Monday, March 9, 2015

Melfest Review: Jon Henrik Fjällgren- Jag är fri

Before we begin, I'd like to say I'm probably a bit biased when it comes to this song. I love the yoik style of singing; in fact it's my favorite musical genre. I'll try my best to be objective, though, and not just end my review here with a perfect 10.

Things I like about Jag är fri:

  • The opening sequence. You know how you hear a song up on the stage and within the first few chords you think to yourself, "This is gonna win?" Yeah. That's how the start of this song makes me think. 
  • The two Sami dancers. My mum is an anthropologist and my MorMor is a bit of an expert on the indigenous peoples of my country. You don't grow up in an environment like that without developing a massive appreciation and respect for the cultures of the world, and I cannot begin to tell you how thrilled I was when I discovered that there would be Sami contenders in both Finland and Sweden. I love Sami culture, and I would love, love, love to see it represented in Vienna to such a huge audience. 
  • The tree branches at the edge of the stage. I know it's a small detail, but native peoples who have been allowed to hold onto their traditional ways share a closer connection with nature than most of us, and I like how Jon Henrik chose to incorporate this into his staging. 
  • The song itself. It's a great song, and like I said earlier, I love yoiks. 

Things I Don't Like about Jag är fri: 
  • This isn't a thing I don't like so much as 'a thing I think will work to its disadvantage in Vienna if it does win,' and it's the language. I love the fact that he is singing in his native language, but a non-English entry hasn't won Eurovision in quite a while, and I'd love to see Sweden win. 
  • The three ladies in the background. They kind of remind me of ghosts, and ghosts freak me out, but that's just a personal thing and they're actually pretty awesome from an objective point of view. 

Verdict: 9.5/10. I sort of want to give it a ten, but I did promise that I'd be objective. 

What do you think? Tell me in the comments!

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