Sweden: Klara Hammarström and MEDINA are the two direct finalists of the Fourth Semi-Final of Melodifestivalen 2022!

Ninety minutes ago, the show of the Fourth Semi-Final of Melodifestivalen 2022, started off on SVT and SVT Play. And we are here to share the results of the night with you!

The two direct qualifiers are Klara Hammarström with the song “Run To The Hills” and MEDINA with the song “In i dimman” and we will get to see them perform their songs live, on the 12th of March, when the finals will take place at Friends Arena.

But how things developed during the night?

The show

Oscar Zia was the host of the night and as previously reported, all the shows for the national selection procedure of the Swedish representative for this year’s contest in Turin take place exclusively in Stockholm and as already announced, semi-finals one to three took place at the Avicii Arena, while semi-finals four and five as well as the grand final are held at Friends Arena. This was actually the first semi-final that we will get to watch being aired from Friends Arena, this year.

Farah Abadi, joined Oscar as usual, covering the backstage and interviewing the artists, also on their introduction videos.

Iconic Swedish rapper and radio presenter Eye’N’I along with star DJ Eka Scratch opened the night, playing “The Next Episode” by Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg.

Was that a wink at the fact that Snoop Dogg is presenting the American Song Contest together with Kelly Clarkson later on this spring?

But what about the performances?

The performances

• • Anna Bergendahl – “Higher Power“

  First up on stage, Anna Bergendahl sang to us about some “Higher Power” and she saw it rise! She appeared on stage with a camel-brown dress and a cowboy hat, of the same colour. Her moves were subtle and elegant, as she always does. She stood on a circular platform, which was her prop for the night, apart from the hat. The background LED screen showed mainly a running horse. The platform had its own lights and they lighted up in such a way that it looked like Anna was surrounded by light beams. In the first chorus of the song, Anna threw the cowboy hat away. The song is a pop song with some country vibes too, that surely added up to the whole track. Anna managed to pull her best vocals and her amazing stage presence and put them all to the rescue.

  
  photo:SVT/Annika Berglund

  • Lillasyster – “Till Our Days Are Over“

  A pure Melodifestivalen rock entry by Lillasyster, called “Till Our Days Are Over“! The vocals of the lead singer were nice and the backing vocals were totally matching the lead vocals and the entire energy that this song oozed. Which I have to admit that, although one can say it is supposed to be a dark song, in the end it was not too dark. There was a glimpse of light in it, maybe because of the chorus part that was melodic. There was a road in the background LED screen which fitted nicely with the long panoramic camera shots.

  
  photo:SVT/Annika Berglund

  • Malin Christin  – “Synd om dig“

  An extremely sentimental ballad, entirely in Swedish, an explosion of feelings that will touch you even if you can’t understand a thing, Malin Christin came up next with her song “Synd om dig“. Her vocals are nice, in most of her previous rehearsals though she was much better, maybe she is a bit stressed out at the moment. She starts off by playing the piano, on stage, while singing, reminding me a bit of the Arcade performance of the 2019 winner Duncan Laurence, but more like its female variant. Then at about the middle of the song, she gets up and gives a captivating performance, with bold body moves. Even though this Melodifestivalen entry is one of my favourites of this semi, I am unsure if it will qualify tomorrow. Only time will tell, fingers crossed!

  
  photo:SVT/Annika Berglund

  • Tenori – “La Stella“

  Next up, a pop and classical music crossover, “La Stella“, by a duo called Tenori. There’s not much to say about this entry. The staging was simple, both of them were in total black suits with some glittery-glam on them, also on their white trainers there are some pearls that shined bright! The background LED screen showed the moon and the stars. The song is a mix of English and Italian sounding amazingly perfect thanks to their perfectly in-tune vocals. This was quite innovative for a Swedish entry, but it’s something that we’ve already seen in the contest in the past. Towards the end of the song, there were sparks dropping off the roof of the stage.

