Melodifestivalen 2018: Mendez wins audience poll ahead of Andra Chansen in Kristianstad

We already know the eight direct finalists for Melodifestivalen 2018. And if tonight’s Melodifestivalklubben audience exit poll is anything to go by, Mendez will be joining them after tomorrow’s Andra Chansen round in Kristianstad.

The fan club polls the audience as they’re leaving the arena following Friday evening’s dress rehearsal. It’s proven to be a pretty handy guide to who could be in line to advance in the actual result.

Tonight, the majority of the audience rowed behind the “Everyday” rapper. He picked up 170 votes. That’s 22% of all votes cast.

Of course, Andra Chansen is no ordinary Melfest heat. All eight entries placed either third or fourth in their respective semi-finals.

Furthermore, it’s not simply a case of the most popular acts qualifying. Instead, the powers that be divide the group into four one-on-one “duels”.  Only the four duel winners progress to the grand final.

So who else do Friday evening’s audience want to see in the final? Let’s examine the poll results.

MELODIFESTIVALKLUBBEN POLL RESULTS MELODIFESTIVALEN 2018 Andra Chansen KRISTIANSTAD

1. Mendez “Everyday” 170 (32%)
2. Sigrid Bernson “Patrick Swayze” 101 (19%)
3. FELIX SANDMAN “Every Single Day” 93 (17%)
4. Mimi Werner “Songburning” 47 (9%)
5. Renaida “All The Feels 38 (7%)
6. Moncho “Cuba Libre” 35 (6.5%)
7. Margaret “In My Cabana” 29 (5.5%)
8. Olivia Eliasson “Never Learn” (20 4%)

A problem immediately jumps out. Rather than ask the audience to choose a winner from each of the four duels, pollsters simply looked for crowd members to name their overall favourite.

This results in the surreal situation where Sigrid Bernson sits comforably in second place with 101 votes. However, with Mendez on top, there is no way that the “Patrick Swayze” popstar can make the final. They’re both in the same duel and only one can qualify!

The poll also appears to have been strongly influenced by the running order. The top four acts all competed in the last two duels while the bottom four all sang in the first two.

Applying these poll results the acts in bold will qualify

1. Margaret “In My Cabana” (SF 2) vs. Moncho “Cuba Libre” (SF 3)
2. Renaida “All the Feels” (SF 1) vs. Olivia Eliasson “Never Learn” (SF 4)
3. Felix Sandman “Every Single Day” (SF 4) vs. Mimi Werner “Songburning” (SF 2)
4. Sigrid Bernson “Patrick Swayze” (SF 1) vs. Méndez “Everyday” (SF 3)

Of course, with such a small sample size, there’s no way of telling if this audience poll will play out correctly. And given the restrictive nature of the question asked, this week’s poll is potentially rife with inaccuracies.

Nonetheless — it’s a spot of fun and has proven generally correct in the past.

In week two, the poll correctly predicted that Samir & Viktor and LIAMOO would advance direct to the final, while also anticipating that Margaret and Mimi Werner would go to Second Chance.

However, for semi-final one, it wrongly predicted that  Edward Blom would qualify ahead of Renaida.

And in semi three it only got one prediction right — Martin Almgren for the final. Audience poll topper Mendez had to make do with Andra Chansen, while fourth place Jessica Andreasson actually secured a place in the final. And despite polling third, Dotter ultimately crashed out in sixth place.

Last week’s poll was similarly all over the place. Once again only one prediction came through — Mariette to the final. Second and fourth placed Ellias Abbas and Emmi Christensson failed to qualify, while third place Rolandz actually secured a final spot. Audience non-qualifiers FELIX SANDMAN and Olivia Eliasson both ended up in Andra Chansen.

What do you think of the audience poll? Do you think we could be in for a shock, or do you think the live audience got it wrong? Let us know all your thoughts in the comments section below!

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