On Saturday night just gone we had the fourth semi-final of Melodifestivalen 2024 – as the Swedish song contest rolled into Eskilstuna and gave us two more finalists.
Danny Saucedo and Dotter scored the tickets to the final, with Albin Tingwall and Scarlet making it into the second-chance round. Lia Larsson and Lasse Stefanz were eliminated from the competition.
Normally, semi-final 4 would spell the end of the initial phase of Melodifestivalen, but in 2024 we’ve got one extra to enjoy. This coming Saturday, we head to Karlstad for the fifth and last semi-final!
You’ll be able to watch it live at 20:00 on SVTPlay.se – and that’s also where you’ll be able to hear snippets of the songs from 07:00 on Thursday morning, as well as clips from rehearsal performances at 07:00 on Friday morning.
SVT gave us a preview listen of all six songs ahead of the weekend’s final semi; so to get an idea of what it’s all gonna sound like – read on…
‘Unforgettable’ – Marcus & Martinus
(Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Marcus Gunnarsen, Martinus Gunnarsen, Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt)
After finishing runner-up to the almighty Loreen in 2023, the Norwegian twins are back with another shot at glory one year later.
With ‘Unforgettable’, they’ve taken the sound that lifted them so high with ‘Air’ and chosen to fly in a very similar route. Here we have a brand-new trance anthem with an even deeper, darker club sound.
If ‘Air’ was the song you were playing loud at pre-drinks, ‘Unforgettable’ is the floor-filler you’ll be hearing when you get to the club. It’s the one-year older brother of ‘Air’ – he stays out a bit later.
‘Controlla’ – Chelsea Muco
(Anderz Wrethov, Chelsea Muco, Elsa Carmona Oljelund, FERNAND MP, Karl Flyckt, Pa Modou)
A prominent figure in Sweden’s afrobeats scene, this artist is renowned for peppering her music with an uplifting vibe that lends itself well to having a good ol’ bop. Precisely what we’re looking for on Saturday night.
‘Controlla’ leans into the more mainstream afrobeats sounds that we’ve been hearing on the radio across the globe for the past 12 months, and pairs them with a definite Melodifestivalen-tailored style. And so in that sense it’s both contemporary AND competitive.
Quite unexpectedly, ‘Controlla’ ends up being the big pop banger of this week’s semi, and it might even be our fave of the week.
‘Back To My Roots’ – Jay Smith
(Jay Smith, Jonas Jurström, Jonathan Keyes, Maria Jane Smith, Victor Thell)
The winner of Idol 2010, who gained a following on the show thanks to an authentic rock vocal which he brought to every performance. Post-Idol he’s released a string of albums and singles, of Americana-infused country, rock and blues. And he’s even released a song with Melodifestivalen 2024 finalists Smash Into Pieces!
The influence of Smith & Thell as songwriters here (and that Smith is Jay’s own sister Maria-Jane) is felt as soon as ‘Back To My Roots’ begins. What follows is a super-catchy, radio-ready, country-pop hit in waiting. A hefty dose of the feel-goods just emanates throughout its three-minute duration.
We can see Sweden responding very well to this on Saturday night.
‘Banne Maj’ – Elecktra
(Anderz Wrethov, Elin Wrethov, Jonny Werner, Robin Werner)
A participant on the very first season of Drag Race Sverige, her time on the show transferred into a new life on TikTok – thanks to a clip of one of her performances going viral.
Understandably, she’s taking precisely what made that moment go viral – her exaggerated Skåne drawl – and building a new song around it.
This new song, however, thanks to some seasoned Melodifestivalen songwriters, stands strong on its own merit so that it’s not *all* about the comedy delivery.
Musically, it’s got a lot in common with another Melodifestivalen drag entry – After Dark’s ‘Kom Ut Som En Stjärna’. It’s pure schlager, but with a banging bpm lighting a fire under its proverbial butt.
We really hope that Miss Elecktra can rise to the sizable task of giving this schlager anthem the fierce performance it deserves. We’re rooting for her.
‘Light’ – Annika Wickihalder
(Annika Wickihalder, Herman Gardarfve, Linnea Gawell, Patrik Jean)
A gospel singer who released her debut EP in 2023, Annika now makes her debut in Melodifestivalen. She’s sensibly teamed up with two songwriters who have got some gospel-themed form at Melfest – Herman and Patrik who were behind The Mamas’ winner ‘Move’.
Annika’s song ‘Light’ is a number that shoots high knowing the vocal capabilities of the artist behind it. This has the potential to be monumental in an arena setting – it builds, it keeps getting bigger when you think it can’t go any higher, and it offers up the almightiest key change of Melodifestivalen 2024.
In a semi full of high-velocity bangers this might just stand out by virtue of offering something different, but no less ambitious.
‘Que Sera’ – Medina
(Ali Jammali, Anderz Wrethov, Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Sami Rekik)
This delightful duo finished in third place at the Melodifestivaln 2022 final, with their crow-pleasing arena anthem ‘In i Dimman’. So it’s a joy in itself to see that they’ve returned once more.
Mercifully, they’ve understood everything that took ‘In a Dimman’ to its bronze-medal result a couple of years back and brought in all of those elements while sitting down to pen its Melfest follow-up.
‘Que Sera’ will appeal to anyone who enjoyed its predecessor – and there were many of us! And just for an added layer of chaos, the cheeky chaps have switched the tempo up that little bit speedier from what we’ve heard from them before. Let us catch a breath here, lads!
If any song from this semi-final is going to win Melodifestivalen – it’s this one. Its appeal is undeniable and won’t vary much between the age-group divisions that SVT calls upon for votes.
