Eskiltuna, 24 Fabruary 2024
Sweden’s national selection Melodifestivalen continues its merry march towards the end, with the four heat taking place in Eskiltuna on Saturday evening. Not without its stakes, as Danny Saucedo and Dotter, two of the favourites to win Melodifestivalen are in this heat. As defending champion and hosts of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, Sweden have automatically qualified for the Grand Final on 11 May 2024, allow whoever wins the right to represent them to skip the semifinal stage.
Melodifestivalen, which has been a prestigious music festival since 1966 and has functioned as Sweden’s selection method since, is held in venues all over the country. The first live show took place in Eskiltuna, at the Stiga Sports arena.
The show which was hosted by Carina Berg, saw the following artists compete for a spot in the Melodifestivalen Final on 9 March 2024:
- Albin Tingwall – “Done Getting Over You”
- Lia Larsson – “30 KM/H”
- Dotter – “It’s not easy to write a love song”
- Scarlett – “Circus X”
- Lasse Stefanz – “En sång om sommaren”
- Danny Saucedo – “Happy that you found me”
The songs that place 1st and 2nd at the end of the night will advance to the final. In a departure from recent editions, Melodifestivalen no longer has a proper Second Chance Round (refered to by fans as “Andra Chansen” although that name had been discontinued since 2022). Instead, it will hold a “run-off vote” between the 3rd and 4th placers in the other semifinals after the results of the fifth heat have been made public, picking the last two finalists. The songs that finish in 5th and 6th place are eliminated from the process with no chance at redemption.
At the end of the first round of voting in a show fully dedicated to Danny Saucedo’s birthday, he surprisingly won the first round of televoting and qualified for the Mello final with his song “Happy that you found me“.
After Danny’s signature display of humility (and the reprise), a second round of voting opened to determine the second finalist: To the shock of many, Dotter, in the top five odds to win Melfest, emerged on top with 84 points from the different app vote categories. Actually surprising, Albin Tingwall finished third, with a reasonably high 63 points, while Scarlet snagged a spot in the run-off with 60 points.
That means that Dotter is the second finalist, while Albin and Scarlet get a second chance in the run-off vote (to be held at the fifth heat). Lia Larsson and Lasse Stefanz were eliminated.
Do #YOU agree with the Swedish choices? Which acts would #YOU have advanced to the final? Let us know in the comments, or join the discussion on our Forum or in our Discord!
