Sweden: The international juries of Melodifestivalen 2024!

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Tomorrow, Melodifestivalen 2024, the Swedish national selection fro Eurovision, will be concluded. Following a six-week long tour across Sweden, twelve acts will claim the Swedish representation in Malmö, defending the Swedish title on home ground.

Five semi-finals took place in Malmö, Gothenburg, Växjö, Eskilstuna and Karlstad and tomorrow we will tune in live from the Swedish capital, Stockholm and Friends Arena in order to find out who Sweden will crown as their representative.

The twelve finalists were chosen exclusively by the Swedish public. However, the winner of Melodifestivalen will be chosen:

  • on 50% by eight international juries
  • on 50% by the Swedish public, which will be able to vote via the contest’s app and phone voting

In case, two entries receive the same amount of points, the audience’s vote will be decisive.

Which countries will serve as international juries?

The international juries that will cast their points and therefore decide half of the result are eight and are consequently the following:

  • Australia
  • Belgium
  • Cyprus
  • Ireland
  • Iceland
  • Malta
  • Serbia
  • Germany

Melodifestivalen 2024 – The Grand Final

As mentioned above, twelve acts will compete in tomorrow’s final show in the following running order:

  1. Maria Sur – “When I’m Gone
  2. Jay Smith – “Back to My Roots
  3. Lisa Ajax – “Awful Liar”
  4. Smash Into Pieces – “Heroes Are Calling”
  5. Cazzi Opeia – “Give My Heart a Break”
  6. Annika Wickihalder – “Light”
  7. Marcus & Martinus – “Unforgettable”
  8. Dotter – “It’s Not Easy to Write You a Love Song”
  9. Medina – “Que Sera”
  10. Liamoo – “Dragon”
  11. Jacquline – “Effortless”
  12. Danny Saucedo – “Happy That You Found Me”

Sweden, as a host country, is automatically granted a spot in the Grand Final of May 13 and the Swedish viewers will be able to cast their votes on the first semi-final.

Which is your Melodifestivalen 2024 favorite entry? Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the news!

Sweden: The general rehearsal of the Final Show of Melodifestivalen 2024! (Live)

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The general rehearsal of the Final Show of Melodifestivalen 2024 has just started. It is sad but true, this is the last show ever of the year and takes place at Friends Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. We will be covering this rehearsal from within the arena, 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 final show rehearsal, allowing you to get a glimpse of what you will get to see tomorrow March 9th, at 20:00 CET, when you watch the actual show of the final, 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

Carina Berg is the host of all the shows of the tour this year! With the next show of the contest taking place tomorrow in Stockholm on the 9th of March.

The show started with the final contestants covering last year’s winning entry “Tattoo” and ended with Loreen appearing on stage but without performing, who was there to get awarded with the Hall of Fame award. On Saturday, this year’s Hall of Fame will be complete when “Tattoo“ joins – Loreen and the entire songwriting team. In addition to Loreen herself, Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Jimmy Jansson, Loreen, Moa Carlebecker/Cazzi Opeia, Peter Boström and Thomas G:son are rewarded.

The numbers

  • “When I’m Gone“ – Maria Sur

Maria did an amazing show today, more laser beams and more laser tracking sensors on the LED backdrop and the LED strip perimetrically at the stadium. Great job! Amazing vocals and also awed us with the intro video where she spoke entirely in Swedish! Bra jobbat! Would love to see her top 5.

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

  • “Back To My Roots” – Jay Smith’

Well this is the upgraded version of Jay giving zero f*s about this contest. I would absolutely love to see him getting tanked tomorrow.

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

  • “Awful Liar“ – Lisa Ajax

Lisa has an amazing performance, she now has both dancers unlike her rehearsal. Pristine voice, I don’t think she will do great though. More like on the lower end.

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

  • “Heroes Are Calling“ – Smash Into Pieces

As the days go by, their song makes not much of a difference to me. I think they will not do as good as last year. Overall great performance though and the crowd loved it!

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

  • “Give My Heart A Break” – Cazzi Opeia

Cazzi is such a feel-good song! Makes me happy even on a day I am down low. The colours, the glow, the fluff! Love it all! Her voice? Pitch-perfect! Hope she does great!

