It’s all gearing up in Sweden for the next edition of Melodifestivalen. Tomorrow the official artists and song titles announcement is expected, and the Eurovision community can’t wait!
What do we know so far?
The 58th edition of the competition will be held between 2nd February and 9th March 2019. Gothenburg, Malmö, Leksand & Lidköping will host the semi-finals while Nyköping will host the second chance show known as Andra Chansen. Stockholm will host the final in Solna.
The presenting group this year will be Sarah Dawn Finer (Melodifestivalen legend), Kodjo Akolor (television presenter), Marika Carlsson (comedienne) & Eric Saade (Sweden 2011 and former Melfest participant).
Who are the expected artists according to Swedish tabloids?
The first group that will certainly be in this year’s competition are The Lovers of Valdaro, a duo consisting of Erik Gabriel Høiby and Adam Warhester. They were chosen by a professional jury to be pre-qualified for Melodifestivalen during the 2018 edition of the Swedish talent show P4 Nästa in August.
Oscar Enestad
The 21 year old was one of the founding member of the boyband FO&O. This would be Oscar’s second attempt in Melodifestivalen. He first competed in 2017 as part of the boyband FO&O, with their song “Gotta Thing About You” which reached 11th place in the final. Aftonbladet reported that Oscar will compete with a song about the love he feels for his 50 year old girlfriend Cecilia Dahlbom. According to the same reports, the song will also address the issues the couple face with their substantial age difference.
Arvingarna
Arvingarna is a Swedish dansband which was formed in 1989 and who competed in the Swedish Melodifestivalen in 1993, 1995, 1999 and 2002. In 1993 they won with the song ‘”Eloise” and represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest that year, where the song finished in 7th place. Could they make it a second participation in 2019?
Wiktoria
A lady who needs no introduction to many Eurovision fans! Wiktoria debuted in Melodifestivalen in 2016 with her entry Save Me, reaching 4th place in the final. Her second attempt was in 2017 with her entry “As I lay me down”. She reached the 6th place in the Grand Final. Will this year be her year?
Nano
Nano debuted in Melodifestivalen in 2017 with “Hold On”. He ended as runner-up to Robin Bengtsson, but could he go one better this time?
Jan Malmsjö
Jan will debut in Melodifestivalen at the age of 86. Jan is a famous Swedish stage and film actor, musical star and singer.
Anton Hagman
Anton debuted in Melodifestivalen in 2017 with “Kiss You Goodbye”. He finished in 10th place in the final, after famously beating Loreen in Andra Chansen.
Vlad Reiser
Born in Belarus, the 25 year old vlogger famous for his prank videos is set to debut in this year’s Melodifestivalen.
Bishara Morad
The 15 year old Instagrammer may also debut in this year’s Melodifestivalen. He will be 16 just two weeks after the first semi-final of the show making him eligible to participate in this year’s competition as one of the youngest contestants.
Ann-Louise Hanson
This will be the 14th time for Ann-Louise to participate in this competition. She currently holds the record for entering the competition the most times without winning once. Ann-Louise has also attempted to represent Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest in the past.
Jon Henrik Fjällgren
Another familiar name to many Melfest fans, Fjällgren participated in Melodifestivalen 2015 in the third semifinal with the song “Jag är fri (Manne leam frijje)” after rising to fame on Talang with his jojk singing. In the final in 2015 he was the runner-up to eventual Eurovision winner Måns Zelmerlöw.
He participated again in Melodifestivalen 2017 with the song “En värld full av strider (Eatneme gusnie jeenh dåaroeh)” alongside Aninia where they placed 3rd in the final.
Stay tuned to #escYOUnited later on tonight, as we detail more potential acts for Melodifestivalen 2019. Don’t forget that the official list of participants will be announced tomorrow morning, and we will bring #YOU all of the info first!
What do #YOU think of the rumoured names so far? Share your thoughts on the Swedish competition on our forum HERE, or below in the comments and on social media!