  
  photo:SVT/Annika Berglund

  • MEDINA – “In i dimman“

  Okay. This is certainly a dance anthem, but if you ask me, did this remind me of anything? Of course it did! It is quite similar to “Bella Ciao” remix by HUGEL. Apart from the obvious resemblance, MEDINA appeared on stage and while they didn’t move that much throughout the song, there were dancers around them that did all the “dirty job” for them. The song is entirely in Swedish giving massive party vibes and the duo in the secondary stage along with the dancers in the main stage kept the crowd engaged throughout their performance.

  
  photo:SVT/Annika Berglund

  • Angelino  – “The End“

  Sixth up on stage, Angelino with his song “The End“. This song gave me the chills, the combination of pitch-perfect vocals and the falsetto parts of the song, made it hit me right to my soul. Angelino was all alone, sitting on a stool to a part of a stage which seemed like a smaller constrained area with light-walls, throughout his performance. Vocally he was quite improved compared to his previous rehearsals, still a bit stressed out. After the first chorus he got up from the stool and went on with the rest of his performance making minimal moves, the camera rotating around him and the lights changing colour from ice white to red, along with the LED screen at the background. The song peaked towards the end and this left me with a nice and pleasurable feeling.

  
  photo:SVT/Annika Berglund

  • Klara Hammarström – “Run To The Hills“

  Last in the running order, our female superhero, Klara Hammarström with her song “Run To The Hills“. A totally 2022 pop song, which is really demanding in vocals, even if it doesn’t seem so and Klara seemed to be doing pretty well both vocally and in terms of stage presence. Now regarding the outfit, it seemed like Klara was dressed as Wonder Woman, as we could understand by her introduction video. During her stage performance, a dancer, supposedly a Klara-double villain in the same Wonder Woman outfit, but in green, appeared on stage, sometimes mirroring Klara’s moves, sometimes following her own choreography. At the bridge part of the song, Klara exterminated her in one move and the Klara villain got knocked out! The song synthesised backing vocals and Klara’s lead vocals blended quite nicely I have to admit. Klara looked like she commanded the lighting of the stage, as her moves and the stage lights and LED screen were all in perfect sync.

  
  photo:SVT/Annika Berglund

The first voting round

• First Direct Finalist: Klara Hammarström with the song “Run To The Hills“

The second voting round

• Second Direct Finalist: MEDINA with the song “In i dimman“
• First Qualifier at the Fifth Semi-Final:Anna Bergendahl with the song “Higher Power“
• Second Qualifier at the Fifth Semi-Final: Lillasyster with the song “Till Our Days Are Over“

Detailed second voting round results

• 3-9 years old age-band winner: MEDINA with the song “In i dimman“
• 10-15 years old age-band winner: MEDINA with the song “In i dimman“
• 16-29 years old age-band winner: MEDINA with the song “In i dimman“
• 30-44 years old age-band winner: MEDINA with the song “In i dimman“
• 45-59 years old age-band winner: Lillasyster with the song “Till Our Days Are Over“
• 60-74 years old age-band winner: Anna Bergendahl with the song “Higher Power“
• 75+ years old age-band winner: Anna Bergendahl with the song “Higher Power“
• Televoting age-band winner: Anna Bergendahl with the song “Higher Power“

The verdict

The two direct qualifiers are Klara Hammarström with the song “Run To The Hills” and MEDINA with the song “In i dimman” and we will get to see them join the rest of the finalists at Friends Arena, on the 12th of March! Starting from 2022, there is no winning performance of the two finalists anymore, as the TV time now fills up with the announcement of the results.

Those that qualified to the fifth semi-final, that replaced the second chance show in the new format of Melodifestivalen, were Anna Bergendahl with the song “Higher Power” and Lillasyster with the song “Till Our Days Are Over“.

Sadly Malin Christin, Angelino and Tenori didn’t make it to either the fifth semi-final or the finals of Melodifestivalen.

See you next Saturday, covering the semi-final on site, directly from Friends Arena, when you will get the chance to be informed in detail about the results, as soon as they are announced!

Stay tuned at EurovisionFun, for all the latest developments regarding Sweden’s entry for Eurovision 2022!