It’s one of the most anticipated national finals on the Eurovision calendar. And now things are well underway for the production of Sweden’s Melodifestivalen 2019. Broadcaster SVT has revealed that 2295 entries have been received for the 2019 edition.
In previous years, SVT has announced the number of entries soon after the application period closes. However, this year no such announcement came. Instead Swedish fan blog ESC Panelen, contacted Melfest project manager Anette Helenius, who provided the figure.
2295 is down somewhat on previous years. Melodifestivalen 2018 received 2771 entries, 476 fewer than the upcoming edition. Helnius attributes this lower number as being down to individual songwriters overall submitting fewer songs each.
ESC Panelen also notes that Melodifestivalen still received a very high number of entries compared to other countries’ national finals. For example, this season, Norway’s Melodi Grand Prix received “over 1000” entries, while last year Estonia’s Eesti Laul 2018 received a record 258, and Montenegro’s Montevizija 2018 received only 31 entries.
In the case of Melodifestivalen, quality matters a lot more than quantity. Only 28 songs will compete in Melodifestivalen 2019 — and one place has already been filled. Like all countries, SVT can only send one song to Eurovision, no matter how many songs enter Melodifestivalen.
It’s also worth noting that this season’s total of 2295 entries is higher than the 2177 received for Melodifestivalen 2015. That was the year that saw Måns Zelmerlöw win Melfest on his third attempt and go on to win Eurovision in Vienna.
SVT is expected to reveal the lucky 28 competing acts of Melodifestivalen 2019 sometime in November.
Melodifestivalen 2019: What we know so far
Earlier this month, SVT announced the dates and venues for Melodifestivalen 2019. The iconic tour will kick off with semi-final one in Gothenburg on February 2nd, semi two in Malmö on February 9th, semi three in Leksand on February 16th, and the fourth semi-final will be held in Lidköping on February 23rd.
The andra chansen round will be in Nyköping on March 2nd, while the grand final — as always — will be held at Friends Arena in Stockholm on March 9th.
SVT is yet to reveal who the host or hosts for Melodifestivalen 2019 will be. The 2018 edition was hosted by the entertainer and Melfest regular David Lindgren. However, the show’s style was criticised and it suffered the worst ratings in seven years. Earlier this month, Swedish press revealed that SVT has drafted in veteran Melodifestivalen and Eurovision writer and producer Edward af Sillén to consult on the 2019 edition of Melfest, in an attempt to ensure the show is a success.
Tickets for the Melodifestivalen 2019 rehearsals and live shows will go on sale on October 31st.
What do you think? Who would you like to see in the lineup to Melodifestivalen 2019? Who should represent Sweden in Tel Aviv? Share your thoughts below!
Erm yeah, you see, we sane people actually don’t identify with songs other people wrote as OUR entries and OUR success, regardless of them participating for the country we come from. Why be jealous of something you don’t even like? You make no sense.
2018 was boring as balls. I get it, Sweden isn’t really a country predisposed to taking risks at Eurovision. But Sweden never had to earn its place at the top the way countries like Norway and Finland did. With a few exceptions, Sweden did well right from their start, and then ABBA came along and they were pretty much untouchable (again, there were exceptions – Forbes, anyone?). This seems to have kinda led to a slick, no-nonsense approach to Eurovision, which is a shame as Sweden is a fun country and my recent forays into Melfests past have revealed more… Read more »
TL;DR: Sweden is awesome and I want them to do well, of course. I can think of way more Swedish entries I enjoy than ones I don’t. I never root for a country’s downfall at Eurovision, even if I don’t always like what they send. They just need to pick up the energy a bit.
I also am not jealous ‘cuz I’m not from any country that’d have reason to be jealous of Sweden (I’m an American).
A 17.2% drop-off in entries is quite large, even for a contest this big.
Could it be because this year’s televote result scared a lot of songwriters into NOT going overboard with their submissions?
