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

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Melodifestivalen 2024 First 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

  • “Supernatural” – Adam Woods
  • “Hela världen väntar” – Samir & Viktor
  • “Min melodi” – Melina Borglowe
  • “Forever Yours” – Elisa Lindström
  • “Awful Liar” – Lisa Ajax
  • “Heroes Are Calling” – Smash Into Pieces

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 Smash Into Pieces and Adam Woods.

As for the two semi-final qualifiers, currently, in the third and fourth place of the betting odds we have Lisa Ajax and Samir & Viktor 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

 

 

Sweden: Melodifestivalen producer Karin Gunnarsson aims for another Eurovision victory!

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It has been almost 9 months since last year’s Eurovision victory of Sweden with Loreen getting a double with the song “Tattoo“.

Melodifestivalen producer Karin Gunnarsson spoke to The Euro Trip podcast and expressed her goal to win again, back-to-back, aiming to help Sweden make history this year. Gunnarsson said:

“The ambition is to do it again, nothing less. It has meant so much for the Swedish music industry, songwriters and the people of Sweden that we did win, so the vibe has been very positive.  I thought it would be a hangover and artists would not want to compete, songwriters thinking we wouldn’t win again, and it would be a tougher season, but not at all. It has ignited Sweden to move forward. I’m still looking for our next winner.”

Karin was the one that helped things happen last year. She was the one that received a demo by the group of writers Peter Boström, Cazzi Opeia, Thomas G:son, Jimmy Jansson and Jimmy Joker. They sent a demo to Gunnarsson and the Melodifestivalen team and the rest is history:

“I heard the song and all I could think about was, ‘This is such a Loreen song’. The songwriters and I had a conversation going, and I know Loreen, but not that well. It was someone else who played it to her. If the song existed, then I had a feeling that she would not be able to say no. She’s such a creator, artist and incredible person. For me it was hand in glove, and I hoped she would feel the same. When she heard it she just felt that it was her song.” 

Sweden was the bookies favourite to win last year, but Finland and Käärijä were closely following Loreen, so it was a hard game for two. Karin “bet” on Loreen‘s win, by getting a tattoo a few days before she headed off to Liverpool:

“I have a tattoo. I did this two weeks before Liverpool. I thought to myself, ‘This is going to happen’, but I didn’t want to jinx it. I did it and I didn’t tell anyone. All the time in Liverpool I always wore long sleeves. At breakfast on Sunday I had short sleeves on and I went over to Thomas G:son and I showed him. I had told him if we win, I’d get the crystal ball tattoo.” 

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 and don’t miss out on anything regarding this year’s Melodifestivalen!

Follow us in all our social media, so that you’ll not miss anything regarding the your favourite national selection process:

Source: The Euro Trip Podcast, The Euro Trip Podcast
Photo:Stina Stjernkvist / SVT

 

 

Sweden: Heat 1 of Melodifestivalen 2024 tonight!

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The curtain opens tonight for Melodifestivalen 2024, with the first heat of this year’s Swedish national selection. Five heats and the grand final will keep us company from today until March 9, when we will officially find out the representative of Sweden in Eurovision 2024.

In tonight’s first semifinal, six entries claim the two tickets to the final, while two more entries will have the chance to compete in the final qualification round on March 2nd, after the fifth heat.

Participants

Six artists compete tonight in the first heat of Melodifestivalen 2024. These artists are:

  1. Adam Woods – “Supernatural“
  2. Samir & Viktor – “Hela världen väntar“
  3. Melina Borglowe – “Min melodi“
  4. Elisa Lindström – “Forever Yours“
  5. Lisa Ajax – “Awful Liar“
  6. Smash Into Pieces – “Heroes Are Calling“

Format

Two songs will directly qualify to the grand final of Melodifestivalen 2024, which will take place on the 9th of March. The songs that will place third and fourth will have a second chance to claim a ticket for the Grand Final, at the final qualification round, held on the 2nd of March, right away after the fifth heat. There will be five heats in total.

During the five heats, the final results will be determined solely by the votes of the Swedish viewers. This will, of course, change in the grand final on 9 March, when the Swedish representative will be decided 50% by the vote of Swedish viewers and 50% by the vote of an international jury, along the lines of the Eurovision Song Contest.

