Tomas Ledin, Björn Skifs, Måns Zelmerlöw, Lill Lindfors, Loreen, Christer Lindarw, Anna Book and so on, and so on. Everyone was on site in Eskilstuna to perform their old good. Make us feel great devotion to the time that has passed and all life (Mello) has given us. The reason was slowly departing Christer Björkman's inaugural Hall of Fame. A still obscure product but with a clear message: save the brand.
The 1958 premiere year is long overdue. It underlined SVT profile Karin Falck on stage by just presenting himself.
"I belong to history," she said, and then turned to the newly hatched generation and the Melodifestival audience:
- Then it was your grandparents and grandparents, and now you sit here. It's a fine tradition!
It is this fine tradition that the Melodifestivalen is desperately trying to cling to. So far this year, the program's audience has not exceeded three million viewers. A figure that used to be a matter of course now feels almost unattainable. Public service status in the TV market is no longer self-evident, whether competitive or political. Mello loses viewers and it's no wonder. All terrestrial television programs will travel that way, but the Melodifestival death toll is the worst.
Hall of fame is a panic of anxiety. A frantic attempt to get viewers to understand that the program is part of our shared history, our collective identity. If we shut down now we may never be able to reunite.
It almost works. When glittering Hanson, Carson and Malmqvist rock the stage, I feel that nothing has ever been better.
If collective identity exists at all , it probably consists of whining. Everyone does not agree with Karin Falck's description of reality of fine tradition. This week, Mellon's called-in semi-veterans have been around grumbling. Too many bombs, shorts and dancers in the modern festival, Kikki Danielsson told Nöjesbladet. Unfinished songs "you can't remember", Roger Pontare thought.
Now all the final seats are added and I am inclined to agree with Pontare. Probably no Eurovision winner. Probably no songs we will remember for a long time.
But, as long as we continue to sour, nag and demand changes to the Melodifestivalen, it will remain. And it depends on our collective grit, not our history.