The same songwriters didnt send in 20 songs each. So thats the only reason. Dont forget Montenegro had 31….
We had clear finalists this year (Except Cry).
We need songs to fight for the final places.
I hope more women end up in the final this year/ win it.
It’s been a bit of a sausage fest of late
I’d say that the 2018 selection wasn’t ,,bad”, I just didn’t care for 90% of the songs. Kinda seemed like everyone did their best to not offend anyone and to polarize as little as possible… To please the general audience. Which works for the radio, but at Eurovision you have to impress the audience! Stop being mediocore and try to bring something special and personal instead of the same old generic ,,Yeah, it’s alright”-kind of songs. I’m not saying that melfest should consist of 28 punk rock bands or 28 pop opera tracks, but you know what I mean.
I really look forward to a much better selection of songs in 2019 since in 2018 the songs were really bad.
I wouldn’t say bad. But just not good enough(for Sweden)
The 2018 edition was awful, too many mediocre, soulless songs–I’m expecting a bit more diversity next year. Jon Henrik Fjällgren, maybe in a duet like the one with Aninia, would be the perfect pick as I’d love some Sami vibes at the contest!
To be fair, mediocrity and soullessness have always been and probably will always be the key factors an entry needs to have for Björkman and his minions. No surprise there.
I hope he tries a duet with Maxida Märak (interim performer at MF 2018) or Elin Kåven (3rd at MGP 2017).
I expect a very strong Melodifestivalen edition. Unfortunately without Mariette (I think) as she’s still my nr. 1 pick for Sweden. When I look around on the diverse Facebook-groups about Eurovision I see a lot of hate towards Sweden, so I start to feel very lonely when I say that I’m obsessed with Sweden in Eurovision and that I really wish they would win again any time soon.
I live in Sweden and love Mello 🙂 I dont care at all what people say about us. I think every country wants to have 6 weeks of Mello :). Yes we came 7th this year but we are happy. We dont have to win all the time. We are happy with 7th and looking forward to 2019.
Wow I’m so sorry you were only 7th 🙁 Love from Spain…
Well that seems to be the attitude many people have against Sweden these days. We are doomed because we only ended up on seventh place. And they cheer at the same time.
I just want to see something different from them So many amazing songs were left behind for another pop song with a great performance Televoters definitely agree and want a change Even if they decide to send another pop song, make it special! Heroes also won thanks to the staging In 2015, juries actually voted for staging when televoters were there to balance things up and voted for talent I would LOVE another Eurovision in Sweden, they are probably the best hosts (just bring Petra and everything will be fine!), but with a good winning song the year before. One… Read more »
A lot of people, including the EBU, has wished and wanted it to be more modern with modern songs in order to ensure it can survive. I agree, the contest has become better better since they allowed “proper” songs to compete. It¨s more credible now. This way ESC doesn¨t live in a world of it’s own where only certain type of songs can be heard. Even in the naughties ESC still was a bubble, something that lacked credibility and something you laughed at rathe than took it seriously.
It’s a live competition, not a radio contest. A good performance can make a mediocre song shine. People want to be entertained by the Eurovision.
I don t think that MF have rules that singer can compete 3 times in row. We have Shirley Clamp 3 times in row in MF 2003,2004,2005 ( best result to 2013 2nd place in final and she come from second chance round in final, Robin won MF 2013 and he was in second chance round) We saw that people in Sweden didnt vote for Marietete also for Ace Wilder (they always got more points from international juries than swedish televote). Ace maybe would won in 2014 if she got 2 nd with interantional juries (many thought that she would… Read more »
Sarah Dawn Finer to host, please.
Maybe she and Lynda Woodruff could co-host! They’re so funny, don’t know why we’ve never seen them together before…
Did I miss something? I thought Lynda was Sarah’s alter-ego! Or did I confuse her with someone else?
Oh she is. I was making a funny.
They’ll need advanced CGI/holographic technology if they want to have them both on stage at the same time! 🙂