Mendez feat. Alvaro Estrella – Vamos amigos

“That middle eight is… certainly a brave choice.”

Tim: The party track, the one that everyone loves (or at least enjoys parts of) and listens to at home, and stands no chance at all of going to Rotterdam.

Tom: It’s partly in Spanish, and there’s a got the “come on!” party shoutout at the start and everything. Yep. Ticks all the boxes, doesn’t it?

Tim: Juries ranked it last, alongside Victor.

Tom: I am not surprised, that middle eight is… certainly a brave choice. It’s like you’ve crossed Daddy Yankee and Guy Fieri.

Tim: Perhaps, but even so, the viewers still liked it, because, yeah, it’s the party track, and even with the awful rapping section without even much music underneath to save it, it’s still fun and listenable and not so bad to get behind. The juries, apparently and sensibly, knew better, but it’s still fun to watch on a Saturday evening, surrounded by more sensible stuff. I wouldn’t have a final without it.

Mendéz – Everyday

“It doesn’t matter if it’s not a fantastic song, as long as it gets everyone going.”

Tim: Odd reaction to this one, particularly given that it was the opening number: juries absolutely loathed it, giving it at total of 2 points compared to the victor’s 114, while the viewers put it in third place. Sadly that wasn’t enough to stop it coming dead last, what with there not being a huge range amongst the televotes – bottom was 5.8%, top was 10.5% – but have a listen anyway.

Tim: Like I said earlier, the opening number. It doesn’t matter if it’s not a fantastic song, as long as it gets everyone going, and I think it succeeds there.

Tom: Maybe, but it’ll never win. I think the juries probably disliked those lyrics: “run with me / sing this simple melody” ain’t exactly going to win professionals over. The public, though…

Tim: Bright lights and frequent fireworks, scantily clad dancers, not particularly complex lyrics and a simple ‘la-la-la-la-la’ melody that people can sing along with. Not a winner, but a good way to start the party. And given the viewer votes, apparently a bit more memorable than SVT intended when they chose it to go first.