Melodifestivalen rumours keeps on spreading. Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet has revealed that the Melfest legend Sarah Dawn Finer, along with the YouTube star and comedian William Spetz, will help Gina Dirawi host Melodifestivalen 2016.
As we reported in October, Gina Dirawi will host Melodifestivalen, but as part of the 15th anniversary celebrations of modern Melfest, she’ll be joined by different co-hosts for each of the six shows.
This won’t be the first time Gina and Sarah have hosted the show together, as they hosted as part of an all-girl trio in 2012. There’s no word whether EBU spokeswoman Lynda Woodruff will also be making an appearance.
But the biggest and most unexpected surprise is William Spetz, a 19-year-old comedian, making him the youngest person ever to host Melodifestivalen.
William started posting humorous videos for fun on his YouTube channel Lillabloggen back in 2012 and ever since then his career has exploded. His videos have millions of views, in 2013 he got his own show on SVT called William’s List, and today he features in the popular Swedish sitcom Solsidan. While William might still be unknown with older viewers, amongst the young crowd in Sweden he is a big name.
According to Aftonbladet, Sarah and William won’t be hosting all the shows together with Gina. Instead they will appear in different shows. What show and when will be confirmed next week. But as for now, it looks like William will join Gina in the grand final in Friends Arena on March 12.
Melodifestivalen changes
Over the years, Melfest shows have featured different sidekicks – people like Hollywood star Dolph Lundgren (2010), and comedians Björn Gustafson (2008) and Sissela Benn (2015). However, according to Aftonbladet, this will not be the case for 2016. Instead SVT will invite well-known Melfest artists and famous presenters (such as SDF and William) to host the show.
This change is part of SVT’s celebrations of the 15th anniversary of the Melodifestivalen tour. In the four semi-finals and the Andra Chansen show, we will see a mix of past Melfest hits, symbolising the success of the show over the past 15 years.
The final will symbolise the bright future of the show and its expansion, which is why SVT chose to invite 19-year-old William – the youngest host ever in the history of the show.
Is it now more likely that Petra Mede will host Eurovision?
Using well established comedians in Melfest might give us a hint of what SVT also is looking for in a Eurovision host (hint: Petra Mede). Both Sarah and Gina were hotly rumoured to be in the running as ESC hosts (they came fourth and fifth in our Wiwi Poll). But since they both are hosting Melodifestivalen, does that mean chances just improved for Petra Mede to become the Eurovision host?
Petra has been the biggest name when it comes to speculation of who will host Eurovision in Stockholm next year, and since it looks like SVT is using comedians as hosts, things are looking good for Petra. In 2013 she hosted Eurovision in Malmö and did the impossible by delivering a genuinely funny Eurovision presentation. Will she get another chance in 2016? We’ll soon find out!
What do you think of the new Melfest hosting system? Who would you like to see cohosting with Gina? Share your thoughts below!
Rumours have it that Måns and Petra Mede will host ESC, according to Aftonbladet.
But again, that’s just a rumour like everything else concerning ESC and Melfest in Sweden
Does this mean Sarah and Gina can’t host the ESC 2016?
Is Filippa Bark going to be a guest host too?
First, I was over the moon by the fact that SDF is going to host Melfest! And even more with Gina Dirawi. At the other hand, I don’t really like that we have every week another host. For me that’s a bit to complicated. Anyway, I think Petra Mede is my favorite host in the previous decade, but that doens’t mean I want her to host ESC 2016
Me habeis metido un VIRUS en mi ordenador
I am worried about catering to the viewing needs of the tween crowd because of the inevitability of one of the MelFest Prettyboys I invariably can’t stand winning, but I am positively THRILLED to have SDF back!
I just don’t want Petra to host ESC again.
Great news! I hope Lynda Woodruff comes along, way funnier than last year’s Sarah Millican look-a-like haha. 🙂