Sweden: Security planning for Eurovision 2024 in Malmö intensified!

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As you’ve read on one of our articles last week, based on the increased terrorist threat level, the Swedish Police Authority had decided to ban bags at major events in Sweden.

Consequently, Malmö is currently evaluating the current situation caused by the ongoing Middle-East conflict and is discussing the ways of making the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest as safe as possible.

Speaking to Sveriges Radio, Nils Norling, spokesperson for the police of Malmö mentioned:

“If we look at Malmö during the last month, we have seen a certain increase in hate crime. Daily we see manifestations, mostly pro-Palestinian. So we cannot exclude that people will try and carry out various manifestations.”

Up until now, the police of Malmö hasn’t identified any direct threats to the contest, but it goes without saying that the intelligence work will intensify as we are approaching to the contest.

Sveriges Radio also interviewed Karin Karlsson, who is the lead for organising the events of Malmö municipality. Karin reflected on one manifestation against the Israeli participation that was carried out back in 2013 and added:

“I think that we need to act preventively and keep in mind that more could happen than in 2013, and then follow the things the police tells us to do.”

Apart from the Eurovision Song Contest, the city of Malmö will host several events in public or outdoor spaces. But does this pose a threat according to Karlsson?

“We try to look at places where we are used to having good security and controls, so the places we want to use should feel safe.“

More safety specifications regarding the Eurovision Song Contest will be released within the following months.

The 68th Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Malmö, Sweden in 7, 9 and 11th of May 2024, after the second win of Loreen in Liverpool, with her song “Tattoo”:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the next year’s Eurovision Song Contest!

Source: Sveriges Radio

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MTV EMA 2023: Eurostars among the award recipients!

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The 2023 edition of the MTV Europe Music Awards may have been cancelled due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war for security reasons, however this did not prevent the hosts of announcing the winners of each award category. Winning artists were revealed yesterday and hence will receive their awards at a later stage.

The regional European MTV awards have a strong connection with Eurovision, as many artists emerge each year from the contest and introduce themselves into a wider audience. As a result, there could not be an MTV winning artists’ list without the presence of Eurovision stars.

Specifically,

  • Måneskin, the winners of Eurovision 2021, have won in the “Best Rock” category as well as in the “Best Italian Act“. This marks the second time they have been awarded with the “Best Rock”, following 2021 and the first time with “Best Italian Act“, after being nominated for three times.
  • Gjon’s Tears has been awarded the “Best Swiss Act” award for the second time, following 2021, the year he competed in Eurovision, finishing third.

Best Nordic Act

This year, we could all agree that the “Best Nordic Act” category was a bloodbath. All the three artists nominated for the prize were Eurovision 2023 artists. Loreen, Alessandra and Käärijä were nominated, indicating the big commercial success they had after achieving a top five placement in Liverpool.

The choice was hard, but in the end Käärijä from Finland won the award of the “Best Nordic Act”.

Other Eurovision artists nominated

Along with the aforementioned, there were more Eurovision stars nominated for an award in the MTV EMA 2023, such as

  • Sam Ryder (United Kingdom 2022) was nominated for the “Best Push Artist” category
  • and S10 (Netherlands 2022) was nominated for the “Best Dutch Act” category

“Best Israeli Act” missing

Reading the winning artists’ list, we can easily notice the absence of the “Best Israeli Act” category. There is no information given by the awards committee about the exclusion of the category referring to the Israeli music scene and to what extent it is connected with the ongoing war.

Nevertheless, on the nominated artists’ list, Noa Kirel, the Israeli representative in Liverpool, was also found. Noa Kirel, even before her introduction to the European audience the past May, has been a multi-nominated and multi-awarded artist in the MTV EMAs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3mIcCllJXY

You can check the full list of the winning artists here.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all news!

Sweden: Ticket sale for Melodifestivalen 2024 just kicked off!

