Sweden: Issues with Loreen’s staging?

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

Tonight the final of Melodifestivalen 2023 takes place, after 4 heats and a second chance semi-final. Tonight’s absolute favourite is none other than the winner of Eurovision 2012, Loreen, who will perform “Tattoo” tonight, claiming to represent Sweden in the contest for the second time.

Loreen has already got all eyes on her, with her song having already amassed 8 million streams on Spotify and having climbed to #1 on the Swedish TOP 50 on the same platform. The interest is also piqued by her very unique and technologically advanced stage performance, which includes two platforms with led screens, one filled with sand and the other hanging above it.

Technical issue with the weight of the platform

In the great possibility that Loreen will win the representation of Sweden at Eurovision 2023 tonight, her team will have to deal with an important technical issue. The second platform hanging above Loreen is required to be supported by the ceiling. The weight of this platform, however, is 1.8 tons! The lighting rig, from which this platform hangs, will probably not be able to support it in Liverpool.

Photograph from the lightning rig from the Melodifestivalen 2023 stage!

In fact, in the photo above we can see that Loreen’s platform is hanging on the lighting rig throughout the show and it may be practically impossible for the same to happen on the Liverpool stage.

Furthermore, the lighting rig at Eurovision is significantly larger than the one used at Melodifestivalen, as it needs to support a much larger number of acts, and it needs to ensure that this year’s 37 participants have the same capability to present what they want on the Eurovision stage.

John Lundvik’s corresponding request had been rejected

The reluctance of the Eurovision organisers to allow objects of advanced technology to hang from the ceiling can be seen in the similar problem that the Swedish delegation faced in 2019.

In John Lundvik‘s Melodifestivalen 2019 performance, a large led construction stood out, hanging from the ceiling. However, its transfer to the Eurovision stage was not possible due to the rejection of the Swedish delegation’s request by the organisers and a similar structure which was supported on the ground was used.

The attitude of SVT and the organisers towards the emerging technical issue

Anders Wistbacka, project manager of Melodifestivalen, clarifies that any discussion with EBU and BBC will take place after the end of Melodifestivalen, when we will know for sure who the Swedish representative is, and says that:

“We haven’t reached that point yet, but I think you can now hang things that you couldn’t before. However, I don’t know if that means this 1.8 ton structure can be hung or not.”

The organisers of this year’s contest, on this issue, state that:

“It (SVT) knows all the details of what can and cannot be used on the Liverpool stage.”

Anders Wistbacka also states:

“We’ll see what happens. It might not work. If it doesn’t work, then we’ll find another solution if Loreen does win. We may, however, have another winner and have to adjust to other circumstances.

We will know what we will have to adapt to depending on the winner. This adaptation may be either easy or challenging.”

Loreen, says that she doesn’t have an alternative plan for her staging so far, however if she is called upon to come up with an alternative plan, she will! She competes tonight in the Melodifestivalen final with “Tattoo“, in the running order of 10!

Source: aftonbladet.se

If the speculations that Loreen will win the Sweden representation tonight are indeed confirmed, do you think she will be able to carry her stage performance to Liverpool? Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news for Sweden’s participation in Eurovision 2023!

Sweden: Who is the favourite to win Melodifestivalen 2023, according to today’s betting odds?

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

Melodifestivalen 2023 Final show will be aired tonight at 20:00 CET on SVT and SVT Play. Twelve contestants will have to perform their song and compete in order to claim their ticket to Liverpool, UK, in order to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest this year.

Tonight’s contestants

  • “Where You Are (Sávežan)” – Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Arc North feat. Adam Woods
  • “Rhythm Of My Show” – Tone Sekelius
  • “One Day” – Mariette
  • “Air” – Marcus & Martinus
  • “On My Way” – Panetoz
  • “Never Give Up” – Maria Sur
  • “Six Feet Under” – Smash Into Pieces
  • “Where Did You Go” – Kiana
  • “Släpp alla sorger” – Nordman
  • “Tattoo” – Loreen
  • “Mer av dig” – THEOZ
  • “Royals” – Paul Rey

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, according to the betting odds, Loreen is in the lead, with a winning chance of 1.02, Marcus & Martinus and Smash Into Pieces follow.

Let’s see what is going to happen, when we will get the chance to watch the actual Final show 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 at Friends Arena!

