For weeks, the Melfest rumour mill has been churning out suspected artists for Melodifestivalen 2022. But now Sweden’s national broadcaster SVT has finally separated fact from fiction by confirming the first 14 acts who have made it to Europe’s glitziest national selection. The line-up includes some of Sweden’s hottest artists, Melfest legends, as well as newcomers. Let’s take a look.
SVT revealed the first 14 artists and their song titles today without the usual press conference presentation. The other 14 acts will be revealed at the same time next Friday. We’ll get to hear the competing songs in the new year.
Earlier this year, SVT confirmed the dates and venues of Mello 2022, and also revealed that the shows would be hosted by Oscar Zia.
While Melodifestivalen 2022 is tasked with finding Sweden’s entry for Turin, the show is more than just a Eurovision national final. Melfest is a celebration of Swedish culture, with producers careful to select a wide range of artists and genres that reflect popular Swedish music.
NU KÖR VI! 14 av de totalt 28 tävlande bidragen i Melodifestivalen 2022 släpps nu!! (Städer och startordning är ännu inte klart) Är ni redo?
— Melodifestivalen (@SVTmelfest) November 26, 2021
De 14 första artisterna är: pic.twitter.com/CtbNisMfZ6
Melodifestivalen 2022 – first 14 competing acts
The semi-final allocations have not been revealed yet. The songs are listed below in alphabetical order based on song title.
Anders Bagge – “Bigger Than the Universe”
Songwriters: Anders Bagge, Jimmy Jansson, Peter Boström, Thomas G:son
Best known as one of the judges on Swedish Idol, Anders makes his Mello debut. Earlier this year he featured on The Masked Singer where he placed fourth.
Liamoo – “Bluffin'”
Songwriters: Jimmy ”Joker” Thörnfeldt, Sami Rekik, Dino Medanhodzic, Ali Jammali
Swedish Idol winner Liam Cacatian Thomassen makes his third appearance at Melodifestivalen. He performed the ballad “Hold You” with Hanna Ferm in 2019, which placed third in the grand final.
Faith Kakembo – “Freedom”
Songwriters: Laurell Barker, Anderz Wrethov, Palle Hammarlund, Faith Kakembo
Faith returns to Mello after her debut in 2020 with “Crying Rivers”. She first got her break in 2019 in the radio song contest P4 Nästa.
Linda Bengtzing – “Fyrfaldigt hurra!”
Songwriters: Thomas G.son, Linda Bengtzing, Myra Granberg, Daniel Jelldéus
A familiar face at Melfest over the years, Linda is set to make her eighth appearance. Most recently, Linda competed at Mello 2020 and was eliminated in her semi.
Danne Stråhed – ”Hallabaloo
Songwriters: Danne Stråhed, Fredrik Andersson, Erik Stenhammar
Danne was a singer with the beloved dansband Wizex. He has also released solo projects and has performed in revue shows.
Cornelia Jakobs – “Hold Me Closer”
Songwriters: Isa Molin, David Zandén, Cornelia Jakobsdotter
Cornelia previously competed at Melodifestivalen 2011 and 2012 as part of the group Love Generation. She now makes her solo debut at Melfest.
Cazzi Opeia – “I Can’t Get Enough”
Songwriters: Bishat Araya, Jakob Redtzer, Cazzi Opeia, Paul Rey
Singer-songwiter Cazzi Opeia (Moa Carlebecker) makes her Melodifestivalen debut. She has previously written for international acts, including K-pop superstars BTS.
Samira Manners – “I Want to Be Loved”
Songwriters: Samira Manners, Fredrik Andersson
Newcomver Samira Manners is signed to Cardiac Records, who also represented Frans and Reinada.
Omar Rudberg – “Moving Like That”
Songwriters: Omar Rudberg, Gustav Blomberg, Amanda Kongshaug, Kristin Marie
This is Omar Rudberg’s third time at Melfest, following his appearance with boyband FO&O and solo in 2019. He is also the star of the hit Netflix series Young Royals.
Klara Hammarström – “Run to the Hills”
Songwriters: Jimmy ”Joker” Thörnfeldt, Julie Aagaard, Anderz Wrethov, Klara Hammarström
Klara makes her third appearance in Melfest after she debuted in 2020 with “Nobody”. Klara returned in 2021 with “Beat of Broken Hearts” which placed sixth in the grand final.
Tribe Friday – “Shut Me Up”
Songwriters: Isak Gunnarsson, Robin Hanberger Pérez, Noah Deutschmann
Tribe Friday are an indie rock group who have written their own song.
Theoz – “Som du vill”
Songwriters: Tobias Lundgren, Axel Schylström, Tim Larsson, Elize Ryd, Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt
Swedish TikTok star Theodor “Theoz” Haraldsson makes his Melodifestivalen debut. As well as having a popular TikTok channel, the young star also focuses on music.
Niello & Lisa Ajax – “Tror du att jag bryr mig”
Songwriters: Yvonne Dahlbom, Niklas ”Niello” Grahn Linroth, Jesper Welander
The Swedish rapper Niello — otherwise known as Niklas Grahn will make his Melfest debut. He is best known for his 2013 single “Legenden”. Lisa Ajax has competed at Melfest three times prior, most recently in 2019 with the song “Torn”.
John Lundvik – “Änglavakt”
Songwriters: Anderz Wrethov, Elin Wrethov, Benjamin Rosenbohm, Fredrik Sonefors, John Lundvik
John Lundvik previously won Melfest 2019 and represented Sweden at Eurovision 2019. This is his third time competing in Mello.
What do you think of the Melodifestivalen 2022 lineup? Which acts are you most excited for? Who do you think will win the ticket to Rotterdam? Tell us your thoughts below!
Tribe Friday is the name that hype me up the most. It’s time for some indie rock in Eurovision. They’ll end up 5th in their SF though…
A lot of fresh blood when it comes down to performers, but, God, are there only 4-5 songwriters in the entire Sweden?
Definitely some big names but a lot of the same, uninteresting songwriters. Liamoo working with Dino seems a bit more promising though and he has all the talent in the world so I’m excited about that. Omar’s last Melfest effort felt a bit rushed and incomplete so he could also have something much better this time around.
Wait… why is noone talking about Cornelia Jakobs? She has turned into an amazing artist. “Late Night Stories” and “Locked Into You” are so beautiful that if she brings anything with the same indie energy she will be the “Clara Klingerström” kind of surprise. Seeing the lineup I am hopeful for this year’s MF after last year’s obvious drop in quality.
And you had 100% right
Also, did anybody notice that Ben from Denmark’s Ben&Tan wrote a song for John Lundvik ? That’s some unexpected collab !
Maybe that’s a clue to how it will sound.
Honestly, I’m excited about Liamoo – his songwriter Dino Medanhodzic is the man behind Bulletproof, Little Tot and Troubled Waters – all of which are great Melfest hits. Tho it’s strange that Sami Rekik and Ali Jammali are also credited as the songwriters, since they are rumoured to take part in Melfest as the artists themselves (Medina). Or did they simply manage to create the song for their competitor ?
Shame that Liamoo can’t sing and has zero charisma. Him at ESC with a song called “Bluffin'” would be embarrassing. He needs to accept he’s never going to win.
Excited for Cazzi Opeia and Tribe Friday, I think they’re capable of injecting some welcome fresh blood to Melfest. I remember liking Omar and Faith on their previous attempts, they just needed better songs, which I hope will be the case this time. A duet in Swedish by Niello and Lisa Ajax also sounds interesting, as I’m curious to listen to John singing in the language. All things considered, it seems the new showrunner is finding a good balance between the familiar faces and the new ones.
based on my own personal tastes, tribe friday is def my favorite so far. i’m excited for all the fresh faces this year
I actually didn’t think Omar would come back this year! Damn
I just really hope he won’t be underrated again and I hope he doesn’t get votes based off of Young Royals, cause he deserves it as he’s talented 🙂
I’m excited for this year’s contest and I really do wish to see Sweden sending a different song this year! Or at least in Swedish
tribe friday gives me the ark-vibes, very nice. I hope they do well cause i’m not very chuffed about the other songs and artists
So excited for Faith Kakembo x Laurell Barker although I usually dislike the latter’s style 😉
Excited about Cazzi Opeia. She could finally bring something original and interesting from Sweden.
After checking out the fresh faces to Melodifestivalen on YouTube. I have to say I’m very excited by some of them! The ones that really impressed me with their music is Tribe Friday, Cazzi Opeia and Neillo. When it comes to music artists who have featured in Melodifestivalen in some shape or form in the past then I’m seriously interested in what Cornelia Jakobs song is going to be like and I will confess I’m intrigued by what Omar Rudberg will send as well. Overall I really can’t wait to find out what other music artists are going to melodifestivalen… Read more »
It was never an official rule, only praxis as they say here in Sweden now:)
That’s not an official rule just something that has never happened before
It has actually happened many times. Only not that common in recent years and Björkman has mentioned it as somewhat of an unofficial rule.
Yes it has happened before
If I’m not mistaken, those were Bjorkman’s guidelines, so with a new showrunner, they can change.
To be honest, I’m a bit disappointed of this list. I’ve expected Anna Bergendahl or Clara Klingenström or Hanna Ferm to return instead of Hammarström and John.. About John: I don’t get why he’s back just 3 years after his victory. It is too early – we saw it in 2020 with Robin. I’m only excited about Lisa and LIAMOO. Even though I can’t see anyone of those to be a contender for the Eurovision victory how Sweden was (almost) every year. But let’s wait until the songs are available, hopefully some will be great – and who knows which… Read more »
Anna and Clara have both denied that they’re participating
They are not allowed to say anything before it’s revealed. So you cannot say much about that
Well, this is only the first half of all the mello participants. Maybe Anna might appear in next week’s list, But if she isn’t part of this class, oh well. That’s life. Clara has stated in the article months ago that she has no plans to return to Melfest immediately for 2022.
Only here for La Bengtzing
Linda Bengtzing for the 10th time with exacty the same song she has had since Alla Flickor in 2005. Only to end up last in the semi and then cry publicly in media how no one likes schlager any more…
Spot on
8th time*
Looks like Boris Milanov, Filip Kirkorov and Ralph Siegel are missing out on a big party of songwriters everybody has grown weary of.
Songwriters: Anders Bagge, Jimmy Jansson, Peter Boström, Thomas G:son Such a disappointment. He’s been writing for the big names including Celine Dion. Yet he only does a collab, his song will just sound like any song in the contest. It’s very safe to stick to the familiar songwriters. I think they have a place in the contest, but there are so many names out there. It’s not only about the genre the artists usually work in. If everybody gets a song from the normal songwriting team, you will get the same no matter how much you bring forward new names… Read more »
Calm down. They do not write all the songs. Many of the other songwriters here were quite new to me
“Tribe Friday are an indie rock group who have written their own song.” the way y’all had to point out how they wrote their own song bc it’s more unique than rare at melfest… cackling
I’m living to see Cazzi in Turin.
some of those names are STALE but there’s always something to be excited about so let’s focus on that. i’m hyped for the swedish language niello x lisa ajax duet !
If they can get that semi-conversational style of Romania 2010 or sweden 1966, i’d be down for it!
Neillo seems terrible. And rap and Eurovision don’t mix.
Honestly find the names quite interesting to be honest, more exited for this than last years name at least… feels like they mixed in more genres this year
Cazzi better change her name in case she goes to Italy!
on the contrary, it would be iconic if swedes got on the joke and sent her to italy with that name… it’d be great publicity for her haha
Well most of the viewers likes Cazzi as well hehe 😉 I do
What’s Cazzi in Italian?
Look it up in google translate 😉
I just did. *laughs immaturely*
Miss Cocks Tits (Oppeia looks like the Japanese word Oppai, which means tits/boobs).
The interesting thing is that some former big favorites are now competing in swedish language like john lundvik and lisa ajax. It’s a sign that singing in native language is hot at the moment. You see it in the netherlands aswell with the dutch pop music scene having a big revival the last 2 years also with the help of spotify.
I think it’s a sign they don’t expect to win or even don’t want to win. It’s just a promo.
Omar had the best song in 2019 in my opinion so I’m happy he came back.
John lundvik singing in Swedish might be a smart move is the song is good enough.
Also some of the newcomers seem interesting.
Anyway, let’s hope the songs will be of high level.
Linda Bengtzing’s perseverance is admirable.
So, in this first half the lineup, we have seven debutantes and eight returnees, including a winner.
OMG…. Such an underwhelming list of names… Only 3 of these excites me a bit: Omar, Tribe Friday and Cazzia…. The rest makes no excitement in me at all…
And John Lundvik going for Swedish this time…. Gonna be dull for sure.
Crossing my fingers for the next 14 to be way more exciting.
I actually think that a line-up without big names is a good thing now. But I don’t like when artists keep coming back to boost their careers when it goes bad outside the Melodifestivalen bubble. It”s like Melodifestivalen has become their job. However.. I have high hopes with Omar. I’ve always seen his potential, Liked his song in Melodifestivalen 2019 and I really liked him in Young royals as an actor.
Well that is why artists go there, too boost their careers and not because they really want win esc, that is just a bonus…
Melodifestivalen isn’t just about winning, it is a festival after all. Some are there to get a boost. Let’s also not forget this is a a pandemic after two years of artists not having any tours and gigs. They are happy to get anything..
Well, a pandemic or not it’s been like this for several years now. I don’t want to see Linda Bengtzing no more in this competition.
I get that and I agree but at the same time there are people who want to see traditional schlager and dansband in the contest. And Bengtzing is one of few artists who still does schlager. Mello is not only a contest for young people and new acts, it is for all,even your grandma can enjoy it..
Just a correction – Klara debuted in 2020, not 2019. So it’s her third appearance in a row.
Anyway, a lot of these entries appear to be interesting to me and I’m so excited to find out what is behind these titles.
I noticed that Lisa Ajax wasn’t mentioned earlier that she is gonna compete so it’s a pleasant surprise.
seems like they either scrapped the three-year rule now that bjorkie is OUT, or they aren’t counting 2020. either way, i feel like this will only benefit people whose career entirely depends on melfest and who get no attention outside of the season like klara hammayönnaise herself.
not klara hanmayönaise ahaha
Why wouldn’t they count 2020? Melfest is totally separate from Eurovision. The show happened and we had a winner.
a kinda boring line of artists but I’m still excited. Feel like our only chance in this lineup for a good televote score in Omar bc he’s gained like a trillion fans the past years. Really hope we send a woman but whoever got the best song deserves to win!
I think you’re overestimating his fame.
Anders Bagge appearing here confuses me to a high level, I can’t imagine how he thought of submitting and even less how people approved it.
Who doesn’t love Anders Bagge????
Cazzi Opeia and Tribe Friday look interesting!
Can’t say the same for others
Wow! The producers of this year has really done it so far! We are getting big acts, less known acts. Swedish, English. Classics, newcomers.
I LOVE MELODIFESTIVALEN.
also to all eurofans. I see that a lot of you are complaining all the time. This is a kind reminder that Melodifestivalen is a festival of integrity. It is also a big marketing show. Alot of the acts don’t go in to the competition to go on to Eurovision. They either wanna take part of a Swedish beautiful tradition, or simply market their songs.