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As you’ve read in one of our previous articles, ticket sales for all shows of Melodifestivalen 2024 has already started today, at 10:00 CET in the morning.

The tickets are available through Ticketmaster and Live Nation, while there is a limit of six tickets per user per credit/credit card.

On the website of Ticketmaster, there is a reference to the bag ban on all major events, but the link that is supposed to provide more information about the ban doesn’t actually work.

We remind you that Melodifestivalen 2024 is scheduled to take place between February 3rd to March 9th, while SVT has received 2624 songs.

As you have read in one of our past articles, the final list of Melodifestivalen participants will be published on the 1st of December, at a press conference hosted by SVT at their headquarters in Stockholm.

This is the schedule of 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, Eskiltuna
  • Heat 5: Saturday 2 March 2024, Löfbergs Arena, Karlstad
  • Final: Saturday 9 March 2024, Friends Arena, Stockholm – Solna

The 68th Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Malmö, Sweden in 7, 9 and 11th of May 2024, after the second win of Loreen in Liverpool, with her song “Tattoo”:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the most loved Eurovision national final!

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Sweden: Two returning acts and a debutant with Greek roots, clear for Melodifestivalen 2024!

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Aftonbladet’s Torbjörn Ek did it again and revealed three more participating acts for Melodifestivalen 2024! We remind you that last year, Aftonbladet revealed 24 out of the 28 acts of Melodifestivalen 2023, even before SVT announced the line-up officially.

Who doesn’t remember Medina, whose debut was an utter success? Or Maria Sur this year with the power-balad and the strong message? In addition, Kim Cesarion prepares his comeback in the industry, by participating in next year’s Melodifestivalen tour!

Who are Medina?

Medina is a Swedish hip hop duo formation with Arabic influences made up of Swedish artists of Tunisian descent, being Sami (born Sami Daniel Rekik), a former professional football player in Tunisia and Ali (born Ali Jammali). Sami is also of Finnish descent as his mother is Finnish.

Sami Rekik of the duo took part in Melodifestivalen 2021 in collaboration with WAHL with the song “90-talet“. Medina reunited to enter Melodifestivalen 2022 with the song “In i dimman” and finished in 3rd place.

Who is Maria Sur?

Maria Sur is a 19 year old Ukrainian singer who lives and works in Sweden. She is best known for participating in Melodifestivalen 2023 with her song “Never Give Up“. Sources of Aftonbladet claim that, she was surprised by her record label, when they informed her that she is in the contest next year again.

Who is Kim Cesarion?

Kim Hugo Leonel Niko Cesarion is a 33-year-old Swedish singer-songwriter of Guadeloupean and Greek origin. Cesarion was born in Stockholm to a Guadeloupean father and a Greek Cretan/Swedish mother. Cesarion is a classically trained musician. He studied at Lilla Akademien, a highly acclaimed music school in Stockholm, and plays several instruments including the violin, piano, double bass, and viola, as well as drums. He is signed with RCA, Sony Music and Columbia. It’s been a while since he last made music and he plans on coming back to the Swedish music industry by taking part in the contest. He made his big breakthrough in 2013 with the song “Undressed” which became a worldwide hit, with over 88 million streams on Spotify and success in the Nordic countries as well as Australia, New Zealand and the United States and we remember him with his duet with Molly Hammar “Show Me“.

We remind you that Melodifestivalen 2023 is scheduled to take place between February 3rd to March 9th, while SVT has received 2624 songs.

As you have read in one of our past articles, the final list of Melodifestivalen participants will be published on the 1st of December, at a press conference hosted by SVT at their headquarters in Stockholm.

