With the Eurovision season on the horizon, some countries have begun to reveal details about their national finals. Sweden, the host country for Eurovision 2024 following Loreen’s victory, is progressing with a new edition of Melodifestivalen, the traditional SVT format about which we already know some new details.
The dates and tour for Melodifestivalen 2024 are from February 3 to March 9. As in previous years, the Melodifestivalen 2024 will feature six competition shows (five heats and the grand final), to be held between February 3 and March 9, 2024. The tour of this year, which was reintroduced in 2023 after two years without a public due to the pandemic, will make stops in Malmo, Gothenburg, Vaxjo, Eskilstuna, Karlstad, and will conclude its journey, as is tradition, at the Friends Arena in Stockholm, where we will find out who will represent Sweden in Eurovision 2024.
The heats for Melodifestivalen 2024 are as follows:
- Heat 1: February 13, Malmo Arena, Malmo
- Heat 2: February 21, Scandinavium, Gothenburg
- Heat 3: February 24, Vida Arena, Vaxjo
- Heat 4: February 28, Stiga Sports Arena, Eskilstuna
- Heat 5: March 2, Löfbergs Arena, Karlstad
- Grand Final: March 9, Friends Arena, Stockholm
Rumors about Melodifestivalen 2024 include Marcus and Martinus, Cazzi Opeia, LIAMOO, and Dotter among the first names. The Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, which echoed the return of Loreen in the past edition, is publishing, as usual, the list of names that could participate in Melodifestivalen 2024. It is expected that SVT will announce the artists by the end of November or the beginning of December.
The list of potential artists participating in Melodifestivalen 2024 according to Aftonbladet includes:
- Lasse Stefanz
- Smash Into Pieces
- Liamoo
- Dotter
- Samir & Viktor
- Elecktra
- Cazzi Opeia
- Lisa Ajax
- Marcus and Martinus
- Clara Klingenstrom
- Adam Woods
Changes in the format include the final goodbye to Andra Chansen. The Melodifestivalen has been composed since 2002 of four heats, a second chance gala (Andra Chansen), and the grand final. To keep the audience’s interest and the excitement of the format, the 2024 edition will consist of five heats, one more than in previous editions, thereby eliminating Andra Chansen, which has been present in the competition since Christer Björkman took over as artistic director.
The system of duels between songs that was present between the editions of 2007 and 2021, as well as the all against all of the previous edition, is eliminated. This year, the two proposals placed third and fourth will have a second chance after the fifth heat in an additional phase. Artists will not perform their songs again, but will be present at the gala.
The public will decide which two proposals pass to the grand final, which as always will be made up of 12 songs: 10 direct finalists (Direkt Till Finalen) and two semi-finalists, whose pass will be based on the sum of the votes received both in the heat and in this additional phase. The winner, as usual, will be decided at a 50-50 between the votes of the international jury and those of the public.
The Melodifestivalen 2024 will consist of five heats with six songs in each instead of seven. To ensure that the five are evenly distributed, this new edition expands to 30 participants, two more than previous years (28). In each heat, two songs will qualify for Direkt Till Finalen, two will advance to the additional phase, and two will be eliminated.
The public vote will be distributed among eight age groups (tittargrupper): 3-9 years, 10-15 years, 16-29 years, 30-44 years, 45-59 years, 60-74 years and over 75 years, as well as the telephone vote.
A total of 2624 proposals have been received to compete in this year’s edition, marking a decrease of around 200 applications compared to the previous year (2824). However, the call remains in line with the last decade, with an average above 2500 songs.
A committee of experts will now be responsible for selecting the 15 best proposals, while the other 15 places will be distributed based on direct invitations to artists by SVT.