The second semi-final of Melodifestivalen 2021 takes place this Saturday.
Seven more artists will compete, battling for two spots direkt till final. Two other artists will head to Andra Chansen for a second chance to reach the final.
Now, we get our first look at this year’s Eurovision hopefuls in the form of 60-second snippets of their songs.
Melodifestivalen 2021 Semi-Final 2
Song Snippets
Click on each act to hear their snippet:
- Anton Ewald – “New Religion”
- Julia Alfrida – “Rich”
- WAHL feat. SAMI – “90-talet”
- Frida Green – “The Silence”
- Eva Rydberg & Ewa Roos – “Rena rama ding dong”
- Patrik Jean – “Tears Run Dry”
- Dotter – “Little Tot”
Clips from each act’s stage rehearsals follow later tonight. These give us our first impression of how the acts will look on Saturday night. We’ll only see the full performance and hear the full songs during the live show. In the meantime, you can also read our first thoughts of the entries.
Melodifestivalen 2021 Semi-Final 2 Running Order
The second semi-final starts with Anton Ewald. The Melfest veteran last competed in 2014 and finished as high as fourth in 2013. He will be hoping to take “New Religion” to another grand final.
Julia Alfrida sings second, performing “Rich”. This will be her Melodifestivalen debut and she’ll be hoping to make a big impression.
The third song of the night is “90-talet”, sung by WAHL feat. SAMI. They are already in the history books as their song “90-talet” becomes the 1000th Melfest entry.
Frida Green sings fourth, performing “The Silence”. The former finalist on Sweden’s Got Talent will make her Melodifestivalen debut in 2021.
An all-female duet takes the stage next, featuring Eva Rydberg & Ewa Roos. Rydberg participated at Melfest 1977 and they bring a wealth of experience to the competition.
Patrik Jean won Melfest 2020 as a songwriter, penning The Mamas’ hit “Move”. He will be hoping to take the trophy as a singer in 2021.
Dotter was within a point of victory last year, with fan favourite entry “Bulletproof”. It’s no surprise that our readers are most excited about her appearance this year. Dotter closes the second semi-final with “Little Tot”.
Photos: Stina Stjernkvist / Sveriges Television / Melodifestivalen 2021
What do you think of this week’s snippets snippets? Can any of them compete for the win? Let us know in the comments below.
Tears Run Dry is my favorite snippet here. I’m a little afraid about the ending of the song, so I wish Patrik Jean nails it during the live. Still unsure about Little Tot. The production on The Silence is so baaad; it’s a folky/country song but they just slapped on these dated electronic sounds. New Religion’s instrumental is basically Youngblood wth? And I kinda dig Rena rama ding dong, weirdly? :))
High level of songs in this Semi.
Rich, The Silence & Little Dot are my favs. But Dotter’s one gets stucked in my head. I wish all the best for these ladies. Go correctly Sweden, please!
90 Talet & Tears run dry sounds cool too.
Min gissning: Final: Eva& Ewa. Corona effekt folk vill ha lite tok som Rolandz nu. I en mellogrupp märker jag att vuxna lite generade erkänner att de tycker det är kul Anton Edwall, Snygg show och snygg kille som varit borta. Glad upptempo. Andra chansen: Dotter förlorar mot Bullet prof. Tidigare har det straffat sig att ställa upp året efter. Blir jämförd och då röstar inte folk. Tänker på Yohio, Anton Edwall efter Begging, Mariett Ace Wilder m Busy, busy. WAHL feat SAMI De går vidare på att vi vill ha musik på svenska nu och jag vill skriva på… Read more »
Fast alla dessa gick väl vidare? Ace, Mariette, Anton
I know they have no chance, unfortunately, but Rena Rama Ding Dong is actually my favourite out of this bunch. It made me smile, despite the fact that I don’t understand the lyrics. It made be bop along. It made me feel happy. Have to sidle with Gavin below, after the few days I’ve had, this is a great shot of positive energy in a 1 minute snippet. The rest of the songs are really good, polished, but after listening to one after another, they blend together. Just great pop radio songs. These 2 ladies are easily standing out. So… Read more »
Melody of ‘Rich’ reminds me a bit of Skin’s ‘Faithfulness’. Hmm…
Okay I’ve listened to the snippets now. Lets take it in order: 1.) Anton Ewald. I like the rythm, but from the snippet it doesn’t go anywhere, it needs to build some more. He will no doubt give us a good stage performance but we all know the guy can’t really sing. I predict 2:a chansen. 2.) Julia Alfrida. The song builds nicely but when the chorus hits it just falls flat for me. Sounds rather uninspired and tired, hopefully Julia can inject some life into the song. I predict NQ (6th-7th) 3.) WAHL feat. SAMI. I both like this… Read more »
The rehearsal clips are out https://www.svtplay.se/video/30120888/melodifestivalen-2021-smygtitta-pa-bidragen/melodifestivalen-2021-smygtitta-pa-bidragen-1-se-anton-ewald-framfora-new-religion-infor-mellon
Yeah. Like we are going to invent something that’s never been heard or seen before. Every year is the same..