The list of artist that are reportedly participating at Melodifestivalen 2024 are:

  1. Lasse Stefanz
  2. Smash into pieces
  3. Dotter
  4. Liamoo
  5. Samir & Viktor
  6. Elecktra
  7. Cazzi Opeia
  8. Lisa Ajax
  9. Marcus & Martinus
  10. Clara Klingenström
  11. Adam Woods
  12. Kim Cesarion
  13. Medina
  14. Maria Sur

This is the schedule of 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, Eskiltuna
  • Heat 5: Saturday 2 March 2024, Löfbergs Arena, Karlstad
  • Final: Saturday 9 March 2024, Friends Arena, Stockholm – Solna

The 68th Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Malmö, Sweden in 7, 9 and 11th of May 2024, after the second win of Loreen in Liverpool, with her song “Tattoo”:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the most loved Eurovision national final!

Source: Aftonbladet

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Sweden: Bag ban in all major events, effective last Wednesday! | How are Mello and Eurovision affected?

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Based on the increased terrorist threat level, the Swedish Police Authority has decided to ban bags at major events in Sweden.

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Sweden: The 2024 line-up will be announced on the 1st of December, according to a press release by SVT!

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Earlier today, SVT sent a press release by email stating that on the 1st of December there will be the announcement of all 30 artists and songs that will compete at Melodifestivalen 2024, at a press conference, in Stockholm! The competition producer Karin Gunnarsson joined by Melodifestivalen‘s project manager Anders Wistbacka will present the 30 songs competing in Melodifestivalen 2024 and the artists who perform them. The entries’ starting order, presenter, stage and other news about Melodifestivalen 2024 will be presented later this winter.

This is the schedule of 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, Eskiltuna
  • Heat 5: Saturday 2 March 2024, Löfbergs Arena, Karlstad
  • Final: Saturday 9 March 2024, Friends Arena, Stockholm – Solna

The 68th Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Malmö, Sweden in 7, 9 and 11th of May 2024, after the second win of Loreen in Liverpool, with her song “Tattoo”:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the most loved Eurovision national final!

Source: SVT

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Sweden: Marcus & Martinus are back at Melodifestvalen 2024!

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Aftonbladet’s Torbjörn Ek and Stina Dahlgren surpised us tonight by revealing a couple more artists that will take part in Melodifestivalen 2024! We remind you that last year, Aftonbladet revealed 24 out of the 28 acts of Melodifestivalen 2023, even before SVT announced the line-up officially.

It seems like we will have a 2023 deja vu next year. Marcus & Martinus and Adam Woods, who impressed everyone with his first-time-on-stage performance with Jon Henrik Fjällgren and Arc North. Also Clara Klingenström returns for a second time after her debut in 2021.

Who are Marcus & Martinus?

They finished second to Loreen , got to sing for Crown Princess Victoria and are going on an arena tour this winter. Now Aftonbladet reveals that the Norwegian twins Marcus & Martinus Gunnarsen, 21, are returning to Melodifestivalen next year to try to repeat, and preferably surpass, this year’s success. Are they back to win the whole thing?

Who is Clara Klingenström?

Clara Klingenström, 28, will also return to the competition next year. She debuted in the competition in 2021 with “Behöver inte dig idag” and was awarded the same year with a Rockbjörn for this year’s breakthrough.

Who is Adam Woods?

In addition, several sources confirm that Adam Allskog, 22, is also ready for Melodifestivalen. In this year’s competition, he was praised for his singing efforts when he competed together with Jon Henrik Fjällgren and Arc North . Now, according to several sources, he has been given a place in Melodifestivalen as a solo artist, under his stage name Adam Woods.

Many artists are still waiting!

The new format of Melodifestivalen starting from 2024, with five sub-competitions and a total of 30 competing artists, is said to be the reason why this year there is a little delay in the announcements. Things are going a little slower this year after the reshuffle, there is probably a risk that some won’t be informed until just days before the press conference. According to sources, there is no deadline. This is how it always is. People feel stressed and wonder when the news will come. But there is no deadline, except for the day when all the names are presented. It’s just for everyone to wait.

We remind you that Melodifestivalen 2023 is scheduled to take place between February 3rd to March 9th, while SVT has received 2624 songs. The final list of Melodifestivalen participants will be published later this year, between end of November and beginning of December.

