January Anderssin: Winning Recipes with moderate arty songs – Göteborgs-Posten

All twitching him. Cans in the back. Projecting a congratulations or ask for a brief comment.

After Mans Zelmerlöw sung home the Eurovision Song Contest takes an hour before he shows up on the big international press conference where several hundred journalists and photographers are waiting. After Mans Zelmerlöw held a brief victory speech, hailed with resounding applause and received a homemade Mans Dock is one of the first questions asked by a Dutch journalist … Melodifestivalen. Or more precisely, it is harder to win the Eurovision Song Contest than the Eurovision Song Contest? Ten years ago it would be a totally Baroque question to ask, late on Saturday night felt the almost affectionate. How can it be?

Ten years then stopped Martin Stenmarck on the 19th place.

then continued the Ark, Charlotte Perrelli and Malena Ernman to join forces and impressive stubbornness keep Sweden in the bottom of the swamp (18, 18, 21) before Anna Bergendahl 2010 failed to even take Sweden to the finals in Oslo, our worst result since Forbes degrading last place in 1977.

But you know how it is, has struck the bottom, there are only two things to do. Lie down or start to climb. Sweden chose to climb. And as we have climbed! Straight up. How can it be?

Nowadays Sweden , a major power in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Yes, more than that. The Roman Empire. A superpower, perhaps the greatest that this strange race have ever seen. In the past five years, Sweden has stopped third twice (Sanna Nielsen and Eric Saade) and won twice (Loreen and Måns Zelmerlöw). It is an incredible hindsight, the most powerful show of strength we have seen since Ireland used to fire underestimate the competition in the 1990s. In addition, supplies Swedish songwriter more or less regularly countries such as Russia, Azerbaijan and Spain with strong contributions. How can it be?

This is the for several reasons.

No other country takes the Eurovision Song Contest so seriously as Sweden. We sift, testing and transmits to the second chance. Thinking about a lap to weigh dissected. Ever since Hedenhös (Abba), we have offered to send “the best we have” and are easily distressed every time it goes bad for Sweden, compared with the English, who never cared a jot or Italians who only recently returned after several year absence from the competition. Combine that with Sweden’s strong tradition that artist and låtskrivarland – we are the third largest music exporter after the United States and England – and the fact that we finally managed to crack the code and find the lowest common denominator of what works in most countries. Namely the right arty and not twisted pop songs that can survive outside the pop incubator, delivered by strong vocals and backed by good-looking number. It need not be harder than that.

And no, Måns would never say that it is easier to win than the Eurovision Song Contest. He is far too well-mannered.