Finland: Tonight is the grand final of UMK 2024!

The big winner of the televoting at Eurovision 2023, Finland, tonight chooses the artist who will represent them at the 68th Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Malmö in May. Seven artists compete tonight in Tampere to win Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2024, which will also mean the Nordic country’s representation at Eurovision 2024.

Final

The seven artists who will compete tonight in the UMK 2024 final are:

  1. Sini Sabotage – “Kuori Mua”
  2. Cyan Kicks – “Dancing withe demons”
  3. Jesse Markin  “Glow”
  4. Mikael Gabriel x nublu – “Vox Populi”
  5. Sara Siipola – “Paskana”
  6. SexMane – “Mania”
  7. Windows95man – “No Rules!”

Final Result

The final result and therefore the grand final winner of the Finnish national final and Finland’s representative at Eurovision 2024 will be determined through a combination of public and jury voting. The Finnish public will have the first and main say in the final results, which will form 75% of the final result, while the remaining 25% will be determined by the vote of an international jury.

The show

Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2024 will take place at the Nokia Arena in Tampere. The hosts of the Finnish national final will be Pilvi Hämäläinen, Benjamin and Viivi Pumpanen.

Of course, apart from the competition part, UMK will have several other surprises. Two of last year’s UMK nominees, KUUMAA and Benjamin, are going to open the show.

At the same time, as part of the interval act, last year’s winner Käärijä and the legendary Erika Vikman will appear together on stage performing a subversive duet.

The grand final of UMK 2024 starts at 20:00 CET and you can watch it on the Finnish public television website by clicking HERE.

Last year’s UMK winner and therefore the country’s representative in Liverpool was Käärijä with “Cha Cha Cha“, who finished in second place, the country’s best result since winning the contest in 2006 in Athens.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the news!

Latvia: Tonight the final of Supernova 2024!

Another country, which selects tonight its representative in Eurovision 2024 is Latvia. Supernova culminates tonight and in a few hours from now we will find out another of the contestants in the 68th Eurovision Song Contest.

Final

Ten artists will perform on the stage of Supernova 2024 tonight, aiming to represent the Baltic country in the 68th Eurovision Song Contest. The artists competing tonight are:

  1. Vēstulēs – “Kur?”
  2. Avéi – “Mine”
  3. Papīra Lidmašīnas – “Mind Breaker”
  4. Katrīna Gupalo – “The Cat’s Song”
  5. Ecto – “Outsider”
  6. Dons – “Hollow”
  7. St Levića – “Tick Tock”
  8. Edvards Strazdiņš – “Rock n’ Roll Supernova”
  9. Funkinbiz – Na Chystu Vodu
  10. Alekss Silvers – “For the Show”

The final result will be determined by a combination of the Latvian viewers’ vote and the vote of the jury appointed by the Latvian public broadcaster. In this way, the grand winner of Supernova 2024 and, at the same time, Latvia‘s representative in the 68th Eurovision Song Contest will emerge.

The show

For the third consecutive year, Supernova will be hosted by the duo of Ketija Šēnberga and Lauris Reiniks. Ketija, an experienced presenter, will take on this role for the seventh time (previously in 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023). Lauris, who represented Latvia in the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest as a member of F.L.Y. (Hello From Mars), will return as host for the third time (previously in 2022 and 2023).

Guests in Latvia’s grand final will be the Estonian representative in last year’s Eurovision Song Contest, Alika, and Gabrieļus Vagelis, who participated several times in the Lithuanian national selection.

The final of Supernova 2024 starts at 20:10 CET and can be watched through the first channel of Latvian public broadcaster, by clicking HERE.

Until we find out the Latvian representative at Eurovision 2024, let’s remember Sudden Lights who represented Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with their song “Aija” and finished 11th in the semi-final.

Stay tuned to Eurovision Fun for all the developments regarding Latvia’s participation in Eurovision 2024!

Sweden: Heat 2 of Melodifestivalen 2024 tonight!