The list of artist that are reportedly participating at Melodifestivalen 2024 are:

  1. Lasse Stefanz
  2. Smash into pieces
  3. Dotter
  4. Liamoo
  5. Samir & Viktor
  6. Elecktra
  7. Cazzi Opeia
  8. Lisa Ajax
  9. Marcus & Martinus
  10. Clara Klingenström
  11. Adam Woods

This is the schedule of 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, Eskiltuna
  • Heat 5: Saturday 2 March 2024, Löfbergs Arena, Karlstad
  • Final: Saturday 9 March 2024, Friends Arena, Stockholm – Solna

The 68th Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Malmö, Sweden in 7, 9 and 11th of May 2024, after the second win of Loreen in Liverpool, with her song “Tattoo”:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the most loved Eurovision national final!

Source: Aftonbladet

Follow us in all our social media, so that you’ll not lose a thing of what’s happening Eurovision:

Sweden: One debutant and two more artists return at Melodifestivalen 2024!

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Aftonbladet’s Torbjörn Ek and Stina Dahlgren just added up to the list of Melodifestivalen 2024 participants with new potential acts! We remind you that last year, Aftonbladet revealed 24 out of the 28 acts of Melodifestivalen 2023, even before SVT announced the line-up officially.

After Samir & Viktor, we have two more returns and a Drag Race Sweden artist that will come in next year’s version of Melodifestivalen! Fans are already familiar with Lisa Ajax, the four-times Melodifestivalen contestant and Cazzi Opeia, who debuted in 2022 with the song “I Can’t Get Enough” and co-wrote “Tattoo” that gave this year’s second victory to Loreen and seventh victory to Sweden! Drag Race Sverige star Elecktra is also added to the list.

Who is Elecktra?

In the SVT series “Drag Race Sweden“, based on Ru Paul’s cult American competition program, Elecktra broke through at the 1st season of the show and placed 4th. Now, according to sources, she has been given a place in Melodifestivalen 2024 and according to sources she is completely ready!

Who is Lisa Ajax?

It will be the former “Idol” winner’s fifth time in the competition, three times she has reached the final, either directly or via the second chance, in 2016 with “My heart wants me dead“, in 2017 with “I don’t give a” and in 2019 with “Torn“. In 2022, she finished last in her heat with ”Tror du att jag bryr mig”, a duet with Niello.

Who is Cazzi Opeia?

Cazzi Opeia (stage name of Moa Carlebecker) debuted in Melodifestivalen 2022, where she finished ninth in the final. Later that spring, she won the American Song Contest, as one of the songwriters for the entry “Wonderland“, performed by the artist AleXa.

In 2023, she returned to Melodifestivalen as one of the songwriters for Loreen‘s “Tattoo“, with which she won the Eurovision Song Contest.

Many artists are still waiting!

The new format of Melodifestivalen starting from 2024, with five sub-competitions and a total of 30 competing artists, is said to be the reason why this year there is a little delay in the announcements. Things are going a little slower this year after the reshuffle, there is probably a risk that some won’t be informed until just days before the press conference. According to sources, there is no deadline. This is how it always is. People feel stressed and wonder when the news will come. But there is no deadline, except for the day when all the names are presented. It’s just for everyone to wait.

We remind you that Melodifestivalen 2023 is scheduled to take place between February 3rd to March 9th, while SVT has received 2624 songs. The final list of Melodifestivalen participants will be published later this year, between end of November and beginning of December.

The list of artist that are reportedly participating at Melodifestivalen 2024 are:

  1. Lasse Stefanz
  2. Smash into pieces
  3. Dotter
  4. Liamoo
  5. Samir & Viktor
  6. Elecktra
  7. Cazzi Opeia
  8. Lisa Ajax

This is the schedule of 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, Eskiltuna
  • Heat 5: Saturday 2 March 2024, Löfbergs Arena, Karlstad
  • Final: Saturday 9 March 2024, Friends Arena, Stockholm – Solna

The 68th Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Malmö, Sweden in 7, 9 and 11th of May 2024, after the second win of Loreen in Liverpool, with her song “Tattoo”:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the most loved Eurovision national final!

