Should Melodifestivalen Award G:son His Own Semi Final? Written by Sharleen Wright on April 1, 2013 | 5 Comments

Following the 2012 Eurovision and chart success of Loreen’s ‘Euphoria’, Swedish writer Thomas G:son looks set to make even further song contest waves by being specially invited to write his very own semi final of Melodifestivalen entries in the hope of producing another Eurovision winner-

Okay that probably is pushing the limits for April Fools Day, but… Take a look back at the song list of the national finals in 2013, it could almost be true.

Thomas Gustafsson, artistically known as G:son, was responsible for giving us ‘Euphoria’, ‘Quedate Conmigo’ for Spain in 2012, ‘In A Moment Like This’ for Denmark in 2010, and ‘Ven a Bailar Conmigo’ for Norway in 2007. That’s merely the tip of the iceberg.  For every song that has made it to the contest (eight in total), he has written eight-fold more entries for national final selections – a grand total of sixty four songs so far since his first attempt in 1999 with ‘Natten Ar Min Van‘.

This year represents something of a record for the writing efforts of G:son, having eight songs selected as finalists for four separate countries – including the internal selection of Waterfall for Georgia.  Now we bring you the very special list, all in one handy page, of the seven songs that didn’t make it to Eurovision 2013 for Swedens’ busiest songwriter.

Welcome to the world of Second Chance 2013… G:son style.

We Own the Universe, by Daze (Denmark)

The first fence that fell was at Dansk Melodi Grand Prix. Daze don’t seem to have made their mind up in terms of their image – they look like an edgy indie band, but sound like the Miami Sound Machine. A rather pedestrian number here from G:Son if we’re honest – the band add as much energy as they can but they failed to make the superfinal.

Ultraviolet, by Jessica Muscat (Malta)

Where Daze seemed to be lacking a bass-line, Jessica Muscat is all about the bottom of the octaves. Perfect for the dance floor, but not quite there for Eurovision, which needs to have every facet of a song working in unison to climb up the score table. Of course it does lead the ESC Insight team to hope for a ‘G:Son / Debora C‘ collaboration next year. Please?

On Top of the World, by Swedish Housewives (Sweden)

Sometimes G:Son knows exactly what is being asked of him. Take Melodifestivalen’s valedictory performance from Hannah, Jenny, and Pernilla. The fans expected all the classic schlager elements, with lots of repetition, a distinctive hook, and the chance to strutt around under Mr Christer’s eye one final time… If that’s what you want, that’s what G:Son delivers.

Alibi, by Eddie Razaz (Sweden)

Oh look, there’s the punctuated repetition again, a touch of electronica, the dance moves from ‘I Love You Mi Vida’, and a great example of the energy that many G:Son numebrs have,coupled with a performer who knows how to boost that with their own contribution on stage. Of all the songs this year, this is the ‘G:Son by numbers’ track.

Trivialitet, by Sylvia Vrethammar (Sweden)

G:son certainly knows how to best match the song to the artist. In this case, Sylvias’ biggest hit was in 1974 – and this song certainly seems as dated as that. Sylvia is best known for her jazz pop sound, and we get more of the same here; but in a year where experience and big names didn’t make a difference to the results, and traditional and schlager styles didn’t make the cut for the final, our classy dame and swinging tune didn’t stand a chance.

Tell the World I’m Here, by Ulrik Munther (Sweden)

Ulrik had it all set up for him to take out Melodifestivalen in 2013. He had grown into a more mature artist, he had the prized last performance position in the 4th semi, he had the best staging at the contest, he had the anthemic G:son song. So what went wrong? Whilst the rest of Europe received his call and placed him second in the final after the jury results came in, Sweden clearly didn’t want to accept his message that he was here to win.

In and Out of Love, by Martin Rolinski (Sweden)

I feel for poor Martin. The former lead singer of BWO made it to Melodifestivalens’ Andra Chansen round only to be narrowly beaten by Robin Stjernberg, who eventually took out the entire Swedish contest. Whilst the singer and the choice of G:son song feels right, you really have to question the staging decisions on this one. But unfortunately we are only left to wonder now what would the result could and would have been if the Melodifestivalen didn’t have Lena’s 2011 gimp suited girls throwing coloured yoghurt at the PVC test boxes built for Eric Saade two years ago.

If any of these above songs made it through for G:Son, do you think we would have had another Eurovision winner?  What are the chances that G:Son could do a double and win with Waterfall for Georgia?  Will G:Son beat his songwriting record in 2014?  When will the popularity of Swedish songwriters for hire across Europe ever end?

We look forward to May and beyond to answer these very questions, and in the meantime ESC Insight will continue to follow the increasingly busy songwriting career of Thomas Gustafsson.