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

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

Source: Eurovision World

Sweden: Grand Final of Melodifestivalen 2023 tonight!

/0 Comments/in , /by

Melodifestivalen 2023 finishes tonight, with the Grand Final of this year’s Swedish national selection. Four heats, one semi-final and the grand final have kept us company till March 11, when we will officially find out the representative of Sweden in Eurovision 2023.

Participants

In tonight’s Final, twelve entries claim the Swedish ticket to Liverpool. These artists are:

  1. Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Arc North feat. Adam Woods – “Where You Are (Sávežan)”
  2. Tone Sekelius – “Rhythm Of My Show”
  3. Mariette– “One Day”
  4. Marcus & Martinus – “Air”
  5. Panetoz – “On My Way”
  6. Maria Sur – “Never Give Up”
  7. Smash Into Pieces – “Six Feet Under”
  8. Kiana – “Where Did You Go”
  9. Nordman – “Släpp alla sorger”
  10. Loreen – “Tattoo”
  11. THEOZ – “Mer av dig”
  12. Paul Rey – “Royals”

Format

The winner of Melodifestivalen 2023 and Sweden‘s representative at the 67th Eurovision Song Contest will be chosen 50% by the vote of the Swedish public and 50% by the vote of an international jury.

The dates of Melodifestivalen 2023

  • Heat 1: Göteborg – Saturday 4 February 2023 (Scandinavium)
  • Heat 2: Linköping – Saturday 11 February 2023 (Saab Arena)
  • Heat 3: Lidköping – Saturday 18 February 2023 (Sparbanken Arena)
  • Heat 4: Malmö – Saturday 25 February 2023 (Malmö Arena)
  • Semi-Final: Örnsköldsvik – Saturday 4 March 2023 (Hägglunds Arena)
  • Final: Stockholm – Satuday 11 March 2023 (Friends Arena)

Melodifestivalen 2023 is scheduled to take place between February 4th to March 11th and will be hosted by Jesper Rönndahl and Farah Abadi.

The final of Melodifestivalen 2023 will start at 20:00 CET and will last two hours. You can watch it through the SVT frequency by clicking HERE.

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

Sweden: The general rehearsal of the Final Show of Melodifestivalen 2023! (Live)

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

The general rehearsal of the Melodifestivalen 2023 Final has just started. EurovisionFun is at Friends Arena, in Stockholm and we are happy to be watching it live on-site. We will be covering this rehearsal siting right in the arena, describing in detail what is happening during the show and all the vibes we get, for you to follow the entire process and get the feeling that you are here with us tonight!

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 general rehearsal for the final show, allowing you to get a glimpse of what you will get to see tomorrow March 11th, at 20:00 CET, when you watch the actual final show on SVT and SVT Play.

Read more

Marcus & Martinus: “Soon we will be back to Greece for a concert, during our European tour!” | Exclusive interview!

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

Marcus Gunnarsen and Martinus Gunnarsen, the known Norwegian duo of Marcus & Martinus, turned 21 just three days after the third heat of Melodifestivalen 2023, in which they participated. Winners of the first round of voting, they have secured their place in the semi-final show and are also big favorites to win in the final show, on March 11th!

Eurovisionfun is in Stockholm and Marcus & Martinus met us at the Quality Friends Hotel, right next to the arena and Andreas Papayiannakis secured an exclusive interview with them just two days before the grand final! They commented on their number this year, their love for Greece, their new beginning in Sweden, their relationship with the composers of their participation this year as well as the reasons why they preferred Melodifestivalen instead of MGP.

After today’s rehearsal they feel more confident compared to the week of the third heat that took place in Lidköping.

We are very excited, we feel ready, we want to start now, to get on stage and do it for the people!

Marcus & Martinus became widely known to the Norwegian public through “Melodi Grand Prix Junior” in 2012, but they feel that they have changed a lot as artists eleven years later:

We are more experienced and have changed a lot. Since then we have been on stage quite a lot and we hope to be able to show to the people that we have evolved even compared to the last show we did in Sweden.

Going back eleven years, Marcus & Martinus were guests at that year’s MAD VMAs where they performed “Make You Believe In Love”. They could not hide their love for Greece and have added:

If we win this year we will do a promotional tour in Europe right away, if not, after the summer we will start a European tour and we will definitely visit Greece! We love Greece, we love our fans in Greece, they are great!

