Sweden 2021- Tusse with ‘Voices’

Tusse went into tonight's Melodifestivalen final as the shortest priced national final favourite of the selection season yet. Following his win, he will take his ‘Voices’ to Rotterdam.

We can all see what's going to happen here right? Sweden are going to (yet again) be a jury favourite and (yet again) come up well short on the televote and finish 5th or 6th. I don't think there's any other way this plays out.

Since this is going to stay high in the odds however and will likely go much shorter during the jury voting, its worth going into more detail.

Firstly, it has everything juries love. It's staged to within an inch of its live, has great vocals, a message and sounds current enough to be a hit. There's strong similarities to many of the recent jury favourites here and the Swedish branding will not harm it's popularity with them either. There's also an opening this year for a male mid-tempo, modern song and this is well differentiated from the field.

The televote is where this unravels. The overstaged nature of Sweden's efforts simply does not appeal as much as it used to. Compare them to Italy, where you get the sense the first rehearsal we see is literally their first rehearsal. Yeah, Italy end up a bit messy but there's heart and authenticity there which the televote is better at sniffing out. See Dami Im vs Michal Szpak or Kristian Kostov vs Salvador Sobral.

There's just something off with the staging of voices from the moment Tusse walks out doing his best Eleni Foureira impression. It's not natural, and the televote will pick up on this. The problem is a big one for Sweden especially with even the most casual viewer now aware of their reputation as ‘the best at the competition’ ‘jury darlings’ and ‘style over substance’.

Then we do have the theme of the staging which brings out the message. It's something that's been skirted around a bit but this is essentially Black Lives Matter the song. Now whatever your opinions either side, it has to be acknowledged that a black power performance is not going to play well across Europe and at best is going to be devisive. There's a good chance this is blanked by half of the continent and rewarded with little by the rest.

And then we get to the song which is OK I guess. It's a grower, I will give it that, and in fairness it has well surpassed my expectations in terms of its popularity within Sweden.

I do think there is slightly more to it than the ‘X factor winner meets Weeknd album track complaints many have’ but it is nowhere near as anthemic as it is trying to be and the key change does not give it that extra oomph it's supposed to. Much like the staging, ‘Voices’ is also too cliché perhaps.

Similarly to all the Dotter support being from outside of Sweden, the popularity of ‘Voices’ seems just to be a Swedish affair. There’s a good amount of affection for Tusse after his Idol win and that may play a part, or maybe this is a song that just resonates with Sweden.

All in all, ‘Voices’ will do well to reach a top 10 with the televote.

Bjorkman will not be bowing out with a win. Instead this final outing will be a continuation of Sweden's recent history of nailing one side of the equation, but having no understanding of the other. A refresh is definitely needed at Melfest and this type of song and staging by committee approach needs changing.

Personal Rating: 6/10 Competitive Rating: 8/10 Early Prediction: Semi One: 1st-3rd, 4th-8th in the Final.