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

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

The first 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!

Lisa Ajax: “I want the audience to feel, if they’re in that situation right now, that they’re not alone and that it gets better!” | 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 Malmö we got the chance to meet a few people involved in this year’s Melodifestivalen.

Among those was five-time contestant Lisa Ajax at the press conference of the second noon rehearsal earlier today, in Malmö Arena on an short interview.

Lisa is a veteran at Melodifestivalen, it’s her fifth time. She told us more about how it feels to be back.

“It feels very good. It’s always so fun to be here and for every year that I’m here it gets more… I don’t know, I know what’s gonna happen and I feel more ready when I get here.”

Everyone can relate to Lisa’s song, everyone has been there, has been lied to, betrayed, cheated on. What does she say about the song?

“I really feel the lyrics and I’ve been there but I’m not there now, thank God. My life is pretty much perfect, I would say. I love that about music, that you can always go back into a feeling and you can look back at it and feel like, oh my God, I’m so thankful that I’m not there right now. And then I want the audience to feel, if it’s someone that’s in that situation right now, that they’re not alone and that it gets better. Because I’ve been there, so I can really relate to the lyrics.”

How did this collaboration start with Sebastian Atas, Victor Crone, David Lindgren Zacharias and Victor Sjöström and Lisa ended up performing the song at this year’s contest?

“I think it was two years ago, a long time ago, and then I was in the studio with David Lindgren-Zacharias, that has written the song and then there were more people involved as well, but I was in the studio with him and I tried a different song and then he just said that I have another song that I want you to hear. And then he played “Awful Liar”. and I loved it from the very first time I heard it. And I knew that I was like, okay, I need to have this song. And then, two years later, we are here. So it was a little process to get the song and to get everything to work.”

Lisa confessed that they would submit it last year, but they were a bit late. We don’t know what would happen, should Lisa have submitted the song in 2023. What does Lisa expect with this year’s participation? He clarifies:

“I really hope that I get to go to the finals, of course, but you never know. I don’t know what the audience will think. And I can just affect what I do and I will just do my best on the stage and deliver emotions and that the audience really feel what I’m singing. And that’s all I can do. But I really hope that it gets me to the finals, of course.”

Finally she sends a message to her Swedish and international fans that have been following her, but also the new ones that will know her this year for the first time:

“I really hope that you are watching and that you love the song just as much as I do. And yes, see you on Saturday.”

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

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

Follow us in all our social media, so that you’ll not miss anything regarding the your favourite national selection process:

 

 

 

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

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The general rehearsal of the 1st Heat of Melodifestivalen 2024 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 3, at 20:00 CET, when you watch the actual show of the heat, on SVT and SVT Play.

The show

The first week of competition arrived really fast. On Saturday, February 3, 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 3rd, Melodifestivalen will take place in Malmö, then Göteborg 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 show starts with an intro, Carina is chilling at home, then it all becomes like a musical with Carina singing and changing costumes throughout the number.

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

The experts make an first

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 numbers

  • “Supernatural” – Adam Woods

First up on stage Adam Woods. It’s an EDM pop, reminds me of Avicii, Alesso, Swedish House Mafia, in general Swedish dance bangers. Amazing vocals, great production, but everything is there for a reason. It is an immersive experience, Adam plays with the LED throughout his performance, on the floor and in the back LED screen. There are flowing projections on there that make you feel like you’re drowning in love, in combination to the song. Would love to see him as a DTF!

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

  • “Hela världen väntar” – Samir & Viktor

Typical Samir & Viktor song in Swedish, of course an “oj oj oj” part would be there. This song got the crowds involved a lot. Vocally they seemed a bit off, the chorus part was okay since there were mainly the backing vocals. The staging also reminds me of concepts of Fokas Evangelinos. Large prop with stairs and projections of cities and natures at the back. In the first two rehearsals the colours were a bit more cold, now they kind of changed the tint of the background LED  screens to more earthy colours and a more vivid turquoise. By the end, glitter got thrown in the arena and the crowd started cheering manically. Pyro and fireworks also made their appearance.