Tonight marks the continuation of what may be the most anticipated national final of the year, Melodifestivalen 2024. The host of Eurovision 2024 aims for Sweden’s historic eighth victory on home soil in Malmo, and for this reason, SVT’s executives promise one of the strongest Melodifestivalen editions of all time, ensuring that the successor to Loreen achieves the best possible result for the Scandinavian country.

Format

This year’s Melodifestivalen introduces a new format, featuring five heats, each hosting six artists. From each heat, the top two contenders will directly advance to the grand final on March 9th.

However, artists ranking third and fourth in their respective semi-finals will participate in a voting after the fifth semi-final. This voting will determine the two remaining finalists who will “complete the puzzle” of the twelve artists competing in the grand final of Sweden’s national selection.

During the five semi-final rounds, the final results will be determined solely by the votes of Swedish viewers. This, of course, will change in the grand final on March 9th, where Sweden’s representative will be decided by a 50% vote from Swedish viewers and a 50% vote from an international jury, following the Eurovision Song Contest standards.

The dates of Melodifestivalen 2024

  • Heat 1: Saturday 3 February 2024, Malmö Arena, Malmö
  • Heat 2: Saturday 10 February 2024, Scandinavium, Göteborg
  • Heat 3: Saturday 17 February 2024, Vida Arena, Växjö
  • Heat 4: Saturday 24 February 2024, Stiga Sports Arena, Eskilstuna
  • Heat 5: Saturday 2 March 2024, Löfbergs Arena, Karlstad
  • Final: Saturday 9 March 2024, Friends Arena, Stockholm – Solna

Finalists

Two artists have secured their spots in the grand final of Melodifestivalen 2024 following the first semi-final. These artists are:

Two artists will have another chance to qualify for the grand final of Sweden’s national selection. These artists are:

Second Heat

Six artists will compete in tonight’s second heat of Melodifestivalen 2024, appearing in the following order:

  1. Maria Sur – “When I’m Gone
  2. Engmans Kapell – “Norrland
  3. Dear Sara – “The Silence After You
  4. C-Joe – “Ahumma
  5. Liamoo – “Dragon
  6. Fröken Snusk – “Unga & fria

The host of all six shows of this year’s Melodifestivalen will be Carina Berg.

The second heat of Melodifestivalen 2024 will start at 20:00 CET and will last one and a half hour. You can watch it through the SVT website by clicking HERE.

Τhe winner of Melodifestivalen 2023 and hence the Swedish representative at Eurovision 2023 was Loreen with her song “Tattoo“. Loreen went to become the first female artist in history to win the Eurovision Song Contest twice.

Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun, for all the latest developments regarding Melodifestivalen 2024 and the Swedish entry for Eurovision 2024!

Lithuania: Tonight the fifth heat of Eurovizija.LT 2024!

The Eurovizija.LT 2024 continues tonight, through which Lithuania will select its representative for the 68th Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Malmö in May.

A week after last Saturday’s fourth heat, the process of selecting the Lithuanian representative at Eurovision 2024 continues tonight, with two more artists punching their ticket to the Eurovizija.LT 2024 Grand Final on February 17.

Event Format

Eurovizija.LT 2024 consists of six shows: five heats and the grand final. The outcome for each of the six nights will be determined equally by the television audience and a five-member jury. Two songs from each semi-final will advance to the final, following a vote from the audience and a specially formed jury.

The three entries that receive the highest scores during the final will progress to the “Super-Final,” where the television audience will exclusively decide the ultimate winner and Lithuania’s representative in Malmö.

The five qualifiers will be broadcast on January 13, 20, 27, and February 3 and 10, respectively. It’s worth noting that, as in previous years, the semi-finals will not be broadcast live but will be pre-recorded earlier in the week. Additionally, in the event of a tie, the jury’s vote will prevail. Finally, the grand final will be broadcast live on February 17.

Finalists

From the first four heats, eight artists have already secured their place in the Eurovizija.LT 2024  grand final. The eight artists are:

Fifth Heat

The eight artists who will compete in the fifth heat of Eurovizija.LT 2024 will perform in the following order:

  1. Freya Alley“Serenade”
  2. Kàro“Weightless“
  3. Petras Daunys “Run“
  4. Queens of Roses“Walk through fire“
  5. April Frey“New Years“
  6. Emilija V”Trophy Wife“
  7. The Roop“Simple Joy”
  8. Lina Štalytė“Perfect”

The hosts for this year’s Eurovizija.LT 2024 are Gabrielė Martirosian and Nombeko Augustė Khotseng.

