Melodifestivalen 2018

Melodifestivalen 2018
Preliminary decision data
country	Sweden
Broadcasting station	, , , , ,
Producing broadcaster
place	Semi-finals: Löfbergs Arena , Karlstad Scandinavium , Göteborg Malmö Arena , Malmö Fjällräven Center , Örnsköldsvik Andra Chansen: Kristianstad Arena, Kristianstad Final: Friends Arena , Solna ( Stockholm )
date	March 10, 2018
Time	8:00 p.m. ( CET )
Duration	approx. 90 & 120 minutes
Number of participants	28
Number of contributions	28
Preliminary rounds	5
Preliminary round dates	Semi-finals: 0 February 3, 2018 February 10, 2018 February 17, 2018 February 24, 2018 Andra Chansen: 0 March 3, 2018
poll	Preliminary rounds: 100% televoting Final: 50% international jury voting, 50% televoting
Opening act	First semifinals: David Lindgren: One Together (music / lyrics: Sunil Munshi, Peter Kvint) Second semifinals: David Lindgren: Stayin 'Alive (music / lyrics: Barry Gibb , Robin Gibb , Ricardo da Force, Kevin O'Toole, Dale Longworth ; Arrangement: Teddy Bears, Jan Lundkvist) Third semi-final: David Lindgren & John Österlund: Livet - En Dröm (music: Sunil Munshi, Jan Lundkvist; text: Sunil Munshi) Fourth semi-final: David Lindgren: This Is Me (music / text: Benj Pasek, Justin Paul; arrangement: Jan Lundkvist) Andra Chansen: David vs. Fab Freddie: Lip Sync Battle Finale: David Lindgren: One Together (Music / Text: Sunil Munshi, Peter Kvint; Remix: mF)
Pause filler	First semifinal: Ebbot & The Indigo Children feat. Labankören: Sånt är livet (Music: Bill Cook ; Text: Stikkan Anderson ; Arrangement: Ebbot Lundberg) Second semifinals: Petra Marklund : En Tuff Brud I Lyxförpackning (Music / Text: Simon Brehm , Sven Paddork, Gösta Stevens; Arrangement: Petra Marklund , Elias Kapari) Third semi-final: Linnea Henriksson feat. Stor: Mamma är lik sin mamma (Music: Raymond Gilmore, John Madara, David White; Text: Stikkan Anderson ; Arrangement: Linnea Henriksson, Noels Swahn, David Landolf) Fourth semifinals: Cecilia Frode: En man i byrån (Music: Billy Meshel ; Text: Peter Himmelstrand; Arrangement: Jan Lundkvist) Andra Chansen: Maxida Märak: Vill ni se en stjärna (Music: Franz Doelle ; Text: Berco; Arrangement: F. Hultman, E. Eliasson, MAD Fun, Maxida Märak) Finale: Helen Sjöholm & Solala: Vår bästa tid är nu (Music: Jerry Herman ; Text: Ture Rangström ; Arrangement: Solala) ; Caroline af Ugglas & Gränslösa röster: I Can't Go On (Music / Text: David Kreuger, Hamed “K-One” Pirouzpanah, Robin Stjernberg ; arrangement: Sunil Munshi, Peter Kvint) ; David Lindgren: Alla ska få vad de vill
Moderation
David Lindgren , Fab Freddie

The Melodifestivalen 2018 was the Swedish preliminary decision for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon ( Portugal ). It was the 58th edition of the competition organized by the Swedish broadcaster SVT . Benjamin Ingrosso won with the song Dance You Off . He reached seventh place in the final of the ESC.

format

concept

For the sixteenth time the semi-finals took place in different locations in Sweden. There were 28 contributions, which were distributed over four semifinals, so that seven contributions were presented per semifinals. In two voting rounds, the audience decided who qualified for the final and who was allowed to compete again in the Andra Chansen (German: Second Chance). In each semi-final, the first two entries with the most audience votes qualified directly for the final. Those contributions that took third and fourth place appeared a second time on the Andra Chansen program . There the candidates competed against each other in duels and whoever received the most audience votes qualified for the final. Twelve performers appeared in the finale.