Scandipop’s article detailed today’s rehearsals for SF2 and they said this about Dotter’s performance: “Honestly, we can’t remember getting such clear winner vibes from a performance since Loreen returned with ‘Euphoria’ in 2012. Yeah, that.”
Very optimistic it seems. I’m quite curious to see what she brings Saturday (and in the 30 second rehearsal clips later today as well ofc).
I do think Little Tot sounds better in snippets than Bulletproof. More promising. If the rest of the song is as strong then it should be a candidate for win
I’m sorry but all of you swedes in this comment section are denying everyone’s opinnion unless they’re saying it’s good. Then you blame other selections and say how a person from X country would kill for these songs making yourself seem like some sort of Eurovision Experts for having such a Quality over others? Very arrogant.
What time are the rehearsal clips coming out?
I know this is a common thought (like people complaining there’re too many ballads in Eurovision every single year) but I have the feeling that Melodifestivalen has seen its quality drop over the last years. Especially the last couple. I mean, this year there are still 14 songs to be revealed and would be hard for every country to get at least 14 good competitive songs. But I feel that, while all of them are really well produced, they are lacking a soul, a meaning or originality. Anyway, my top for this SF: 1. Dotter – “Little Tot” (7) 2. Patrik Jean… Read more »
Lets be clear – Eva Rydberg & Ewa Roos – “Rena rama ding dong” is really terrible, but OMG its the best sixty seconds of my entire week.
That is the kind of week i am having…
The production is actually brilliant. I am enjoying. 🙂
The quality Melodifestivalen Kingdom hasn’t risen and fans have noticed it, yet almost every swedish person here just keeps on screaming how much of a quality this is and if someone is opposite of this? You’re just a “hater” calling everything “plastic”.
You’re digging your own grave here, if you want to show yourselves in better light maybe you should also commit to the fact that this isn’t much of a wow factor currently.
I need to listen the full song and the performance, but after listening the preview the only one that I like it’s Little dot, and a little bit Tears run dry
here are pictures from their rehearsals
https://bloggar.aftonbladet.se/schlagerbloggen/
Those are some great pictures!! Just like Whisker, I’m super excited for this semi now 🙂
Just going to add that it is not my pictures haha it is from Aftonbladet.
Hehe I assumed it was the case based on the url. Still would have been cool to know an aftonbladet photographer hangs out in the wiwi comments section 😉
By the snippet, Little Dot is freshier and poper than what I thoughit was going to be. I think it will appeal to wider audience than Bulletproof. I would like to see her direkt till finalen with Frida
After what happened last week I’ll wait with my judgement after I hear the live snippets.
Honestly i think i like Little tot snippet more than Bulletproof…
Okay, then we know that the winner of Melfest is not from the first two semi finals…….
Dotted isn’t winning with that song. It’s too generic. But all her “Stan’s” will ignore all negative criticism and just say that she’s already won.
ikr
My comment literally got removed, so the “journalists” on this site must not be any better.
Send Dotter to Rotterdam now
Why?
Can’t we wait for the other songs first
We could at least wait for the other two thirds of Dotter’s song. Anyway, even if we sent her to Rotterdam now, I think they would tell her she’s a hundred days too early and to go back home.
I feel like the expectations for Melodifestivalen are so high, many feel disappointed when there is no entry on the level of, for example, Euphoria. Personally I like the majority of the songs competing every year and I listen to a whole bunch of them on a regular basis. I just recently created a Melodifestivalen playlist, because my Eurovision playlist got very heavy on the swedish side. Don’t get me wrong. Most of the songs are probably not ESC-winners (and they don’t always have to be), however, I’d be more then happy If any of those entries (with a few… Read more »
That’s how it is with most people, but I don’t have any expectation. If someone without any expectations is disappointed, like me, then you know it is underwhelming.
