Sweden challenges us to a duel

This Saturday Sweden holds its Andra Chansen round, giving the songs that came 3rd and 4th in the previous 4 heats a chance to claim 2 spots in the final.

But this is no simple affair. The 8 acts in Andra Chansen have been split into 4 pairs that will compete against each other, to give 2 remaining pairs, who will battle it out to qualify. Maybe it's best to demonstrate it with this handy guide:


So, how are things likely to shake up? Eurovision Express has been gazing into its crystal ball, and this is what we think will happen on Saturday:

Duel 1
Scotts versus Sarah Dawn Finer - a poppy song from Scotts against a big ballad from Sarah DF. Neither song really sets our world alight, but we think Sarah should win this round.

Duel 2
Lili and Susie versus BWO - we love BWO but You're Not Alone is not a patch on their past two Melodifestivalen entries. If they were to use the disco version, we might think again, but we reckon Lili and Susie should make it through with the uptempo and typically Swedish Show Me Heaven.

Duel 3
Amy Diamond versus Star Pilots - we love Higher by Star Pilots. Ok, it sounds like a cross between Eye of the Tiger and Waiting for a Star to Fall, but it's fab, and we'd love this to make it to the Globen. But, thinking with our head, and not our heart, sadly we expect Amy Diamond's fanbase to give her enough sway to come out of top with It's My Life.

Duel 4
Rigo and the Topaz Sound feat. Red Sox versus Caroline Af Ugglas - Eurovision Express can't claim to like either of these songs that much, but we would imagine Caroline's very individualistic sounding Snälla, Snälla to be the one the Swedes will go for.

OK, so that results in a further round which we think will see Sarah Dawn Finer go up against Lili and Susie, and Amy Diamond compete against Caroline Af Ugglas.

Our prediction would be Sarah Dawn Finer winning the first battle, and Caroline Af Ugglas the second, giving them a spot in the final running order in Stockholm.

There is one more spot left - which will be decided by the International Jury, but after negotiating our way through the duels we've kind of lost track of how that works!