Entries for Melodifestivalen 2020 don’t open until the end of the month, but we’re already one step closer to discovering the first confirmed artist. Sverigesradio has announced the eight finalists who will compete in P4 Nästa 2019 later this month.
The contest is run by Swedish Radio network P4 and it aims to find new artists and new music suited to the station format. The eight finalists were selected from 25 nominees representing the regional P4 stations.
The eight acts who will compete on August 24 at the P4 Nästa grand final are:
- Amanda Aasa – “Gå hem”
- Browsing Collection – “Oh no”
- Faith Kakembo – “Through fire and rain”
- Hildur Höglind – “Further apart”
- Hugo Andersson – “Lovenote”
- Tim Lööv – “All I need is you”
- Tova Glyt – “No ordinary girl”
- Zulueta – “King of the ocean”
The ticket to Melodifestivalen
Since 2012, the contest has also given one act a place in the semi-finals of Melodifestivalen. The ticket originally went to the overall Nästa winner, but since 2015 it has been decided separately by the competition jury. The adult radio favourites of Nästa haven’t always been a good match for the bright television aesthetic of Mello.
The Nästa acts with the best results at Melfest were Terese Fredenwall with “Breaking the Silence” in 2012 and Smilo with “Weight of the World” in 2015. Both acts each placed fifth in their respective semi-final, and both narrowly missed out on Andra Chansen.
Most recently, synth-pop duo The Lovers of Valdaro placed last in their Mello semi-final with the upbeat number “Somebody Wants”. To date, no Nästa winner has made it to the Melfest grand final.
As the P4 Nästa final takes places before the 1 September release deadline for Eurovision songs, the winner of the Melodifestivalen wildcard must enter Melfest with a new song.
P4 Nästa 2019 finalists
Amanda Aasa – “Gå hem”
Browsing Collection – “Oh no”
Faith Kakembo – “Through fire and rain”
Hildur Höglind – “Further apart”
Hugo Andersson – “Lovenote”
Tim Lööv – “All I need is you”
Tova Glyt – “No ordinary girl”
Zulueta – “King of the ocean”
Who is your favourite P4 Nästa 2019 finalist?
Who is your favourite in this year’s contest? Listen to the eight finalists and vote for your favourite. You can vote for as many acts as you like, but you can only vote once — so make it count!
[polldaddy poll=10378912]Which is your favourite P4 Nästa 2019 entry? Who should win the contest? And who should get the Melfest wildcard? Sound off below!
Read more Sweden Eurovision news here
Sweden is always successful (especially with the juries), but somehow their most recent (post Måns) entries somehow left me cold. I always feel like “I get what you’re doing there and I appreciate the effort”, but I also miss an element of surprise, some kind of “wow” moment.
The indie sound of Zulueta and Hildur. Those two are the best for me.
Browsing Collection would probably be my pick. They sound quite unique and would stand out nicely from most typical melo acts.
I enjoyed the Lovers of Valdaro. But really they should get rid of this method of choosing a Melfest act.
«Gå hem» is definitely the best song lyrically in my opinion, but I think I would want Hildur or Faith at Melfest just for the uniqueness:)
A bunch of these wouldn’t actually sound that out-of-place at Melfest compared to other years. I like Tim the best but it’s high time Sweden sends a female act again.
Hildur, Tim, Zulueta-the best.Hildur reminds me new zealanders Naked and Famous.
I dunno why they bother with this round in Mello, they very rarely ever qualify from the semi they are in.
It’s public service. Important to at least pretend to want to do something for variety, diversity and unestablished, unsigned acts, even in amongst Mello’s beigewashed algorithmic radio hell-desert of recent years.
Okay my top 3: 1) Tim Lööv – “All I need is you”: I don’t know why but I started freaking out right away and I was dancing all over the place, this is what I wanna see in the Netherlands! <3 2) Browsing Collection – “Oh no”: This is such a head banger, I could have this on replay for a while! Would be great to see an all-girl rock group on the ESC stage too. 3) Amanda Aasa – “Gå hem”: Her voice is really beautiful and this song is such a joy to listen to. Swedish works… Read more »
The Lovers of Valdaro were absolutely robbed last year in Melfest!
Seriously, I just saw the photos without having listen to the songs and the first thing I thought was: A girl group would be amazing for Sweden! It was the same last year when I saw High 15 at the official presentation of all acts, but unfortunately the refrain of “No Drama” was a bit of a letdown for me. So again for this season: girlgroup power pleaseeeeee 😀