Sweden: The general rehearsal of the Fourth Melodifestivalen 2023 Heat! (Live)

The general rehearsal of the Fourth Melodifestivalen 2023 Heat has just started. We are happy to be watching it live, at Malmö Arena in Malmö, Sweden. 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 25, at 20:00 CET, when you watch the actual show of the heat, on SVT and SVT Play.

The show

Jesper Rönndahl and Farah Abadi will present Melodifestivalen 2023. The heats are following the touring concept again, after SVT had pulled back last year due to health restrictions in Sweden, with the finals being held at Friends Arena! With the next show of the contest on Saturday February the 25th, Melodifestivalen will take place in Malmö then Örnsköldsvik follows and finally the final show in Stockholm on the 11th of March.

Back in 26th of February, almost 40 years ago, by just a day, Carola won Melodifestivalen 1983 with the song “Främling“. Fourty years later, there are seven contestants, bidding to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 to be held in Liverpool.

Jesper and Farah are at the arena and everything is ready to begin! It’s time to face the music!

Initially they go through the direct finalists and the semi-finalists and then they show us this show’s contestants!

The numbers

Kiana – Where Did You Go

The sixteen year old Kiana with her song “Where Did You Go”, participates with a pop banger which is super radio friendly. The song reminds me a bit of “When Love Takes Over” by David Guetta/Kelly Rowland, a bit of Sigala maybe. She is joined by six dancers on stage, who hold one light stick each. The light sticks are part of the choreography, and the number also features a dance break! Really nice Kiana! For me, she is on my top 5 list! Most likely the second direct finalist, quite a family friendly entry.

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

Signe & Hjördis – Edelweiss

Signe & Hjördis with “Edelweiss“, a swedish folk song (entirely in Swedish), the kind of songs that Swedes would vote for. Also there’s a key change. The girls look like they are low on energy. There seems to be their style, that can’t be anything else. The staging is bright full of lights and the LED screen shows flowers, they’re also surrounded by rows and columns of lights. Would this qualify? Most likely, not. Sad about the sisters. They’re cute.

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

Smash Into Pieces – Six Feet Under

Third number, Smash Into Pieces’ “Six Feet Under” is a pop rock song that gives me Evanescence (“Going Under“) and The Rasmus (“Livin’ In a World Without You“). Super nice hook, the guys give it all on stage! They have amazing energy. I want to definitely see this qualifying! For me, semi-finalists at least.

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

Mariette – One Day

Number 4 for this heat, Mariette with her song “One Day“. It gives me vibes of Cornelia Jacobs “Hold me Closer” and Atle Pettersen “Masterpiece” (the MGP number). The staging has really nice laid-back vibes. Mariette looks radiant and is joined by the in-house dancers plus some enormous stair and slide stand-in prop. This could qualify to the semi-finals.

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

Emil Henrohn – Mera mera mera

Emil Henrohn (known by going viral with “Jag är mamma” in TikTok) sings “Mera mera mera” which is super catchy and makes you wanna dance, even though it’s in Swedish and most of us international fans won’t understand much. Quite different from his song style that he has already up on Spotify, the staging gives off Alcazar and Linda Bengtzing vibes! He could be voted, as he is quite popular in Sweden, it’s just that I don’t trust the Swedish viewers/voters. Let’s see what happens tomorrow!

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

Axel Schylström – Gorgeous

Axel is one of the writers of Theoz number “Mer Av Dig” and participates by himself too with “Gorgeous“. A nice pop power ballad with choruses. Also has a vocoder part (remember how “Die Together” by Amanda Tenfjord starts?). Ends with a huge clap part! Stagewise, it’s very nice aesthetically pleasing. It gives me gospel vibes, he is joined by four backing vocalists. I just disagree with what they’ve selected for him to wear. Other than that, a cute entry. But maybe does not qualify.

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

Loreen – Tattoo

Last (but not least) Melodifestivalen queen herself! Starts with a very distinctive lead synth and aetherial vocals by Loreen. The song gives melancholic-joy vibes. There’s also a bridge with strings. The song is very very strong! If not the winner, top two for sure. Don’t expect a Euphoria 2, cause it’s nothing like it. Has similar elements but Loreen does not repeat herself! She promised me she wouldn’t have a dark staging, and this staging is not even dark, there’s a decent amount of light! Two LED screens, one above her and one where she stands on. The screen distance gets bigger as the song progresses. There’s a build up and you can see it throughout Loreen’s performance. I am still in a state of shock! If the Swedes don’t vote for this one today, then I don’t know what’s wrong with them! Unreal vocals! Supreme staging, too 2025, 100/10!

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

After all the performances are complete, the presenters interview the contestants and after that there’s a recap of all the numbers of the show, as usual.

The Intervals

This week it is 40 years since Carola broke through with a bang in the Melodifestivalen at the Palladium in Malmö. After the success story with “Främling” and other hit songs, she is one of the country’s most famous artists. Now Carola celebrates by returning to where it all began to be a guest at Melodifestivalen on Saturday.

Carola has participated in Melodifestivalen five times. Three of these times she has won the entire competition and represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Now she is celebrating that it is 40 years since the breakthrough by visiting the Melodifestivalen competition in Malmö.
She will perform the Swedish winning songs “Främling” (1983) by Lasse Holm and Monica Forsberg, “Fångad av en stormvind” (1991) written by Carola herself and Stephan Berg as well as “Evighet” or known as “Invincible” (2006) written by Bobby Ljunggren, Carola, Henrik Wikström and Thomas G:son.

The virtual Direct Qualifiers

First voting round virtual winner: Kiana – Where Did You Go
Second voting round virtual winner: Signe & Hjördis – Edelweiss

Semi-Finalists

Second voting round virtual 2nd place: Smash Into Pieces – Six Feet Under
Second voting round virtual 3rd place: Emil Henrohn – Mera mera mera

Second voting round results

Age-band 3-9 years old virtual winner: Emil Henrohn – Mera mera mera

Age-band 10-15 years old virtual winner: Mariette – One Day

Age-band 16-29 years old virtual winner: Emil Henrohn – Mera mera mera

Age-band 30-44 years old virtual winner: Emil Henrohn – Mera mera mera

Age-band 45-59 years old virtual winner: Smash Into Pieces – Six Feet Under

Age-band 60-74 years old virtual winner: Axel Schylström – Gorgeous

Age-band 75+ years old virtual winner: Loreen – Tattoo

Televoting virtual winner: Smash Into Pieces – Six Feet Under

A prediction

I believe that Loreen and Kiana will directly qualify to the finals. For the semi-final qualifiers, it will probably be Mariette and Smash Into Pieces (these are in random order), maybe Emil Henrohn too (the crowd loved him!). There’s only one day left, we’re less than 24 hours away from the actual show!

Which two of today’s competing artists do you think will be the direct qualifiers to the finals, on the 11th of March?

Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun, for all the latest developments regarding Melodifestivalen 2023 and the Swedish entry for Eurovision 2023!

Source: SVT