The greatest show on earth returns on 2 February 2019 in Gothenburg with 1 of its least successful acts closing the show (pictured above and immediately below) hoping to make up for her 2010 failure to reach the Eurovision Song Contest final in neighbouring Oslo. Read our Heat 1 predictions here.

• Read on for reasons including Wiktoria, Arja Saijonmaa & Nano who also appear in this debut heat

Anna Bergendahl Ashes to Ashes (Thomas G:son, Bobby Ljunggren, Erik Bernholm, Anna Bergendahl)

Anna won Melodifestivalen in 2010 with This Is My Life (see above) but its success was not repeated in semi 2 of that year’s Eurovision in Oslo when it finished 11th. It did top the Swedish charts however and 1 of its authors (Bobby Ljunggren) is featured here.

Wiktoria Not With Me (Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Wiktoria Johansson)

Wiktoria’s 2017 entry As I Lay Me Down (above) was our favourite to win that year’s final but finished 6th (8th with the juries and runner-up for the public). She entered MF for the 1st time the year before with Save Me (below) which finished 4th (4th with the juries and, once again, the televote runner-up). Wiktoria sings 3rd.

Nano Chasing Rivers (Lise Cabble, Linnea Deb, Joy Deb, Thomas G:son, Nano Omar)

Nano’s Hold On (see above) drew Hozier comparisons and was runner-up to Robin Bengtsson’s I Can’t Go On and against Wiktoria (mentioned above) two years ago. He co-wrote Hold On (correction: and is a writer of 2019’s entry) and won the opening heat in 2017. He opens this 1st heat.

Arja Saijonmaa Mina fyra årstider (My Four Seasons) (Göran Sparrdal, Arja Saijonmaa)

To these ears, Arja who sings 5th is a bit of an unappreciated MF legend. She was runner-up in 1987 with the Lasse Holm-penned  Högt över havet (Far above the ocean, clip above) and the glorious rasping boom through Vad du än trodde så trodde du fel (Whatever you thought as you thought wrong, clip below) deserved better than last in its 2005 heat.

The other participants in this heat are: Mohombi (sings 6th), High15 (sing 2nd) and Zeana featuring Anis don Demina (sings 4th). To discover more about them, we’d suggest fellow site Scandipop. Read our Heat 2, Heat 3 and Heat 4 previews.

Keep an eye out for monstagigz.com as we’ll be previewing all 28 songs in the run-up to their heats. We’ll also predict the qualifiers in each heat in anticipation of Saturday’s show. MF: #GreatestShowOnEarth

Find our Heat 1 predictions on Friday (1 February 2019) here.

• Picture via Facebook courtesy Anna Bergendahl. Tickets
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