The 2021 national final season is going full speed ahead, and with it Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet has named more acts who will reportedly be part of Melodifestivalen 2021. Now it seems we’ll be on track to have a Mello 2011 rematch — that year’s winner Eric Saade is said to have confirmed for 2021, while 2011 runner-up Danny Saucedo is also on the list. Also reported for 2021 is two-time finalist Anton Ewald.

Danny Saucedo for Melodifestivalen 2021

The “In the Club” and “Amazing” singer has become one of Sweden’s most beloved artists, gaining acclaim for his participation in Så mycket bättre in 2019 and his tour The Run(A)way showAftonbladet‘s source believes that Danny directly contacted SVT with the song he wants to take to Melfest 2021.

It’s no secret that Danny has had his eye on Eurovision and twice came close to winning the Swedish ticket. In 2011, he came second with “In the Club”, losing to Eric Saade’s “Popular”. The following year also yielded a similar result, when he placed second with “Amazing” to Loreen’s all-conquering “Euphoria”. In addition, Danny placed third with the group EMD in 2009. Will this be the year Danny finally raises the trophy?

While Danny’s previous Eurovision entries were in English, his more recent releases have been in Swedish. It remains to be seen which language he will take to Melodifestivalen 2021.

Eric Saade for Melodifestivalen 2021

Eric is no stranger to the Melfest stage. He made his debut in 2010 with “Manboy”, then won the Swedish national final the following year with “Popular”. Eric returned in 2015 with “Sting” which placed fifth in the grand final. He was also part of the Melfest 2019 hosting team.

Eric was reported to have considered a return to Melodifestvialen this year, but in the end he was not part of the line-up. But it seems this year, the timing is right for Eric to make Mello comeback.

Aftonbladet‘s source also reckons that, as Melfest 2021 will be the last helmed by Christer Björkman, the Danny-Erik showdown is “exactly what Björkman wants in his final year.”

Like Danny, Eric’s recent releases have been in Swedish and it’s not clear if he’ll also perform a Swedish song at Melfest.

Anton Ewald for Melodifestivalen 2021

Another artist also set to make a Mello comeback is two-time finalist Anton Ewald. He made his Melfest debut in 2013, where he came out of andra chansen and placed fourth in the grand final with “Begging”. The following year, he went directly to the grand final with the John Lundvik-penned song “Natural”.

Anton has not released a lot of music in recent years, so he could be looking at using Melodifestivalen to relaunch his music career in Sweden.

Melodifestivalen 2021: Expected acts

According to Aftonbladet, we already know 15 of the 28 acts for Melodifestivalen 2021. They are P4 Nästa wildcard entry Julia AlfridaTusse Chiza, Sannex, Sami Rekik & WahlThe Mamas, DotterJessica Andersson, Klara Hammarström, Alvaro EstrellaPaul Rey, Arvingarna, Lovad, Eric Saade, Danny Saucedo and Anton Ewald. Junior Eurovision 2012 contestant Lova Sönnerbo, who performs as LOVA, is said to be considering Melodifestivalen

The Melfest rules forbid artists from revealing whether or not they’re participating. Therefore, Aftonbladet’s reports are not official. However, the newspaper has proven to be highly accurate, with 45 of the last two years’ 56 participants correctly accounted for.

SVT is expected to announce the full Melodifestivalen line-up later this month.

What do you think? Which other artists would you like to see competing in Melfest 2021? Who should Sweden send to Rotterdam? Tell us your thoughts below!

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Jake
Jake
3 years ago

I find it interesting that after last year’s attempt by Christer to stack the lineup with strong female songs and stop the narrative that Sweden will always pick a good looking male singing an English pop song like in the previous 5 years, he would open the floodgates for all these guys. Clearly he wants to have a massive year for his last go round and ratings took a hit last year. He definitely was missing that young hot male X factor in last year’s lineup.

sangfreudx
sangfreudx
3 years ago

Fun news. They’re all really good dancers, too. Anton’s songs had some of my favorite Melfest dancing ever. They’ll all make it a better show.

Jonas
Jonas
3 years ago

I would prefer a female winner, but I can make an exception for Danny Saucedo and only him.

Linus
Linus
3 years ago
Reply to  Jonas

We dont vote for gender in Sweden. 3 black women won this year. remember? and our top 4 was women

Ugnius
Ugnius
3 years ago
Reply to  Linus

Yeah, we also remember how every single year from 2015 to 2019 all winners and runner-ups were males

Linus
Linus
3 years ago
Reply to  Ugnius

so? no one remembers that outside the bubble. you know that to

Belle
Belle
3 years ago

OMG!!!!! If this is true then this will be the best MF line-up in years. Go Sweden!