Last year we spotted them at the after-party of the semi-final of Melodifestivalen 2022, held at the Friends Arena. Since very recently, they are now based musically in Sweden, Stockholm in specific. They commented on their decision:

Stockholm is the capital of music in all of Scandinavia. There are many good musicians, composers, lyricists, producers. It’s amazing for us to work in Stockholm!

Their collaboration with the composers of Air didn’t happen by chance as they have worked with all of them before, especially Joy (“Next To Me“) and Linnea Deb (“One Flight Away“) several years ago.

We knew that if we wanted to make a song for Melodifestivalen we had to work with the best. We have known them for many years, we have good chemistry with them. We are very happy about the song that came out!

When asked if the song was aiming Melodifestivalen they were clear! This song was written to be a fit for Melodifestivalen and the Eurovision Song Contest:

It only took us four hours to write the song. To some, this may sound like a lot, but for us who write music, is not at all! The day had a great flow and everything went perfectly!

But why did they prefer Melodifestivalen instead of MGP which is the Eurovision selection procedure of the country they were born and raised in? They answered us that everything had to do with the right timing. After their victory in “Masked Singer Sverige” and over the last year they’ve done several things in Sweden:

We know that Melodifestivalen is very important for Sweden and the Swedes, it’s really nice to be part of it, perform at the Mello tour with all those concerts around Sweden and it’s really an honour for us to be part of it.

In their staging and performance in the final show, they do not intend to make many changes except some minor improvements. However, if they are selected on Saturday to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest, they will make several changes and promise us that we will see many cool things!

Like most artists, the pandemic has affected them both professionally and personally and Marcus adds:

Both personally and professionally the pandemic affected us a lot! We couldn’t do concerts, get in touch with our fans, we couldn’t release new music because we couldn’t promote it. But at the same time it was also a time for us to feel like normal teenagers. We are from a very small village with about 800 people, we went to our first party at the age of 18 years old, we drank alcohol for the first time when we were about 19 – 19 and a half years old. It affected myself more than Martinus, I wanted to be able to work but all I could do was wait for this to be over!

Of this year’s Melodifestivalen songs, they like “On My Way” by Panetoz which they consider very underrated but has very nice vibes, “Where Did You Go” by Kiana and of course “Tattoo” by Loreen.

Watch the full interview with Marcus and Martinus below:

Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel to be the first to enjoy interviews, reaction videos and Live streams for our favorite contest!

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all Eurovision related news!

Sweden: The international jury that will help determine the winner of Melodifestivalen 2023 just got revealed!

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

We now know the eight countries that SVT has inviter and will comprise the international jury. Those countries will get the chance to vote and help determine the winner of Melodifestivalen 2023, who will finally get a ticket to Liverpool, in order to represent the country in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

The eight countries of the international jury

The results of Melodifestivalen 2023 at the final show, get determined 50-50 by the televotes and the votes of the countries that SVT selected and will comprise the international jury.

The countries comprising the international jury this year will be:

  • Australia
  • Belgium
  • Croatia
  • Latvia
  • Malta
  • Spain
  • Germany
  • Austria

The voting age-groups

The viewers vote for their favourite number, based on their age group. One either can vote by phone or with the use of the Melodifestivalen app.

Before being able to vote, the app users must register their age. The viewers are allocated into the following seven age groups:

  • 3-9 years old, Green group
  • 10-15 years old, Turquoise group
  • 16-29 years old, Blue group
  • 30-44 years old, Purple group
  • 45-59 years old, Pink group
  • 60-74 years old, Red group
  • 75 years old and above, Orange group

Combined voting results

There are eight categories in all, one is the televoting and the rest are the seven age-groups. Each category gives 58 points in total at the finals, distributed to the acts accordingly. Also the change of the number of countries in the international jury, from eleven to eight was implemented so that the number of countries match the number of voting categories of the public. At the end of the voting process, the juries will decide 50% of the votes and the public vote will provide the remaining 50% of the points.

