Sweden: The general rehearsal of the Second Melodifestivalen 2022 Semi-Final! (Live)

The general rehearsal of the Second Melodifestivalen 2022 Semi-Final has just started. We are happy to be watching it live, at the SVT online press centre. We will be covering this rehearsal, describing in detail what is happening during the show, for you to follow the entire process.

This article is being updated in real-time, all you need to do is hit the refresh button on your browser and all the rest is on us!

We will keep you up to date with all the latest information and images off this semi-final rehearsal, allowing you to get a glimpse of what you will get to see tomorrow February 12, at 20:00 CET, when you watch the actual semi-final show on SVT and SVT Play.

The show

Oscar Zia is 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 will take place exclusively in Stockholm and as already announced, semi-finals one to three will take place at the Avicii Arena, while semi-finals four and five as well as the grand final will be held at Friends Arena.

Oscar is at the arena and everything is ready to begin! It’s time to face the music! The show starts off with a recap of the First Semi-Final show, the happenings and the qualifiers.

Here comes a group of people dancing in latin rhythm, reminds us of a carnival parade, the leader is Eva Rydberg (5th act of second chance last year along with Ewa Roos)! They swarm up on stage and dance around Oscar! Oscar stands still observing them!

The performances

• LIAMOO – “Bluffin” 

The Second Semi-Final starts off with LIAMOO, who is all alone on stage. Purple, blue-ish, black and white are the colours in the colour palette of the staging. He plays around with the background led screen that shows parts of his face and some graphics that connect with the lyrics. Lots of lightwork, bold moves with his hands, but that’s the only thing that we get with regards to moves. The stage is somewhat empty. Nice lightworks, but that’s that! He has fixed most of his sound and vocal issues he’d encountered in some of his previous rehearsals. As it seems, he will most likely directly qualify.

photo:SVT/Annika Berglund

• Niello & Lisa Ajax – “Tror du att jag bryr mig”

The entire stage is a full hair-salon with colour-blocking walls, Niello starts off on the left side of the stage. His voice seems a bit dull but as he proceeds within the song he gets gradually better. Lisa Ajax appears, in a girly outfit and a ponytail and she is amazing vocally and has got higher energy compared to Niello. Two male and two female dancers are around them. Towards the end of the song, Niello starts to step up the game a bit both vocally and in terms of stage presence. Their duet and interaction part is the best, in my honest opinion. Will their whole package be enough, to secure them a place directly to the finals? No. Will we get the chance to see them on the 5th of March, at the Fifth Semi-Final? Everything is fluid, we have to wait but if you ask me, I don’t think so.

photo:SVT/Annika Berglund

• Samira Manners – “I Want To Be Loved” 

Well Samira’s parents are British and this is quite obvious, as you will definitely notice her clearly British accent. Her voice is ethereal, reminds me of a blend of Winona Oak and Olivera (who participates at UMK), but more British and more deep. Nice low-tempo song and even though it is about a sad situation, it still gives you a glimpse of hope. Is it Samira? Is it the instrumental? I can’t tell. She is on stage with four backing vocalists and also play some instruments. A few moments before the end of the song, she moves to the secondary stage, lots of close-ups. The staging is simple, orange-ish, she is on matching colours and there are seemingly hundreds of light bulbs in the background, some of them part of the led screen if you pay close attention. I think she will qualify, not sure if she will directly qualify to the finals or to the Fifth Semi-Final. Maybe she is a shocking direct qualifier? We’ll see how this goes, she is one of my potential second chance qualifiers.

photo:SVT/Annika Berglund

• Alvaro Estella - “Suave“ 

Alvaro Estrella is up next, with his song “Suave”. On stage with four dancers around him. Red colour conquers the screen and the entire stage is surrounded by fire. Typical Latin-sexy staging, intense choreography and Alvaro as we all know him: Quite different from the rest of the Melodifestivalen entries (maybe not this year, we had Omar Rudberg at Semi-Final 1) but quite similar to his own self (maybe also similar to Luca Hänni’s staging – Eurovision 2019, Switzerland). I have to admit that he is weaker vocally today, compared to his performance at the first rehearsal, yesterday noon. He will most likely improve his vocals on tomorrow’s show. He could get a second chance at the fifth semi, but I wouldn’t count on it!

photo:SVT/Annika Berglund

• Browsing Collection - “Face in the Crowd” 

Browsing Collection, an utterly punk/rock/metal act. Their song seems to be proving that Måneskin have become massive influencers in the music industries worldwide and Browsing Collection seem to be heavily influenced by the last year’s winners. Their sound is less dark and intense though, compared to Zitti E Buoni. The staging is implemented by fast camera changes, bold moves, eccentric appearance, lots of hair (I mean lots), lots of head-banging, but I have to admit that their vocals are amazing! Are these features enough to secure them a ticket to the finals, as direct qualifiers of the first or second voting round? Let’s see. Seeing that the winners of Eurovision 2021 were a rock band, I highly doubt that Swedish people will vote for the act.

photo:SVT/Annika Berglund

• John Lundvik – “Änglavakt” 