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

  • “Min melodi” – Melina Borglowe

It’s a guitar-based pop song with obvious indie elements. I can hear Thomas G:Son contribution to the song. Melina‘s voice is so sweet, but she sounded much more confident in her two first rehearsals, at some point she kind of lost it. It is this kind of Melfest entries, with a girl, a guitar, dark background and lights all around, very emotional and cute. But would this be a worthy direct qualifier, to the finals though? Not sure, but a pleasant song overall. The audience clapped as they should but they didn’t go manic over this performance.

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

We are halfway through this heat’s numbers. Coming up, we have a Schlager diva, an emotional ballad and an aggressive rock song. Let’s move on to numbers 4, 5 and 6.

  • “Forever Yours” – Elisa Lindström

Schlager party is the theme, if you know what I mean. Lots of pink, glitter, light, glow. Elisa shines, so you’d better wear sunglasses during this performance. Elisa does what Sweden knows to do best. High notes and an ear-candy key change! The staging reminds me kind of the one that Andromachi had with Cyprus back in 2022. But make it Swedish and put it 20 levels higher than what you saw. Four silver dancers, two girls and two boys. The audience went crazy, also fireworks made an entrance! Great great great! This one at least remains in the competition!

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

  • “Awful Liar” – Lisa Ajax

A love power-ballad for Lisa this year. Reminds me of a Natalie Imbruglia ballad. Guitar and strings on the plate for a hapily sad song. Beautiful song. Moon behind her, a girl and a boy doing a contemporary dance routine around her. Her vocals are on point and she makes us all get relatable and get all the feels. We’ve all been there, where we have been betrayed, lied to, cheated on. You feel all of this by listening to this song. Not sure if she will qualify directly to the finals or remain in the competition. Either of the two, I think she’s not getting disqualified.

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

  • “Heroes Are Calling” – Smash Into Pieces

Their distinctive sound is there, the song in my opinion is stronger than their entry last year, expectedly with an amazing production to the last touch. Their staging now I think is a bit less than last year, I probably had more expectations since they did that great in 2023. The Apocalypse DJ is behind the led screens and can be seen in parts of their performance. A very cinematic presentation and as the guys said in their interview, the whole idea was that we are following Apoc in his own mission. Red laser beams and strobe lights add to the staging. Chris’ voice always sounds like the studio version, if not better. At the end it’s all about fireworks! Is this song a contender for the win? I think it is. Smash into Pieces make a great impact to the audience. But it is too early to say.

Photo: Andreas Papayiannakis

After the six performances, Carina‘s husband footballer Erik Berg brings this year’s trophy, the Sångfågel, which has pink tiles on it

Photo: Stina Stjernkvist / SVT

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

The Intervals

Photo: Jimmy Wixtröm / Aftonbladet

Already in this round, the first of five, there is an interval with a capital I when the successful group A-Teens reunites to celebrate their 25th anniversary. For the first time in eighteen years, Marie Serneholt, Sara Lumholdt, Dhani Lennevald and Amit Paul will perform together, and will offer a sparkling medley with both their own and some of ABBA‘s songs. First song is ABBA‘s “Mamma Mia“. “Upside Down“ followed, which was released as first single from their second album, then “Floorfiller” backed by six dancers, lots of lights and laser beams. This is very impressive. Again on ABBA mode, with the song “Gimme, gimme, gimme (A Man After Midnight)“!

The virtual Direct Qualifiers

First voting round virtual winner: “Hela världen väntar” – Samir & Viktor

The first voting round winner move from the green room onto an intermediate small stage in the middle of the audience and sing their song. At the moment Samir & Viktor are performing and on the LED screen of the main stage the word “FINALIST” is displayed. By the end of their performance they just rush onto the main stage and wrap up with their performance.

