Junior Eurovision: Sweden Decides

Junior Eurovision – The Swedes have today chosen their entrant for Junior Eurovision. Lilla Melodifestivalen was broadcast on sverigesradio.se and you can find the official website here. Elias Elffors Elfström has just been chosen as the winner with ‘Det är dit vi ska‘. Elias is 13 years old and from Stockholm. Elias beat 7 other contestants in front of a 3-person jury which included Swedish Head of Delegation, Christer Bjorkman.

Rumour: Will ABBA’s Agnetha be in Malmö?

Malmo 2013 – Rumours are mounting that ABBA’s Agnetha Fältskog may be making an appearance at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Agnetha, now aged 62 and one quarter of Sweden’s most famous band ABBA, has just released a new single ‘When You Really Loved Someone‘. A new album entitled ‘A‘ is due for release on 13th May (Eurovision week).

Sweden: Melodifestivalen Breaks Records

Sweden – Broadcaster SVT must have been pretty happy with their viewing figures for this year’s Melodifestivalen as initial estimates put the figure at 4.1 million. That’s pretty impressive for a country of only 9.5 million people.  Initial figures show 4,130,000 people (20,000 more than last year’s final) watched last Saturday’s final, peaking with 4.3 million as the results were announced, a new record.

Sweden: Robin Stjernberg to Represent Host Country

Sweden – Melodifestivalen 2013 finally reached its climax tonight when Robin Stjernberg surprisingly chosen to represent Host country Sweden in May. Up against Ulrik Munther, David Lindgren, State of Drama, Anton Ewald, Louise Hoffsten, Ralf Gyllenhammar, Ravaillacz, Sean Banan and Yohio, Robin beat them all with his song “You”.

Sweden: Who Will Win Melodifestivalen?

Sweden – Saturday night sees the climax of this year’s Melodifestivalen contest in Solna’s Friends Arena. Over three million viewers are expected to tune in to see who will be crowned as Sweden’s representative. After weeks of heats and 2nd chances we are down to 10 finalists. The winner will book an automatic ticket, as host nation, into the Eurovision final on May 18th. Who will win? Vote now…

Sweden: International Juries Announced

Sweden - Melodifestivalen will climax on Saturday night in front of a packed Friends Arena in Stockholm. As is now traditional, international juries will help the Swedes choose their representative for the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö. All of the Big Five countries will be taking part, and Iceland, Italy and Israel take part as new members this year.

Sweden: Anton and Robin for Melodifestivalen Final

Sweden – In last night’s Andra Chansen second chance heat, the last two acts to make it through to next week’s Melodifestivalen final were Anton Ewald and Robin Stjernberg. Anton Ewald won the first duel against Bahrang Miri, and Robin Stjernberg won out over Martin Rolinski. Check out the two qualifier’s songs here…

Sweden: Andra Chansen Acts Get Second Chance!

Sweden – The infamous Andra Chansen (2nd chance) round of Melodifestivalen takes place in Karlstad on Saturday night. Guests include Jedward duelling with hosts Gina aand Danny, and Peter Jöback performing a song from Phantom of the Opera. Which acts could yet still make it to the Melfest 2013 final? Check out the hopefuls…

Sweden: Ulrik Munther and Ralf Gyllenhammar Qualify!

Sweden – In front of a packed Malmö Arena this evening, Ulrik Munther and Ralf Gyllenhammar were the two acts that qualified directly for the Melodifestivalen final which will take place in Stockholm on March 9th. The two acts qualifyingfor the Andra Chansen (2nd chance) contest next week were Behrang Miri and Robin Stjernberg.

Sweden: Heat 4 Song Clips Online

Sweden – The 2 minute 30 second clips from the fourth and final heat in this year’s Melodifestivalen are now online. They can be found on the SVT website here. The favourites to qualify from this heat are Ulrik Munther and Ralf Gyllenhammar. Check out the line-up for tonight and let us know your choice. 2 acts will qualify direct to the MF final, whilst another 2 will go into the Andra Chansen 2nd chance competition.