The Swedish representative of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, John Lundvik, up on stage with his song “Änglavakt”, bidding to represent the country this year. An emotional ballad, entirely in Swedish, totally matching John’s vocal abilities and range. John is up there and is pouring his heart out! All alone, on the secondary stage of Avicii Arena, the whole staging is relaxing to the eye, lots of close-ups and lots of lighing in the background. He stands a high chance to directly qualify to the finals, but I don’t think he will end up in Turin representing his country this year!

photo:SVT/Annika Berglund

• Tone Sekelius – “My Way” 

And now it’s time for the seventh and last act of the Second Semi-Final. Tone Sekelius, she is a YouTuber, first timer at Melodifestivalen and also it is worth noting that she is the first ever transgender person to compete in Melodifestivalen. Her song is quite interesting, she is up on stage with one male and one female dancers, the choreography is contemporary, but Tone is static. I can understand though, she is wearing an enormous beige dress with a long tail, curtain hanging on the background, same colour as the dress. There is also a small orchestra on the secondary stage. Her vocals are fair, not her best feature though. Oops! Here comes a dress change on stage, gives way to an elegant black dress. She managed to fix her performance issues with the mic stand. She now storms down the stairs and goes to the secondary stage pulling a high note! She doesn’t move a lot, apart from some bold hand moves, but gives out a nice energy and puts it all up on stage, greatly improved from all her past rehearsals. Maybe a shocking qualifier to the second chance Semi-Final? Let’s see tomorrow on the actual show.

photo:SVT/Annika Berglund

Immediately after her performance, Tone is getting interviewed.

The Intervals

As usual, we’ve got a recap of all seven contestants, showing the phone numbers that the public will get the chance to vote.

Well Ewa Roos rushes on the stage joining Oscar and her last year’s partner in crime Eva (who is a co-host for the Semi-Final). And guess what!? They perform their last year’s Melodifestivalen entry “Rena rama ding dong“!

The first voting round

We remind you that all the results that will be announced in this general rehearsal are virtual, so as to emulate the whole televised show.

During the last show of the 5th of February, some technical issues didn’t allow us to experience the new voting format in its entirety.

Hopefully the voting app that had some problems has been updated up to now and tomorrow we will be able to vote as usual.

Now it’s the time that the winner of the first voting round will be announced! Oscar keeps us thrilled, typical voting music theme plays at the background!

The first virtual direct qualifier, determined by the first voting round is Samira Manners with the song “I Want To Be Loved”!

The second voting round

The rest of the six artists move on to the second voting round. Following the announcement, we’ve got a second recap of all the six remaining songs.

The viewers will get five votes in total, once more in order to vote for their favourite artists. At the second voting round, the votes received during the first voting round also count against the total of votes received.

Now in the second voting round interval, Oscar and Eva perform their own version of “All That Jazz” in Swedish, choreography, hats, glitter costumes and all!

Now it is the time Oscar announces the time that the revelation of the second voting results will be announced per viewer age-band. Within this voting round, SVT displays the distribution of the votes within the different viewer age-bands in nearly real-time, which practically keeps the viewers engaged throughout the show and up until the final results are announced.

• Virtual winners of viewer age-bands

Virtual winner of the age-band 3-9 years old is: Browsing Collection – “Face in the Crowd”

Virtual winner of the age-band 10-15 years old is: John Lundvik – “Änglavakt”

Virtual winner of the age-band 16-29 years old is: Niello & Lisa Ajax – “Tror Du Att Jab Bryr Mig”

Virtual winner of the age-band 30-44 years old is: John Lundvik – “Änglavakt”

Virtual winner of the age-band 45-59 years old is: Alvaro Estrella – “Suave”

Virtual winner of the age-band 60-74 years old is: Alvaro Estrella – “Suave”

Virtual winner of the age-band 75+ years old is: Alvaro Estrella – “Suave”

Virtual winner of the televoting is: Niello & Lisa Ajax – “Tror Du Att Jab Bryr Mig”

Final Results

• Virtual direct qualifiers

First voting round winner: Samira Manners – “I Want To Be Loved”
Second voting round winner: Alvaro Estrella – “Suave”

• Virtual qualifiers at the fifth semi-final

First qualifier: LIAMOO – “Bluffin”
Second qualifier: Niello & Lisa Ajax – “Tror Du Att Jab Bryr Mig”

A prediction

My prediction is that we will get to see LIAMOO in the finals. Second direct qualifier could be John Lundvik!

As for the artists that I think that they will get a second chance at the Fifth Semi-Final, these are Alvaro Estrella and Tone Sekelius. Both artists are vocally on point and both their songs are high-energy, I think that show-wise they will gather the most votes from the public, out of the remaining five non-direct finalists. But a personal favourite to qualify is Samira Manners, would like her to qualify at least to the Fifth Semi-Final or (why not) directly to the finals!

Let’s see what is going to happen, tomorrow 20:00 CET we will get to watch the actual semi final live, on SVT or SVT Play and of course EurovisionFun, where you will have the chance to be informed about the results, as soon as they are announced on TV!

Which two of today’s competing artists do you think will be the direct qualifiers to the finals, on the 12th of March?

Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun, for all the latest developments regarding Melodifestivalen 2022 and the Swedish entry for Eurovision 2022!

Source: SVT
Photo: Annika Berglund/SVT