Second voting round virtual winner: “Forever Yours” – Elisa Lindström

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: “Supernatural” – Adam Woods
Second voting round virtual 3rd place: “Min melodi” – Melina Borglowe

Second voting round results

Age-band 3-9 years old virtual winner: “Forever Yours” – Elisa Lindström

Age-band 10-15 years old virtual winner: “Forever Yours” – Elisa Lindström

Age-band 16-29 years old virtual winner: “Forever Yours” – Elisa Lindström

Age-band 30-44 years old virtual winner: “Forever Yours” – Elisa Lindström

Age-band 45-59 years old virtual winner: “Forever Yours” – Elisa Lindström

Age-band 60-74 years old virtual winner: “Forever Yours” – Elisa Lindström

Age-band 75+ years old virtual winner: “Forever Yours” – Elisa Lindström

Televoting virtual winner: “Min melodi” – Melina Borglowe

A prediction

It is hard to decide, the victory of Loreen has stepped up the game and everyone has done a great job this year. After the general rehearsal, I would expect Adam Woods  and Smash into Pieces to be the DTF acts and Elisa Lindström along with Samir & Viktor or Lisa Ajax to 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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Elisa Lindström: “Maybe I can meet fans and sing the song along with them! I’m longing to meet you!” | 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 Malmö we got the chance to meet a few people involved in this year’s Melodifestivalen. Among those was Elisa Lindström who had us over at Quality View Hotel, the appointed artist hotel in Malmö next to Malmö Arena on an extensive interview.

Εveryone who’s following Melodifestivalen knows who that wonderful lady is, Elisa Lindström. We got the chance to see her perform on stage, yesterday morning. Her song is like a Schlager-bomb, the Schlager-bomb we all need! But what was the thinking behind the song, when Elisa co-wrote this?

“So, Henrik Sethsson, Henric Axelsson, Thomas G:son and Erik Bernholm have written it. And I was just in the finishing of writing it. When I got the song to me, it was almost done. So, it was a super nice experience to listen to the song for the first time. And I was, okay, yeah, the demo, I need to try this. And I just thought, it’s something special here. And then I went up to Stockholm to Henrik and recorded it. Then we did some changes in the end and it felt like it was written to me.”

They did not write the song at a songwriting camp, they did it privately. As she says, the genre is totally Henrik Sethsson and Thomas G:son, it’s their soul. Henrik Sethsson and herself talked about it earlier that it all came from their heart.

“We love this kind of music. And it’s so nice to show it for people. And yeah, we want everybody to dance and sing.”

To my eyes, Elisa is literally doing what Sweden knows to do best. It’s the Schlager song, with that kind of pop diva on stage. So much glitter and glow. Elisa adds on that:

“Yeah, we wanted to create a number that was exactly as we feel for the song. That it’s the glitter and this uplifting feeling. And I think Jennie Widegren and Lotta Furebäck has really worked that out so well. We had a mood board that we sent to them. And some words that were important. We want a modern Schlager party. And we want glitter and feminine energy. And then they came back with an idea.”

The Eurovision fan base, on Twitter mainly, they’ve gone nuts with Elisa’s song. How did she react when I mentioned that?

“Oh, I’m so happy. You know, it’s crazy. I’ve just been in this little bubble. And I’ve lived with the song. And now it’s like, people they’re going to listen to it. And maybe I can meet the fans and sing this song along with them. And I get goosebumps because that’s what I live for. I’m longing to meet you. And when you’re a bit drunk, you can like… And just scream out. The message is just throw yourself out in love, to be brave and just sing it and dance and be free..”

Her last time at Melodifestivalen was in 2021, so this is her third time. How does she feel she has evolved as an artist? She explains:

“Oh, I think a lot because I’ve worked so much on stage and I’ve worked with so many talented people that has inspired me and helped me grow. And also, I’m 10 years older from when I first did Melodifestivalen here in Malmö and I have the opportunity now again. I also have a little daughter, so she has also taught me so much about myself. So I think I’m much more calm and secure about who I am and what I want to give to people. And I’m a bit touched when I talk about that because she has really shown me that what’s important and that I just want to bring joy through music.”

She wants people to focus on the fact that the song is up-tempo. That it has a lot of energy and it suits her energy very well and she can totally be herself and just throw herself out there.

“So I want them to feel the love and the joy and the power that I feel and that the song has and that power that music has also. Just that the people can feel the joy and the love is what is important in the world and that also maybe this can be a break from all the troubles that we live in. So this can be like a magical little bubble that we can rest in and just be happy and fill up with energy.”

She wants to touch the soul of the viewers to help give themselves that break to also just be happy.