Sweden: Heat 4 Preview

Sweden – The fourth and final heat in this year’s Melodifestivalen takes place on Saturday night in Malmo, and the video rehearsal clips were today aired online. The 8 videos can been watched on the SVT website here. The favourites to qualify from this heat are Ulrik Munther and Ralf Gyllenhammar.

Sweden: Melfest Heat 3 Preview

Sweden – 4 acts have been chosen so for for the Melodifestivalen final which will be held in Stockholm on 9th March. 2 more will win a ticket this Saturday evening to the national final as Heat 3 takes place in Skellefteå. 2 more act will go through to the second chance round in Karlstad on the 2nd of March. See who is taking part in heat 3 on Saturday night.

Sweden: Second Melodifestivalen Semi-final Tonight!

Sweden – Last week saw Yohio and David Lindgren win tickets to the Swedish Melfest final at Friends Arena, but which two acts will qualify tonight from the second semi-final which is taking place in Gothenburg? Another 8 acts go head to head at 20.00 (CET). You can watch the live steam via SVT here.

Sweden: Melodifestivalen Kicks Off Tonight!

Sweden – Tonight sees the start of the Melodifestivalen contest in this year’s host country Sweden. They take Eurovision more seriously there than you can imagine, with more than a third of the country tuning in. So who will they pick this year to follow in Loreen’s footsteps? Can they do an Ireland and keep the trophy for two years in a row? Tonight’s first heat is live from Karlskrona at 20.00(CET).

Sweden: Melodifestivalen Rehearsal Clips Online

Sweden – Broadcaster SVT has uploaded short clips of the rehearsals of the first Melodifestivalen acts. You can watch the clips from the rehearsal at http://www.svt.se/melodifestivalen/ The first semi-final takes place this Saturday night in Karlskrona. Before the show longer video clips will be uploaded, at 14.00 (CET), showing 2,30 minutes of the official videos.

Sweden: Presentation Videos Online

Sweden – Swedish broadcaster, SVT has made presentation videos available today of the acts that will battle it out in Melodifestivalen 2013. Unfortunately they are all in Swedish. Apparently the performers are talking about their expectations of Melodifestivalen 2013 and about the songs that they will perform. The videos can be found here.

Sweden: Changes to Andra Chansen

Sweden – SVT have decided not only to make changes to this year’s Eurovision, but also to their own Andra Chansen round of the Swedish national Melodifestivalen competition. Previously there were 4 duels, with the 4 winners going through to the next round. This year will see all 8 compete directly against each other initially, with the top 4 going through to two duels.

Sweden: Line Up Complete!

Sweden - As reported earlier, the announcement for the last 16 entries in Melodifestivalen 2013 took place today a 10:00 CET on a webshow and then revealed in a press conference. Last year’s Ulrik Munther returns along witha few others (among which the most famous have to be two-times winner Tommy Körberg, 2009 runner-up Caroline af Ugglas and BWO’s Martin Rolinski) while there are many newcomers in the performing artists. Many returning names among the composers (Fredrik Kempe signs Janet Leon‘s entry, BWO’s Alexander Bard with his new-old group Army of Lovers or “Euphoria” composer Thomas G:son who in total has 5 songs this year). Find out the full list here!

Sweden: First Entries Announced!

Sweden - As reported earlier, the announcement for the 16 first entries in Melodifestivalen 2013 took place today a 10:00 CET on a webshow and then revealed in a press conference. Last year’s David Lindgren and Sean Banan return along witha few others (among which the most famous has to be Pernilla Wahlgren) while there are many newcomers in the performing artists. Many returning names among the composers (Fredrik Kempe signs Cookies ‘n’ Beans‘ entry, Måns Zelmerlöw, Henrik Wikström or “Euphoria’ composer Thomas G:son). Find out the full list here!

Sweden: First Songs To Be Announced

Sweden – Today, the Swedish brodadcaster SVT has announced that the first half of the songs to be taken part in the Melodifestivalen 2013, the selection show for the Eurovision Song Contest entry in Malmö, will be revealed on a webcast show! This show will be held in the 29th of November at 10:00 CET! Find out more here.

Sweden: Names Confirmed for Melodifestivalen

Melodifestivalen – The Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet has announced the names of entrants that it claims are definitely entered in this year’s Swedish Melodifestivalen. Many of the names will be familiar to Eurovision fans, as several have tried before. Sean Banan, David Lindgren and Ulrik Munther all return after failing in last year’s contest against Loreen. See how many names you recognise…

Sweden: Melodifestivalen Ticket Details

Sweden – Details for this year’s Melodifestivalen have been released by the Swedish organisers.  Melodifestivalen is one of the most popular national finals in the contest, and there will undoubtedly be even more interest this year in the run up to Sweden hosting ESC 2013 in Malmö. Ticket selling starts on October 25th 2012…

Sweden: First Melodifestivalen Entrant to Be Revealed

  Sweden – The Eurovision season seems to start earlier every year. This time, the 2013 host country Sweden will kick off the season. The first entrant of the immensely popular Swedish national final Melodifestivalen will be revealed Sunday, August 26. The radio channel P4 will hold the Svensktoppen nästa contest. The winner will get the right to perform in one of the semi-finals of

Loreen Meets Human Rights Activists in Belarus

  Sweden – The winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, Loreen, has performed at the government- supported music festival Slavianski Bazaar held inVitebsk, Belarus. Her performance was preceeded by an uproar in Sweden as the festival was opened by notorious dictator Alexandr Lukashenko. Amnesty International and several celebrities criticized Loreen and were concerned she could be exploited for political propaganda.

Loreen Causes Stir By Performing for Dictator

  Sweden/Belarus – The winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, Loreen, has caused some stir in her home country Sweden, when was made public that she will perform at a festival in Belarus, which will be opened by notorious dictator Alexander Lukashenko. At this year’s Eurovision Song Contest,

Loreen Performs at Allsång på Skansen

  Sweden – The winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, Loreen, performed on one of the most popular Swedish television shows last night in Skansen in Stockholm. She performed her winning entry “Euphoria” with a new drum intro and accompanied by strong drums. Allsång på Skansen (Sing-along at Skansen) is an annual concert series during the summer in Sweden, where many stars of the Swedish music scene appear and the audience is supposed to sing along

Gossip: Charlotte Perrelli’s Year of Horror

  Sweden – 2012 has not been a good year for Swedish Eurovision winner Charlotte Perrelli (1999, 2008) so far. With the song “The Girl” she failed to even qualify for the Melodifestivalen final this year. Apart form that she has trouble with her ex-husband Nicola Perrelli. The Italian, that Perrelli married in 2003, wants Charlotte to change her last name to her maiden name Nilsson. He told a newspaper: “We are divorced now and I want my last name back! I’m not a

Watch The Official Music Video for Euphoria

  Sweden – The official video of the winning song of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, Euphoria, was released today. The video shows Loreen dancing in a corn field and a forest. However, it does not feature the dance moves from her Eurovision performance. You can watch the video on the website of Swedish tabloid Expressen.

Sweden: Loreen Replaces ABBA in Hall of Fame

 Sweden - The winner of the 57th Eurovision Song Contest, Loreen, will be introduced into the Stockholm Hall of Fame at the Arlanda Airport in the Swedish capital. She will thus join popular Swedish figures of the royal family, sports, music and more. Loreens portrait will thus soon hang next to images of Christer Fuglesang,  Therese Alshammar, Carola and Greta Garbo. It will take the place of a famous ABBA poster which has been removed at the request of Benny Andersson to protest against a