Final Show Running Order

  • Where You Are (Sávežan) – Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Arc North feat. Adam Woods
  • Rhythm Of My Show – Tone Sekelius
  • One Day – Mariette
  • Air – Marcus & Martinus
  • On My Way – Panetoz
  • Never Give Up – Maria Sur
  • Six Feet Under – Smash Into Pieces
  • Where Did You Go – Kiana
  • Släpp alla sorger – Nordman
  • Tattoo – Loreen
  • Mer av dig – THEOZ
  • Royals – Paul Rey

The Show

Jesper Rönndahl and Farah Abadi will present Melodifestivalen 2023. The heats are following the touring concept again, after SVT had pulled back last year due to health restrictions in Sweden, with the finals being held at Friends Arena! With the next show of the contest on Saturday March the 4th, Melodifestivalen will take place in Örnsköldsvik and finally the final show in Stockholm follows on the 11th of March.

The detailed schedule of Melodifestivalen 2022 is described below:

  • Heat 1: Göteborg – Saturday 4 February 2023 (Scandinavium)
  • Heat 2: Linköping – Saturday 11 February 2023 (Saab Arena)
  • Heat 3: Lidköping – Saturday 18 February 2023 (Sparbanken Arena)
  • Heat 4: Malmö – Saturday 25 February 2023 (Malmö Arena)
  • Semi-Final: Örnsköldsvik – Saturday 4 March 2023 (Hägglunds Arena)
  • Final: Stockholm – Satuday 11 March 2023 (Friends Arena)

Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun, for all the latest developments regarding Sweden’s entry for Eurovision 2023!

Maria Sur: “Sarah Dawn Finer helped me to break into the Swedish music industry and then Warner signed me!” | Exclusive interview!

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

The 18-year-old Ukrainian artist Maria Sur is making her Melodifestivalen 2023 debut this year and was the winner of the second heat and a big favorite to win the whole thing in the final on March 11!

Eurovisionfun is in Stockholm and Maria Sur welcomed us at the headquarters of Warner Music Sweden and spoke exclusively to Andreas Papagiannakis, a few days before the grand final! Among other things, she commented on her appearance this year, her breakthough in “Hela Sverige Skramlar“, how challenging her song “Never Give Up” was for her, about the composers of her participation this year and more.

Maria became widely known to the Swedish public through the charity gala “Hela Sverige Skramlar” and comments:

We managed to raise about 8 million euros in aid for Ukraine, a huge amount. I will never forget that night!

Her way into the Swedish music industry was not that easy as she tried to get in touch with many big artists to discuss “Hela Sverige Skramlar” which she wanted to be a part of:

Only Sarah Dawn Finer responded. She helped me contact the organizers, I managed to take part in it and then Warner approached me! We had a very long meeting and discussed everything and then after a while they got me signed!

She came to Sweden with her mother about a year ago after the war break-out in Ukraine with Russia, as her aunt has been living there for about eleven years. Her father has been forced to stay back in Ukraine:

We contact him every day, as much as possible. It is very difficult at this time due to electricity cut-offs and the phone lines are not so good.

She studies at a music school in Sweden and also does distance learning music classes at a Ukrainian university:

It is difficult to combine my studies at the same time as trying to establish a career in Sweden, but so far it is going well.

She is delighted to have the opportunity to work with Laurell Barker and Anderz Wrethov and explains how the song was written:

Anderz initially sent me the song which had always been called “Never Give Up” but there were no lyrics yet. Then I talked with Laurell, she listened to my story, wrote the lyrics and then this song came out. The song is autobiographical and basically describes my story. It’s definitely not a song I would normally sing, I usually sing more uptempo songs. It’s a challenging song for me, very difficult vocally. I have to convince the audience and present my story at the same time!

She explains to us that we will not see significant changes in her stage presence. Maybe the clothes or the hair, but nothing drastic to the whole performance. She still hasn’t realized what has happened since her appearance at Melodifestivalen and says:

I am very slow to process things. I started to understand what was going on after my appearance in Linköping. I think it will take me another week. I definitely feel that Melodifestivalen is a good opportunity for me to present myself to the people in Sweden but also outside of Sweden and to become known as an artist! My song has a very strong message to “never give up”! In less than a year of being here I have never given up and so many good things have happened in my life already!

Before Friday of the second heat week she was, as she mentions, very stressed and the adrenaline was so much because she had very high expectations, but after Saturday she started to enjoy it.

Everyone was telling me to chill and enjoy it and the next conversation was “are you going to win”? The interaction with the crowd was very beautiful, I felt such a blessing and the people made me feel very calm.

Out of this year’s Melodifestivalen songs, she likes Marcus & Martinus‘s “Air” and of course Loreen‘s “Tattoo“, Smash Into Pieces‘ “Six Feet Under” and Ida-Lova‘s “Låt hela stan se på“.

