Melodifestivalen 2012: Heat Two

Round two is upon us, and it promises to be more exciting than last week! Who will make it through? Three minutes until the fun begins...

**It's funny watching this BSB/Nsync opening medley and realizing that all of these songs were written and/or produced in Sweden.

**Judging from applause before the show, Ulrik and Timoteij have this in the bag, with Thomas biting at their heels.

Here we go!

ULRIK: As expected, this is better in full. I don't see any way this guy is not going to the final. He's like a younger, more relevant Andreas Johnson. His live voice is EXCELLENT. I wish the song was just a little better, but this is a great start to the second week.

TOP CATS: Ugh... here comes the annual rockabilly entry. But surprisingly, I like this a lot more than I thought I would. The lead singer's voice sometimes sounds a bit like Billy Idol. I'm thinking they'll finish either in fourth or fifth place, but you never know with this genre. They have a lot of energy.

SONJA: Oh my... what is she wearing in her entrance? She looks like she's from Middle Earth! I know some people are going to love this song, and it's fine for what it is, but these big ballads just aren't really my thing. I think this would be great as a dance track, though! As it stands now, I started tuning it out about halfway through...

ANDREAS: He's got a bit of that Eric Saade "Manboy" dancing in this performance! I really like this song, but I think it's too subtle for MF. It lacks a certain amount of flash. Plus, Alcazar members going solo don't have a good history on this show. Still, great pop song. Love the strings.

TIMOTEIJ: It's like Kom, part two! I'm not sure it's quite as instantly excellent, but I am still loving this. If there's any justice, they'll be taking one of the final spots. The audience seems to be digging it, too.

DAVID: He's got a song written by my favorite Swedish songwriter, Tony Nilsson, so there's no way this can suck. I wish it was a different performer (Ola would kill this), but I still really love the energy here. I could see a surprise 3rd or 4th place finish. (But this is one time I wish the lame lyrics would have been in Swedish so that I wouldn't have understood them)

MIMI OH: I am loving Mimi's entrance. I'm not sure the performance lived up to it, though. The song's great, but I think for an artist that's this unknown, she needed something a little less lightweight. But weirdly, I could see this becoming one of my favorite MF '12 songs, melody-wise, when all is said and done.

THOMAS: For some reason, Thomas has always creeped me out. It's the combination of hair, face and robe. This isn't a bad song by any means, but it's not one of the best tonight. His profile should assure that he gets something, but will it be a ticket straight to the final? I don't know. With the confetti and everything, he's already got that winning air. But I think he's got some strong competition.

PREDICTIONS: This is a hard one! I'm going with my gut, here.
To Final: Ulrik & Timoteij
Second Chance: Thomas & David (just a feeling, though it could also be Top Cats or Mimi Oh, I suppose. Or even Sonja, though I don't think that song was strong enough)

** Thomas Di Leva looks RIDICULOUS sitting in the green room with that robe on.

TOP 5: Thomas, Top Cats, Timoteij, Ulrik & David. Do I know how to call them, or what?? Surprised that Mimi got last place. I thought it would have gone to Andreas, honestly.

** Hmm... now if we can knock out Top Cats, we've got a really strong top 4 this week.

** So, weirdly, I think the expendable "5th place" will be going to either Top Cats or Thomas. Could be wrong, but I think David has incredible momentum going right now. He could even go direct to the final.

** More "losers" from years past for us to vote on! And they're great! Magnus's, BWO's and Ola's songs are amongst the best MF tracks of all time!!

** This "Elektrisk" performance is much more interesting than last week's cover. And there was a bit of Melody Club in it!!!!!!!! That's pretty much my highlight of the whole show, right there. They should do this sort of mash-up every week. The only bad part? The rapper.

** Most votes and direct to the final: Ulrik! Not surprised in the least. I'm not the hugest fan of the song, but I love Ulrik, so I'm 100% on board with this. Will David get the second spot? I'd prefer Timoteij, but I'm not sure how this is gonna go.

** More results: Top Cats to Andra Chansen. Lame. Timoteij also to Andra Chansen. This is a surprise. They deserved better. And finally, David is the second to go through to the final! This is also a surprise, and just shows what an energetic performance can do. The real question is... even though he didn't get the *most* votes this week, will he gain more momentum? If the audience's reaction is any gauge, he could do it.

** Let us start the campaign now to get Timoteij through Andra Chansen and to the final.

** All in all, I'm pleased with three out of four of the competitors in the Final. I still say this year is Loreen's to lose, though.