Sweden: Melodifestivalen 2018 Andra Chansen duel winners revealed

Eight acts, four duels and four winners. The Andra Chansen round of Melodifestivalen 2018 is underway in Kristianstad and the final four qualifiers for next week’s grand final in Stockholm’s Friends Arena are being decided.

In our Andra Chansen polls you picked Margaret, Renaida, FELIX SANDMAN and Sigrid Bernson as your favourites to win each duel. The Wiwi Jury thought slightly differently and would put Méndez through over Sigrid.

But will the Swedish public agree with either of these results? Could Moncho, Olivia Eliasson and Mimi Werner provide us with another shock result like last year’s #Loreexit?

A change to the show this year means that the result of each duel will be revealed straight after the phone lines for that specific duel have been closed. We’ll be updating the article as each result comes in so be sure to keep checking back.

Duel 1: Margaret vs Moncho

Swapping her orange for a yellow number, Margaret overcame the cold she’s been struggling with to land another strong performance of “In My Cabana”. She continues to make great use of her set and the camera angles are on point.

Moncho was as much of a match though, with his troupe of dancing ladies catching the camera’s eye plenty! In the battle of the tropical bops, it was always going to be close. In the end though, Margaret was victorious and makes the final!

Duel 2: Renaida vs Olivia Eliasson

Renaida might have dropped her orange outfit too, but she swapped for some killer orange accessories instead. Belt, bracelet, earrings, and some killer shades: she was serving that look, y’all!

Olivia — or to be more precise, her dancers — might have teased up with some nearly-naked neon earlier in the week, but the clothes were all back on for this performance. In the end, it might have been an error: Renaida won (seemingly to her surprise!). She gives y’all “All the Feels” after all!

Duel 3: FELIX SANDMAN vs Mimi Werner

Likely one of the least surprising results of the battles here: after being surprisingly left behind in his heat last week, Felix Sandman booked his spot at the Melfest final tonight.

Despite what definitely seemed like a better vocal performance from Mimi this week, it wasn’t be to for “Songburning”. Felix’s charm is certainly winning many over. Could he follow Robin Stjernberg and win the contest from Andra Chansen?

Duel 4: Sigrid Bernson vs Méndez

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this was not exactly a battle of the vocals — and much more one of the show. Sigrid and Mendez nailed their choreography throughout, but the heart didn’t exactly light up much for either of act.

In the end though, the Let’s Dance star was put out by the Melfest veteran. Méndez won and completed next week’s final lineup!

Melodifestivalen 2018 Grand-Final Running Order

The running order for next week’s grand-final will also be determined tonight. This will be presented at the end of show after the winner of each duel has been decided.

Robin Bengtsson won from fourth position last year, while 2016 winner Frans performed tenth. Måns Zelmerlöw and Sanna Nielson won from singing in sixth and eighth position in 2015 and 2014 respectively.

Melodifestivalen 2018 Grand Final Running Order

Shortly after Andra Chansen, SVT also revealed the running order for the final:

1. Méndez with “Everyday”
2. Renaida with “All The Feels”
3. Martin Almgren with “Bitter lullaby”
4. John Lundvik with “My Turn”
5. Jessica Andersson with “Party Voice”
6. LIAMOO with “Last Breath”
7. Samir & Viktor with “Shuffla”
8. Mariette with “For You”
9. Felix Sandman with “Every Single Day”
10. Margaret with “In My Cabana”
11. Benjamin Ingrosso with “Dance You Off”
12. Rolandz with “Fuldans”

Melodifestivalen 2018 Grand-Final International Jury

In next week’s grand-final it will no longer be just the Swedish public who make the decisions. They’ll be joined by an international jury who will count for half of the overall result. SVT revealed which eleven countries will feature in this year’s jury earlier in the week.

Returning countries include Armenia, Australia, Cyprus, France, Iceland, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom. France make their ninth appearance as part of the Melfest international jury – the only country to have been a part of the jury every year since its inception in 2009.

Eurovision 2018 host country Portugal makes its debut on the jury, as do Albania and Georgia.

In recent years the power of the international jury to decide the outcome of the winner has been questioned. With the app vote making the margin between televoting points extremely close, if the jury has one particular favourite it can be very hard for the others to catch up.

However, SVT will be hoping that the reforms to the international jury vote for this year’s contest will at least partly reduce this problem. The jury from each country will now award points to their top ten favourite songs in order that the total jury percentage is spread between more acts. In previous years the jury only gave points to their top seven songs.

So do you agree with this year’s Andra Chansen duel results? Do you think any of these acts could go on to win the grand-final next week? Share your thoughts in the comments below!