The Swedish Final "Melodifestivalen" was held at the Friends Arena in Stockholm on March 12th, hosted by Oscar Zia. Before the final there were 5 semi-finals getting the list down to a final of 12. The winner was calculated by adding votes of 8 international juries with phone app votes divided into age groupings as well as televoting. Representing Sweden at Eurovision this year will be Cornelia Jakobs singing "Hold Me Closer"
Cornelia Jakobs - full name Anna Cornelia Jakobsdotter Samuelsson - is from a very musical family. Her father is a rock musician and grandmother a conductor. She studied at Rytmus music high school in Stockholm and at 16 she unsuccessfully auditioned for Idol. She was part of the girl band Love Generation - also known as Stockholm Syndrome - which participated in Melodifestivalen 2011 & 2012 and also co-wrote last year's participating entry " Best of Me " performed by Efraim Leo in 2021.
The first verse starts with very quiet violin backing which continues through the lengthy pre-chorus. It also continues under the chorus but is much more noticeable and soaring in the mix. Into verse two, the backing track is joined by a stable beat which gets bigger as the verse, pre-chorus and chorus follows though. As we pass the two minute mark, the backing disperses before regathering during the bridge with an almost rock/dance edge. The song finishes with an elongated version of the chorus before finishing suddenly.
Although I watched very little of MelFest, I took time to watch the final and I was underwhelmed to say the least. There was so little breadth in terms of genres and displays that felt like over-rehearsed faux music videos rather than part of a live music show. The presentation of this song, however, is quite personal and a bit more intimate than past entries have been. Cornelia does a good job of keeping her eye on the camera while she navigates her way around the floor, the rotating glowing disc and the microphone stand. The jittery camerawork is trying build tension and atmosphere when it should be coming from the singer and the lyrics. The song doesn't really need that much and by having little staging you have nothing else to focus on but the song. But for my taste there are some things that I can't quite get past and turn me off straight away. I don't like the way she sings the start as to me it comes across as a bit whiney and self indulgent. This is not helped by the lack of honest body language because Sweden cannot help but choregraph everything within an inch of its life . Co-incidentally her reprise after being announced the winner felt so much better than her competitive show. The lyrics are incredibly basic and possibly does not help show more emotional depth. This is not a bad entry and compared to many of the potential entries available it was possibly their best choice for the night. However, in a semi final full of eclectic and individual choices this might end up being 'the right one... but at the wrong time'
ARTIST - Cornelia Jakobs
SONG - Hold Me Closer
WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Cornelia Jakobs, Isa Molin, David Zandén
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