Stockholm, 5 February 2022
It is time, honeys!!! We are kicking off the most anticipated selection of the year, Sweden’s Melodifestivalen. Tonight saw the first heat where 7 hopefuls competed for two coveted slots in the final.
The show, hosted in Stockholm and presented by Oscar Zia, saw a few changes from previous years. A smaller audience was present during the live show, and the usual tour (the heats are usually held in different cities all over Sweden) was cancelled due to a certain corona-virus. Although the restrictions were recently reversed in Sweden, this adjusted format was kept for the first week at least.
Tonight saw the following Line-up compete:
- Malou Prytz – “Bananas”
- THEOZ – “Som du vill”
- Shirley Clamp – “Let there be angels”
- Omar Rudberg – “Moving like that”
- Danne Stråhed – “Hallabaloo”
- Cornelia Jakobs – “Hold me closer”
- Robin Bengtsson – “Innocent love”
Fans of the Eurovision song contest may recognize Robin Bengtsson who is on his fourth try in Melfest, having previously won the Swedish music festival in 2017 with the song “I can’t go on”. Malou Prytz and Omar Rudberg make their return having participated twice before. Melfest legend Shirley Clamp also participated for the eighth time overall.
After the 7 songs were performed, fans had a short time window to cast their votes via the app or televote. After that, the first part of the results came in.
Unlike previous years, the first result announced the current leader of the televote. He or she would then be declared Direkt Til Finalen (autoqualified for the finale), when the vote reopens for the six remaining acts.
Although not considered a favourite before the show, Cornelia Jakobs impressed with her pop ballad and was announced the first finalist at this stage.
After Cornelia advanced, lines re-opened for the remaining six acts. After the second round, Oscar Zia announced Theoz and Danne Stråhed as the two semifinalists that will move on to compete in Andra Chansen. Then, which came as a surprise to no one, Robin Bengtsson was proclaimed the second DtF qualifier of the night:
DtF: Cornelia, Robin
AC: Theoz, Danne
Out: Malou, Shirley, Omar
Do #YOU agree with Sweden’s results? What are #YOUR thoughts on Cornelia and Robin? Let us know in the comments, on social media or on our forum HERE. Alternatively, join the discussion on our Discord HERE.
