Sweden: These are the 14 first contestants of Melodifestivalen 2022!

As promised by the national Swedish broadcaster SVT and the presenter of Melodifestivalen 2022 Oscar Zia by a post on the official Twitter account of Melodifestivalen, the time has come for the 14 first contestants of the Swedish national selection of 2022 to be revealed!

The first 14 contestants are the following

Anders Bagge
Song: Bigger Than The Universe
Songwriters: Anders Bagge, Jimmy Jansson, Peter Boström, Thomas G:son

There are very few people in Sweden who do not know Anders, he is one of the most popular TV personas and composers in the country.

The Swedish Idol judge has collaborated with international artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Celine Dion, Janet Jackson, Santana and Enrique Iglesias.

He also wrote the Azerbaijani entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, When The Music Dies by Sabina Babayeva.

 

Cazzi Opeia
Song: I Can’t Get Enough
Songwriters: Bishat Araya, Jakob Redtzer, Cazzi Opeia, Paul Rey

Cazzi Opeia has become one of the most sought after K-pop composers, with many hits on US Billboard and collaborations with global superstars such as BTS, Red Velvet, NCT 127 and Enhypen.

As a songwriter, Cazzi has sold more than 20 million physical albums and has over 4 billion streams and more than 1.5 billion views on YouTube.

 

Omar Rudberg

Song: Moving Like That
Songwriters: Omar Rudberg, Gustav Blomberg, Amanda Kongshaug, Kristin Marie

Omar is an artist, songwriter and actor and a former member of  the most successful Scandinavian boy-band: FO&O.

As one of the stars of the successful Netflix series, Young Royals, he has established himself as an idol at a younger audience and has since then become (one could say) a global star.

This is Omar’s third entry in the Melodifestivalen.

 

Klara Hammarström

Song: Run To The Hills
Songwriters: Jimmy ‘Joker’ Thörnfeldt, Julie Aagaard, Anderz Wrethov, Klara Hammarström

Klara Hammarström became known to the public through the SVT reality show “Familjen Hammarström”, which was all about her successful family.

Having participated in both 2020 and 2021, Klara Hammarström has a unique consecutive hat-trick at Melodifestivalen.

 

Tribe Friday
Song: Shut Me Up
Songwriters: Isak Gunnarsson, Robin Hanberger Pérez, Noah Deutschmann

With their signature mix of indie rock, dance-pop and emo, Tribe Friday from their debut already have a devoted global fan-base.

The band describes itself as three “emo-losers” from three different Swedish small towns who share the dream of becoming the biggest band in the world.

 

John Lundvik

Song: Änglavakt
Songwriters: Anderz Wrethov, Elin Wrethov, Benjamin Rosenbohm, Fredrik Sonefors, John Lundvik

No introductions needed! Fifth place in Tel Aviv in 2019 with Too Late For Love here! Also one of the composers, Benjamin Rosenbohm, is a member of Ben & Tan from Denmark, who won the Melodi Grand Prix 2020, but eventually never represented Denmark due to the cancellation of the competition that year.

 

Cornelia Jacobs
Song: Hold Me Closer
Songwriters: Isa Molin, David Zandén, Cornelia Jakobsdotter

Cornelia Jakobs has been involved in music since she was seven years old. At school she started playing in various garage-rock bands and her love for playing live remains undiminished.

An artist with a musical vision and creativity, she has done almost everything in the last five years, releasing 9 singles and an upcoming debut album

 

Niello & Lisa Ajax
Song: Tror du att jag bryr mig
Songwriters: Yvonne Dahlbom, Niklas ‘Niello’ Grahn Linroth, Jesper Welander

Niello and Lisa will be appearing together for the first time in Mellodifestivalen, but have already collaborated last summer on the song Ingen annan.

Niello started off in 2013 with the release of his song Legenden, while Lisa Ajax became widely known through Idol.

 

Faith Kakembo

Song: Freedom
Songwriters: Laurell Barker, Anderz Wrethov, Palle Hammarlund, Faith Kakembo

The lovely nurse from Jönköping who participated in the talent show P4 Nästa in 2019.

She then met hitmaker Jörgen Elofsson who gave her the song Crying Rivers, which she performed at Melodifestivalen 2020. Faith Kakembo finished fifth in the third semifinal.

 

LIAMOO

Song: Bluffin
Songwriters: Jimmy ‘Joker’ Thörnfeldt, Sami Rekik, Dino Medanhodzic, Ali Jammali

LIAMOO won the Swedes’ heads and hearts, back in 2016, when he won Idol, showing off his skills as both a singer and a rapper.

In 2018, LIAMOO participated in the Melodifestivalen with the song Last Breath in which he also co-composed and in 2019 with the duet, Hold You, together with Hanna Ferm, finishing in third place.

 

Linda Bengtzing

Song: Fyrfaldigt hurra!
Songwriter: Thomas G:son, Linda Bengtzing, Myra Granberg, Daniel Jelldéus

In addition to her past seven participations in Melodifestivalen and her 8th next year in 2022s revision of Melodifestivalen, Linda has starred in a number of TV shows and musicals, acquiring amazing reviews, including a nomination for Best Actress for her role as Mimi Marquez on RENT.

 

Samira Manners
Song: I Want To Be Loved
Songwriters: Samira Manners, Fredrik Andersson

Samira Manners is 21 years old and she’s performing and writing music from a very young age. The singer-songwriter is focused on her feelings and experiences while composing new music and her dream is to share her experiences with the broad audiences through her songs.

 

Danne Stråhed
Song: Hallaballoo
Songwriters: Danne Stråhed, Fredrik Andersson, Erik Stenhammar

Danne Stråhed has been a member of various bands since the mid-1970s and, as a member of the band Chinox, had connections with the then relatively unknown band AC/DC.

His musical roots are in Swedish folk music, with essences of South American and Caribbean vibes. His music, which is inspired by Scandi/Cajun sounds, has a strong appeal in audiences in Sweden.

 

THEOZ
Song: Som du vill
Songwriters: Tobias Lundgren, Axel Schylström, Tim Larsson, Elize Ryd, Jimmy ‘Joker’ Thörnfeldt

THEOZ is one of Sweden’s most famous influencers with over two million followers on all their social networks.

He started his career in 2018, at the age of just twelve, with the song Het. The music video for this song became the most popular one of the year in Sweden.

 

It is very likely for the next 14 contestants to be revealed in a week, Friday December the 3rd.

The detailed schedule of Melodifestivalen 2022 is described below:

• First Semi on the 5th of February
• Second Semi on the 12th of February
• Third Semi on the 19th of Februrary
• Fourth Semi on the 26th of February
• Fifth Semi on the 5th of March
• The Finals on the 12th of March

Oscar Zia will present Melodifestivalen 2022. The Semi-Finals will follow the touring concept once more (after the coronavirus outbreak), as usual, with the finals being held at Friends Arena! With the opening of the contest in Malmö, Saturday February the 5th, Melodifestivalen will be held in Göteborg, Linköping, Lidköping, Örnsköldsvik and then in Stockholm.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments related to the Swedish national selection for Eurovision 2022!