You can watch the fifth heat of Eurovizija.LT 2024 at 20:00 CET on the official website of Lithuania’s public broadcaster by clicking here.

Last year in Liverpool, Monika Linkytė represented Lithuania with the song “Stay,” finishing in 11th place with a total of 127 points. Will Lithuania achieve another strong result in Malmö?

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for the latest updates on our favorite contest!

Italy: The results of the Fourth Night of the Festival di Sanremo 2024! | Listen to the covers performances!

Welcome back Eurovision and Sanremo fans! The 74th Festival di Sanremo, also known as the Italian Song Festival 2024, is back for a fourth night in a row and celebrates the magic of the Italian music along with all the viewers all around the world. Taking place for once more at the Teatro Ariston, the Festival di Sanremo 2024 has successfully reached its Fourth Night or La Quarta Serata, probably the most special and the most distinct and different one of them all! Note here and remember that the winners of the Festival will gain the right to represent Italy in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, the so called “right of the first refusal”, meaning that they can represent Italy only if they wish to do so. Tonight it was the time for the Fourth Night, during which all of the thirty (30) entrants came together for once more on stage, since the First Night, with one slight difference; they did not perform their own songs, but covers of other Italian or international songs of the past duetting with one or more guest performers instead!

Live on RAI and RAIPlay for once more, before the official starting of the Night, Diodato and Rose Villain shared some of their happy thoughts on camera for being part of the Festival.

The presenters

Of course for once more the famous television and radio presenter Amadeus was the host and the artistic director of the show, for his fifth and last consecutive year. During each Night Amadeus is not all alone on stage for the Festival, but he is accompanied by a famous artist of the Italian entertainment scene. Thus for La Quarta Serata, Amadeus’ co-host was the Italian television presenter, actress and singer Lorella Cuccarini, who had also served as a co-host during last year’s Fourth Night as well. She performed right outside of the Teatro Ariston before her glamorous entrance on stage.

The Fourth Night’s format

During La Quarta Serata all of the thirty (30) participants reappeared on stage all together, just like they did during the First Night. However, in contrast to the First, Second and Third Night, during the Fourth Night the participants did not perform their own entries, but covers of other songs from the past. At the end of the Night, the voting procedure was also different from the rest of the Nights, since the performances were judged through a split system among the public, that had also voted on the Second and Third Night, the Jury of the radio, that had also voted during the Second and the Third Night and the Jury of the press, that voted only during the First Night. As it is understood, although the candidates did not perform their original songs, they were judged normally and the Night’s final results were added to the already obtained ones of each previous Night, taking us one step closer to the final winner of the Festival.

The Fourth Night’s performances

During the Fourth Night, all of the thirty (30) artists performed an Italian or international song from the past duetting with some guest performers, different ones each time. Those guest permormers had either already participated at the Festival at the previous years, or they were totally newcomers coming from abroad to the Festival. The lines opened for the public to vote right before the first performance and remained open during all the performances. According also to the running order that went public a few hours ago, the performances of the Fourth Night were the following:

(You can watch all the Night’s performances by clicking on the songs’ titles)

01) Sangiovanni along with the Spanish singer Aitana, performed the former’s song “Farfalle/Mariposas“.

 

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02) Right after, Annalisa along with the duo La Reppresentante di Lista (LRDL) and Artemia Choir performed the international hit “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).

 

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03) Next, Rose Villain along with the incredible Gianna Nannini performed an amazing medley of Nannini’s songs.

 

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04) Later, Gazelle along with the Italian singer Fulminacci performed the song “Notte prima degli esami“.

 

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05) After, The Kolors performed along with the legendary Umberto Tozzi an incredible medley, dedicated to the latter’s career.

 

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06) Then, Alfa along with Roberto Vecchioni performed Vecchioni’s song “Sogna ragazzo sogna“. They received an amazing round of applause.

