Sweden 2020 • The Mamas - "Move"

ik that I do my reviews in order and that I am still not even finished with 6 of my reviews but I felt like I should comment smth here, because it's my country and whatnot.

my opinion of the winner? actually, i'm very satisfied with who we picked.
ever since they received massive attention being the backing choir for John Lundvik last year, I always figured that they - as a group - could work excellent together,
and once I got to hear "Move" for the first time, I immediately fell in love with them. Their voices fit amazing together, and sound fantastic as well,
and the song itself is uplifting, catchy, and overall puts a massive smile on my face seeing it being performed live on stage.

Now, for the more "controversial" part: the two most talked-about favourites - Anna Bergendahl and Dotter - did not make it to the songbird in the end.
Considering that they were both in my top 2, and would probably have been one of my favourite entries from Sweden overall, it was quite devastating to see them both lose at the very end.
What probably hurts more is the fact that Dotter was literally one. singular. P O I N T. away from making Dotterdam 2020 a real thing.

idk about y'all, but I've followed Dotter ever since her debut single "My Flower" in late 2014, and I've always loved most of what she released during her time as an artist,
and of course, seeing her fail in 2018 made me quite pissed, but eh, I moved on from it. Seeing her return in 2020, however, was another flipped coin.
Hearing her song, I did quite enjoy it, but not to the same extent which I did, and I did also have a feel that Sweden would literally just re-do a 2018 and just make her NQ in that semi.
Seeing her DTF together with my overall winner, Anna, made me flip, because I was so sure Sweden would be dumb enough to make her NQ over freaking Klara Hammarström and w/e tf she had.
The result in that semi final was probably the best I've ever seen at Melodifestivalen, and I was just very happy and excited to be seeing Dotter along with Anna during the Grand Final.
Seeing her later become a major favourite to win brought a huge smile to my face. People finding out and loving Dotter was the best thing I could ever ask for, and I am still glad for it
Losing out by 1 point is, again, devastating, but Dotter herself has stated that it barely affected her emotionally, and she was just super happy in the end, both for the sake of the winners, The Mamas,
but also because she got the opportunity to participate, which granted her a bunch of new fans around both inside and outside of Sweden, as well as a chart hitter,
and it is with such attitude which I wish I had myself, considering I am still kind of bummed down she lost out, but still, this is the exact reason why I adore her both as a singer, but also a person.

As for Anna, while she was still hyped up, she didn't receive the same kind of hype which Dotter received, but I still hung onto her.
When she returned, I didn't know whether she could really top the banger that was "Ashes to Ashes" last year, but she really, REALLY proved me wrong.
She brought an even bigger banger which I quickly caught onto, and which I have continued to cherish. Still my winner of this years MF, and one of my most played track of all time.
I was super convinced that she had a major chance at victory at MF, and obviously I had a little bit of doubt, but I still continued with my hopes and beliefs,
and even then, despite her receiving third in the Grand Final (fuk u france), I'm super proud of her and her progress from our first non-qualifier to a redeeming singer with fantastic songs.
She did wish for redemption at Eurovision this year, and she did feel sad after acknowledging that it won't happen, but still cried happy tears due to the experience and support she received during her journey.

And then we're back to the actual winners; The Mamas.
While I'm still happy about their victory, there is still that side in me that feels a slight disappointed regarding the outcome, and it's mostly because the results were so close to actual perfection as it could be.
Anna was still quite behind in the voting, so I was unfortunately already accepting that she won't make it (again, fuk u france), but Dotter being so close was probably the biggest blow of them all.
They were both songs which I adore and praise to a massive extent, and them losing to another song which I technically still adore, but not at the same level as these two, still fucks me up.
It feels stupid to say this, despite the fact that I love both The Mamas and Move, but I do still feel a disappointment inside of me after the results.

However.

I can't put any blame or shame on The Mamas as winners. They competed for a reason, and won it all fair and square.
You could complain that we're sending the same recipe as last year, but imo I find Move to a lot more catchy and more joyful than Too Late for Love last year, and even then, I still find both songs
to be fairly different from each other, despite having quite the similar genre. imo, judging Move from how similar it is to Too Late for Love isn't right, as both clearly have their differences (hi replay)
And in the end, we still managed to grant the public not one, not two, but THREE females, from a group which a lot of people have wanted to see do their own thing, to the Eurovision stage,
so overall, they're still a great act to send to the Netherlands to represent us.

And if we return to the questions: Did the right song win? Whole-heartedly, considering that I have other songs which I love more, I'd have to unfortunately say no.
But was it a worthy winner? Abso-freaking-lutely. Both them and the song have proved themselves to be right at home on the song contest stage.

And in the end, I still had a grand time at the Grand Finals. There were a bunch of fantastic songs, the energy in the arena was magical, a bunch of superb memories to keep (Vem e som oss fucked me completely up),
the results was actually tense and close for once, and in the end, we still received some great winners, a long with some emotional and wholesome moments which I adore.

As a result, I'm still willing to grant these three ladies a wonderful points for their marvelous song, and I am 100% behind them to show hows it's done in Rotterdam. Break a leg, girls

and now that I've finished my massive essay, it's time for me to sleep, and continue my happy thoughts instead of dreading the losses of my dear favourites. Have a wonderful morning, day, and evening~