Warm up your computer and get ready to upload those .mp3 files: The Melodifestivalen 2022 submission window is officially open. From today, Friday, 27 August until Friday, 17 September at 11:59, anyone who wants to compete can send in songs on the site melodifestivalen.se.
“It is an incredibly fun and important part of the work with the Melodifestivalen when the submission of songs opens,” Karin Gunnarsson, competition producer for the Melodifestivalen, says in a statement from SVT.
“I am really looking forward to taking part in all the contributions and a new and exciting season of the whole of Sweden’s party. Now is the opening shot for Melodifestivalen 2022.”
The statement goes on to explain the process.
“28 entries will compete in Melodifestivalen 2022. The selection jury selects 14 songs from the submitted entries and the other 14 entries consist of competitors who have been specially invited by SVT or who SVT has selected from the submitted entries.”
The broadcaster previously teased the opening with a publication on their Instagram and the launch of the Melodifestivalen entries website.
The broadcaster wrote: “Have you written a fantastic song that should be experienced by millions of viewers? On 27 August at 9.00am we open the locks for submitting entries to the Melodifestivalen 2022 and as usual we are looking for fantastic songs for our lineup.”
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Melodifestivalen 2022 rules
As well as requiring that entries stick to the Eurovision rules, the Melodifestivalen 2022 rules have their own requirements.
The competition is open to all Swedish citizens or permanent residents, however non-Swedes can still enter if they are part of a team with at least one Swedish person.
There’s no language rule, but the contest intends to give at least ten of the 28 competing places (around 35%) to songs that primarily have Swedish lyrics. This is around the proportion of Swedish songs included in the contest in recent years.
SVT also notes that regardless of the language of the song that wins Melodifestivalen 2022, the broadcaster will decide which language/s is performed in the Eurovision version.
The broadcaster also intends that at least 50% of songs should have at least one women as part of the songwriting team.
While Swedish television is less fussed about bad language, the Melodifestivalen rules are keeping in line with the stricter requirements for Eurovision. The Melfest rules state that any entry whose title or lyrics may be considered offensive and therefore may not be approved for Eurovision will not be eligible for Melodifestivalen. So this could be the end of lyrics like Robin Bengtsson’s “You look so f***ing beautiful” or Lisa Ajax’s “I don’t give a f***”.
The rules make no mention of the format the Melodifestivalen 2022 shows will take. Due to the pandemic, all shows in the 2021 edition were filmed in the same Stockholm venue, with no live audience.
The selected 28 competing acts will be announced in the usual timeframe of November or December 2021.
What do you think? Who would you like to see enter Melodifestivalen 2022? Should more Swedish-language song be included in the competition? Have your say in the comments below.
another generic bland song from sweden on the way
Sweden is easily the most OP and broken country in Eurovision. They’ve been ground-breaking in the pop music industry. Almost all music you hear today has been at least composed by Swedes.
Yet as overpowered as they are in Eurovision, they have been receiving criticism for always sending in generic pop songs. I reject that criticism, because they keep getting good results with up-tempo pop songs and of course they can win next year.
They have endless selections of musicians of any genre, like Lykke Li, Winona Oak, Sandro Cavazza, Alesso, Sebastian Ingrosso, Zara Larsson, Opeth, Meshuggah, and Maher Zain.
Yes. Music is one of Sweden’s biggest exports. That’s why something like MelFest is a cultural phenomenon in of itself.
Hope to see more different genres this time.
I hope some year Zara Larsson, Lykke Li, Tove Lo and Sara “Shy Martin” Hjellström will participate. it will be a huge deal for Melodifestivalen and will raise up new usual non-Eurovision-bubble viewers (from both within Sweden and around Europe and beyond).
Lykke Li would be awesome. Or her side project LIV. Or basically anything involving Björn Yttling. Jenny Berggren or Robyn would be a dream come true for me, too.
Jenny Berggren tried to represent Denmark ten years ago, I hope her Melodifestivalen song would be better.
This could be an unpopular opinion, but I’d like to see Isak Danielson on Melodifestivalen.
Am I the only one who is hoping for a song in Swedish (like Behover inte dig idag) or at least one that isn’t penned in part by G:son or Thornfeldt?
You will get that. It probably won’t win, but it will be there.
Totally agree. Behover inte dig idag is such a great and authentic song, but I guess they want to present alway at Eurovision a pop song in English. This attitude is just bad on so many levels.
Otherwise I can see why, after Finland’s Pernilla Karlsson was sunk in the semis with the most beautiful song.
I love for the Mamas to go back on the stage and they missed it last year with lockdown put now go back with a new fantastic song
No, just no. As lovely as Mamas are fans should just move away from them and let somebody else get the chance
If songwriters can enter 678 times, then so can performers.
The Mamas (or Dotter for that matter) can’t enter in 2022. The rules for MelFest forbid 3 consecutive attempts.
Perhaps Valentina could have the first (of three) attempts next year?
Is there really a formal rule? I’ve never heard of that. Barbados competed three years in a row from 2000-02 (Magnus Carlsson also competed for a fourth year in a row in 2003, as part of Alcazar).
Well, it’s not an official rule but there is an unofficial “rule going around that SVT don’t want same artists three year in a row to keep the contest fresh. Will that change with new boss?
i’ll start getting busy with melodifestivalen once the qualifying streak of them ends
Are you Swedish? If not your chances with Melodifestivalen are slim…
Less generic pop songs please! I’m sure Sweden has other succesfull genres to pick from.
Hopefully they will pick something more authentic this time.
please put something different this time , not a song produced by factory
by the way i’m feeling that the winner is going to be a female artist
Melodifestivalen: the show that serves not 1, not 2, but 5 countries at the same time
I think that says more about those countries than Melodifestivalen..
That was the point
I hope live audience will return, even if there won’t be a tour. And that Bella Quist English commentary was a nice touch, hope she returns!
The Valhalla of Music