 

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07) Right after, Bnkr44 performed along with Pino D’Angiò, D’Angiò’s song “Ma quale idea“.

 

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08) Then, Irama along with Riccardo Cocciante performed Cocciante’s song “Quando finisce un amore“. Both received a great round of applause by the audience, while everyone stood up at the end of the performance.

 

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09) Later, Fiorella Mannoia along with Italy’s 2017 representative Francesco Gabbani, performed Mannoia’s song ‘Che sia benedetta” and Gabbani’s 2017 entry, the beloved “Occidentali’s karma“. The audience seemed to have a great time, since everyone was dancing swinging their hands in the air.

 

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10) Subsequently, Santi Francesi performed along with the British singer Skin the prominent Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujaj“. An amazing performance, which was elevated even more by Skin’s really incredible voice. Wow…

 

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11) Next, it was time for Ricchi e Poveri who along with the duo Paola&Chiara, who performed yesterday at the Third Night, gave a memorable performance and received one of the loudest rounds of applause of the Night for the iconic Ricchi e Poveri’s “Sarà perché ti amo” and “Mamma Maria”. 

 

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12) Later, Ghali and Ratchopper performed a memorable medley with title “Italiano vero” ending it with reference to Toto Cutugno.

 

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13) Right after, Clara along with the Italian singer Ivana Spagnia and the Children’s Choir of the Turin Royal Theatre, performed Elton John’s “Il cerchio della vita” or “The Circle of Life”, that served as the opening song of Disney’s movie The Lion King.

 

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14) Additionally, Loredana Bertè and Venerus performed Luigi Tenco’s song “Ragazzo mio“. No matter a little technical problem at the beginning, their performance was adequate enough but surely not the best one.

 

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15) Second Night’s winner Geolier along with the Italian rappers Guè and Luchè and the singer Gigi D’Alessio performed a medley named “Strade“, dedicated to the street culture influenced by rap music.

 

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16) And then Third Night’s winner, Angelina Mango along with the Quartet of Rome’s Symphony Orchestra performed Giuseppe Mango’s “La rondine“. Angelina gave an incredible and sentimental performance of her father’s song and received one of the loudest rounds of applause. A song originally sung by her father Giuseppe Mango, who passed away when Angelina was 13 years old.

 

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17) Coming up next, Alessandra Amorosso along with the reggae band Boomdabash performed a medley dedicated to uplifting reggae music.

 

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18) Later, Dargen D’Amico and the BabelNova Orchestra performed Errio Morricone’s “Modigliani“.

 

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19) Right after, Mahmood along with Tenores di Bitti, performed Lucio Dalla’s incredible “Como è profondo il mare“.

 

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20) Later, Mr, Rain performed Gemelli DiVersi’s hip hop hit ‘Mary” along with Gemelli DiVersi themselves. An incredible performance of an amazing song, accompanied by rhythmic gymnastics athletes Farfalle Olimpiche on stage.

 

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21) Next, Negramaro and Malika Ayane performed Lucio Battisti’s song ‘La canzone del sole“.

 

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22) Then it was time for Emma who along with Bresh, who performed yesterday, gave a memorable medley of Tiziano Ferro.

 

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23) Right after, Il Volo along with the guitarist Stef Burns, gave an exquisite performance of Queen’s global hit “Who Wants to Live Forever“. Absolutely amazing, no words left.

 

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24) Later, Diodato and the English singer Jack Savoretti performed Fabrizio de André’s “Amore che vieni, amore che vai“. Another great song with an amazing performance and total chemistry between Diodato and Savoretti.

 

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25) Then La Sad along with Donatella Rettore performed Rettore’s song “Lamette“.

 

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26) Right after, Il Tre and Fabrizio Moro, dedicated a beautiful medley to Moro’s career.

 

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27) After, BigMama along with Gaia, La Niña and Sissi sang the original “Lady Marmalade” which was firstly recorded in 1974 by the American funk rock group Labelle and was reperformed in 2001 by Christina Aguilera.

