We are almost half way through this year’s Melodifestivalen in Sweden, and on Saturday we will see seven new songs in heat 3.
The 30 second rehearsal snippets are out for watching now, which means it’s time for one thing: To name your favourite.
Click on the artist’s song title below to see their snippet. Then vote in our poll. You can vote for as many artists as you’d like, but you can only vote one time. Be sure to tick the box next to each act you want to support.
Then let us know who you voted for — and why — in the comments box below.
Melodifestivalen 2023 heat 3
- Paul Rey – “Royals”
Songwriters: Dino Medanhodzic, Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, LIAMOO, Paul Rey
- Casanovas – “Så kommer känslorna tillbaka”
Songwriters: Henrik Sethsson, Mikael Karlsson
- Melanie Wehbe – “For The Show”
Songwriters: David Lindgren Zacharias, Herman Gardarfve, Melanie Wehbe
- Nordman – “Släpp alla sorger”
Songwriters: Jimmy Jansson, Thomas G:son
- Laurell – “Sober”
Songwriters: Anderz Wrethov, Andreas Stone Johansson, Laurell Barker, Thomas Stengaard
- Ida-Lova – “Låt hela stan se på”
Songwriters: Andreas ”Giri” Lindbergh, Ida-Lova Lind, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb
- Marcus & Martinus – “Air “
Songwriters: Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Marcus Gunnarsen, Martinus Gunnarsen
Den här är också väldigt svag.
This heat got mixed reactions. So no winner from here. I hope loreen wins. So a final without sweden and russia at the same time will never happen. (THE LAST SENTENCE WAS JUST A PEAK TO THE CLOWNS ON TWITTER)
Hey, people. Let us send our mainstream songs and end up barely qualifying. I’m not impressed by MF either, and that’s why I watch other NFs. Let go of MF, there are several other countries for you to root for. 🙂
The typical MF song with pre-recording vocals covering 90% of the song and only relying on visuals/staging leading the poll, what a surprise.
Is it any other option? This heat is very weak. The decision is a no-brainer.
Overall, I find this deltävling much stronger than the last two, particularly last week’s. My DtF qualifiers would be Marcus & Martinus + Nordman. I would send Paul Rey as a close 3rd with the 4th spot as a bit of a toss up for me right now, because I quite enjoy all the remaining entries. For now I will give it to my fellow canadian, Laurell. I did enjoy what little I saw of the preview from her live performance. Tbh I think any acts in this deltävling would likely have been in my top 4 in the last… Read more »
The only interesting and deserving songs to go direct to the final are: Nordman by far (strong vocals, Swedish lyrics, beautiful music aesthetic and is not a generic pop song with empowering lyrics) and Casanovas which is sound like a 90s entry but stil is more original than the rest. However I would doubt the public to vote the older artists because is so ageist
I’m somewhat surprised Nordman isn’t doing better in the wiwi poll. It’s up there in my favourites from this semi, from the snippets!
I have a feeling the final will be a Loreen vs Marcus & Martinius showdown.
It’s difficult to predict which way the Swedes will vote.
I wouldn’t be upset at this possibility but I wonder, based on what seems to be some hype around Maria in Sweden (from what I can tell), if it won’t be a Loreen v Maria show down. I think I would prefer a Loreen vs M&M though.
Juries will probably shower Loreen heavily, so her probable top televote results doesn’t meter much, she can be 3rd and still win it all thanks to the obvious (and deserved) jury backup 🙂
So far only Marcus & Martinius look like they’d have strong chances of qualifying for the final in Eurovision. Some others might too, but the chances are lower
I don’t like any of them except for Marcus & Martinus, at least the song is listenable. All the other songs sound plastic and fake.
Sweden sure knows how to create performances, but even they have run out of ideas, camera angles are all the same, artist appears on the left of the screen, then on the right, then sideways shot, then wide shot from afar, rinse and repeat.
I liked some of the songs but it’s Sweden; no matter Sweden’s songs are really good or bad; juries would give high points for Swedish entries in Eurovision.
And what other songs selected so far are better than any of these songs?
There are very few entries in Melfest history that can even stand up to Spain’s EaEa, for example. People would also have Slovenia, Latvia, Italy and the Czech Republic far ahead of anything from this year’s MF.
So Spains screeming lady is better than Swedens song, no way
She’s not screaming at all, she’s just honoring Spain’s cultural heritage.
haha agree
Here is a list (in my opinion):
Spain
Italy
Czechia
Norway
Latvia
Slovenia
Croatia
even Belgium and Malta
And if Sweden sent one of those songs people would still bash it and say” only do well cause it’s Sweden, if other countries sent it it would not reach final”
Yall like to say this meanwhile they nearly always do equally well or better with the televote
Tusse did better with televote than jury and y’all saod it was jury bait.
in 2015 Måns got third with televoters which is not a stark difference. Yet you all ignore that and only focus on the jury. Maybe because precious televote baby Italy did not win?
Point is even without juries Sweden would still do well. Even in 2010 when they did not qualify they would have still qualified with only televotes. So the saying “Sweden only does well with juries” is in fact only bashing a country.
It’s not possible to tell what the public favourite is by the televote.
Make that argument if you like, it doesn’t change anything. If a thousand people voted for Chanel twenty times, and a thousamd people voted for Systur just once… does that make Chanel the “public favourite”? Hypothetical example.
Yeah, but being the “winner” of the televote does not mean you are the public favourite. That’s all I’m saying. #JuriesForever
They’re not televote only. San Marino still exists, so there will be robots too.
I am not saying Sweden is not doing well with juries. I am saying that is the only thing people look and then disregard the entries, as if they have no merit or value whatsoever.
But even without juries Sweden still does well because it has always reached top 10 with voters, few exceptions of course. And yet people ignore that and go on their usual “Sweden only do well because of juries” rant. Acting as if Swedish entries are among the least voted entriessä..
Of course you prefer televoters, they will always ensure Italy does well, no matter what..
That means that Sweden does well even with voters. There is no “only doing well thanks to juries” because that would insinuate Sweden always ends up near the bottom with voters which is not the case
Although people do not like that statement, they must admit it is so true!
A lot can be said about the quality of the songs, but there are less “super-bad-crappy-wtf” songs this year. Looking at the past 4-5 years, there were at least two of these in each heat. Last week and this week does not have the likes of Edward Blom (livet på en pinne) etc. So, I think the overall depth has seen an improvement. However, I have yet to hear the killer song that is a likely top 5 candidate at Eurovision. Maybe during the last week…
The way things are going, Sweden is selecting a popular artist not the song this year. The rest of Europe don’t know these artists, and unless it’s a great song , they will go absolutely nowhere. This is a danger as they may end up flopping in Liverpool, even with Maria. So far the quality is average with some good songs making the final. As we all know good is not enough. They just need 1 song to be as strong and captivating as last year and then it’s a guaranteed contender. So far the winner of Heat 1 is… Read more »
You mena that Cornelia Jakobs won last year because she was ”popular”. She was unknown for almost everyone
Odd. I am not Swedish and I knew Cornelia Jakobs for years.
She was known if you listened to indie-music. But for the mainstream audience she was unknown. In fact when the heats were presented no body even thought about her because unknowns rarely do well, But then the song came along..
Yes, with an excellent song like Hold Me Closer an unknown artist can easily win. However, none of the unknown artists this year has a song that is as nearly as good as Hold Me Closer.
They should definitely think about a tighter selection with fewer songs or do it like Portugal and invite credible songwriters and give them free hand. These bland popsongs are a disaster – each year, but this time there are just too many of them.
doesn’t matter what SVT should do, they will probably not cut down on the size of the contest anytime . It’s just so big right now.
*anytime soon
The contest will not be cut down. Maybe only the selection process. But the format with heats will remain. They are there that so that smaller regional cities can have a big event to look forward too. And also SVT has a mission to reflect the whole of Sweden and not just the capital
Same songwriters behind most of these songs, and now even as performers. This year is the weakest Melodifestivalen I have ever witnessed, those 2 824 submissions don’t seem that impressive, if these were the best.
Its 17 newcomers this year
Ugh I never wanted Loreen to win more than I do now. Just so Maria Sur and her pity vote don’t win.
How do you know that Loreen is gonna be good? We havent heard her song yet. We vote for the SONG not the name
You voted for backstories 2 years in a row with Tusse and Bagge, Maria Sur could even make that 3 in a row, that’s just a bit mental.
We voted for Cornelia last year who got high points from all groups. She was unknown.
Cornelia was popular but you still needed those juries to save you from Bagge and that says it all really.
Indeed, had it not been for the jury penalizing Bagge, he would have gone to eurovision, and not Cornelia. I likewise worry about the focus being on the person/backstory and not on the quality of the song/performance this year, just as the last couple of years.
It works for Ukraine…
Twice even..
As a Finnish person who has been following Mello on the low for decades and more closely for the last 5 years, this is really sad to see.
Even though the shows track record has ALWAYS been a bit shaky with the 2010’s re-invigorating it, it’s definitely faltering again because they fear innovation so much, and COVID definitely didn’t help.
Nothing really catches me tbh.. feels like a weak Melfest year, the song I really like didn’t even advance.. and that is Wiktoria
As a hardcore Melfest fan–this is the most underwhelming edition yet. And for those who just blame “Sweden-hate” then should really look at the viewing figures, because the Swedish public agree as this will go down as probably the lowest-rated festival since it re-imagined by Christer. All the while, MGP saw some of it’s biggest audience in forever. And, yes, while the production of melfest is still tops–the songs are just not up to the standards we have been used to. And if this is a case of Loreen has a killer song and no one wanted to compete against… Read more »
The Danish MGP was the lowest rated show in 30 years so there is that…
Besides The heats are always low. The difference from last year is not that big. Only 600 000 more people watched last year
As they showed last year, they only need ONE song but, it was nice when it came in heat one and the pressure was off.
This is all down to next week now.
Comments section on Sweden thread are systematically negative and obnoxious. It’s been like 4 years that there is a Melodifestivalen bashing here by some fans. I wanted to point it out.
Anyway, i’m enjoying melfest as Always 😀 and i made discovered melfest to some non fans Friends last week, they were thrilled ! (Tennessee and panetoz all the way haha)
Every Melodifestivalen is “the worst ever” according to Wiwibloggs:)
You should have been here in 2012! Even Loreen was scorned at!
Honestly this is much better semifinal than previous two.
I like 2 songs
None of them
They are all awful
It’s so much better than the song who are in ESC so far.
The only song with any kind of ok lyrics are the one by M&M… And it also seems like an interesting song that havent gone through the exact same Mello-assembly line as the rest… That said, this does seem to be the best heat still. Only one i dont seem to like much are the songs by Casanovas and Ida-Lova..
So my pick for the final: M&M and Melanie Wehbe and for the semi: Paul Rey and Laurell.
The thing I’m most looking forward to is seeing Afro-dite again.
Do you remember when MGP used to get Melfest rejects? It feels like it’s the other way round this year. Or is it just me?
And it wasn’t that long ago. I’ve seen a few Melfest songwriters pop up during one MGP final a few years back.
Much stronger than previous heats. Of course snippets mean nothing but it sounds promising. I do think it is obvious the twins will make it through, they did sound the best. Paul Ray also was good and could be the second finalist. Laurell offers another bop, surprised I liked it that much. I predict semi final.
Looking forward to the staging!
Ida-Lova actually sounds really beautiful, no? Like.. This is giving me Behöver inte dig idag vibes.. Looking forward to hearing the entire song, but based of the snippets, out of all 3 heats this is the first one I kinda actually feel has potential..
My votes went to Marcus & Martinus and Paul Rey While I agree the last two years of Melfest don’t exactly make me crazy or anything, I do believe neither editions are bad Most people hate on Sweden because it seems to be a popular thing to do in a fandom full of toxic, biased and unreasonable so-called “fans” who can’t accept the fact that their opinion isn’t the only one in the world I’m not saying anything against people who can provide LOGICAL criticism and can actually prove their point without making a fool of themselves, kudos to you… Read more »
Thanks for the positive energy! It is refreshing 🙂
No problem haha
You can count on me when it comes to defending Sweden lol
Loving Melodifestivalen a lot
Thanks! 🙂
I feel like most of the songs in this year’s Melodifestivalen fall into the “okay” category. I’m not instantly drawn to many of them, but I didn’t mind most of them thus far either. Same goes for these snippets. They feel mostly okay. I hope that hearing the full songs and performances can turn some of them into contenders. So far, my favorites are Victor Crone and Panetoz. Waiting for Loreen. I am already picturing people being disappointed whatever she sends, because people have hyped her entry so much in advance that no song could live-up to that hype. But… Read more »
Melodi Grand Prix 2023 > Melodifestivalen 2023. Change my mind
I count six songs that didn’t even make the MGP final that would be my favorite here.
I’ll go further: DMGP 2023 is better.
I don’t think they’d necessarily struggle with *the right* 7 or 8 songs picked for the finals, but I think they would struggle with 8 songs picked on the criteria on who has the most touching backstory or what toddlers think is the funniest staging or who’s the most popular music outside of the festival at the moment.
If they’d pick the right 8 songs for the finals, they’d likely be quite stronger than DMGP, yet not nearly as strong as UMK (per average).
Yeah, i agree with you. I really enjoyed MGP and of course DMGP too, because they took it more seriously than in previous years. MGP even changed voting, there were a lot of really good quality songs, some of them wasn’t even in final. MGP 2023 was like good old Mello. I kinda like Melodifestivalen this year too, but this year’s songs haven’t impressed me yet, because a lot of forgetable songs….I’m still waiting for Loreen’s song which could be THE moment like Cornelia’s song last year. My only hope for Sweden this year. Hopefully, I won’t be disappointed
Anyone know why Marcua & Martinus entered into Sweden’s contest instead of Norway’s?
I think they moved from Universal Music Norway to Universal Music Sweden instead so they are mainly based in Stockholm now which is why they were probably approached for Melodifestivalen. They’re very well known and popular in Sweden and they won the Masked Singer there last year.
That makes sense then.
The twins have been focusing their careers in Sweden recently
They’re won the Swedish version of The Masked Singer not too long ago and they seem to be very popular over there, so I’m assuming that’s why they chose MF over MGP
This might be the best heat. From what i’ve heard Nordman are bringing something original akin to the guys from the first heat who brought Sami instead of a generic pop song. Marcus and Martinus have been hyped up and it seems as if their song will have a chorus that drops. The snippet shown seemed to be one massive build up.
A bit more potential here in what has been an underwhelming competition from Sweden so far. Air is very enticing, it feels like there is a killer drop just outside of the snippet, I am certainly interested to hear more. I also enjoyed For The Show which has that sweet, melancholic vibe which I enjoy. And Ida Lova reminded me of Kelle Ma Soitan from Finland a few years ago, and if it ends up only halfway as emotionally stirring as Ilta’s effort, I will be sold.
seems like loreen will return esc. I haven’t heard a good song this melft.
I like Marcus & Martinus, Ida-Lova and Nordman. A much stronger heat this week.
Huh, with an average effort level THIS low it’s no surprise the viewing figures for this year’s Melfest have been terrible thus far. Deservedly so of course, since nothing is even remotely strong aside from maaaaybe Tone Sekelius’s entry. I could picture Sweden failing to qualify this year if no one else delivers in the last remaining heat… It does have Loreen but we don’t know whether she’ll deliver or not
I actually really like Ida-Lovas song. I can see her become the new Clara Klingenström.
the strongest heat so far. based on my music taste “which is summed up as trash pop consumer”,
the last 3 I just couldn’t listen to more than 20 seconds “I’m not torturing myself”
same old same old
Paul Rey song has a nice rythm but these lyrics… For Marcus and Martinus I can’t really judge the snippet ends just before the chorus I think, it seems promising though I like the voices… But my mind is already prepared this year for a final duel between Loreen and Maria for the Melfest win. Can’t wait to hear Loreen’s song because apparently she has the best song of this Melfest year, this is her entry the closest in terms of style to Euphoria but the weakest of her Melfest attempts at the same time according to a certain thing… Read more »
These are not getting better. They’re not getting worse, so that’s one plus I guess.
If I had to pick two – then Marcus&Martinus and Nordman.
Omg. I can’t even describe how silly and toxic people are! This semifinal is way better than last week and not that bad with especially one song that is worthy to do well in the final. And that is Air. So swedish but sung by two norweigans :)I never expect all songs in one heat to be good. But people’s attitude is way to cold and harsh for me to even want to be on this site any more. . And.. your precious Loreen will be on next week. But I’m pretty sure you won’t be satisfied with her either..… Read more »
I’ve often loved Melodifestivalen, but I also find this year quite underwhelming.
Well, personally, I have not forgiven the crime Sweden committed against Loreen back in 2017.
Agreed!
nobody – i am still waiting for a “hold me closer” moment – a song with greatness!
Hmm.. None! can’t wait for next week to “heat 4” to hear Loreen’s song…
I thought Laurell’s song might be more than what she usually offers, considering it’s her as performer and the serious-sounding title. Something personal. I don’t know if that’s what she was going for, but she loses any connection for me by putting on a “popstar” persona. Still, the lyrics give a very healthy message which is never bad.
Why does she put on a different accent? Where is this character she is playing from?
Maybe she wrote it for someone who didn’t want it and she decided to sing it herself. That’s my theory.
Margaret? I can imagine it for her.
That’s what I heard first time I pressed play. Tailored to Margaret perfectly.
21 entries now and still nothing to write home about. Makes me wonder, if these songs made the cut, how “awful” must the rest had been?
I think same. This year songs are not the best. Are these the best songs or do they enjoy using songs from always the same writers year after year. One writer has 7 songs in this or something like this. That sounds like inside job.
Laurell is good performer and singer. I believe you will be blowned away – dark horse in this heat maybe but with staging and more song this is good. Also such a talented writer. She wrote big songs we love like She Got Me and El Diablo and co-writer of this song Wrethov wrote Fuego. She is very North American flavor and I think ESC needs more of this to make cool. Mi piace Laurell and I cannot wait to hear more and see staging.
no one should win it. still waitin for last heat and Loreen
they are all horrible