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.