 

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28) Later, Maninni and 2018’s representative Ermal Meta sang “Non mi avete fatto niente“, which was originally performed by Meta and Fabrizio Moro in Eurovision.

 

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29) Then Fred De Palma and the Italian Eurodance group Eiffel 65 performed an Eiffel 65 medley and of course it was “I’m Blue” that made the audience jumping around.

 

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30) And last but not least, Francesco Renga and Nek were the only ones who did not performed along with another artist and dedicated a medley to themselves. During the last performance of the Night, everyone in the audience was standing up and clapping.

 

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During all the covers’ performances, the public voted regularly for their favourite artist and after a quick recap the lines were closed.

  • The beloved duo Jalisse also performed the unforgettable “Fiumi di Parole”, Italy’s last entry of the 20th century.

Special guests

The Fourth Night’s guest list seemed to be diverse enough since several Italian figures from different sections of entertainment were present. Among them, was Albert II, Prince of Monaco who watched the whole show from the opera box of the theatre. Also the Italian singer Arisa was present who performed her song “La notte“. Moreover, the famous duo Jalisse made a surprising appearance celebrating their 27 years since their participation in Eurovision 1997 with “Fiumi di parole”. The Italian actresses Elena Sofia Ricci and Margherita Buy were also present, while the Italian DJ and singer Gigi D’Agostino performed aboard on Costa Smeralda. The Italian MotoGP 2022 and 2023 World Riders’ Champion Francesco Bagnaia made a surprisng appearance.

The results

Pay attention to the fact that La Quarta Serata’s results were different from those of the previous Nights. The difference is that the performances were judged by a split system among the televoting, that held the 34% of the Night’s final result, the Jury of the radio, that held the 33% of the Night’s final result and the Jury of the press, that held the rest 33% of the Night’s final result. Of course the results from all the previous Nights were added up to the Fourth Night’s results, leading closer and closer to the Festival’s winner and possible Italy’s entrant for Eurovision 2024.Hence, the top five results of  the Quarta Serata were the following:

  1. Geolier
  2. Angelina Mango
  3. Annalisa
  4. Ghali
  5. Alfa

At the very end of the Night, Geolier, the winner of the Fourth Night, reperformed along with Guè, Luchè and Gigi D’Alessio their medley called “Strade”.

 

Source: RAIPlay

Keep an eye on Eurovisionfun because even more news are coming for Sanremo! Of course do not miss the Quinta and final Serata of the Festival di Sanremo 2024, which is going to determine the Festival’s winner and Italy’s possible entry for 2024! Who do you think is going to be? Stay tuned! See you tomorrow! Ciao!

Sweden: The general rehearsal of the Second Heat of Melodifestivalen 2024! (Live)

The general rehearsal of the 2nd Heat of Melodifestivalen 2024 has just started. We are happy to be watching it live, at Scandinavium in Göteborg, 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 10, at 20:00 CET, when you watch the actual show of the heat, on SVT and SVT Play.

The experts

New in Melodifestivalen this year is the participation of a couple of really knowledgeable music and Mello-experts – radio and TV profile Tina Mehrafzoon and Mello-oracle Ronny Larsson. During both the races and the final, they analyze the evening’s line-up and give their opinion on how they are doing.

The show

The first week of competition arrived really fast. On Saturday, February 10, Melodifestivalen 2024 starts and it starts from this year’s Eurovision city Malmö.

Carina Berg is the host of all the shows of the tour this year! With the next show of the contest on Saturday February the 10th, Melodifestivalen will take place in Göteborg, then Växjö follows and finally the final show in Stockholm on the 9th of March.

Carina is now at the arena and everything is ready to begin! It’s time to face the music!

The opening act is a band playing in the green room with the crowd dancing along as Carina enters the arena. Then Carina describes how Estonia gained their independence without bloodshed, she then connects it to Eurovision “united by music”.

After the intro, Carina presents this show’s contestants!

The numbers

  • “When I’m Gone” – Maria Sur

Totally different than “Never Give Up”. A POP Dance banger with a hint of melancholy! Amazing performance, crystal clear vocals, very much more improved than her rehearsals. The best I’ve seen from her, she totally feels true to herself with this performance. Love seeing this! Hopefully she will directly qualify!

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis


  • “Norrland”– Engmans Kapell

If you mix Swedish folk with a beat then you got Norrland. I wouldn’t say I am impressed by this kind of song. They’re very much improved and their lead singer definitely did not forget the lyrics this time. He did on one of the rehearsals. But No-No-No-No-No-No-Norrland probably will not qualify.

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis


  • “The Silence After You” –  Dear Sara 

A mid tempo song for Dear Sara, sounds familiar. It is sort of a ballad, could listen to it to a roadtrip. Pleasantly. That’s Sara’s best run. The crowd claps throughout her performance which is good to see. Maybe she will remain in the competition? Let’s find out tomorrow.

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis


  • “Ahumma” – C-Joe

Aftobeat vibes are here but in a pop way to do it! C-Joe is not very stable vocally though, he had some vocal issues with his performance during her rehearsals. A feel-good song that the crowd loved though. Would he qualify now? I am not sure, probably not.

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis


  • “Dragon” – LIAMOO

Now imagine LIAMOO’s kind of songs mixed with Imagine Dragons. This is epic. I don’t wanna hear anyone compare this performance to Andrew Lambrou’s last year’s entry with Cyprus. This is so much better. By far his best performance and it is 100% himself. Love to see this! Totally a DTF for me. Also a strong contender for the win. Best song of the contest so far.

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis


  • “Unga & fria” – Fröken Snusk

Now mix a bit of epadunk with Swedish folk, a tiny bit of Käärijä’s “it’s crazy, it’s party” but on a female Swedish version. Too much pink. Louis Vuitton balaclava is removed for the televised program. She is quite good vocally I must admit, the crowd went nuts on her. Either second DTF or goes to second round.

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

These were the six numbers of this week, a recap follows to show the voting numbers for the contestants of the heat.


The Intervals

First to be inducted into the Hall of Fame this very special Melodifestivalen and Eurovision year is none other than the host Kristian Luuk, in good company with the artist and presenter Lotta Engberg – and her Fyra bugg och en Coca Cola. During the evening, we will hear the song, which was Sweden‘s entry in Eurovision 1987, in its own version signed by the artist Viktor Norén.

Björn Gustafsson is of course on stage again and explains to the audience that he cannot say what he will say tomorrow at the live show, therefore, he is now doing a 4:30 minute comedy show.


The virtual Direct Qualifiers

First voting round virtual winner:The Silence After You” – Dear Sara

The first voting round winner moves from the green room onto an intermediate small stage in the middle of the audience and sing their song.

Second voting round virtual winner:Dragon” – LIAMOO

The second voting round winner does exactly what the first voting round winner did. Green room, intermediate stage, main stage.

Those who virtually remain at the contest

Second voting round virtual 2nd place:Ahumma” – C-Joe
Second voting round virtual 3rd place:Unga & fria” – Fröken Snusk

Second voting round results

Age-band 3-9 years old virtual winner:When I’m Gone” – Maria Sur

Age-band 10-15 years old virtual winner:Ahumma” – C-Joe

Age-band 16-29 years old virtual winner:Norrland”– Engmans Kapell

Age-band 30-44 years old virtual winner: Dragon” – LIAMOO

Age-band 45-59 years old virtual winner:Ahumma” – C-Joe

Age-band 60-74 years old virtual winner:Ahumma” – C-Joe

Age-band 75+ years old virtual winner:Dragon” – LIAMOO

Televoting virtual winner:Dragon” – LIAMOO


A prediction

This week things are more clear for the direct finalists. For me the two direct finalists will be LIAMOO and Maria Sur, then Fröken Snusk and Dear Sara will remain in the competition.


The schedule for the six shows of the Melodifestivalen 2024 tour

  • Heat 1: Saturday 3 February 2024, Malmö Arena, Malmö
  • Heat 2: Saturday 10 February 2024, Scandinavium, Göteborg
  • Heat 3: Saturday 17 February 2024, Vida Arena, Växjö
  • Heat 4: Saturday 24 February 2024, Stiga Sports Arena, Eskilstuna
  • Heat 5: Saturday 2 March 2024, Löfbergs Arena, Karlstad
  • Final: Saturday 9 March 2024, Friends Arena, Stockholm – Solna

Which two of today’s competing artists do you think will be the direct qualifiers to the finals, on the 9th of March?

Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun, for all the latest developments regarding Melodifestivalen 2024 and the Swedish entry for Eurovision 2024!

Source: SVT
Photos: Andreas Papayiannakis / EurovisionFun, Stina Stjernkvist / SVT

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LIAMOO: “I am my strongest version of myself. I’m going to try to challenge the top.” | Exclusive Interview

Andreas Papayiannakis and EurovisionFun is accredited by SVT to follow the Melodifestivalen tour for a third year in-a-row. In Göteborg we got the chance to meet a few people involved in this year’s Melodifestivalen. Among those was LIAMOO who had us over at Clarion Hotel Post, the appointed artist hotel in Göteborg on an extensive interview.

Liam or also known by his stage-name, LIAMOO, is one of the favourites of this heat but also of the entire Melfest tour this year. He had his first rehearsal yesterday at noon and he said it felt really good.

“It’s a lot of work to do, but it’s not big stuff to do. It’s more of the bits and pieces, the details that we got to work on. You know, this camera here and there and put this light on me on that part. And maybe I have some stuff and some personal stuff to work with, like the pitch and blah, blah, blah. But yeah, it feels nice. It’s really like explosive, the feeling. It’s really hot on stage.”

The arena indeed gets extremely hot, as LIAMOO’s performance is full of pyro! If I could describe it with a phrase, that would be “Yeah, yeah, fire!”. LIAMOO as an artist uses dragon a lot in his performances, two years ago on the backdrop LED screen he had a dragon, this year his song is called “Dragon“. But what does the dragon mean for him?

“The Dragon is inner strength. And I have Asian blood and the Dragon is Asian. So it started with me being very nervous during my previous performances. “Last Breath”, “Hold You”, “Bluffin”. Not so much “Bluffin”. I was pretty much secure on that. But I was very nervous. I started to cough all the time just to clear my throat. She’s one of the jury members in Idol, also a song coach, very spiritual. She said to me, you know what? It reminds me of a baby dragon who just like starts to get their fire going. And I was like, hey, I like that. I like that very much because the dragon is cool.”

LIAMOO has been to Melodifestivalen five times. Four as an artist and five in total. Now this is the time he feels he is more himself.

“For the first songs, someone else thought that I would do them good in Mello.Dragon, though, it didn’t happen on purpose. It just happened. The song just happened. But I knew that I wanted to write about the dragon because it has been with me since Bluffin. As soon as I finished the song, I was like, this needs to be in Mello. It feels so true and honest to myself. There’s not a song out that’s more LIAMOO to me than Dragon because it got the mysterious darkness and then the power.”

What is his expectation of this year’s participation though? He feels like he is the strongest version of himself this year. Not only on stage, but as a person. He feels very secure with himself. He adds:

“I feel like I found myself and I feel like before 2018 and 2019 and 2022, I was in the middle of my journey finding myself. Now I feel like I know who I am and I know what I want to do now. So I feel like I’m my strongest. I am my strongest version of myself and I feel like I’m going to try to challenge the top.”

He doesn’t have a clear favourite this year though. He explains a bit:

“Last year, I really loved air. And that was to me, that was a clear favorite. I love Tattoo also. Two hit songs. Very good songs. But now I don’t know. I haven’t heard all of them, so I don’t know yet. But and I try to not focus on everybody else. I’m just trying to focus on my number, my pitch, my clothes.”

Finally, a message to all LIAMOO’s fans in Sweden but internationally as well from the artist himself:

“What’s really important to me is that the dragon is not only for me but it’s also for you. It’s a message from me to you that you need to find your inner strength. You need to. See who you really are. Don’t be too hard on yourself. I am a professional on being too hard on myself. You just got to enjoy the moment and appreciate yourself a lot more. Appreciate the moment. Enjoy the moment.”

