This year, Mello was flooded with joke entries; some flopped, and some even made it to the Grand Final. I’m personally not a fan of joke entries, but I understand the need of entertainment in these dark times that we are living, I guess.

This year was my 4th Mello Live experience, from an iconic Semifinal in Gothenburg back in 2020 to seeing Felicia win the whole thing and defeat overrated singers such as Gregzula and Medina.

It was fun; I enjoyed the whole show, even though I got a serious cold right after the final ended, and then a nasty kidney surgery one week later. (I’m alive though, hihi). Will I do it again next year? Probably not, or at least I’m not sure.

Judging by participation patterns, if Gregzula is making a comeback next year (and I’m sure he will), he will definitely win the competition. Notoriety is very strong in Sweden, but thankfully, it doesn’t always win (2026 and 2023 <3).

This year, there were many issues with Mello, from trying to announce the last qualifier in each semi online (they changed after SVT received thousands of complaints) to the lack of creativity in some songs that led to an NQ result.

Mello can be saved, but it requires a bit more courage and diversity. We are all tired of the typical Swedish songs (I think they deserve their own genre tbh, they are also known as mello rejects if they end up in other national selections). We are also tired of seeing the same composers over and over, and then we wonder why Medina sounds like a copy of their previous song.

SVT should allow new composers to enter this competition. I’m sure there are better talents than the tiring Dino Medanhodžić, Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Thomas G:son, and Anderz Wrethov (even though I love Anderz a lot).

I guess we need to wait and see what the future will bring. Until then, I’m leaving you guys with some nice photos of Stockholm, the city of my heart. It’s always a pleasure to be there.

1. Patrik Jean - “Dusk Till Dawn” - the song is actually a masterpiece, my only problem is Patrik. You cannot expect to become rich and famous just because you have pretty blue eyes. The performance lacked personality; if you cannot emotionally connect with the song, then it’s either a problem with you, or you were simply not meant to sing this song. I wish this song had a different artist because, honestly, it was final material. Score 6/10.

2. Korslagda - “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” - not a fan of this genre but man, it felt trashy just like this performance landed from a bar in Gothenburg directly on the mello stage. Score 2/10.

3. Emilia Pantić - “Ingenting” - a similar issue as with Patrik’s song, but Emilia, besides lacking personality, her song also felt very, very dry. I gotta give some thumbs up for the staging and vocal abilities though. Score 3.5/10.

4. Medina - “Viva L’Amor” - well, to be honest, as soon as I saw Medina on the list, I felt like this would be their year. However, they came back just to serve us a re-heated soup in very flashy overdressed clothes. The chorus is catchy, yes, but nothing new, literally. I felt like I connected way more to their previous entry. Score 6/10.

5. Eva Jumatate - “Selfish” - I will try not to be biased here because Eva is half Romanian, so we do share some heritage. Even though I am not a big fan of the song, this girl can sing. She filled up the whole arena with her amazing vocals. She definitely has a bright future ahead, and I am happy she qualified for the next qualification round. She also served us emotions and personality, take notes dear Patrik! Score 5/10.

6. Saga Ludvigsson - “Ain’t Today” - oh god, the girl who sang last year a full song on hating someone, is back again. I ain’t a fan of her, her vocals, her style, but yes, this song is way better than whatever mess was last year. Saga and Gregzula should get some trophy for being extremely overrated each time they take part in mello. Score 3.5/10.

✅ Average score for this semifinal: 4.33/10

1. Arwin - „Glitter“ - if Bruno Mars went full on Swedish, it will probably look exactly like this performance. A very simplistic chorus, nothing memorable. In many parts of the songs, you can feel an outdated vibe. Pretty average, not bad, but also NOT good. Will I replay this song on purpose, probably never. Score: 3.5/10.

2. Laila Adele - „Oxygen“ - I feel that originality is a big issue lately at Melodifestivalen. In the first heat we had that atrocious song from Greczula sampled from various ABBA songs, now we have Laila that definitely got inspired too much from Whitney Houston. Don‘t get me wrong, usually I love ballads but this one is a total meh. After hearing the snippet i hoped this could be something, but sadly it is not. Score: 4/10.

3. Robin - „Honey Honey“ - now I understand why some fans hate comebacks. Usually, I am okay with them, as long as the new song is better than the one they competed with before. Now, in Robin‘s case, is „honey honey“ better than his previous attempts? Definitely not. It‘s a cute country song with some sort of catchy chorus but this is not winner material, not today, not in 2005. I am also very happy Sweden didn‘t automatically qualify this in the grand final. Score: 4/10.

4. Felicia - „My system“ - I heard the song a few days ago and i found it a bit hard to digest the EDM, i know it‘s a thing but I never thought I could roll with it. When the live performance appeared though, everything changed completely. It lifted the song like crazy. It feels modern, alive, original and 2026. We are looking here at the possible winner of Melodifestivalen 2026. Score: 10/10.