Source: Aftonbladet
Photo: Oscar Appelgren

Follow us in all our social media, so that you’ll not lose a thing of what’s happening Eurovision:

Sweden: Jessica Andersson has submitted a song for Melodifestivalen 2024!

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In an interview to Anna & Hans Shimoda and Aftonbladet, Jessica Andersson revealed that she has submitted an entry for Melodifestivalen 2024, in the hopes of getting selected to become next years Swedish representative at Eurovision Song Contest 2024 to be held in Malmö, Sweden! Among others she mentions:

“I have actually sent in a song, but have not been informed whether it has been included or not. I can’t tear myself away from Mello, it’s so much fun. If it came, I would be very happy.”

Who is Jessica Andersson?

She appeared in TV3‘s talent show “Fame Factory” in 2002, but the big breakthrough came the following year when Jessica Andersson together with Magnus Bäcklund as the duo Fame won the Melodifestivalen with “Give me your love“.

She has competed at Melodifestivalen eight times in total, twice as a member of the duo Fame and six times as a solo artist, making it her ninth time, should she get selected by SVT to compete at next years version of the Swedish national final.

The list of artist that are reportedly participating at Melodifestivalen 2024 are:

  1. Lasse Stefanz
  2. Smash into pieces
  3. Dotter
  4. Liamoo
  5. Samir & Viktor

This is the schedule of 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, Eskiltuna
  • Heat 5: Saturday 2 March 2024, Löfbergs Arena, Karlstad
  • Final: Saturday 9 March 2024, Friends Arena, Stockholm – Solna

The 68th Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Malmö, Sweden in 7, 9 and 11th of May 2024, after the second win of Loreen in Liverpool, with her song “Tattoo”:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the most loved Eurovision national final!

Photo: Jonas Ekströmer/TT
Source: Aftonbladet

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Sweden: Liverpool inspires Malmö on how Eurovision 2024 should be hosted, Karin Karlsson says!

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Karin Karlsson, who’s in charge of organising the event for Malmö municipality, was part of a group of people representing Malmö who travelled to Liverpool earlier this week, to discuss and evaluate the financial impact on Liverpool, after its hosting of the competition this year. As we had reported in one of our past articles, Liverpool grossed £55 million of profit, that was injected into the local economy and the numbers of visitors exceeded all expectations.

In an interview of Karin with Sveriges Radio, she gave her insight on how Liverpool and their hosting can inspire Malmö next year:

“It’s really inspiring how they worked to develop the brand in the whole city, that is a very very important learning for us to bring in this time. It was really strict last time we co-operated with the EBU and the broadcaster, Liverpool seemed to have pushed it a bit forward and used it more freely which had a marvelous affect on the city and the whole event.”

Malmö has been allocated with the same budget as the one they had back in 2013, a budget of just over €2.5 million for hosting and all the related activities, however, in real numbers this is a smaller budget than a decade ago, Karin comments on that:

“We will have exactly, almost the same budget this time, so with all the inflation the money is actually smaller this time. We will have to cooperate, this is the key factor for us this time, cooperate with companies in the city, all organisers. I think it’s going to be tough for us, we will make it but we need to do exactly the same as Liverpool has done.”

Despite all the challenges posed by the current worldwide inflation, Karin believes that they are in a better position than where they were the last time Malmö hosted the contest:

“We already know what this is, we are in a much better position than we were in last time. We can do it in another way from last time.”

The 68th Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Malmö, Sweden in 7, 9 and 11th of May 2024, after the second win of Loreen in Liverpool, with her song “Tattoo”:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the most loved contest!

Source: Sveriges Radio

Follow us in all our social media, so that you’ll not lose a thing of what’s happening Eurovision: