Sweden – The home country of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 has released today the line-up for its famous national final, the Melodifestivalen 2016. Discover the 28 artists and how they were allocated to the four semifinals!
Just like last year, there will be four semi-finals of 7 artists, with 2 making it straight to the Stockholm final, 2 to the Andra Chasen (Second Chance) round and 3 eliminated. The shows will be hosted by Gina Dirawi and someone else: Petra Mede (semi-final 1), Charlotte Perrelli (semi-final 2), Henrik Schyffert (semi-final 3) and Sarah Dawn Finer (semi-final 4).
Semi-final 1: Gothenburg (February 6th)
- Mimi Werner – Ain’t No Good
(Mimi Werner, Göran Werner, Marcus Svedin, Jason Saenz) - Samir & Viktor – Bada nakna
(Fredrik Kempe, David Kreuger, Anderz Wrethov) - Robin Bengtsson – Constellation Price
(Bobby Ljunggren, Henrik Wikström, Mark Hole, Martin Eriksson) - Ace Wilder – Don’t Worry
(Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Anton Hård af Segerstad, Ace Wilder) - Anna Book – Himmel för två
(Sven-Inge Sjöberg, Lennart Wastesson, Larry Forsberg, Camilla Läckberg) - Pernilla Andersson – Mitt guld
(Pernilla Andersson, Fredrik Rönnqvist) - Albin & Mattias Andréasson – Rik
(Albin Johnsén, Mattias Andréasson)
Among the known names by MF or ESC fans (5 out of 7): Samir & Viktor took part last year, qualifying to the final from Second chance and ending 8th in the final; Ace Wilder took part in 2014 and finished 2nd after winning the jury’s votes; Anna Book was a big star in the 80s and she took part 3 times already in the contest, the last time in 2007 when she qualified straight to the final from 2007’s first semi-final and then ended up 9th in the final; Pernilla Andersson took part in the 2011 contest where she got to the Second chance; Mattias Andréasson took part in the 2012 contest but failed to make it out of his semi-final and he performs his song with Albin, who cowrote Behrang Miri’s song last year with Måns Zelmerlöw.
Semi-final 2: Malmö (February 13th)
- Victor och Natten – 100%
(Dag Lundberg, Melker, Jesper Lundh) - Krista Siegfrids – Faller
(Krista Siegfrids, Gabriel Alares, Magnus Wallin, Gustaf Svenungsson) - Molly Pettersson Hammar – Hunger
(Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Anton Hård af Segerstad, Molly Pettersson Hammar) - Patrik Isaksson, Tommy Nilsson & Uno Svenningsson – Håll mitt hjärta hårt
(Patrik Isaksson, Tommy Nilsson, Uno Svenningsson) - Isa – I Will Wait
(Anton Hård af Segerstad, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Nikki Flores) - Wiktoria – Save Me
(Jens Siverstedt, Lauren Dyson, Jonas Wallin) - David Lindgren – We are Your Tomorrow
(Anderz Wrethov, Sharon Vaughn, Gustav Efraimsson)
Among the known names by MF or ESC fans (5 out of 7): Krista Siegfrids represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 and qualified to the final where she ended 24th; Molly Pettersson Hammar took part last year and went first in the draw where she suffered the big app problem that allgedly prevented her from qualifying further; all members of the male trio took part before, Patrik Isaksson got to Second chance in 2006 but only got 5th in his semi in 2008 and then took part in the Danish NF in 2012 where he got to the Superfinal but finished 3rd, Uno Svenningsson got to the Second chance in 2007 and Tommy Nilsson represented Sweden in 1989 where he got 4th and took part again in 2007 when he qualified straight to the final from 2007’s first semi-final with Anna Book and then ended up 10th in the final; Isa took part last year and she qualified to the final where she ended 7th; David Lindgren took part twice, qualifying to the final both times, finishing 4th in 2012 and 8th in 2013.
Semi-final 3: Norrköping(February 20th)
- Oscar Zia – Human
(Oscar Zia, Victor Thell, Maria Smith) - SaRaha – Kizunguzungu
(Anderz Wrethov, Sara ”SaRaha” Larsson, Arash Labaf) - After Dark – Kom ut som en stjärna
(Sven-Inge Sjöberg, Lennart Wastesson, Larry Forsberg, Lina Eriksson, Kent Olsson, Calle Kindbom) - Lisa Ajax – My Heart Wants Me Dead
(Linnea Deb, Joy Deb, Anton Hård af Segerstad) - Boris René – Put Your Love on Me
(Boris René, Tobias Lundgren, Tim Larsson) - SMAILO – Weight of the World
(Arvid Ångström, Dennis Babic, Oscar Berglund Juhola, Anton Göransson, Robin Danielsson) - Swingfly feat. Helena Gutarra – You Carved Your Name
(Jocke Åhlund, Andreas Kleerup)
Among the known names by MF or ESC fans (4 out of 7): Oscar Zia was a back-up for Behrang Miri before taking part in the 2014 contest where he finished 8th; the drag act After Dark finished 3rd in 2004 but failed to qualify to the final in 2007; Lisa Ajax took part in the Youth MF in 2012; Swingfly finished 5th in 2011.
Semi-final 4: Gävle(February 27th)
- Martin Stenmarck – Du tar mig tillbaks
(David Stenmarck) - Panetoz – Håll om mig hårt
(Jimmy Jansson, Karl-Ola Kjellholm, Jakke Erixson, Pa Modou Badjie, Njol Badjie, Nebeyu Baheru) - Frans – If I Were Sorry
(Oscar Fogelström, Michael Saxell, Fredrik Andersson, Frans Jeppsson Wall) - Linda Bengtzing – Killer Girl
(Mattias Kallenberger, Andreas Berlin, Linda Bengtzing, Dag Öhrlund) - Dolly Style – Rollercoaster
(Thomas G:son, Peter Boström, Alexandra Salomonsson) - Eclipse – Runaways
(Erik Mårtensson) - Molly Sandén – Youniverse
(Molly Sandén, Danny Saucedo, John Alexis)
Among the known names by MF or ESC fans (5 out of 7): Martin Stenmarck won Melodifestivalen 2005 (in the first ever polemics since he was only second in televote) and finished at a disappointing 19th place in Eurovision, and he took part again in MF in 2014 but only got to the Second chance; Panetoz took part in the 2014 contest and qualified straight to the final where they finished 9th; this is Linda Bengtzing‘s 6th participation after 2005 (she qualified from Second chance to the final but got last in the final), 2006 (she qualified straight to the final where she ended 7th), 2008 (she qualified straight to the final where she ended 5th), 2011 (she qualified straight to the final where she ended 7th) and in 2014 when she failed to qualify to the final for the first time; Dolly Style took part last year and got to the Second chance; Molly Sandén first participated in JESC 2006 finishing 3rd for Sweden, then in MF 2009 where she qualified straight to the final but finished last with only 2pts from the juries, and finally in MF 2012 where she qualified straight to the final and this time finished 5th.
In the end, 17 out of 28 MF entries are performed by at least one person who already took part as a performing artist in MF and a few more are performed by artists already known to the ESC community! Is that a good or a bad thing? You tell us…
The Eurovision Times 
We are back! It’s like we never left. Lol
These have returned to ESC land:
the worst line-up ever?
As I wrote on the other thread: There are too many returning artists that gave us mediocre or bad entries before. It’s like getting to know the line-up for the Maltese NF …
Let’s hope that we’ll be pleasantly surprised.
I am happy to see Linda Bengtzing return. On the other hand, acts like Oscar Zia or After Dark are horror for a guy like me.
Linda has been boring the last couple of times and is also repeating herself. My one hope is that among newcomers we get more acts like Eko or Loreen’s “My Heart Is Refusing Me” to get us excited!
I agree that Linda’s last attempt was rather underwhelming but I still like her powerful “Jag ljuger så bra” from 2006 a lot. I hope that she won’t be another one in the long list of artists that finally managed to get to ESC was one of their worst songs. Anyway, I don’t expect her too be in a chance whatever the song.
Something like Emelie Irewald last year would be fantastic. Luckily, even if the quality was bad, every single MF line-up I know produced at least one masterpiece. :)
So far I agree, I’ve followed live every MF since 2005 and all go from 1 to a max of 4 masterpieces!
My history goes back to 2006. Gosh! Do you still remember the horrible webcasts we had for most NFs back then? Bufferbufferbufferbuffer ….
ahah I do, and SO pixelized
LOL I still remember watching FiK in 2006. I was sitting in front of a webcast with frozen picture and sound for 10 minutes. That was the moment I reaslised that I was a hopeless ESC addict …
Speaking of which, as an esc addict, Im adding the former participations in MF/ESC of all MF 2016 artists but cant really remember anything else from Anna Book than her 1986 “ABC”, what a horror!