5. Klara Almstrom - „Dar hela varlden vantar“ - a very cute song, but not competitive enough. I love her voice and stage presence and I hope to see her again one day at Mello with a better song. Score: 3/10.

6. Brandsta City Slackers -„Rakt in i elden“ - after watching melfest for so many years, I just knew this song would be an automatic qualifier. It is not tragic like that Copacabana boy, but still, not a fan of Swedish joke entries. But i have a feeling this will grow a bit on me. Score: 4/10.

In this heat, we have seen better songs that lifted the overall expectation for this year‘s Melodifestivalen. Average score for this semifinal is 4.75 / 10.

1. Greczula – “Half of Me” - I just knew he would win the heat just by how overrated he was last year. I am not a fan of his style, music, and performances; that’s why I am struggling a bit to be objective. What I can say for sure is that the song he had last year was better by miles. This year’s song feels like it was sampled from three different ABBA hits. Extremely unoriginal. Very bland and basic. I don’t know why he is so well-liked in Sweden; however, I would be VERY disappointed if Greczula won the whole thing in March. Please, lord, have mercy on this competition. Score 3/10.

2. Jacqline – “Woman” - I was expecting an ultimate banger. What we got was a very American-ish song, very well produced, but that was completely ruined by an average, uninspired performance. People were even complaining about how dark it was on stage during Jacqline's performance. I think her previous attempt was miles better, but I would still have preferred her to Greczula, day and night. Score 5/10.

3. Noll2 – “Berusade ord” - the boys had a cute performance, but nothing special, I’m afraid. The final result was very justified. Score 2/10.

4. Junior Lerin – “Copacabana Boy” – oh boy. I got very upset when Junior started singing. Not only was the song and overall performance atrocious, but the vocals were also basically non-existent. At that point, I was starting to question if this contest had reached a new low. Score 0/10.

5. Indra – “Beautiful Lie” - this could have been THE song if the overall construction of the chorus had gone in a slightly different direction. I love Indra’s voice, but sadly, I don’t think the song fitted her. Score 6.5/10.

6. A*Teens – “Iconic” - just like everyone, we were expecting a banger. What we got instead was a classical Swedish Mello entry that felt like it was forgotten in a drawer by Thomas G: son in 2010 and finally found in 2026. The actual performance lifted the song a bit; however, this is definitely not a masterpiece. Maybe I set the bar way too high. I do agree they deserved to qualify in the final, and who knows, maybe the song will grow on me until March. Score 7/10.

✅ Average score for this semifinal: 4/10

A total of 5 Semifinals will be held across various cities in Sweden, culminating in the grand final in Stockholm on March 7, 2026. This year, we have some great names, but also many newcomers. Many artists from 2025 are coming back, even some that had extremely mediocre songs, so honestly, I am not sure about how qualitative this year will be.

Also, when talking about composers, the diversity has decreased drastically, having the same composers all over again, which kinda sets a very low expectation. However, I do hope 2026 will be a great year and that we will get at least 3 hits out of these 30 competing songs.

It is obviously too early to have favorites, but I do have high expectations for Sanna Nielsen, Jacqline, A-Teens, and Felicia. Best of luck to all competing artists, and may the best win!

The album will contain 2023’s world hit “Tattoo” and also her second release, “Is it Love”. “Feels like heaven” is her brand new song released this Friday, composed and written by the one and only, Sia.

You can pre-order Loreen’s new album here.

I’ve now been living in Vienna for almost four years — well, actually five if I also count my 2019/2020 experience at the Fundamental Rights Agency. Life as an expat here may seem dreamy to many, but it also comes with its fair share of challenges, especially when it comes to the German language.

That said, as I always tell people: anything is possible in life. Reaching a B2 level in German is definitely achievable, even though at times it may feel overwhelming or out of reach.

Today, I want to share with you a list of benefits available to expats in Vienna that can make your time and overall experience here even more enjoyable.

AK Bildungsgutschein & Digi-Bonus

Since we’re talking about the challenge of learning German, having a good course is essential when starting a new life in Austria. Luckily, the city of Vienna offers several options that can significantly reduce the cost of language courses.

One of the best examples is the AK vouchers, which you can request by filling out a simple online form — it takes less than two minutes. You can receive two vouchers worth €150 each:

• One voucher for general education (for example, a German course)

• One voucher for digital education (such as Excel or other IT-related skills)

So, if you’ve been thinking about improving your Excel skills, now is the perfect time. The AK Bildungsgutschein & Digi-Bonus vouchers are valid until the end of the year, and the best part is that you can apply for them every year.

NÖ Card (Niederösterreich-Card)

The NÖ Card is an amazing option if you enjoy exploring Austria. For €85, you get free access to a wide range of museums and tourist attractions across the entire region of Lower Austria — and even some places in Vienna.

