The final of Melodifestivalen 2023 will take place tonight live from Stockholm’s Friends Arena. Twelve acts have reached the final of the popular show after five weeks of competing rounds.
Jesper Rönndahl and Farah Abadi will, for the last time this year, be our hosts of tonight’s final.
The line-up:
1. Where You Are (Sávežan) – Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Arc North feat. Adam Woods
2. Rhythm Of My Show – Tone Sekelius
3. One Day – Mariette
4. Air – Marcus & Martinus
5. On My Way – Panetoz
6. Never Give Up – Maria Sur
7. Six Feet Under – Smash Into Pieces
8. Where Did You Go – Kiana
9. Släpp alla sorger – Nordman
10. Tattoo – Loreen
11. Mer av dig – THEOZ
12. Royals – Paul Rey
As in previous years, the winner will be decided by a 50/50 combination of televoting/app voting and the vote of an international jury panel made up of members from the following countries:
- Belgium
- Croatia
- Spain
- Australia
- Latvia
- Malta
- Germany
- Austria
The Voting Process
It is possible to vote for all 12 entries in two different rounds. In each round, viewers can vote up to 5 times per entry, either via the Melodifestivalen app or the Mello United app. It is also possible to call and vote up to 5 times per phone number and voting round.
The first round of voting ends just before the presentation of the jury groups’ votes. When the jury groups’ votes have been reported in the broadcast, the viewers have the opportunity to react to the outcome and then voting round two starts. If all the votes from the first round haven’t been used, they will not be saved in the app. All votes cast from the first round are counted in the second round.
Eight international jury groups award 58 points each, based on the 12-10-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 point scale. Viewers also award 58 points based on the 12-10-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 point scale. These points are based on how the eight different viewer groups have voted in total during the evening.
The entry with the most points in total wins Melodifestivalen 2023 and gets to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. If two entries get the same final result, the highest number of points from the viewing groups determines the winner. If two entries receive the same final result and also the same number of points from the viewing groups, the entry that has received the most votes in total from the viewing groups wins.
The Show
Last year, Melodifestivalen introduced a dance routine for the voting part in the app using Sweden’s Eurovision entry of 2001, “Lyssna till ditt hjärta”. Just before the second round of voting begins, the dancers are doing the heart costume dance but this time Nina Inhammar and Kim Kärnfalk (Friends) are coming on stage to perform a part of the song!
Hall Of Fame
During Saturday’s final, Danny Saucedo is the last to join the stars collection (for this year) that are inducted into Melodifestivalen’s Hall of Fame.
Rarely can it be claimed that Melodifestivalen has put two potential ESC winners on stage in the same year. But we are convinced that the unlikely happened in 2012. Danny Saucedo is elected to Melodifestivalen’s Hall of Fame for his amazing smash hit Amazing and the unforgettable luminescent stage costumes. A second place with a golden edge – moreover – for the second year in a row. The memory is at least as strong of In The Club, which came second in 2011. Danny Saucedo is an eternally brilliant Mello star.
Christer Björkman – honorary chairman of the Hall of Fame
The Interval Act
Danny Saucedo will perform his two Melodifestivalen songs that brought to him two silver medals and a spot in the Hall Of Fame – “In The Club” and “Amazing”. But right before that, we will see a small funny video that portrays Danny Saucedo at a very young age, competing in his kindergarten contest with “In The Club” and “Amazing” but losing to baby “Eric Saade” and baby “Loreen”.
Melodifestivalen 2023 – Live English Commentary
*Text taken from mellomedia
Eurovision superfans and journalists Bella Qvist (Sveriges Radio) and Olivia Le Poidevin (BBC) will return as English-speaking commentators for the Melodifestivalen grand final, guiding viewers in Sweden and beyond through the sparkling final on Saturday.
We’ve had lots of people ask if we’ll do it again and I am so happy to be able to say that we will.
Bella Qvist
This year we can’t wait to take the commentary to new levels with the help of our viewers tuning in from around the world – together we create Melfest magic. Welcome to the world’s biggest Melfest party.
Olivia Le Poidevin
Old friends as well as Eurovision geeks Bella and Olivia met on Twitter through their shared love of Eurovision. After years of online friendship they finally met in person in the backstage press area for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2016 in Stockholm and they have since taken every opportunity to dance to Euphoria, Fuego and Love Love Peace Peace together across Europe – from London to Lisbon.
In 2021 Melodifestivalen reunited them in spirit as they provided the first ever English commentary of Melodifestivalen. In 2022 they were finally reunited, in person, where it all started for them; in Stockholm and surrounded by their love for Melfest and Eurovision. This year they’ll do it all again, hoping that even more people will join them in the world’s biggest Melfest party.
Bella Qvist has been hooked on Melodifestivalen ever since Charlotte Nilsson took her to Eurovision heaven in 1999, and she’s been flying high on the wings of Eurolove ever since. Bella, who is based in Stockholm, has spent a combined 18 years living in the UK and Germany and has a long record of reporting on Eurovision for various British media outlets including the Guardian, BBC and DIVA Magazine. She made her SVT debut as Eurovision expert in 2021.
Broadcaster and BBC News Journalist, Olivia Le Poidevin, grew up on a healthy diet of Eurovision music – schlager, big Balkan ballads and all. She is a big Eurovision fan and has reported on the contest for the BBC World Service and ESC United in Copenhagen, Vienna, and Stockholm. Of course, her Eurovision reporting experience wouldn’t be complete without her interview with pop royalty, Björn from ABBA.
You can watch the show live at 20:00 CET via our Multi-window live feed or at svtplay.se. SVT will broadcast this year’s final with English commentary.