Sometimes i wonder if the ESC community are dumber then average people. They say they love Dora and Albania selections and hate Sweden, Denmark , Norway selections. Of course Dora and Albania is more exotic because its NOT radio music we hear everyday. They say the same Every year haha. When Will the ESC fans learn …
Your comment just doesn’t make any sense tbh. I’m the biggest fan of Melfest, but it’s so obvious that we have a very weak Melfest-season. Dora however really surprised me as they are not known for having such great songs to be fair. I live for Norway’s MGP this year, such great diversity!
People say we have a weak selection every year..
I’m swedish, a big Mello and ESC fan but I don’t have any friends that are interested in either Mello or ESC so I don’t have anyone to talk to or discuss things with. I really feel like I want to write down my feelings and opinions and would love to hear what other fans agree with or don’t agree with. 🙂 I’m a HUGE Dotter stan. I LOVE her music, her and everything she stands for. I love her singing, that she writes all of her songs herself, that she refuses to work with expensive famous songwriters/producers, that she… Read more »
I must say I’m also confused with people saying “Little Tot” is a dark song or speculating that wouldn’t appeal to Melfest mass audience, maybe all those things aren’t there in the snippet. I imagine there’s some build up that we still don’t know. And we may start a small club here, because I don’t see a problem with the name of the song too. Sure, it’s unusual for a pop song, but I actually think it gives it some personality.
Thanks for sharing Linus. Men it looks as though joining Melodifestivalklubben kostar pengar.
I’ll gladly discuss with you ^^ I’ve a few people who are also very into Eurovision and into Melfest, but they’re not quite as invested as I am 😀 I felt the same way about the Bulletproof-snippet last year as you did. But THEN, I was mesmerized by the staging and really fell in love with the song and Dotter as a perfomer and singer (I suspect many did). And MAN was I disappointed when she lost to The Mamas by one point (Although, I liked them aswell). Listening to Little Tot for the first time gave me mixed feelings.… Read more »
Hey Lills! just wanted to say I enjoyed reading your thoughts! Tack för att du delar dina tankar! I might try to draft a response later 🙂
When I listen to them I was actually very impressed with Julia even though it’s repetitive it has a nice melody and I alway have a soft spot for the p4 Nasta. I also liked Dotter, Frida, and Anton. Also I did like Ewa and Eva as it put a large smile on my face but I think it is not really meant for melfest but more for fun
i don´t want to judge but I have the feeling that this is going to be the weakest Melo we’ve had for a long time :(((
People say that every year
And they are right lol
And they still watch it every year right?? If u think its bad don’t watch a go watch your country songs 🙂
Never thought I’d be more excited for Dora than Melfest…
I guess corona took its toll on Swedish music industry this year.
Sadly your taste during pandemic left the chat …but its ok, not everyone understand good music
So now we know 14 songs and still no good song among them. Artificial sounding too.
They should seriously watch Norwegian MGP and borrow some artists and songs. NRK MGP is so much better in every thinkable aspect.
I hope there will be some big revolution with Mello 2022, otherwise they will stay behind.
Just compare it with the overall big quality of Melodifestivalen 2011 for example.
You are totally right.
Norway wins the nordic battle this year!
So much quality and catchy songs in MGP.
Normally my playlist is full of Melodifestivalen songs but this year is full with Norwegian hits!
Be careful. They’ll remove your comment and put every other one “Waiting for approval.” 😉
Some nice catchy pop songs but no wow song yet.
Bland and boring, sigh..
1. Dotter
2. Anton Ewald
———————-
3. Frida Green
4. Julia Alfrida
———————-
5. Patrik Jean
6. Eva Rydberg & Ewa Roos
7. WAHL feat. SAMI
Personally, the songs here aren’t very strong but there are a few that are catchy and would do decently in Eurovision. I think the main problem with this year is that we still haven’t heard a song that could potentially win at Eurovision, which is understandable since maybe many artists don’t want to submit songs due to COVID restrictions and will wait for a regular year to try out
They’re just 1min snippets though! last year based on the snippet people thought bulletproof wouldn’t qualify during its semi, and it ended up almost winning melfest and being a ESC fan-favourite
I absolutely loved Bulletproof last year, was crushed in the arena in Stockholm last year when she lost.