I personally remember buying this card for around €60 a few years ago, but due to its growing popularity, the price has been gradually increasing year by year. Still, it remains an excellent deal, as you get free entry to many attractions for an entire year.

AK AktivKarte

Another great benefit offered by the Arbeiterkammer (AK) is the AK AktivKarte, which you can get completely free of charge if you are employed in Vienna.

This card gives you various discounts on tourist attractions, leisure activities, and more, making it a nice extra perk of working here.

That’s enough for now — but more informative articles like this are on the way.
So, if you find this useful, make sure to follow my little blog.

Until next time,
Flo 😊

Eurovision has been part of my life since early 2009. I was just starting high school, and I discovered this music competition through a Turkish friend who randomly sent me Hadise’s “Dum Tek Tek” song and asked me if I would vote for it. I said, How can you even vote for this song? And then this is how everything started.

Years passed, and my passion for this song contest grew larger and larger, to the point that I opened my first blog, started writing for renowned Eurovision-related publications, and was nominated as an official blogger by TVR, the Romanian broadcaster, for two consecutive years. And all of this was happening in my high school era.

I loved it. And I loved what Eurovision was all about. For normal people, Eurovision was a one- or three-night event per year. For us, the hardcore fans, Eurovision was a whole-year event, starting with the national selection season, followed by concerts, rehearsals, and interviews, culminating in the Eurovision week. After that, it always followed PED - the post-Eurovision Depression until September, when any song released was eligible to take part in the next competition.

I know Eurovision has developed various reputations throughout the years, good and bad, but the essence of it was amazing. Connecting all of us through one single element: music.

Do I think Eurovision was also about politics? Yes, of course. I never denied it. For me personally, the voting part was the most (until now) unpleasant thing about the competition. We have seen bribed juries, extreme diaspora manipulation (Hi, Ukraine!), and even Eurovision news websites receiving financial “support” from certain countries. (not naming them, but they know pretty damn well who they are).

But all of this, until this whole Israeli drama was unleashed on the contest two years ago. Deep inside, I had hoped that Eurovision could still be saved, but when the inner core of the competition (EBU) supports political agendas, the final outcome is, of course, predictable.

We are now in December 2025. After almost 16 years, Eurovision has officially died. For me and for many other fans. I am not even trying to sound dramatic or anything, but how can we just celebrate music with a country that is currently committing genocide? It's just beyond me. I understand that there are ignorant people out there, but for all of you who have some understanding of the current situation, please be aware that this was never okay.

It was proven in many articles and YouTube videos that the Israeli government had direct involvement in the competition in the past two years. Pumping millions of euros into aggressive campaigns to do their whitewashing through Eurovision. And did it work? Yes, absolutely. Two years in a row, Israel ended in the top 2, getting closer and closer to stealing the victory.

This month, we have seen the true face of EBU, when they basically prioritized Israel over 5 different countries that decided to stand up and withdraw from the competition. What did the EBU do? They wished them farewell and prioritized Israel’s participation even more.

So yeah, Eurovision is kinda over for me. I will always remember the nice and amazing memories I have made in the past 16 years. And of course, all those amazing people and friends I have made through this competition. However, I personally cannot be part of this whitewashing any longer. I also hope you will consider this.

I look forward to continuing with new hobbies. I will still report on Melodifestivalen next year; however, I do hope Sweden and SVT will reconsider sending the winning act to Eurovision.

In the end, I wish Israel will have their craved victory in Vienna next year, because this is exactly what those 34 broadcasters deserve. A big poopoo in the face when they will receive yet another 357 points from the “extremely fair and not manipulated” televote. I’m sure this will get Mr. Martin Green pretty excited for his telaviv experience.

For all of you, who have decided to say goodbye to Eurovision, you are strong and amazing in any single way possible. I know it will be hard, but life will continue one way or another. :)

Flo

so….why did I stop blogging in the first place?

Well, I’m not sure I can give a clear answer to this question but let’s say other priorities appeared in my life, and blogging became more like a side hobby, which honestly is a bit sad since I’ve done so many amazing things through my blogs ever since I started back in 2010.

Blogging about my life, Melodifestivalen, Eurovision, or delicious recipes was my thing, and slowly, I want to get back at them. However, maintaining a personal blog takes a lot of time and financial resources. For my previous blog, I always had to ensure my website was updated regarding themes, plugins, etc. Besides that, it was not cheap. I had to pay for both the domain and the hosting.

Thankfully, the amazing Substack is now here, and they are offering one of the best-friendly blogging platforms I have seen in ages. Everything for exactly zero dollars a month.

I can’t wait to share a lot of exciting things here, from living the best life in Vienna to personal updates and many many other exciting things. So yes, keep an eye on this page, things will come, I promise! :)

Until next time,

Flo