As in previous years, the producer of Melodifestival 2018 is Christer Björkman . On November 2, 2017, SVT announced at a press conference that David Lindgren would moderate the shows. He is returning as a moderator after 2017 .

On January 23, 2018, SVT announced a rule change for the Melodifestivalen 2018. In the final, the international juries will no longer award 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and points to the performers, but will now award 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12 points can be awarded. This rule change enables a more even distribution of points. At the same time, the number of points awarded by the audience was increased from 473 to 638 points in order to increase the influence of the audience vote.

broadcasts

Gothenburg Malmo Karlstad Kristianstad Stockholm Örnsköldsvik

Venues of the Melodifestival 2018 (blue marking)

On September 26, 2017, SVT presented the six dates and venues of the Melodifestivalen 2018. The city of Kristianstad hosted the Melodifestivalen for the first time. The first semi-final reached a new record for a Melodifestivalen broadcast with 6,617,451 votes. The first semi-final also reached the highest number of spectators since 2015 and reached 100,000 more spectators than in 2017 . However, the number of viewers fell continuously and reached a new low in the Andra Chansen program . Never before have fewer viewers watched the Andra Chansen show since it was launched .

broadcast	Send date	city	venue	Spectator (SVT1)	Audience votes (televoting, SMS & app)	Number of votes
Deltävling 1	03rd February 2018	Karlstad	Löfbergs Arena	3,303,000	6,617,451	473,599
Deltävling 2	February 10, 2018	Gothenburg	Scandinavium	2,916,000	5,880,237	434,592
Deltävling 3	17th February 2018	Malmo	Malmo Arena	2,830,000	4,800,971	387.088
Deltävling 4	February 24, 2018	Örnsköldsvik	Fjallraven Center	2,858,000	4,866,749	381,346
Andra Chansen	0March 3, 2018	Kristianstad	Kristianstad Arena	2,579,000	6.007.515	406.254
Finals	March 10, 2018	Stockholm	Friends Arena	3,551,000	13,993,975	725.799
total				18,037,000	42,166,898	2,808,678

Choice of contribution

From September 1st, 9:00 a.m. to September 18, 2017, 5:59 p.m., composers had the opportunity to submit a contribution to the Swedish television station SVT. From these 28 contributions will be selected. The selection is made according to the following selection process:

• 14 contributions will be selected from all submitted contributions.
• 13 contributions are selected at the invitation of SVT.
• The winner of the P4 Nästa 2017 competition , Stiko Per Larsson, received a starting place for the Melodifestivalen 2018.

As in previous years, at least 50% of all contributions must be written by female composers and 30% sung in Swedish.

According to SVT, a total of 2,771 contributions were submitted. Compared to the previous year, 293 more entries were submitted.

On November 28, 2017, all 28 participants were presented to the public. However, only the performers were presented with the corresponding song titles and authors. SVT published a two and a half minute excerpt of the songs the day before the broadcast. The final version, however, was only heard on the broadcasts.

Moderation

At a press conference on November 2, 2017, David Lindgren was introduced as the moderator of the Melodifestivalen 2018. He moderated the Melodifestivalen for the second time after moderating the show together with Clara Henry and Hasse Andersson in 2017. In addition, David Lindgren had already participated in the competition in 2012, 2013 and 2016 .

Semifinals

First semi-final

Löfbergs Arena

The first semi-final (Deltävling 1) took place on February 3, 2018, 8:00 p.m. ( CET ) in the Löfbergs Arena in Karlstad . A total of 6,617,451 audience votes were counted. Never before have so many audience votes been counted during a semi-final. This set the record from last year.

space	Start number	Interpreter	Song Music (M) and Text (T)	language	Translation (unofficial)	Audience votes (televoting, SMS & app)				image
						Round 1	round 2	total	%
1.	7th	Benjamin Ingrosso	Dance You Off M / T: Benjamin Ingrosso , MAG, Louis Schoorl, K Nita	English	Dance yourself out	1,184,738	110.417	1,295,155	19.64%
2.	2	John Lundvik	My Turn M / T: Anna-Klara Folin, John Lundvik , Jonas Thander	English	It's my turn	1,048,501	103.632	1,152,133	17.47%
3.	3	Renaida	All the Feels M / T: Laurell Barker, Jon Hällgren, Peter Barringer, Lukas Hällgren	English	All of these feelings	1,037,549	089,358	1,126,907	17.09%
4th	1	Sigrid Bernson	Patrick Swayze M / T: Andrej Kamnik, Josefin Glenmark, Peg Parnevik, Sigrid Bernson	English	-	0951.260	092,476	1,043,736	15.83%
5.	4th	Edward Blom	Livet på en pinne M / T: Edward Blom , Thomas G: son , Stefan Brunzell, Kent Olsson	Swedish	Life on the stick	0801.616	063,826	0865,442	13.12%
6th	6th	Kamferdrops	Solen lever kvar hos dig M / T: Herbert Trus, Danne Attlerud, Martin Klaman, Kristoffer Tømmerbakke, Erik Smaaland, Kamferdrops	Swedish	The sun continues to live with you	0555.778	-	0555.778	08.43%
7th	5	Kikki Danielsson	Osby Tennessee M / T: Sulo Karlsson, Kikki Danielsson	Swedish	-	0555,446	-	0555.466	08.42%

 Candidate has qualified for the final.

 The candidate qualified for the Andra Chansen.

Second semi-final

Scandinavium

The second semi-final (Deltävling 2) took place on February 10, 2018, 8 p.m. (CET) in the Scandinavium in Gothenburg .

space	Start number	Interpreter	Song Music (M) and Text (T)	language	Translation (unofficial)	Audience votes (televoting, SMS & app)				image
						Round 1	round 2	total	%
1.	1	Samir & Viktor	Shuffla M / T: Andreas "Stone" Johansson, Denniz Jamm, Costa Leon, Samir Badran, Viktor Frisk	Swedish	-	1,166,434	070 629	1,237,063	21.09%
2.	7th	LIAMOO	Last Breath M / T: Liam Cacatian Thomassen , Morten Thorhauge, Peter Bjørnskov, Lene Dissing	English	Last breath	1,051,127	100.136	1,151,263	19.63%
3.	4th	Margaret	In My Cabana M / T: Anderz Wrethov, Linnea Deb, Arash Labaf , Robert Uhlmann	English	In my cabana	0805.016	060.198	0865.214	14.75%
4th	6th	Mimi Werner	Songburning M / T: Göran Werner, Mimi Werner, Niki Niki, Carl Varga, Johan Åsgärde, Oliver Lundström	English	Burn songs	0744.801	067,923	0812.724	13.86%
5.	2	Ida Redig	Allting som vi sa M / T: Yvonne Dahlbom, Jesper Welander, Ida Redig	Swedish	Everything as we said	0721.817	057,707	0779 524	13.29%
6th	5	Stiko Per Larsson	Titta vi flyger M / T: Stiko Per Larsson, Emil Rotsjö	Swedish	Look we're flying	0529 194	-	0529 194	09.02%
7th	3	Jonas Gardell	Det finns en väg M / T: Calle Kindbom, Jonas Gardell, Mats Tärnfors	Swedish	There is a way	0490 911	-	0490 911	08.37%

 Candidate has qualified for the final.

 The candidate qualified for the Andra Chansen.

Third semi-final

Malmo Arena

The third semi-final (Deltävling 3) will take place on February 17, 2018, 8:00 p.m. (CET) in the Malmö Arena in Malmö .

space	Start number	Interpreter	Song Music (M) and Text (T)	language	Translation (unofficial)	Audience votes (televoting, SMS & app)				image
						Round 1	round 2	total	%
1.	1	Martin Almgren	A Bitter Lullaby M / T: Josefin Glenmark, Märta Grauers	English	A bitter lullaby	850.684	093,848	944,532	19.76%
2.	4th	Jessica Andersson	Party Voice M: Fredrik Kempe, David Kreuger, Niklas Carson Mattsson; T: Fredrik Kempe, Jessica Andersson	English	Celebratory voice	788.787	102.041	890.828	18.64%
3.	7th	Mendez	Everyday M / T: Leopoldo Mendez, Jimmy Jansson, Palle Hammarlund	Spanish , English	Every day	701.557	091,553	793.110	16.59%
4th	3	Moncho	Cuba Libre M / T: Jimmy Jansson, David Strääf, Markus Videsäter, Axel Schylström, Moncho Monserrat	Swedish	-	569.210	046,859	616.069	12.89%
5.	5	Kalle Moraeus & Orsa Spelmän	Min dröm M / T: Thomas G: son , Alexzandra Wickman	Swedish	my dream	537.891	05,589	596.480	12.48%
6th	6th	yolk	Cry M / T: Linnea Deb, Peter Boström, Thomas G: son , Johanna "Dotter" Jansson	English	Wines	511.718	-	511.718	10.71%
7th	2	Barbi Escobar	Strong M / T: Barbi Escobar, Costa Leon, Andreas "Stone" Johansson	Swedish	Strong	426,768	-	426,768	08.93%

 Candidate has qualified for the final.

 The candidate qualified for the Andra Chansen.

Fourth semi-final

Fjallraven Center

The fourth semi-final (Deltävling 4) will take place on February 24, 2018, 8:00 p.m. (CET) at the Fjällräven Center in Örnsköldsvik .

space	Start number	Interpreter	Song Music (M) and Text (T)	language	Translation (unofficial)	Audience votes (televoting, SMS & app)				image
						Round 1	round 2	total	%
1.	7th	Mariette	For You M / T: Jörgen Elofsson	English	To you	816.976	84,609	901.585	18.57%
2.	4th	Rolandz	Fuldans M / T: Fredrik Kempe, David Kreuger, Robert Gustafsson	Swedish	-	737.996	80.005	818.001	16.85%
3.	6th	Felix Sandman	Every single day M / T: Noah Conrad, Tony Ferrari, Parker James Nornes, Jake Torry, Felix Sandman	English	Every single day	693.167	70.118	763.285	15.72%
4th	5	Olivia Eliasson	Never Learn M / T: Jonas Wallin, Astrid S , Anton Ewald	English	Never learn	601.932	46,425	648.357	13.36%
5.	2	Elias Abbas	Mitt paradis M / T: Anderz Wrethov, Hamed "K-One" Pirouzpanah, Sami Rekik	Swedish	My paradise	605,644	39,845	645.489	13.30%
6th	1	Emmi Christensson	Icarus M / T: Thomas G: son , Christian Schneider, Andreas Hedlund, Sara Biglert	English	Icarus	541.494	-	541.494	11.15%
7th	3	Felicia Olsson	Break that chain M / T: Bobby Ljunggren, Kristian Lagerström, Henrik Wikström, Joy Deb	English	Break this chain	536.504	-	536.504	11.05%

 Candidate has qualified for the final.

 The candidate qualified for the Andra Chansen.

Andra Chansen

Kristianstad Arena

The program Andra Chansen (German: Second Chance) took place on March 3, 2018, 8:00 p.m. ( CET ) in the Kristianstad Arena in Kristianstad .

duel	Start number	Interpreter	Song Music (M) and Text (T)	Audience votes (televoting, SMS & app)
				be right	%
1	1	Margaret	In My Cabana M / T: Anderz Wrethov, Linnea Deb, Arash Labaf, Robert Uhlmann	877.351	59.27%
	2	Moncho	Cuba Libre M / T: Jimmy Jansson, David Strääf, Markus Videsäter, Axel Schylström, Moncho Monserrat	602.941	40.73%
2	1	Renaida	All the Feels M / T: Laurell Barker, Jon Hällgren, Peter Barringer, Lukas Hällgren	884.188	56.43%
	2	Olivia Eliasson	Never Learn M / T: Jonas Wallin, Astrid S , Anton Ewald	682.201	43.57%
3	1	Felix Sandman	Every Single Day M / T: Noah Conrad, Tony Ferrari, Parker James Nornes, Jake Torry, Felix Sandman	868.152	59.81%
	2	Mimi Werner	Songburning M / T: Göran Werner, Mimi Werner, Niki Niki, Carl Varga, Johan Åsgärde, Oliver Lundström	583,305	40.19%
4th	1	Sigrid Bernson	Patrick Swayze M / T: Andrej Kamnik, Josefin Glenmark, Peg Parnevik, Sigrid Bernson	741.226	49.13%
	2	Mendez	Everyday M / T: Leopoldo Mendez, Jimmy Jansson, Palle Hammarlund	767,551	50.87%

 Candidate has qualified for the final.

final

Friends Arena

The winner of the Swedish preliminary decision: Benjamin Ingrosso

The finals took place on March 10, 2018, 8:00 p.m. ( CET ) in the 30,000-seat Friends Arena in Solna ( Stockholm ). In the final, Benjamin Ingrosso prevailed with his song Dance You Off , after which he won the jury and televoting. Måns Zelmerlöw last succeeded in doing this in 2015 . He will represent Sweden in the second semi-final of the 63rd Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon.

Moderator David Lingren opened the finale with the song One Together , which he sang at the beginning of the first semifinals. The singer Reinaida performed her song a second time after she had technical problems in the first appearance.

During the voting phase, Helen Sjöholm & Solala presented the song V år bästa tid är nutrat . The singer Caroline af Ugglas performed with the Gränslösa röster choir and sang her own version of the winning song I Can't Go On , with which Robin Bengtsson won the 2017 Melodifestivalen .

For the first time, the juries awarded 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12 points. The audience gave 638 instead of 473 points.

With 3,551,000 spectators, the final achieved the lowest number of spectators since measurements began in 1993. A new all-time record was set with 13,993,975 spectator votes. Never before have so many viewers voted in a final or a broadcast of the Melodifestivalen.

space	Start number	Interpreter	Song Music (M) and Text (T)	language	PL	AL	IS	IT	CY	AU	GE	UK	AT THE	FR	PT	jury total	Audience votes (televoting, SMS & app)			total
																	be right	%	Points
01.	11	Benjamin Ingrosso	Dance You Off M / T: Benjamin Ingrosso , MAG, Louis Schoorl, K Nita	English	10	12	10	12	12	12	8th	4th	12	10	12	114	1,469,808	10.5%	67	181
02.	09	Felix Sandman	Every Single Day M / T: Noah Conrad, Tony Ferrari, Parker James Nornes, Jake Torry, Felix Sandman	English	6th	1	12	8th	10	10	12	7th	6th	12	10	094	1,401,767	10%	64	158
03.	04th	John Lundvik	My Turn M / T: Anna-Klara Folin, John Lundvik , Jonas Thander	English	7th	3	8th	6th	4th	8th	10	10	5	4th	1	066	1,349,766	9.6%	62	128
04th	07th	Samir & Viktor	Shuffla M / T: Andreas "Stone" Johansson, Denniz Jamm, Costa Leon, Samir Badran, Viktor Frisk	Swedish	5	6th	5	10	6th	-	1	12	4th	-	5	054	1,314,016	9.4%	60	114
05.	08th	Mariette	For You M / T: Jörgen Elofsson	English	4th	7th	6th	5	8th	5	7th	2	10	2	8th	064	1,080,546	7.7%	49	113
06th	06th	LIAMOO	Last Breath M / T: Liam Cacatian Thomassen , Morten Thorhauge, Peter Bjørnskov, Lene Dissing	English	8th	4th	4th	1	5	2	2	5	7th	7th	7th	052	1,071,247	8.4%	53	105
07th	10	Margaret	In My Cabana M / T: Anderz Wrethov, Linnea Deb, Arash Labaf, Robert Uhlmann	English	12	10	7th	3	7th	-	5	8th	3	3	4th	062	904.893	6.5%	41	103
08th.	03	Martin Almgren	A Bitter Lullaby M / T: Josefin Glenmark, Märta Grauers	English	2	8th	3	2	-	7th	6th	6th	1	6th	2	043	899.049	6.4%	41	084
09.	02	Renaida	All the Feels M / T: Laurell Barker, Jon Hällgren, Peter Barringer, Lukas Hällgren	English	3	-	-	-	2	6th	-	-	8th	8th	3	030th	1,116,740	8th %	51	081
10.	12	Rolandz	Fuldans M / T: Fredrik Kempe, David Kreuger, Robert Gustafsson	Swedish	-	2	2	4th	1	4th	3	1	-	-	6th	024	1,124,955	8th %	51	075
11.	05	Jessica Andersson	Party Voice M: Fredrik Kempe, David Kreuger, Niklas Carson Mattsson; T: Fredrik Kempe, Jessica Andersson	English	1	5	1	7th	3	3	4th	3	-	-	6th	033	809.292	5.8%	37	070
12.	01	Mendez	Everyday M / T: Leopoldo Mendez, Jimmy Jansson, Palle Hammarlund	English	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	-	002	1,351,896	9.7%	62	064
Jury points speaker
- Mateusz Grzesinski - Kleart Duraj - Felix Bergsson - Nicola Caligiore - Klitos Klitou - Stephanie Werrett - Nodiko Tatishvili - Simon Proctor - Anush Ter-Ghukasyan - Bruno Berberes - Goncalo Madail

Web links

Commons : Melodifestivalen 2018  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Swedish preliminary decision website (Swedish)

See also

• Eurovision Song Contest 2018
• Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Nu är det clear vem som ska leda Melodifestivalen. In: svt.se. November 2, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2017 (Swedish). 
2. ↑ Stratos Agadellis: Sweden: Melodifestivalen Voting Changed To Give The Public More Power. In: eurovoix.com. January 23, 2018, accessed March 9, 2018 . 
3. ↑ ^{a b} Alistair Brown: Sweden: Dates and Locations confirmed for Melodifestivalen 2018. In: eurovoix.com. September 26, 2017. Retrieved September 26, 2017 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b} Gustav Dahlander: Tittarsiffrorna för Melodifestivalen 2018: Så många såg Benjamin Ingrosso vinna finalen. In: svt.se . March 13, 2018, accessed March 13, 2018 (Swedish). 
5. ^ Sveriges Television : History: Så många har röstat i Melodifestivalen sedan 2015. In: blogg.svt.se. February 8, 2020, accessed February 9, 2020 (Swedish). 
6. ↑ Invitation to the 2018 Melodifestival
7. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Stratos Agadellis: Sweden: Here are the Melodifestivalen 2018 participants! In: esctoday.com. November 28, 2017, accessed November 28, 2017 . 
8. ↑ Stratos Agadellis: Här är startordningen i Melodifestivalen 2018. In: svt.se. January 11, 2018, accessed January 11, 2018 (Swedish). 
9. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Melodifestivalen 2018 Svenska folkets röster, hjärtröster, phone and SMS. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: Sveriges Television . March 14, 2018, archived from the original on March 28, 2018 ; Retrieved March 14, 2018 (Swedish). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.