Watch the full interview with Maria Sur below:

Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel to be the first to enjoy interviews, reaction videos and Live streams for our favorite contest!

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all Eurovision related news!

Sweden: Eurovisionfun Reacts To “Melodifestivalen 2023 Finalists Recap”

/0 Comments/in , , , , /by

After 5 Semi-finals, this year Melodifestivalen comes to an end this Saturday with 12 finalists but one winner, who will represent the country in Liverpool this May!

The Eurovisionfun team couldn’t help but see and comment on the 12 participants  from Sweden for the upcoming Eurovision contest! Enjoy  Apostolis,  Aps and Thanos in a reaction/review video with detailed commentary for this year’s Melodifestivalen 2023 entries!

Also, on our Youtube channel you can enjoy exclusive interviews with some of the finalists from Melodifestivalen 2023:

For more CLICK HERE!

The finalists:

  1. “Where You Are (Sávežan)” – Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Arc North feat. Adam Woods
  2. “Rhythm Of My Show” – Tone Sekelius
  3. “One Day” – Mariette
  4. “Air” – Marcus & Martinus
  5. “On My Way” – Panetoz
  6. “Never Give Up” – Maria Sur
  7. “Six Feet Under” – Smash Into Pieces
  8. “Where Did You Go” – Kiana
  9. “Släpp alla sorger” – Nordman
  10. “Tattoo” – Loreen
  11. “Mer av dig” – THEOZ
  12. “Royals” – Paul Rey

Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel to be the first to enjoy interviews, reaction videos and Live streams for our favorite contest!

 

Stay tuned to Eurovision Fun for all the news regarding Sweden’s participation in Eurovision 2023!

 

Sweden: The running order of the Final show of Melodifestivalen 2023 just got revealed!

/1 Comment/in , , , /by

SVT just announced the running order of the contestants that will have to compete with each other next Saturday, March 12, at the finals of Melodifestivalen 2023, claiming a ticket to Liverpool, UK, at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. We remind you that the final show of the Swedish national selection process will take place once more at Friends Arena.

The running order is determined, each year, by the production team of Melodifestivalen, taking into consideration both the competing songs’ musical qualities as well as stage performance and other production considerations and can be seen below:

Final Show Running Order:

  1. Where You Are (Sávežan) – Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Arc North feat. Adam Woods
  2. Rhythm Of My Show – Tone Sekelius
  3. One Day – Mariette
  4. Air – Marcus & Martinus
  5. On My Way – Panetoz
  6. Never Give Up – Maria Sur
  7. Six Feet Under – Smash Into Pieces
  8. Where Did You Go – Kiana
  9. Släpp alla sorger – Nordman
  10. Tattoo – Loreen
  11. Mer av dig – THEOZ
  12. Royals – Paul Rey

Jesper Rönndahl and Farah Abadi will present Melodifestivalen 2023. The heats are following the touring concept again, after SVT had pulled back last year due to health restrictions in Sweden, with the finals being held at Friends Arena! With the next show of the contest on Saturday March the 4th, Melodifestivalen will take place in Örnsköldsvik and finally the final show in Stockholm follows on the 11th of March.

The dates of Melodifestivalen 2023

  • Heat 1: Göteborg – Saturday 4 February 2023 (Scandinavium)
  • Heat 2: Linköping – Saturday 11 February 2023 (Saab Arena)
  • Heat 3: Lidköping – Saturday 18 February 2023 (Sparbanken Arena)
  • Heat 4: Malmö – Saturday 25 February 2023 (Malmö Arena)
  • Semi-Final: Örnsköldsvik – Saturday 4 March 2023 (Hägglunds Arena)
  • Final: Stockholm – Satuday 11 March 2023 (Friends Arena)

Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun, for all the latest developments regarding Sweden’s entry for Eurovision 2022!

Sweden: Nordman, THEOZ, Kiana and Mariette are the four last finalists of the semi-final show of Melodifestivalen 2023!

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

Ninety minutes ago, the show for the semi-final of Melodifestivalen 2023, started off on SVT and SVT Play. And we are here to share the results of the night with you! 

The semi-final show took place at Hägglunds Arena, in Örnsköldsvik and four numbers were voted and are added up to the lineup that will have to perform on the 11th of March, when the finals will take place at Friends Arena.

But how things developed during the night?

Read more