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

  • “Light” – Annika Wickihalder

Annika had an amazing stage show, added a chorus on stage and it wouldn’t surprise me if she did great tomorrow. Let’s see what happens!

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

  • “Unforgettable” – Marcus & Martinus

The international jury will “chew them up“! The Swedish audience? Top-2 in my opinion. Are they winning it? Most likely! Captivating performance!

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

  • “It’s Not Easy to Write a Love Song” – Dotter

Dotter still has problems from two weeks ago and this has implications to her voice! Such a shame! Visually it is so good. But this is a jury show, the international jury will still love her. But could have done better in my opinion.

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

  • “Que Sera” – Medina

That was an EARTHQUAKE! I can’t describe anything more! Love it! Top 3 for me!

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

  • “Dragon“ – Liamoo

So much fire, we could all feel the heat! Best vocals of the bunch I think, even better than the studio version. Great vocals by LIAMOO and his lead dub! I could see this top 5.

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

  • “Effortless“ – Jacqline

She ate! Looks like a music video up on stage! I think the international juries will absolutely love her! She was unwell, but does a great job at the moment! Runner-up of Idol 2021 is here and now is her moment to shine! Would she win? I wouldn’t rule it out, but now it’s the time Marcus & Martinus win the whole thing.

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

  • “Happy That You Found Me” – Danny Saucedo

Danny changed to a black mesh top and a leather pair of trousers. Staging colours changed, lighting has changed, made it a bit more dark, more spiritual. I like it more. He now has more chances. But could probably be an eternal runner-up. Such a shame, would love it if he won!

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

Countdown starts and a recap of all the contestants follows as usual.

Intervals

Linda Bengtzing is on stage performing a medley of her hits! But I am not so sure if that’s the real interval act for tomorrow. Let’s see.

International Jury Virtual Voting

Winner: “When I’m Gone“ – Maria Sur

  • Australia: “Give My Heart A Break” – Cazzi Opeia
  • Belgium: “Awful Liar“ – Lisa Ajax
  • Cyprus: “Unforgettable” – Marcus & Martinus
  • Ireland: “Effortless“ – Jacqline
  • Iceland: “Que Sera” – Medina
  • Malta: “Light” – Annika Wickihalder
  • Serbia: “Happy That You Found Me” – Danny Saucedo
  • Germany: “When I’m Gone“ – Maria Sur

General Rehearsal Virtual Winner

“Unforgettable” – Marcus & Martinus

Which artist is your favourite for the win, that will secure their ticket to Malmö to represent Sweden this Saturday?

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

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

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

Photos: Andreas Papayiannakis

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Eurovision 2024: Euro Fan Café comes back to Malmö!

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Back in 2013, when the contest was last held in Malmö, a small team of fans, created the Euro Fan Café. This year, the Euro Fan Café comes back, and in cooperation with OGAE Sweden, a venue will be created inside the official Eurovision Village in Folkets Park, right in the center of Malmö.

The original creators are back, and they will ensure that the fans will have a unique experience during their stay in the city.

It’s about a place where fans can meet other fans, meet artists, but also a place for everything Eurovision.

Below you can see the official announcement:

You are a Eurovision lover, about to do Malmö 2024. Whether you are here for a day or here for two weeks, you want to experience all things Eurovision. There will be everything from spectacular adventures to great shows, in venues and parties all around the city.

Here you start your day having brunch, plan your excursions, explore the programme of the entire city, join up with new people in our meetup groups, play games or just hang out.

You will get the behind-the-scenes meetings with artists, songwriters and other Eurovision people. We invite artists to perform at our stages and do Fan Conferences, like press conferences but with you asking the questions. In 2013, we had artists visiting us from 24 countries, and it was so much fun! In the evenings you get those once-in-a-lifetime experiences happening in talk shows, live band karaoke nights, drag, special surprise music quiz nights and other events producing magic moments.

At night, Euro Fan Café is where we all meet up to dance, drink, eat and tell each other about our adventures. There is always one immersive Eurovision party floor with the latest and classic Eurovision songs, and always with some surprises. There will always be one chill place where we can actually talk to each other. There will always be one place to experience something unexpected. Everything is Eurovision.

Euro Fan Café is open from 11:00 till late into the night. We will run multiple events across four spaces from mid-afternoon until late in the night. All events require a Basecamp Bracelet or a Day Pass to access. Below you can see the prices:

BASECAMP BRACELETS give access to all our events between 2 and 11 May, including the Final Party (10 consecutive days).

  • Regular Price: SEK 995 (approximately €89) for the first 1,000 bracelets. The price will increase to SEK 1195 (~€106) for the remaining bracelets.
  • OGAE Members: 25% Off with the discount code “OGAE”. IMPORTANT: Please note this discount is available from 8 March, 12.00 CET to 15 March, 12.00 CET (7-day period only).

DAY PASS: Prices to be revealed in the first week of April.

Ticket link will be available at  moriskapaviljongen.se on Friday 8th of March.

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, in Malmö!

Sweden: The running order of the Melodifestivalen 2024 final just got revealed!

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After tonight’s fifth heat in Karlstad, where four entries made it to the final, competition producer Karin Gunnarsson has set the starting order for the final.

This is how the starting order will be when the Melodifestivalen 2024 is decided at Friends Arena on Saturday 9 March:

The show

Carina Berg is the host of all the shows of the tour this year! With the next show of the contest on Saturday March the 9th, Melodifestivalen final show will take place  in Stockholm and Friends Arena.

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

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

Source: SVT
Photos: Stina Stjernkvist/SVT

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Sweden: These are the two final qualifiers of Melodifestivalen 2024!

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Immediately after the round has ended, the final qualifiers show began. Two more finalists have been selected and two have been voted on to the qualifiers, along with the season’s other 3rd and 4th placed teams and it is clear now that the two final qualifiers of Melodifestivalen 2024 are Annika Wickihalder and Jay Smith.

Here’s how the two last finalists were determined

Once both finalists in heat 5 have been chosen, the ten entries placed third and fourth in the five Rounds will return to compete for the two remaining final spots. This takes place in a final qualifier through an extension of round 5. An extended quick replay of the ten qualifiers will be shown, and viewers can vote up to five times per entry in the app and per phone number.

Each entry receives an initial score based on how many votes they received in their competition – in relation to how many people voted in it. For example, an entry that has received 1,000,000 votes in a contest where 500,000 people have voted will have a value of 2. If another entry has also received 1000,000 votes but only 400,000 votes in that sub-competition, that entry will have a value of 2.5 and thus receive a higher initial score in the final qualification compared to the first entry.

This initial score is reported first. After that, the qualifying voting starts and it is then possible to vote via app and phone. Once voting has ended, an additional 1000 points will be awarded based on the number of votes per entry. The points are awarded in exactly the same way as in the final: The entry with the fewest points before the voting will have their new points reported first. When all points have been reported, the two entries with the highest number of final points will move on to the final.

In the event of the same final score for two or more entries, the highest number of votes during the voting that took place during the broadcast will be decisive.

Final Qualifiers

  • “Forever Yours“ – Elisa Lindström 
  • “Supernatural“ – Adam Woods 
  • “The Silence After You“ – Dear Sara
  • “Unga & fria“ – Fröken Snusk
  • “I Won’t Shake (La La Gunilla)” – Gunilla Persson
  • “För dig” – Klaudy
  • “Done Getting Over You” – Albin Tingwall
  • “Circus X” – SCARLET
  • “Light” – Annika Wickihalder
  • “Back To My Roots” – Jay Smith

Melodifestivalen Finalists

  • “Heroes Are Calling“ – Smash Into Pieces
  • “Awful Liar“ – Lisa Ajax
  • “Dragon“ – Liamoo
  • “When I’m Gone“ – Maria Sur
  • “Effortless“ – Jacqline
  • “Give My Heart A Break” – Cazzi Opeia
  • “Happy That You Found Me” – Danny Saucedo
  • “It’s Not Easy to Write a Love Song” – Dotter
  • “Unforgettable” – Marcus & Martinus
  • “Que Sera” – Medina
  • “Light” – Annika Wickihalder
  • “Back To My Roots” – Jay Smith

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

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

Source: SVT
Photos: Stina Stjernkvist/SVT

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Sweden: These are the two direct finalists of the Fifth Heat of Melodifestivalen 2024!

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Ninety minutes ago, the show for the Fifth Heat of Melodifestivalen 2024, started off on SVT and SVT Play. And we are here to share the results of the night with you!

The two numbers that qualify directly to the finals are Marcus & Martinus and Medina which we will get to see compete and perform their songs live, next Saturday on the 9th of March, when the finals will take place at Friends Arena.

But how things developed during the night?

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

Carina Berg is the host of all the shows of the tour this year! With the next show of the contest on Saturday March the 9th, Melodifestivalen final show will take place  in Stockholm and Friends Arena.

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

The numbers

    • “Unforgettable” – Marcus & Martinus

    Two side walls for the twins, giving me vibes of the Loreen Smörgåsgrillen (toaster) but in vertical mode. In the beginning it is narrow, then they are moved further apart. Our favourite twins, Marcus and Martinus, are always super professionals and great vocally, however they kept their voice for tomorrow evening and didn’t even sing the high note of the “so good it hurts” part. Does this give me winner vibes? Hell yeah!

    Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

    • “Controlla” – Chelsea Muco

    I am in the humid Karlstad at the moment, but this song gives me sunbed, cocktail, beach, swimming trunk vibes. I wanna dance to the beat. Palm trees and warm colours in the background, six completely new dancers one of which has a rather familiar surname (D’Mello). Chelsea is quite good for a debutant, good vocally, nice energy.

    Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

    • “Back To My Roots” – Jay Smith

    Large prop with the title of the song twice, his band behind him faking playing on a live gig and then it’s Jay with his amazing voice. The song reminds me a bit of Nickelback, a bit of the 00s, but as people say here this is a very familiar sound to Swedish people and in combination with Jay‘s amazing voice, this might go somewhere. The crowd is clapping along.

    Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

    • “Banne maj” – Elecktra

    She was at Drag Race Sverige and the people love her. She is fabulous, very much a Verka Serduchka style song, but not in the sense of giving me winning vibes. She just stands there, doing the bare minimum and then there are dancers that look how the best men on my wedding could look like.

    Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

    • “Light” – Annika Wickihalder

    Her song and aura gives me Faith Kakembo vibes. She has an amazing voice but she seems like the stage swallows her. She has two big deformed mirror props that don’t seem to add up to the whole staging. Typical Melodifestivalen or Eurovision ballad.

    Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

    • “Que Sera” – Medina

    Large speakers prop, bicycles, too many colours and too much going on, on stage, dancers are included. However they manage to make it somehow work. Their vocals are not the best in this run, but I am sure they will fix everything tomorrow. This is a football anthem, the crowd does move during their performance and they hum. Mission accomplished.

    Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

The Intervals

When the fifth and final round of Melodifestivalen 2024 kicks off on Saturday, March 2, it will do so with a vengeance. It will be Värmland with an extra big V when Karlstad‘s son, actor and musician Johan Östling opens the broadcast with Sven-Ingvar‘s classic Torparrock. Carina is now at the arena and everything is ready to begin! It’s time to face the music!

Fredrik Kempe is also inducted into the Melodifestivalen Hall of Fame and since 2004 he has delivered 35 songs, including four winners: “Hero“, “La Voix“, “Popular” and “Undo“. The genre breadth of his song treasure is hard to beat.

From danceable pop via powerful ballads and rockabilly to opera, disco and dance bands. A song catalogue with Mello classics such as “Cara Mia“, “Manboy“, “Moving On” and “Bada Nakna” speaks for itself: Fredrik Kempe is one of Melodifestivalen‘s foremost hitmakers.

Actual Kristin Amparo performs “I See You” and Sanna Nielsen performs “Undo” and “Du och Jag mot Världen“, with Sanna Nielsen closing the interval.

