Swedish Language Blog
Menu
Search

Swedish Entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 Posted by on Mar 16, 2009 in Culture

I didn’t post about it yesterday, because I had to think about what to say. But there’s really no avoiding it, even a day later – I really don’t like the song that Sweden is sending to the Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow in May. And the song is “La voix” sung by Malena Ernman.

Personally, I think it’s an operatic nightmare (wasn’t there an opera-style entry last year from one of the Balkan countries?), but still an improvement over last year’s Charlotte Perrelli’s fiasco.

First, I suppose, I should explain for those of you who are not in Europe. But then again how can you explain the Eurovision Song Contest? You can’t really. This is something that almost everybody in Europe professes to hate and makes fun of, yet at the same time, this is something that keeps almost everybody in Europe glued to the TV. And I’m no exception here. I watch it, I make fun of it, and yet, I still vote. Religiously.

But before a song goes to the Eurovision Contest, it must be selected first in the country that it will represent. I am not sure how it works in other European countries, but in Sweden, this selection process is known as “Melodifestivalen.” The winner of Melodifestivalen goes on to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest.

First, various songs compete around Sweden, and then the winners of the semi-finals proceed to the grand finale in Stockholm, which this year took place last Saturday – March 14th at Globen (Stockholm’s Globe Arena).

And the unthinkable happened – the song that won and that is going to represent Sweden in Moscow in May is sung not in English, not even in Swedish, but in French (at least it sounds like French). Ouch! But people seem to like it, think it’s an unusual and original song, and actually believe that this year Sweden has a chance of winning the Eurovision Contest. Yeah right! As if…

Now let’s see… We will get 12 points from Norway and maybe Iceland, and that’s it. The days of ABBA are long gone… But of course, come May, I might be forced to eat my words


Melodifestivalen 2009 var ett musikevenemang som arrangerades av Sveriges Television i fem deltävlingar plus final under perioden 7 februari till 14 mars. Melodifestivalen var Sveriges uttagning till Eurovision Song Contest 2009 som avgörs i Moskva i Ryssland 12-16 maj.

Tags: ,
Keep learning Swedish with us!

Build vocabulary, practice pronunciation, and more with Transparent Language Online. Available anytime, anywhere, on any device.

Try it Free Find it at your Library
Share this:
Pin it

About the Author: Transparent Language

Transparent Language is a leading provider of best-practice language learning software for consumers, government agencies, educational institutions, and businesses. We want everyone to love learning language as much as we do, so we provide a large offering of free resources and social media communities to help you do just that!


Comments:

  1. David from Oregon:

    I thought that the best entry by far was Caroline af Ugglas song, “Snälla Snälla”. In this usage, snälla means please. She sings in Swedish to plead with her man not to leave her.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDcb8KGMJa0

  2. Anna:

    Hi David!
    Really??? I thought it was a dreadful song! Dreadful in terms of Eurovision. But then again, I don’t think there was any song in this year’s Melodifestivalen that had Eurovision potential. It seems to me that Sweden is becoming like the UK – they’re choosing a song to NOT win. LOL!

  3. natasha:

    I didn’t know it is in Russia this year. Russians must be going crazy.

  4. Luke (Sydney):

    Isn’t it the winner to host the next round? …hehehe

  5. Linda:

    It looks and sounds like something akin to the contest in the Bruce Willis movie, “The Fifth Element”, but not as good.

  6. Anke van Lenteren:

    I must say it IS an improvement on the entries of the last few years but do we have to have men who can’t dance prancing around on the stage as well? I don’t think she can actually hit some of the notes … perhaps she’ll make it on the day. I will be glued to the box, Dutch background, lived in the UK for ages, now stranded in Sweden!

  7. Anna:

    Hi Anke!
    I so agree with you here! LOL! I’m planning to blog the Eurovision final live, so it will be interesting! 🙂