AM2PM
AM2PM
3 years ago

Yawn

Linus
Linus
3 years ago
Reply to  AM2PM

My tip is DONT WATCH. i will not be sad:)

Red X
Red X
3 years ago

Melfest looking like a bloodbath already

Lorenzo Celli
Lorenzo Celli
3 years ago

When will we know the full official list ?

Edin
Edin
3 years ago
Reply to  Lorenzo Celli

Next week

Anna
Anna
3 years ago

Honest to god, I really hope none of these wins, I can already predict exactly what type of songs Danny and Anton will have, Eric is a bit more unpredictable but he can’t sing so doesn’t really matter…what will work against them is that they are not really teen favorites anymore, since most kids today were babies when they last participated….

Diana
Diana
3 years ago
Reply to  Anna

danny is actually one of the most famous perfomers in sweden after he started releasing more swedish music so i wouldn’t count him out just yet

Denis
Denis
3 years ago
Reply to  Anna

Dont think you have actually listened to Danny since like 2013. He stopped being a teen favourite years ago

Erasmus
Erasmus
3 years ago

well so many big names.. it’s gonna be super competitive – i doubt eric, danny or even anton would return without a strong song. and also dotter, lova and the mamas. i think mamas will have a hard time winning again.

niklas
niklas
3 years ago
Reply to  Erasmus

Why you think so? The mamas was the most popular performers last year and i think many people think its sad they would not be able to go to eurovision. They will probably be very hard to beat because of that.

Erasmus
Erasmus
3 years ago
Reply to  niklas

that is true, I just don’t think swedes will vote (massively) for them just because of that, jury as well. Also last year’s melfest wasn’t that competitive (only dotter, felix and maybe the mamas were considered winners), aside from Felix, Hanna and Anna there were not many big names… also also Danny, Eric and Anton have bigger fandoms than the mamas, but again just predictions anything could happen

Jonas
Jonas
3 years ago
Reply to  Erasmus

Anton has only ever had low results at Melodifestivalen…The Mamas have won it…

Erasmus
Erasmus
3 years ago
Reply to  Jonas

true, but again melfest used to be much stronger than it is lately, it was much harder to win then than it is now. and I just don’t think the Mamas have a strong fanbase, but it’s true that the mamas appeal to broader demographic, where as Anton has a fanbase, but just in one type of demographic.. it’s hard to say

Denis
Denis
3 years ago
Reply to  niklas

Swedes have never voted on sympathy. We wont vote on the Mamas just because they didnt get to go last year. If we vote it will be because the song is the best. We are ruthless, sympathy doesnt work

Jonas
Jonas
3 years ago
Reply to  Denis

Whatever about sympathy, let’s not pretend it’s all about merit. Being young, attractive and male is a huge advantage, especially with the app voting.

Linus
Linus
3 years ago
Reply to  niklas

NO. i dont know ANY swede who will vote for the mamas just because they are the mamas. SONG first

Diana
Diana
3 years ago

12 year old me is very excited. I remember how i went to the finale back in 2011 with my family and had this big poster of both Danny and Eric and was so happy with them getting top 2. Too bad there’s no audience this year..
An exciting melfest season ahead of us! Hopefully we send a banger in swedish this time

Amesc
Amesc
3 years ago

Well it was SO UNEXPECTED to see Danny back. Never thought he could come back to Mello, mostly because of his succes with the songs he released on swedish. Christer is doing everything to make this mello interesting

Grft
Grft
3 years ago

I hope we’ll get to see new faces…

Edin
Edin
3 years ago

Sigh…looks like there will be a d**k fest in MF next year

Denis
Denis
3 years ago
Reply to  Edin

So?

Jimmy Smit
Jimmy Smit
3 years ago

I don’t even need to listen to know that I’d pick Eric Saade.

Jaagup
Jaagup
3 years ago

Probably Viktor Leksell, maybe Sebastian Wallden and Ulrik Munter could.

ESC8
ESC8
3 years ago

First of all, as it seems the 2021 contestants will be announced on November 30, or during this week. As for the reports, it will be really interesting to have a Danny vs Eric 10 years after their first “battle”. This time I’ll be more pro-Danny since Eric has already been to ESC. But of course the main thing is the songs, so it’s all up to it. If Dotter brings something as good as Bulletproof and the guys bring something like their previous entries then I will be all for Dotter. However we still have to find out who… Read more »

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
3 years ago

Wow. What a line up.

Jimmy Smit
Jimmy Smit
3 years ago
Reply to  Purple Mask

Indeed. A handsome assemblage.

Lolek
Lolek
3 years ago

Holy cow! Danny AND Eric?? This Melo just got next level intense!! I don’t know whether I want to root for Dotter or Danny as preliminary favourites now!

Jaagup
Jaagup
3 years ago
Reply to  Lolek

As for the artists reported till date, Eric, Paul, Danny or Anton. Klara if she does more of a modern song since ‘nobody’ was very outdated although she has a good voice and seems to be okay at dancing.