Entries for Melodifestivalen 2020 open on Monday, but the very first act has been confirmed for the popular national final. Örnsköldsvik singer Amanda Aasa will be heading to Melfest after she won a wildcard entry as part of the radio song competition P4 Nästa.
Amanda competed in P4 Nästa with her song “Gå hem” (Go home). She made it to the grand final after winning the P4 Västernorrland regional semi-final.
Eight acts competed at the P4 Nästa grand final tonight. The Nästa jury praised Amanda’s “personal expression” and felt she had “an obvious place in the musical landscape”.
Amanda Aasa first made an impact in 2014 when she auditioned for Swedish Idol. While Amanda didn’t make it to the live shows, she impressed the judges with her original song wrong chemistry.
Amanda also returned to Idol in 2017, but again didn’t progress to the live shows. But she didn’t let that hold her back. Amanda has kept working on her music and, as she told Aftonbladet, Melodifestivalen has been in her sights. She said, “I have a team around me that has been working on my artist project for a year and we actually included Mello in our five-year plan.”
Amanda has been associated with artists such as Miss Li and Dotter and has played festivals around Sweden.
P4 Nästa’s overall winner was Hjortsberga singer Tim Lööv. His song “All I Need Is You” took the Nästa 2019 trophy. Third place went to the rock band Browsing Collection with their song “Oh No”.
The Nästa ticket to Melodifestivalen
Since 2012, the contest has 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 act has made it to the Melfest grand final.
As the P4 Nästa final takes places before the 1 September release deadline for Eurovision songs, Amanda Aasa must enter Melodifestivalen 2020 with a new song.
Wiwibloggs readers agreed with the selection of Amanda Aasa. In our Wiwi Poll, we asked readers who their favourite act was in P4 Nästa 2019. Amanda was the second favourite, picking up 13.86% of the vote. The readers’ favourite was Hildur Höglind, with 18.73% of the vote, while contest winner Tim Lööv was second to last in the poll with only 8.61%.
P4 Nästa 2019 finalists
- Amanda Aasa – “Gå hem” (Melodifestivalen wildcard)
- Browsing Collection – “Oh no” (third place)
- Faith Kakembo – “Through fire and rain”
- Hildur Höglind – “Further apart”
- Hugo Andersson – “Lovenote”
- Tim Lööv – “All I need is you” (winner)
- Tova Glyt – “No ordinary girl”
- Zulueta – “King of the ocean”
What do you think? What sort of song should Amanda Aasa take to Melfest 2020? Will Amanda be the first Nästa act to make it to the Melfest grand final? Tell us your thoughts below!
I know from the first second of her song she would be the winner! Congratulations!
So happy to see that my top 3 was spot on! Shame that Amanda won’t be singing this song at Melfest, but I’m really looking forward to seeing what she brings to the competition. Good luck!
Browsing Collection only third? “Oh no” XD RIP my dream of a Swedish girlband at Eurovision…
Congrats to Amanda though!
Tim had to go, but they sent it.
I think Eurovision 2020 will be pink and female. 80% of countries will choose women and the female act win.
Well since 2015 there’s been a gender swap on the winner every year. Duncan is a male, so, it’s possible
Could be the best shot one of these acts has had at the final. Best of luck, Amanda!
Already like her better than Sweden’s last two Eurovision entries. Not kidding.
Same. You can tell it’s swedish to begin with xd