You can watch our exclusive interview with LIAMOO at the video down below:

Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun and don’t miss out on anything regarding this year’s Melodifestivalen!

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Portugal: The guests of Festival da Canção 2024

The public broadcaster of Portugal, announced the list of guest, that will step on stage of Festival da Canção, the national final for Eurovision 2024. The artists were announced in the past weeks, through the official Instagram account of the national final. Read more

Italy: A 60.1% viewership rate for Sanremo 2024’s Terza Serata!

Last night, the third night of the 74th edition of Festival di Sanremo was broadcasted live on Italian television. Half of the participants performed their songs, while the show was full of surprises by Amadeus as well as famous guests.

The viewing rates for Terza Serata remained high, with the average being 60.1%, which translates to ten million spectators! The viewing rates remained the same as the second night of the festival, while they were slightly decreased compared to the first night, when they hit the record of 65.1%. When compared to the previous editions, the viewing rates of Sanremo 2024 are much higher, justifying Amadeus’ promises to bring the strongest line-up in recent Sanremo history.

Sanremo 2024 – Terza Serata

A total of fifteen participants performed yesterday:

  1. Il Tre – “Fragili” (will be presented on stage by Loredana Berté)
  2. Maninni – “Spettacolare” (will be presented on stage by Alfa)
  3. Bnkr44 –“Governo punk”(will be presented on stage by Fred de Palma)
  4. Santi Francesi “L’amore in bocca” (will be presented on stage by Clara)
  5. Mr. Rain  – “Due altalene” (will be presented on stage by Il Volo)
  6. Rose Villain – “Click Boom!” (will be presented on stage by Gazzelle)
  7. Alessandra Amoroso –“Fino a qui” (will be presented on stage by Dargen D’Amico)
  8. Ricchi e Poveri – “Ma non tutta la vita”(will be presented on stage by Big Mama)
  9. Angelina Mango – “La noia” (will be presented on stage by Irama)
  10. Diodato – “Ti muovi” (will be presented on stage by The Kolors)
  11. Ghali – “Casa mia” (will be presented on stage by Mahmood)
  12. Negramaro – “Ricominciamo tutto” (will be presented on stage by Emma)
  13. Fiorella Mannoia – “Mariposa” (will be presented on stage by Annalisa)
  14. Sangiovanni –“Finiscimi” (will be presented on stage by Francesco Renga and Nek)
  15. La Sad – “Autodistruttivo” (will be presented on stage by Geolier)

Following the voting of the TV audience and a radio committee in equal shares, this was the top five of last night’s show:

  1. Angelina Mango – “La noia”
  2. Ghali – “Casa mia”
  3. Alessandra Amoroso – “Fino a qui”
  4. Il Tre – “Fragili”
  5. Mr. Rain – “Due altanele”

For more information on everything that happened during the third night of Sanremo 2024, check the article below:

The festival will be concluded on Saturday, when we will know the winner and the potential representative of Italy in Malmö.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the news!

Source: sorrisi.com

“Teresa & Maria” is officially Ukraine’s Eurovision 2024 entry!

Ukraine‘s entry for the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest was selected through Vidbir 2024, which was held last Saturday. However, because of technical difficulties with the voting process, the results were not made public until one day later. Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil were the winners and therefore representatives of Ukraine, with the song “Teresa & Maria”.

The representation of Ukraine by “Teresa & Maria” became official today, following the signing of the necessary documents by the artists and the country’s public broadcaster,

Disagreements between the winners of Vidbir and the Ukrainian public television in 2019 and 2022 resulted in these documents not being signed, which in turn caused the country’s representative to be replaced. More precisely, despite placing second in the national final, Kalush Orchestra took Alina Pash‘s position in 2022. Accordingly, Maruv‘s refusal to sign the respective contracts, due to their restrictive terms, led to Ukraine’s withdrawal from Eurovision 2019.

Ukraine’s Eurovision 2024 entry:

https://youtu.be/k_8cNbF8FLI?si=k9462bDhbD-gR1Ge

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the Eurovision 2024 developments!


Source: Suspline