The ESC Insight newsletter is back once more updating you on the happenings in Eurovision world. We are getting closer each week to all the songs being revealed and this week we have songs and artists from Italy, Lithuania and Iceland. Click onto this link for the full review of the news.
The newsletter also features the opinion’s of our editor Ben Robertson in his Robertson’s Reflection section. This week we are looking at the happenings of Melodifestivalen and what the qualification of Magnus Carlsson means for the future of that much beloved genre called schlager.
“And so we rush back to Saturday night. As far as a modern yet traditional Swedish-language uptempo schlager song goes, Magnus Carlsson was here to deliver it. He was in Melodifestivalen for 7 years out of 8 at the turn of the millennium but has been rejected time and again since. Allowing him a slot in the show was the last big chance to prove to the masses that what he can deliver is popular enough to be a part of the show, not just relegated to the Baltic Sea cruise ships.
The final announcement came to two songs written by Thomas G:Son. The choice was either a slow-rock song or an up-tempo schlager. A Magnus victory would have proved schlager has a fan base and an audience and can live on, a Neverstore victory would have meant the final nail would have slammed shut the schlager coffin for good, never to return to Melodifestivalen or to popular culture again.”
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