Melodifestivalen 2009 It's My Time!!

I am back from one of the most amazing experiences of my life Melodifestivalen 2009!
It was a truly outstanding trip that every fan should enjoy.
Here are some highlights of our trip:

On Friday we arrived in snowy Stockholm and checked into our beautiful Hotel Rival which I would highly recommend. The hotel is owned by Benny from Abba and each room comes complete with an Abba CD to get you in the MF mood!
The staff was so helpful and even listened to my ramblings on MF whenever I got the chance!
On Friday night we made our way to Globen for the rehearsal. Coming out of that tunnel as you approach Globen was so exciting. Seeing the spherical building glowing with the MF logo emblazoned on it was an image I’ll never forget! It was beautiful.

Making our way inside to our seats it was thrilling to realise you were in the same venue where so many of my favourite stars have sung and strutted over the years.

As well as that, memories of Stockholm 2000 and that iconic opening were fresh in my mind.

The rehearsal impressed me. I was anxiously awaiting my favourites Mans, Alcazar and Malena but was also impressed by Agnes but thought Sofia was not as powerful as she could have been.
E.M.D. got a great reaction mainly by the little girls who would crush you to death to get near them!

After the rehearsal we made our way to Paradise in Slussen. To be in a nightclub that played predominately schlager and have such a diverse mix of Melodifestivalen and Eurovision hits was fucking fantastic!

It was so much fun to dance to and we met some great guys from Dublin who were so much fun to party with all weekend.

We bumped into Donal Skehan, Jonathan Fagerlund, Lisette Vares and hundreds of other Euro fans and bloggers.
Everybody was speculating on what would happen on Saturday night.
We did our best to get Ireland’s entry played but the DJ was having none of it!
A fabulous drag act then performed and got us all going with performances from the likes of Verka, Charlotte, Anna Book and BWO classic!

Then Queen Velvet arrived on stage and I nearly cried!
She opened with her wonderful 2009 entry The Queen and spoke a lot to the audience about her upcoming releases and that dress from this year. She ended with Déjà vu and I almost passed out!
I even got to touch her hand lol!

On Saturday we spent our time checking out Stockholm and trying to stalk as many Melodifestivalen stars as we could!

I could have spent hours wandering around the music stores finding so many CDs!
I was hoping to find some Nordman or Caroline of Ugglas in the bargain basement bin!
We then enjoyed a long leisurely dinner in preparation for the night ahead. I had reindeer!
We got to Globen and met our friends who we had arranged to meet including the famous melodiman!

Even though our seats were only purchased a few days previously we were thrilled with our seats as we were up high at the side of the stage and we were able to take in the whole atmosphere of the Globen watching everyone go crazy!

Plus we were able to get a very good view of the green room area and the reactions of the artists coming on and off stage. (Plus there was good access to the bar as well!)
The stage manager told us there was one minute to go and as we did our Mexican wave, my heart was pumping. I was so hoping it would be a good result and that Caroline would not win.
The contest was wide open and I could see 9 out of the 11 songs winning with Sofia and Emilia being the exception.

Mans kicked it off and was brilliant as always. Caroline still did nothing for me, ok maybe her wellington boots were growing on me!
E.M.D. had shown some improvement since they performed in their heat. Their routine was a bit slicker and tighter but I still though the outfits didn’t fit.
Agnes was a bit off in parts. Heat rocked the place. Alcazar nearly blew the roof off and the audience loved them.
Emilia and Sofia were good, still loving the drums. Does anyone else thinks she looks like Becky from Coronation Street?
Molly was beautiful and she impressed me a lot which is why I was so surprised she was totally forgotton about when it came to voting time.
Sarah Dawn Finer wasn’t lifted up as much as before probably because it looked quite shaky and uneasy on Friday night!
Then came to the deal breaker, the glorious Malena!

I love everything about this entry and loved hearing it in Globen.
Before voting I was still hoping it was Malena, Alcazar or Mans.
I would have been happy with Agnes and others.

As Moto Boy sang ‘Hero’ I couldn’t believe when Charlotte arrived on stage. A dream come true. What s star!

Then Bruno and Marija came on to give the International Jury vote who had clearly favoured SDF all the time.
Mans was out in front with 96 but Malena was way down at 38. The jury votes were really mixed which made it clear that it would all come down to the televote.
As the televotes came in we lost Mans followed closely by Alcazar….and then there were 2 Caroline vs Malena. I was trying to come to terms with the fact that Caroline was gonna do it and suddenly Petra announced that Caroline got 120 so Malena got the 144!!!!!
I cannot describe that feeling of euphoria that exploded in me!! I couldn’t stop jumping up and down.
A truly magical moment! Just what I had wanted a tension filled voting that produced an ideal winner.
Thanks Sweden!
The only surprise for me was that Molly came last. I really thought it was going to be Sofia.
We floated our way back to Paradise with our friends and met more there to celebrate this great night. I danced so much the bones in my legs ached!!

On Sunday we did a lot of sightseeing and took to the boat to the Vasa museum which was magnificent. We had so much fun strolling around this beautiful city eating gorgeous food and drinking nice wine!!
The people are so kind and helpful and the city itself is beautiful and very efficient.
After two heavy nights of partying we could have been sensible and have an early night before out Monday morning flight but knowing Magnus Carlsson was singing on ‘Patricia’ it would have been criminal not to go!
I got to meet him twice and got a photo. I told him to come back to Melodifestivalen next year!
He certainly got a great reaction when he sang ‘Live Forever’ Go Magnus!
I could live forever after that weekend.
We partied the night away stopping every now and again to realise that we are dancing to Melodifestivalen songs on a boat in Stockholm!!

The following morning the ‘Irish Delegation’ arrived at Arlanda for our flight after not very sleep but with smiles on our faces!

I had the time of my life. Thanks to everyone we met you were all fabulous and you made the trip magical. Big thanks to Tim, Mark, Rob, Greg, Ciaran and Dave!
Thanks especially to Mick for understanding my madness!

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