Swedish journalist. In-house expert for
@SVTmelfest
at the public service broadcaster
@SVT
. The writer of Mellopedia. Personal account, not an official channel.
A piece of
#Eurovision
history.
Loreen rehearsing "Euphoria" a few hours after arriving to Växjö för the 1st heat of
#Melfest
2012.
My photos might be the only ones from the very first rehearsal on location.
Today she had another Wednesday rehearsal.
"Hold Me Closer" is the first winning song EVER in
#Melfest
with more than 1 female songwriter. It's written by Isa Molin (daughter of Bobby Ljunggren!), Cornelia herself and David Zandén.
👉
Interesting. 🧐 Loreen's "Tattoo" has the reportedly strongest entry ever of a
#Melfest
song on Swedish Spotify, charting at
#40
for Saturday, despite only behing released at 21:30.
Schlagerfesten reports that in 2022, "Bigger Than the Universe" entered as the highest, at
#101
.
I just ran into Loreen. She has updated her nails from smoky quartz in the heat to several different kinds of crystals in the final. They look spectacular up close too.
#Melfest
#Mellopedia
is gearing up for the final heat.
Loreen (📸: J. Danielsson/SVT) will be alone on stage. No backing vocals.
Her
#Melfest
stage show will be created by the conceptual and lighting designer Tobias Rylander.
Info on all the heat 4 entries:
👇
Loreen's
#Melfest
stage show will include a LED roof and a LED floor, 4 x 4 meters in size each (📸: Charli Ljung/Universal Music).
#Mellopedia
is updated with facts on the stage shows for all the entries this week.
👇
Loreen in 2023, Renaida in 2018 and Arvingarna in 1999 are the only entries who have had to be repeated in
#Melfest
history. Except Loreen due to tech. issues.
Loreen is the first one who has been interrupted midway. This is the first time ever with a stage invader in Melfest.
If you're in 🇸🇪, please vote in tonight's
#Melfest
using the charity phone number. The proceeds will go to people in 🇺🇦 and to adjacent countries where people can go to find shelter and safety.
👉099-908 0X is the number, where X is replaced by the number of the song.
💙💛
@MattJ6200
Please remove the video clip. This is content provided in trust by the SVT press department to accredited journalists.
Breaking this trust could lead to SVT limiting the number of accreditations next year, and everyone would suffer from that.
Can it be that for the songs selected for
#Eurovision
this far, there are no Swedish songwriters? I was reviewing and couldn't find any. Seems like a sign that the contest is moving in a new, positive direction of increased diversity, in that case.
A
#Melfest
slam dunk! 💥 No entry has surpassed 200,000 streams on the heat 4 Sunday in recorded history on Swedish Spotify. Loreen had 375,599.
6 songs in top 10. 17 songs in top 50. A contender for the strongest streaming year ever on the release day.
To all
#Eurovision
fans going here for the
#Melfest
grand final, welcome to Stockholm! 😁☃️
The biggest drama queen this week would be the weather.
Here's my house, for example.
Marcus & Martinus (🇳🇴) will be the first act to perform in a 5th
#Melfest
heat since 1971!
The stage show promises to bring changing high-tech walls, as well as dancers.
📸: Jonathan Perlemann/Universal Music Sweden
Wow, amazing! 🇸🇪🎉
So, Loreen, 1st woman to win
#Eurovision
twice, managed to tie Johnny Logan and Ireland in one swoop.
And Peter Boström and Thomas G:son wins for a 2nd time as composers.
It actually happened! 😯🎉
An insane Sunday list at Spotify Sweden! THE ENTIRE TOP 10 is from
#Melfest
2022.
23 out of the 28 songs from this year's contest are charting on the Top 50.
This is Sweden's biggest hit music chart. Based on Saturday's streaming.
Loreen back in Stockholm today, performing the highest charting
#Eurovision
single ever, according to
@chartdata
. 😮 (Reportedly, 🇮🇹 2022 also hit
#5
on Spotify Global, but with fewer streams.)
Number of votes in the
#Melfest
final:
1. Tusse, 2,964,269 votes
2. Eric Saade, 1,471,324 votes
3. The Mamas, 1,646,198 votes
Number of voting units: 1,159,881.
3,537,050 kronor were donated to the Radiohjälpen charity.
Voting record!
Full list:
Eric Saade will have will have more camera cuts than any other entry in this year's
#Melfest
. This and much more, including song lyrics, will be updated by tomorrow morning for heat 4 in The Contest Bible:
3 188 000 broadcast viewers in SVT1 for
#Melfest
heat 3 + an online rating of 213 645 = 3 402 000 viewers. Best figure for heat 3 in SVT1 since 2017 & up 275 000 since heat 2. 75,2 % (!) of all broadcast TV viewers in Sweden were watching Melodifestivalen when the show was on. 👍
For the 1st time ever, Loreen has just won a
#Melfest
heat exit-poll. 📝
• When she entered "Euphoria" in 2012, Sean Banan won the exit poll:
• She didn't win the poll in 2017 either:
Tonight's exit poll:
'
@Dotter_official
is set for a
#Melfest
stage show centering on a grand piano. But she might not play it a lot, from the look of things …
She will be alone on stage. Theme: Grounded, edgy, retro.
📸: Lukas Meijer (yes, even her photographer is a
#Eurovision
artist [🇵🇱 2018])
3rd place for MEDINA. The last time we had a song in Swedish that high was with Jon Henrik Fjällgren feat. Aninia in 2017.
#Melfest
The international juries placed the songs with Swedish lyrics higher (positions 3 to 5) than the Swedish people.
3,625,000 broadcast viewers for the
#Melfest
final in SVT1 – 81,1% of the people watching TV in Sweden at that time was watching the show, best since 2013! Best viewing figure for the final since 2017, as well as for the accumulated viewing figure for the 6-episode series.
In an unexpected move, the 🇸🇪 national team has dusted off the
#Melfest
2007 Jimmy Jansson-banger "Amanda".
The first time Thomas G:son and Jimmy joined forces as songwriters in the contest. This year, they won
#Eurovision
together in that capacity. 🙂
Kudos to the staff at The Late Late Show with James Corden for doing the research, not only explaining
#Melfest
&
#Eurovision
for the US viewers but even reviewing the result from last week, with Hanna Ferm and Victor Crone making it to the final. 😄🚗👉
Breaking
#Melfest
news, potentially explosive: The pre-poll from the podcast Fido's Schlager always predicted the people's winner since they started in 2020.
In the 2024 edition, Marcus & Martinus is only 3rd. It's a relatively clear win for the Spotify
#1
Medina. Game on! 🔥
3,108,000 viewers for heat 1 in SVT1 (preliminary number); 76.0% of everyone watching TV in Sweden at that time were watching
#Melfest
. In addition, 234,102 viewers have been watching the show online so far. 🎈
In the complete
#Melfest
heat 1 result, Omar Rudberg finished 5th, Shirley Clamp 6th and Malou Prytz 7th. Viewers were casting votes from 207,996 phones, and donated 594 955 kronor to the Radiohjälpen charity. Find the complete result on Mellopedia:
Some staffing news for the
#Melfest
final. LIAMOO really wants to rise to the occasion, adding 4 dancers after being alone on stage in the heat (). Also, Cedrik Hammar will be providing additional backing vocals for Robin Bengtsson.
I'm SO happy that the phone numbers will finally disappear from the TV screen when the artists are on stage! 🥳 Also, this is the design of the new
#Melfest
on-screen app-based voting heart. Find out more on how it will work in the blog:
Fans of
#Melfest
might be interested to know that I've completed the Contest Bible for all the 2024 entries! ✨
You'll find all the facts via the Mellopedia front page:
Additional nerdy, life-saving info will be added (mostly on Mondays, this year). 👀
Changes for the
#Melfest
final: Dotter adds LED lights to the gloves. Danny adds fireworks, & legendary show creator Benke Rydman joins as a dancer. The Mamas and Tusse add external lamps. (📸: S. Stjernkvist/SVT) Complete facts in The Contest Bible: 👇
So impressed with Mariette! She wrote
#Melfest
history tonight as the first one to make it to the final 4 times in 4 attempts, never failing. And this has happened within just 6 years. People lover her and never seem to get enough. Amazing achievement! (Pic Stina Stjernkvist/SVT)
To answer questions posted online, the
#Melfest
Contest Producer Karin Gunnarsson has double-checked the result with the Austrian jury and confirms to me that they have confirmed that their jury score presented in the live show was correct.
The
#Melfest
2021 voting record of 1,159,881 units (apps or phones) means that approx. 25%+ of the viewers actually voted. This might be a new TV world record & reasonably a Tusse effect. 3,5 million kronor were donated to charity via televoting vs. 2,0 million in 2020.
The success for the 2024
#Melfest
songs in 🇸🇪 is beyond everything seen. Right now, they already occupy the entire top 14 in the chart. Beyoncé is
#15
.
✅ Melfest has 18 songs in the 🇸🇪 top 20.
✅ 23 of the 30 songs from 2024 sit in the top 50.
Wow, a big night for Cazzi Opeia! Only the 2nd time someone takes part in a
#Melfest
heat both as a songwriter and an artist with 2 different songs (Nanne Grönvall 2020 was the 1st). And the first time both songs go to the final.
📸: Julia Dansarie/Ekko Music Rights Europe
The finalists will perform their songs a second time in the arena after being announced as winners in the
#Melfest
heats.
This has been absent since 2022.
Contest Producer Karin Gunnarsson confirms the return to the new
@OGAESweden
podcast "Nu kör vi!":
The
#Melfest
donation figure for the victims of the war upon 🇺🇦 is updated to 5 928 488 SEK! To put this in perspective, the only times with a higher figure were the 2003 & 2002 final. In those years, the charity phone number was _the only way to vote_. No app+inexpensive number.
The Public Health Agency of Sweden has today adviced against any events with more than 500 individuals in the audience. It seems likely that the
#Melfest
final would have taken place in an empty arena, had the tour been just one week later this year.
Eva & Ewa are storming the official
#Melfest
Youtube! Not always the best indication for success in the contest, but this number certainly stands out. 😯✨
Tusse makes it into the small group of teenage
#Melfest
winners:
1. Carola 1983: 16 years (6,012 days)
2. Frans 2016: 17 years
3. Louis Herrey 1984: 17
4. Anna Bergendahl 2010: 18
👉5. Tusse 2021: 19 yrs
6. Richard Herrey 1984: 19
📸: S. Stjernkvist/SVT
I really liked the
#EurovisionMovie
#FireSaga
. 🔥 Captures a great deal of
#Eurovision
spirit for me. And the last song was awesome, can't wait for the soundtrack to add it to my playlists!
In the camera cuts' race to the bottom, Danny takes up the fight & lowers to approx. 14 for the final. But Eric lowers all the way to 7, a possible
#Melfest
record low. Dotter has the most in the final with 79. (📸: S. Stjernkvist/SVT) The Contest Bible:
Danny the Record Breaker! 🦸♂️💥
• Danny WON a heat tonight for the 5th time = a new
#Melfest
record. He has won all of his heats since his debut back in 2009.
More below. 🧵
📸: Sebastian Thomsen/Artisthuset
Dino Medanhodzic did it yet again!
He has had 10 songs in
#Melfest
, and all of them has made it straight to the final from the heat. He extended his record streak tonight with Dotter.
Jimmy "Joker" had to use the semi final round for 1 of his 11 straight qualifiers.
#Dino10
💥
So happy for all the fans from Spain and the UK who finally got to experience the joy of the
#Eurovision
podium. ♥️
No one is stuck in the bottom of the scoreboard forever, everyone has the power to lift to the top with the right entry.
All 6
#Melfest
shows 2021 are to take place in an undecided Stockholm venue, without audience. The season premiere will be on February 6th and the final March 13th.
SVT will show 3
#Eurovision
specials to celebrate the 2020 ESC week. I'm delighted to see that Christer Björkman and
@EdwardafSillen
will produce the "national final" show on May 14th. 🔥
It's a bold move to feature the songwriters instead of the artists in the "postcards" shown in
#Melfest
right before the artists go on stage. As a fan, this is the kind of information I want! Hopefully the general viewer will like it too. More in the blog:
If you're in 🇸🇪, please vote in tonight's
#Melfest
using the charity phone number. The proceeds will go to people in 🇺🇦 and to adjacent countries where people can go to find shelter and safety.
👉099-908 0X is the number, where X is replaced by the number of the song.
💙💛
2,247,152 SEK were donated during tonight's
#Melfest
to people in 🇺🇦 and adjacent countries where people can find safety! This is the second highest figure for the semi final stage EVER! After 2003 (with no voting app & only the charity number).
584,876 units were casting votes.
Nu kör vi! ✨ And I'm really delighed to announce that Mellopedia just got pages or all the individual hosts, in-house dancers and many more with their complete
#Melfest
histories.
The programmer Martin Andersson had a field day with this one.
Enjoy the show! 🎈
Alcazar's "Stay the Night" is no doubt going to be a popular induction in the
#Melfest
Hall of Fame. After 11 years, it's clear that this contribution has stood the test of time. At the same time, we won't forget the other Alcazar classics in the contest.
Marcus & Martinus "Unforgettable" is the first entry ever to win
#Melfest
where all the in-house dancers are performing.
Big up for the first winning in-house dancer team!
Last time the entire in-house choir performed in the winning entry was with Fame in 2003.
The donations from the viewers in tonight's
#Melfest
were going to people in 🇺🇦 and adjacent countries where people can go to find shelter and safety. 1,435,319 SEK were donated. This is the highest donation figure for a heat in 14 years!
All time high:👉
Smash Into Pieces wins the points and makes it to the
#Melfest
final! (📸: A. Bengtsson/SVT)
This is the first rock act in the final since 2014 (YOHIO). First time with a band in the final since 2018 (Rolandz).
Fascinating how the
#Melfest
2020 trailer doesn't explain anything about the content of the shows. Everyone is expected to know what this is. Premiere next Saturday!
2,953 million broadcast viewers for
#Melfest
heat 4 in SVT1, best heat 4 figure since 2017. I couldn't find the online rating this week. 73,5% of all broadcast TV viewers in Sweden were watching Melfest when the show was on.
Best
#Melfest
viewing figure in 3 years for a heat: 3 242 000 viewers (adjusted figure) + an online rating of 223 588 (source: MMS) = 3,466 million = 1/3 of the population. Also a new record for a heat with 628 624 voters, & a solid 825k kr to charity. 👉
Cornelia Jakobs' "Hold Me Closer" is now charting on the Spotify Viral Top 50 Global. Apparently entered at
#14
;
#16
at the moment.
#Melfest
#Eurovision
Loreen's 177 points is the second highest since the current system was introduced in
#Melfest
in 2019 (John Lundvik had 181). The full result looks like this ().
Detailed breakdown will be released at a later time.
Dino Medanhodzic did it again. He has competed with 9 songs in
#Melfest
, and all of them has made it straight to the final from the heat. He extended his record streak tonight with Jacqline.
Jimmy "Joker" had to use the semi final round for 1 of his 11 straight qualifiers.
From the stage, Karin Wanngård, Financial City Commissioner of Stockholm, said that Friends Arena is their main target for
#Eurovision
2024.
The daily Aftonbladet has reported that Stockholm is eager to host the contest next year, having several meetings already before the win.
2,913,000 broadcast viewers for
#Melfest
heat 2 in SVT1 (very close to the 2018 & 2019 heat 2 figures) + SVT Play online rating 191 639 = 3,1 million viewers. 72,7 % of the Swedish broadcast TV viewers were watching Melfest.
A
#Melfest
final written by many different hands—with one huge exception.
Jimmy "Joker" Thörnfeldt qualified 5 of his 6 songs in 2024. Just 1 short of his 2023 record (6). No one else has ever qualified more than 4.
I love the fact that there's a dedicated
#Melfest
podcast in Spanish! I'm the guest in the next episode. But not in Spanish, lo siento, por que mi Español es muy mal. 🙂
¡Mañana arranca el
@melfest_en
con su primera semi!
Esta noche en DIRECTO a las 21:00 (CET) la previa a la 1ªSF y la entrevista con el periodista de la SVT y especialista en el Melodi
@GustavDahlander
solo en el
@mellopodcast
Oscar Zia loved this Lena Philipsson song as a kid. Now, he gets to do a version of it, with lyrics about himself, in the
#Melfest
final, as a farewell to the audience.
6th place: Kadiatou - "One Touch"
7th place: Nathalie Brydolf - "Fingerprints"
Number of voters: 628 624 - new all-time high!
825 405 kronor were donated to the Radiohjälpen charity. Also a solid figure. 👍
The spokespersons presenting points in the
#Melfest
final:
The Netherlands: Lars Lourenco
Finland: Sophia Wekesa
Israel: Tali Eshkoli
Spain: Eva Maria Mora
Czech Republic: Filip Vlcek
Ireland: Neil Doherty
Australia: Paul Clarke
Italy: Marta Cagnola
👉
Christer Björkman to be Contest Producer for the 2019
#Eurovision
in Tel Aviv. The
#Melfest
Executive Producer confirms that he will stay on the Eurovision job, held since 2016, in an interview with
@sverigesradio
() before yesterday's final.
#DareToDream
2nd day in a row, the
#Melfest
2022 songs hold the entire top 10 on Sweden's biggest hit music chart. ⭐️
Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber etc. are held back. Spotify Sweden Top 50, based on Sunday's steaming.
Cornelia's 656,307 streams are prob. 2nd best ever for a Melfest song. 🎯
"Melodifestival 1972" may never have existed.
The official name appears to have been "Musikfestival -72", I found out with aid from fellow
#Melfest
researchers.
It has been assumed that every festival since 1967 has been "Melodifestival(en)".
Newspaper clipping from Expressen.
#Melfest
ALREADY produces a 🇸🇪 Spotify
#1
! Fröken Snusk. ✨
This is even without the finalists having been released yet. First time ever on release day after a heat.
Furthermore, Samir & Viktor sit comfortably at
#12
. C-Joe enters at
#20
and Adam Woods is at
#43