Yesterday they gave us the first 14 acts, now today SVT have presented the remaining 14 artists that will be competing in Melodifestivalen 2023.
Let’s meet them, shall we?!…
HEAT 3: Lidköping, February 18th
Marcus & Martinus – Air
(Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Marcus Gunnarsen, Martinus Gunnarsen)
Every year since they turned the age at which they were allowed to compete, we’ve been expecting Norwegian twins Marcus & Martinus to be announced in a line-up for Norway’s Melodi Grand Prix. Four years went by and nothing. Well, now they go and throw a curveball by entering the competition at Melodifestivalen in neighbouring Sweden instead. Except it isn’t really that much of a curveball when you remember that this year they went and won The Masked Singer Sweden. They’ve long been household names at home in Norway. We reckon they’ve set out to achieve the same stature in Sweden, too. And they’ll probably do quite well at getting it too, given their track record.
Melanie Wehbe – For The Show
(David Lindgren Zacharias, Herman Gardarfve, Melanie Wehbe)
She’s spent an age writing number 1 singles, radio airplay chart toppers, Idol winner’s singles, Melodifestivalen winners and Melodi Grand Prix winners for other artists, now Melanie Wehbe is stepping to the front of the biggest stage in Sweden with a song all of her own. Her songwriting talent has been enjoyed by millions – now it’s time for all of those people to hear that voice of hers, too. If you’d like to get in there first, you can always check out her EP from a few months back – ‘Bloom‘.
Ida-Lova – Låt Hela Stan Se På
(Andreas ”Giri” Lindbergh, Ida-Lova Lind, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb)
The 18-year-old artist has just this year released her debut EP ‘Hallå Världen Kan Du Stanna?’, which should give you a nice introduction to her sound and style. She’s co-written her entry herself, and so we can’t imagine she’ll be straying too far from her usual fare when she makes her debut on the Melodifestivalen stage.
Paul Rey – Royals
(Dino Medanhodzic, Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, LIAMOO, Paul Rey)
You think you know someone when they compete with ‘Talking In Your Sleep’ in 2020 and then with ‘The Missing Piece’ in 2021. But then they go and do something completely out of character, like co-writing ‘I Can’t Get Enough’ with Cazzi Opeia at Melodifestivalen 2022. So really, in 2023, who knows what to expect? We suspect it’ll be more of the former, but would love a cheeky lil’ dash of the latter to have seeped in somewhere along the way, too.
Nordman – Släpp Alla Sorger
(Jimmy Jansson, Thomas G:son)
The last time these chaps competed in Melodifestivalen, they made sizeable headlines for their equally sizeable feat of ousting the almighty Carola from the competition in the Andra Chansen round, preventing her from reaching the 2008 final. As beloved as they are for that by some, they are beloved by others for their talent for producing timeless Swedish folk-pop. It will be seen as a very welcome return to the contest by many.
Laurell – Sober
(Anderz Wrethov, Andreas Stone Johansson, Laurell Barker, Thomas Stengaard)
She co-wrote ‘Tempo’ by Margaret, let’s listen to what she has to say. And since writing that and a whole host of other big hits for Melodifestivalen and the Eurovision Song Contest, Laurell has branched out as an artist herself, creating her very own big pop moments. The best of which we would imagine she has saved for this occasion, surely…
Casanovas – Så Kommer Känslorna Tillbaka
(Henrik Sethsson, Mikael Karlsson)
It’s time for the token dansband – one of our favourite box-ticking exercises that SVT get up to every year at Melodifestivalen. In recent years, the dansband contributions haven’t been stellar, to say the least. But we have high hopes for Casanovas – not least because Henrik Sethsson is one of our favourite schlager songwriters out there, having written ‘In A Moment Like This’ for Chanee & N’Evergreen, ‘Listen To Your Heartbeat’ by Friends, ‘Something In Your Eyes’ by Jenny Silver, ’25 Hours A Day’ by Le Freak, and not to mention the greatest Melodifestivalen reject of all time – ‘Linjen i Min Hand’ by Elisa’s. More of this please Henrik.
HEAT 4: Malmö, February 25th
Signe & Hjördis – Edelweiss
(Anderz Wrethov, Jimmy Jansson, Myra Granberg)
Coming from a family of famous musicians, Signe and Hjördis Bornemark are therefore into all sorts of different genres of music, and passionate about their craft whatever they put their skills to. For their Melodifestivalen debut, however, they’ve promised viewers something on the folkier side of pop music.
Axel Schylström – Gorgeous
(Axel Schylström, Herman Gardarfve, Jonas Thander, Malin Halvardsson)
The song he co-wrote for THEOZ in Melodifestivalen 2022 sounded pretty much like the natural follow-up to Axel’s own Melodifestivalen entry in 2017. So it’s not too surprising to see that contest producers put him right back to the front of their minds and invited him to return to the competition in his own right. Axel has also co-penned the song that THEOZ is competing with in 2023, which is being performed in the second heat.
Emil Henrohn – Mera Mera Mera
(Emil Henrohn, Jakob Redtzer, Ji Nilsson, Marlene Strand)
Musical actor who turns TikTo star is all well and good, but what nobody else seems to be talking about is the *real* career highlight of his Emil’s far – the fact that this guy was in the iconic two-single-wonder pop group A*Base! Eight years on, and he’s making his Melodifestivalen debut as a big name on social media. And of course, his own sound has evolved into something very different. Interestingly, his song for Melodifestivalen was 50% composed by Scandipop faves Pure Shores!
Mariette – One Day
(Jimmy Jansson, Thomas G:son, Mariette)
In the latter half of the last decade, she competed four times in six years, making it straight to the final each time. Given she’s been away for three years, it will be exciting to see just how her sound has evolved in that time, and what a Mariette entry sounds like in 2023. And with G:son and Jansson, she’s in the best possible hands, really.
Smash Into Pieces – Six Feet Under
(Andreas ”Giri” Lindbergh, Benjamin Jennebo, Chris Adam, Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Per Bergquist)
We’ve long suspected that this electro-rock act would find their way to Melodifestivalen, given their propensity for working with Anderz Wrethov and Dino Medanhodzic on their singles. As it turns out, however, neither of those writers are actually present for Smash Into Pieces’ big Melodifestivalen debut – but a few other big hitters are. This band like to inject plenty of grandeur into their sound, creating big productions to roar along to. And we can’t imagine they’ll have scrimped on any of that for their Melodifestivalen introduction. You’d just leave things BIG, wouldn’t you?
Loreen – Tattoo
(Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Jimmy Jansson, Loreen, Moa ”Cazzi Opeia” Carlebecker, Peter Boström, Thomas G:son)
The big one. The one we’re all gonna be talking about in the run-up to the contest, and the one we’ll most likely all be dissecting for years to come afterwards – just like we’re still doing with ‘Statements’. Actually, maybe now’s not the best time to be dwellng on ‘Statements’. For 2023, and ‘Tattoo’, Loreen has reunited with ‘Euphoria’s songwriters Peter Boström and Thomas G:son, enlisting three more mega pop writers to the mix, including a certain Cazzi Opeia. It’s going to be A Moment, that we know for sure. But we have three months to wait before we find out if it’s gonna be The Moment. We can do this, let’s sit tight.
Kiana – Where Did You Go
(Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb)
She sang her way to the final of Sweden’s Got Talent last year, and now next year she’ll release her debut single via Melodifestivalen, written by some of the competition’s most frequently used top-tier writers. There’s potential for a brand-new Main Pop Girl waiting in the wings here.