LOL Traumatic memories …
Allow me to add “Samba Sambero”. If I remember correctly, Marko loved that one. :)
well yes, it had everything Marko loved!
MF 2007 started AWFULLY and the two that qualified straight to the final (Anna Book and Tommy) finished 9th and 10th in the final (bottom 2)… and they’re BOTH back in this year’s MF :o
Whatever Marko did wrong, he added to the diversity of tastes here for sure. :)
The start of MF 07 … the horror, the horror! At least they sent a decent song to ESC in the end, even if it fared badly and is probably the most hated Swedish ESC entry in the ESC fan community …
I adore The Ark, and consider “The Worrying Kind” as their worst song… but one of the very best Swedish entries to the contest :p
I don’t know The Ark’s work but agree on the rest.
Swedish songs in my pantheon:
1967 + 1996 (12/12)
1995 + 2012 (10/12)
1963 + 1993 (9/12)
“The Worrying Kind” is in 7th place with 8/12.
:)
* with
* to
Typo alarm. LOL
The most promising in the last 3 years imo
I am already feeling the Molly Sanden hype personally ! :-)
I genuinely hated Molly’s first songs (and most of all performance), but she’s an ok singer vocally so it’s just up to me warming up to her really… however, “youniverse” is a cringe worthy title… and a song by Danny!? He should have done MF himself, this edition seems dull enough that he would have won it hands down…
Danng would have a hard time to stand out among singers like Ace Wilder or both Mollies imo.
I really liked her 2009 entry but “Why I am crying” in 2012 was my winner on the night of the final even above Loreen – She gave one of the strongest performances in MF imo that night so I am hopeful that even with a less than stellar song she can stand out.
The idea of Danny writing the song is funny I admit and the result remains to be seen.
But we know MF – if they did not believe Molly had the song to carry her, she would not perform last in semi 4.
*Danny
the songs are in alphabetical order for now, says the official site, the draw has not been decided yet
(and lol at “Danng” which is a good nickname for him :p)
Hmmm..The only other act I can see closing semi 4 are Panetoz tbh (without knowing the songs of course).
Unless they put Dolly Style ! ;-)
Yeah it could be her, but she could open the semi too!
I don’t really know what to say about this.I know it’s hard to come up with an exciting line up every year especially since we’re talking about 28 entries but the vast majority of the come back artists is underwhelming.I hope some of the acts i don’t know will be worth discovering.Good luck!
PS:Get that loud,atention-seeking lady back to Finland.
My only hope is that’s it’s louder and more attention seeking this time.
I’m probably a little rusty, so my promotion may be a little off right now. By early 2016 I should be back to my old best. Get ready.
Lol!I hope your promo campaign will be short-lived and then we’ll go back to business as usual.By the way,have you checked the dates?She’s competing in the MF second semi on Febuary 13 and on the same night there’s a live UMK semi.I watched her blabbing on YLE earlier and i think she mentioned a helicopter that will take her back to Helsinki.I’m sure she’ll try to milk it and get the spotlight on her. :/
It seems to be working isn’t it? Already she is getting a disproportionate amount of attention.
It’s going to be a great ride once again. Buckle up.
like this? http://www.svt.se/cachable_image/1448890919/melodifestivalen/artister/2016/krista-siegfrids/article5084188.svt/ALTERNATES/extralarge_cinema/krista-jpg
Exactly!
Send in the Blue Helmets before the alex-dimitri issue runs out of the rudder! ;) :)
Lol!I think that we’ll sign a truce but not a peace treaty for the time being.
On the other hand, many fans think that FiK is a requiem. :)
Don’t worry, I’m going to sign the treaty too. After we claim total victory.
Here it comes!
As the article says, 17 out of the 28 acts have at least someone who has done MF before. That’s a bit too many. And none of the newcomers feel like someone who will plough new ground, maybe except of Lisa Ajax, who is one of the most interesting artists Idol has found during the latest years. The theme of this year seems to be young pop girls and rappers (four rappers – depending on how you count – is quite unusual).
So the artists are not that interesting. The songwriters are that instead. Did you notice f.e. that the songwriting giants Thomas G:son, Fredrik Kempe and Bobby Ljunggren only have one song each this time? I think we’re seeing a change here, with a lot of newinteresting names (ok, not the dull crime writer Camilla Läckberg but a lot of others :p ). The guys who wrote Swingfly’s song are the first I pay attention to.