The Direct Qualifiers

First voting round winner: “Unforgettable” – Marcus & Martinus
Second voting round winner: “Que Sera” – Medina

Semi-Finalists

Second voting round 2nd place: “Light” – Annika Wickihalder
Second voting round 3rd place: “Back To My Roots” – Jay Smith

Second voting round results

Age-band 3-9 years old winner: “Que Sera” – Medina

Age-band 10-15 years old winner: “Que Sera” – Medina

Age-band 16-29 years old winner: “Que Sera” – Medina

Age-band 30-44 years old winner: “Que Sera” – Medina

Age-band 45-59 years old winner: “Back To My Roots” – Jay Smith

Age-band 60-74 years old winner: “Light” – Annika Wickihalder

Age-band 75+ years old winner: “Light” – Annika Wickihalder

Televoting winner: “Light” – Annika Wickihalder

Melodifestivalen Finalists

  • “Heroes Are Calling“ – Smash Into Pieces
  • “Awful Liar“ – Lisa Ajax
  • “Dragon“ – Liamoo
  • “When I’m Gone“ – Maria Sur
  • “Effortless“ – Jacqline
  • “Give My Heart A Break” – Cazzi Opeia
  • “Happy That You Found Me” – Danny Saucedo
  • “It’s Not Easy to Write a Love Song” – Dotter
  • “Unforgettable” – Marcus & Martinus
  • “Que Sera” – Medina

We are still missing two finalists, which we will know in 30 minutes from now when the final qualifier extra show finishes.

Acts that remain in the competition

  • “Forever Yours“ – Elisa Lindström 
  • “Supernatural“ – Adam Woods 
  • “The Silence After You“ – Dear Sara
  • “Unga & fria“ – Fröken Snusk
  • “I Won’t Shake (La La Gunilla)” – Gunilla Persson
  • “För dig” – Klaudy
  • “Done Getting Over You” – Albin Tingwall
  • “Circus X” – SCARLET
  • “Light” – Annika Wickihalder
  • “Back To My Roots” – Jay Smith

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

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

Source: SVT
Photos: Stina Stjernkvist/SVT

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Sweden: The betting odds, just a few moments before the Melodifestivalen 2024 Fifth Heat results!

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Melodifestivalen 2024 Fifth Heat show will begin in a few moments, with the new competition format in place and will be aired on SVT and SVT Play.

Six contestants will have to compete against each other tonight, in order to secure one of the direct finalist places, or if not directly qualifying to the finals to remain in the competition, as their last chance in the hopes of competing at the finals.

Tonight’s contestants

  • “Unforgettable” – Marcus & Martinus
  • “Controlla” – Chelsea Muco
  • “Back To My Roots” – Jay Smith
  • “Banne maj” – Elecktra
  • “Light” – Annika Wickihalder
  • “Que Sera” – Medina

The odds

The betting odds depend on many factors and as these factors are subject to changes anytime, the odds can still fluctuate, even last minute. Currently there seem to be two clear direct finalists and these are Marcus & Martinus and Medina.

As for the two semi-final qualifiers, currently, in the third and fourth place of the betting odds we have Jay Smith and Annika Wickihalder respectively.

Let’s see what is going to happen, we will get the chance to watch the actual heat live, on SVT and SVT Play and of course at EurovisionFun you will get 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 finalists, that will be competing on the 9th of March, hoping to represent Sweden in Malmö, this year?

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

Source: Eurovision World

 

Medina: “We feel that our song is really made for the big arenas!” | Exclusive Interview

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Andreas Papayiannakis and EurovisionFun is accredited by SVT to follow the Melodifestivalen tour for a third year in-a-row. In Stockholm we got the chance to meet a few people involved in this year’s Melodifestivalen. Among those was the duo of Medina who are participating at the fifth heat of Melodifestivalen and had us over at the artist hotel in Karlstad and spoke with us on an extensive interview.

Medina were in a very fun mood and they passed it on to me, they spoke about their song, their staging and about them being potential winners of Melodifestivalen 2024. Their song “Que Sera” is going to involve an explosive show and a lot of things are going to happen. It’s gonna be about dancing and partying. It’s an arena song. What do they feel about their song?

“We feel that this song really is made for the big arenas. We didn’t want to waste our time there. We did the song in gibberish, like Spanish. And then we were gonna rewrite it in Swedish, but it didn’t feel good. It didn’t sound good. So we just kept it with the language that we just sang it in, Spanish, French and Italian that is not perfect but it’s just the vibe. It’s easy to sing with it.”

Medina will have a big speaker prop, as it is written in Melopedia. They’re gonna have dancers, bicycles but they don’t wanna say much. They tell us a bit more about the vibe of their staging though:

“Things will be around us. We have some choreography. But maybe we will see if somebody uses the bike or the drum. How things are gonna be interacted with. We don’t want to reveal that. We will see how we integrate with what’s on the stage and how it will be used. That’s gonna be the fun part.”

They made the chorus in the same sense as “In i dimman“, a big chanting chorus, like a football anthem.

“It’s three choruses. So for the last chorus maybe everybody has already learned the chorus and can sing along with us.”

How would they describe their song to those people that haven’t listened to it yet?

“It’s not that much different than “In i dimman”. The intro starts slow, we have the words like mama in it, but this is more explosive and this is more happy and it’s not so dark as “In i dimman”. We have parts of happy-sad moments in the verses, I can’t find the word in English, it’s a bit of deepness in it and then it evolves into that big happy thing, that’s what I wanted to say.”

They wrote the song together with Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt and Anderz Wrethov. They explain a bit how the creative process was like:

“They were with us in the studio and they created the track with us, so Jimmy comes in, I have this great idea and he started humming on the melody to this song, like we changed it a bit, but the first thought was him in the room, it was all silent, I have the song for you and he started singing that chorus and if felt like this was a football chant chorus and we started working on the song from there, from his vision.”

They are gonna close the fifth and last heat of the year. They feel very honoured that SVT chose them to be the closing act and they describe why they feel this way:

“Yeah it’s a bit pressure of course, because we heard afterwards that the last one out it was always artists like Loreen and Måns, all these big profiles and we feel like everybody is gonna expect you to get to the finals. We just want to do our thing, but it’s an honour to be last. It feels like they put the icons, how are we gonna carry that? That’s the pressure.”

They would be extremely happy if they won and got the chance to represent Sweden. They point out the fact that Swedish people don’t easily vote for entries in Swedish, like they would vote for example back in 2006 when they voted for Carola. And even then, the song was changed to “Invincible” with English lyrics. They could make the perfect host entry.

“Now I started thinking about it, I’ve never thought about it, because it’s so far away, now I just want to get to the finals first, you know, and do our best there, but to win, yeah historically it’s hard, but let’s be hopeful.”

They really hope they can do good in the international jury vote, like they did two years ago:

“If we come to the finals, then the party starts, because then Europe can also vote, and that’s the fun part. Last time we got a wonderful result from the international jury and we think the international crowd might like the song hopefully.”

Finally both Ali and Sami reach out to all their fans in Sweden and internationally and give their message:

“I hope you’ll have fun and our spirit will reach you and that you perhaps gonna stand up and dance and have fun. Que sera, sera, what happens, happens try to just enjoy life and accept what you can’t fix. And vote for us if you can.”

You can watch our exclusive interview with Medina 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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Sweden: Heat 5 and Final Qualification of Melodifestivalen 2024 tonight!

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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

Eight artists have secured their spots in the grand final of Melodifestivalen 2024 following the first four heats. These artists are:

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

Fifth Heat

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

  1. Marcus & Martinus – “Unforgettable“
  2. Chelsea Muco – “Controlla“
  3. Jay Smith – “Back To My Roots“
  4. Elecktra – “Banne maj“
  5. Annika Wickihalder – “Light“
  6. Medina – “Que Sera“

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

The fifth 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!

Sweden: From the stage of Melodifestivalen to The Voice of USA!

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Ashley (Ash) Haynes, one of the members of The Mamas, participated in The Voice of USA‘s Blind Auditions two days ago.

Although she impressed the audience and the judges with her performance of Tina Turner’s “The Best”, she failed to turn any of the judges’ chairs.

The Mamas served as John Lundvik‘s backing vocalists in Eurovision 2019 and were supposed to perform the song “Move” to represent Sweden at Eurovision 2020. However, the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of the competition. They made another attempt to represent their country in the competition the following year, but unfortunately they finished third in Melodifestivalen, with the song “In The Middle”.

The group, which consisted of Loulou Lamotte, Ashley Haynes, and Dinah Yonas Manna, has since broken up and is pursuing separate careers, however they do not completely rule out a reunion.

You can watch Ashley (Ash) Haynes’ performance in the following video:

The judging panel for The Voice of USA is made up of John Legend, Dan + Shay, Chance the Rapper and Reba McEntire.

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the Eurovision 2024 developments!