“And I don’t know, it’s a competition and you know, there’s so many great songs. But for me, it’s the most important thing that I reach people and I feel that I’m doing it already. So that’s my goal. And also my goal is to come out there and sing live with you.”

She is also sending a message to all her Swedish and international fans out there:

“The song that I’m going to sing is about to be brave enough to stand in love. And yeah, I hope you will feel that and feel my love to you and to the music.”

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

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

Follow us in all our social media, so that you’ll not miss anything regarding the your favourite national selection process:

 

 

 

 

 

Sweden: Watch clips from the rehearsals of the Melodifestivalen 2024 first heat!

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As usual, a few hours before each Melodifestivalen heat, SVT published the rehearsal clips of all six competing artists of the first heat of February the 3rd, taking place in Malmö.

A while ago, the first 30 second rehearsal clips of the upcoming heat got published! You can watch the published clips, by clicking on the song title links below:

In the meantime, you can read through the lyrics of all six competing songs of this heat in our previous article.

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 3rd, Melodifestivalen will take place in Malmö, then Göteborg follows and finally the final show in Stockholm on the 9th of March.

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 the above artists do you think will be the direct qualifiers to the finals?

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

 

 

 

Smash into Pieces: “If people love what we are doing, we think we can win!” | 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 Malmö we got the chance to meet a few people involved in this year’s Melodifestivalen. Among those was the group of Smash into Pieces who had us over at Quality View Hotel, the appointed artist hotel in Malmö next to Malmö Arena on an extensive interview.

Benjamin, Pierre and Chris were there but The Apocalypse DJ was missing, so the guys made fun of that by saying that I was Apoc!

“It’s always on a mission. So you never really know where is but I think it’s somewhere in Arcadia. Has the same body shape as you so really maybe it’s you, I think that’s the secret!”

Smash into Pieces have been doing so much, doing tours and even on the dates of Eurovision they’re supposed to be in Canada and the US. In case they win, what are they gonna do? How are they gonna handle it?

“Oh It’s gonna be it’s too big to handle. I mean we have we don’t really go there in our thoughts. And we also thought about just having a laptop in Canada to just live stream our performance straight from Eurovision. (Chris) My girlfriend would love that!”

Chris is gonna have his second kid this summer. So I got the chance to ask who is this song for. Then they said:

“For everyone actually, I mean everyone have this inner superhero hero calling on them. So it’s like follow your dreams and listen to your heart, listen to inner voice. It’s this mentality of Smash into Pieces that anything standing between us and our dreams is smashing to pieces.”

They wrote the song after last year’s entry. They let us in on more info for the song:

“They gave me a call after my session and he was like I really need you this this night. Like it’s gonna be a late session tonight. So I Just went to the next studio and the song came about. We worked with Linnea, Joy, Jimmy… He emailed us We were in Finland on tour and he needed like I need some a high note from Chris Adam for the song. At the end and we just recorded it on our laptop and he put it in and we sent it like a demo to Melodifestivalen. So it was nice.”

A couple of hours after our interview they were supposed to have their first rehearsal on stage. So what should we all expect?

“You should expect more than this last year. I mean this gonna be a cinematic show. You’re gonna follow Apoc on his journey We are part of this in this world and it’s gonna be, yeah, really visual.”

Smash into Pieces are already a very successful band. Why did they choose Melodifestivalen as a platform to showcase their music?

“We are a visual band and for us it’s like, as long as we were about to do our thing in this show, I think it’s the best showcase you can have in Sweden. So for us it was like an experiment, of course. But when we did it, we felt like this went the right way, we did what Smash always do on this stage. For us that’s what it is. It’s a great stage to be on and we love big stages and love big LED screens. Almost like we can combine our music videos with our live band experience and yeah it’s a great forum for us.”

They’re gonna have something bigger this year, they promise a lot more than what we saw back in 2023. They are gonna play with everything they got on stage. Are they back for the win?

“Yeah sure. I mean I don’t go there in my thoughts but I mean we if people love what we are doing I think we can win.”

You can watch our exclusive interview with Smash into Pieces 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: Listen to the song snippets of the first Heat of Melodifestivalen 2024!