I was super scared I’d get disappointed by the snippet of Little Tot.. But…tbh.. I didn’t. I actually think this might be really really strong. Hopeful and excited now for the full song + performance.
Judging from the snippets the most interesting song is “90-talet”. These songs are not bad, just too safe (which is often the case with the swedish songs). I don’t think the winner of Melfest will come from this semi.
I’m still having problems on making my mind just based on Melfest snippets. But I want to say something about Dotter and “Little Tot”: I believe we should avoid as much as we can the temptation of judging the new song from a hyped act expecting we’ll instantly love it as much as we did with a song we’ve listened to dozens, hundreds, thousands of times. I’ve seen many people deciding on a first listen that they don’t like “Discoteque” and “Monument” and the same will probably happen with “Little Tot”, Dadi’s new song, Victoria’s new song… Sure, we can… Read more »
Dotter and Wahl ft Sami dtf. Even i like Dotter’s this year entry more then last year
Unpopular opinion but Julia and Anton have very strong snippets. This is going be a bloodbath
Based on the snippets, I’m not hearing anything that I’ll like as much as my top three of the first heat. Though, to be fair, I thought heat 1 was really strong.
Can’t see past Dotter here as a DTF to be honest. I’m not her biggest fan but she’s clearly got the strongest song. Probably a good thing as we need some females to do well after last week and Frida/Julia don’t exactly have memorable snippets here.
Even better: she wrote this only with her fiancee!
Maybe I’m the only one, but I prefer Little Tot to Bulletproof by MILES .
From the snippets of both songs, I totally agree! From the live performances? TBD 🙂
I think “New Religion” is the best song Anton Ewald ever participated with. But My God, he sounds off-tune even in the studio version, juries will butcher this. Dotter’s song is quite interesting, but I really do not see it winning, though I agree that it is the best we heard so far out of the 14. I had high hopes for Frida, due to the strength of the songwriting team, but it is slightly above average, I think it is going straight to AC, together with tears run dry .
A new week, a new semi-final. 01) New Religion – it’s… fine. I’ve given that same verdict to every song Anton’s brought to Mello. I thought this would be his year, and this probably is his best effort yet. The lyrics are a bit grating, though, and the track sounds like a rejected song from Five Seconds of Summer. 5/10 02) Rich – I actually really liked this one. Julia’s got the kind of voice to pull off this alt-pop kind of song very very well, a la Lorde. It isn’t the most inventive song, but she’s got the chops… Read more »
This is actually a really strong competition, much better than last week. Danny who?
Based on snippets I say Dotter and Anton to final, with Patrik Jean & Frida to AC. Could Dotter win? Maybe, if the rest of the song is strong and other semis are weak..
Any country would kill to have any of the songs as competition..
You’re not full of youself, righ? Haha? Righ?
It is better than last semi-final though
And yes, seeing how it¨s still trendy to lash down on Mello, calling it plastic and what not then yes I am full of it
I doubt that was Nathalie’s point thought, she was most likely referring to the last sentence from you: “Any country would kill to have any of the songs as competition..“. You’ve shown yourself here quite attacing on other acts, but once someone says something about Sweden you go full out and defence anything with any reason.
Danny Saucedo.
I think what Melo has lacked this year is a real earworm. Dotter’s song is actually good and easily stands out from this pack. But I’m not jumping up and down for this lot overall. Here’s hoping the performances and staging changes my opinion.
Meh meh meh meh
I feel like the people who wrote “New Religion” were too inspired by 5SOS’s Youngblood and then ended up with a poor sounding version of it instead of creating something more current and exciting.
Agree, and getting vibes from Charlie Puth’s “Attention” as well
Dotter is really a stand-out act that could either go DTF or to AC. But I guess because of last year she will go DTF. As for the others I think Patrick Jean is also a contender for a good placing. WAHL ft. Sami is nice but I’m not that keen about how the public will react to it. For me it’s one of the better swedish entries. I was not impressed by Frida Green but I think the fact that Anna Bergendahl and David Lindgren had their fingers in there, it could surprise or lifted up by the audience.… Read more »
My expectations are high Sweden!
Off topic but:https://youtu.be/3NpM_EaYDmc
omg thanks for sharing! Gonna listen to some Rein Alexander now! 🙂
It’s good but not my winner in MGP
yes same with me
Il dissapointed by him and this song 🙁 ive been waiting for somerhing epic…. well i guess Keino are back to esc …even if i préfère Raylee