I’m not saying anything yet. I wasn’t crazy about the line-up last year but I think it turned out to be one of the better editions. Good luck to us and heja Sverige! :)
the shift already happened last year, the Debs having won MF in 2013 and 2015 and therefore ESC in 2015, how many songs do they have this year?!
Yeah, The Debs dominate with four songs. But it’s just two editions since Kempe had four songs in the final! Is he over now, or did he just have bad luck?
well he used to be the MF master, but he’s also the one who sent two flops and two 3rd places in ESC, when G:son and the Debs won it
MF is the equivalent to Holy Mass for most ESC fans. :)
Btw, I’m glad Tommy Nilsson is back. “En dag” is one of our best entries. I attended a concert with him this summer. He was 45 minutes late and didn’t even apologise, that jerk. Lol.
But not so glad about his partners. Uno Svenningsson had a rather nice song back in 2007 (the only one in semi 1, maybe together with Tommy’s that was a bit too much cheese but still nice). On the other hand, Mr. Svenningsson has written one of my absolute hate songs; “Under ytan”. I’m not gonna link that shit so if you’re curious, you got to check it out on your own.
Anna Book… sigh. Why her out of all the old schlager artists that exist out there?
Linda Bengtzing. With a song in english? And what’s up with her Sinéad O’Connor haircut? Is it a new Linda we’re seeing?
I saw Linda’s new haircut and I was shockes really. Not flattering. At all.
*I was shocked
And as for Molly: her song “Youniverse” (lol) was written after the terrorist attack in Paris, they say. So just two weeks old. Talk about crossing the deadline.
“Youniverse” sounds like corny-lyrics alert but i’ll be open-minded.By the way,the fact they placed her last at the last semi may mean she’s tipped as one of the big favorites,don’t you think?
see my answer to guitar: it’s not the draw yet
They haven’t placed her last yet since the running order is not decided. But surely they will. ;)
And yes, she is most probably the pre-favourite. Out of the 14 songs that have had the last spot in the last semi, 10 have made it straight to the final so it’s a quite good sign if you get that spot.
Since 2010, it seems like I enjoy their entries the even years so I am wishing them all the best :D
PS : My opinion hasn’t changed over the months. An excellent stage presentation won this year and NOT the best song. Same happened in 2014 where the stage persona gimmik won over Netherlands
…
Belarus please. You now can prove you can be in my top 10. Do the right thing.
Well,he made the first time. :)
My Top 5 judged solely on names and expectations would be:
1. Pernilla Andersson
2. Martin Stenmarck
3. Linda Bengtzing
4. Mimi Werner
5. Patrik Isaksson, Tommy Nilsson & Uno Svenningsson
“Desperados” was one of three highlights in the extremely dull and poor year of 2011 (Christian Walz and Loreen were the others). I cross my fingers desperately for something similiar now.
2011 was plain awful none of the editions so far topped it! I didnt like “Desperados” at all but it wasnt at the level of all the other horrors… Loreen was by far the best thing that year!
I personally find MF 2011 to be plain boring, rather than awful. There are a lot of lame and bland (4/12), but few pure horrors (both 2012, 2013 and especially 2014 had more of that imo). And being boring could in many ways be worse than being awful, so I guess that’s why 2011 is my least favourite edition.
The 10 finalists in Belarus:
Alexander Ivanov – How to fly
Aleksey Gross – Flame
Anastasiya Malashkevich – Pray for love
Kirill Yermakov – Begu k solnsu
Valeriya Sadovskaya – Not alone
Radiovolna – Ne skhodi s uma
Navi – Geta zyamlya
The Em Obernis – Turn around
Sasha Zakharik – Noch’ siyaniya
Napoli – My universe
OMG those Napoli people again. Are they friends or family of Mr. Lukashenko?
Aleksey Gross: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2gZtwgDWE8
And all the finalists from their auditions: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO7cpk5GKwelAaMveZcmmMQ/videos
In the meantime,Christer Bjorkman believes that with this year’s MF line-up Sweden can win again: http://esctoday.com/107076/sweden-christer-bjorkman-can-win-eurovision/
I genuinely can’t find anything positive to say about this line-up. Who won Svensktoppen Nästa again?
I forgot already… Is Niclas ready to host us btw? :p
I have no idea what you’re talking about… :p
ask Marc :p
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