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As usual, a couple of days before each Melodifestivalen heat, SVT publishes snippets of all six competing songs of the heat. A while ago, the song snippets of the first heat got released.

The competing songs of the first heat:

In the meantime, you can read through the lyrics of all six competing songs of this heat in our previous article.

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 3rd, Melodifestivalen will take place in Malmö, then Göteborg follows and finally the final show in Stockholm on the 9th of March.

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 the above artists do you think will be the direct qualifiers to the finals?

 

 

Adam Woods: “We called the lyrics note of the song ‘the winning song’!” | 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. Before visiting the city of Malmö, for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 Semi-Final allocation draw, Andreas spent a week in Stockholm.

There he got the chance to meet a few people involved in this year’s Melodifestivalen. Among those was Adam Woods who had us over at LoudKult HQ in Stockholm on an extensive interview.

So, we’ve seen Adam last year with Arc North and Jon Henrik Fjällgren, and now he’s coming back solo. Adam feels amazing to be back and he goes on:

“Already, last year, I was thinking about it, I had done this thing, and it felt amazing, and I gave it my all, but ultimately, I was there, I was singing for Jon Henrik, and I was doing a performance which was ultimately not mine. But now I get the chance to be me, and to show who I am, and to show a song that I’ve made, and a performance that I’ve made. So, I’m super excited.”

On the song he literally amazed us by saying that they called the lyrics note of the song “the winning song”! He explains more about this:

“I wrote the song with a dear friend of mine, William Segerdahl, Calle Hellberg, who’s my A&R, actually, at this publishing. So, they jumped in a session with me and Jonna Hall who is also an old friend. I think we called the lyrics note “the winning song“! And it wasn’t because we had already written it. It was literally beforehand. But we just went into the studio, and we just had this vibe, this feeling that, okay, this is really going to be something special. We didn’t know why. I knew I had a story to tell. And William had brought up some chords. And I was like, yes, this is perfect. This is going to work.”

Is he aiming for the win this year? He responds:

“I want to make a mark. I want people to feel something truly special. I want everyone to feel what I felt when I wrote the song. And everything that I’ve done up to this point has been with the idea in mind that I’m going to make something truly special. And with that in mind, to win the contest as well.”

Danny Saucedo‘s songwriters are idols of Adam. He said he is very curious about what Danny‘s song is gonna sound like and he thinks it’s really good. He feels very honoured that SVT chose him to open the whole tour, as he will perform first in the first heat of the tour:

“It’s crazy. I honestly thought that Samira Victor was gonna open, just because they have that fan base and people know who they are. I’m like, nobody knows who I am, why should I open? But I’m super, I’m really just so honored. Because like you said, it’s a star-studded year, it’s full of huge names, and to be able to be the opening firing shot of that is so cool.”

About the staging, initially he didn’t wanna say much but then he let us into more details about it:

“I mentioned to you, I think last time we spoke, that I wanted it to feel immersive, and to make it feel truly immersive I have to be part of that environment, and I have to be part of the performance. I will say that it’s not about props, so I won’t be having any dancers, and the stage is going to be very simple because I want people to feel like this is just me, it’s just the song, and it’s raw, and it’s naked, even though it’s this big bombastic EDM banger, it’s still that close to your heart, you know?”

His big aim is an international career. So by winning the contest he hopes to be seen and loved around the world too:

“I’ve also been planning a lot about what comes next, because I think I’m only going to do this once and I want to make it amazing. And then I want to push it forward and be able to launch an international career. So, this is a stage one, in a long line.” 

He neither adjusted the song for Melfest nor for a workout playlist or a festival thing, that’s why Adam says it’s not pure EDM:

“I adjusted for the song. And the song needed to feel intimate. And it needed my voice to be there the entire time. So again, it’s about the song. And it’s about making that. But the instrumentation, the synths, and the drums, they’re all very, very EDM. And please do look at every detail of it. There’s nothing there that doesn’t have to be there. So if you see it, then you can read stuff into it. And I’m really, really excited to hear what you guys think. And let me know, because I’m just a DM away.”

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

 

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

Follow us in all our social media, so that you’ll not miss anything regarding the your favourite national selection process: