rena rama ding dong
Clara Klingenström – Behöver inte dig idag
Duel 4:
Klara Hammarström – Beat Of Broken Hearts
Efraim Leo – Best Of Me
The right songs are now in the final, but I miss Emil Assergård (who’s entry actually is very popular on Spotify now) and Tess in The Second Chance. I actually think that the duels in The Second Chance never give a fair result. Luckily, the lovely and entertaining singer Shirley Clamp is hosting the show. She was very successful in Melfest 2004 after taking the detour through The Second Chance to the final and finishing as a runner up with the song “Min Kärlek ”.

To the final:
Did you know… that Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, who wrote Alvaro Estrella’s “Baila Baila” among others, debuts as a song writer in Melodifestivalen this year? He and Bobby Ljunggren are competing with the most entries this year with five each. Thörnfeldt has earlier worked with world stars such as Jennifer Lopes, Pitbull, Cher, One Direction and Nicki Minaj and in 2016 he won a Grammy in the category “Best latin rock, urban or alternative album”. Today he’s commuting between Los Angeles and the Swedish town Norrköping.
Who are your favourites in The Second Chance? Who do you predict to qualify directly to the final? Let us know in the comments!