By Aline Mahrud

WHEN?: Saturday 26 February 2022 7pm UK/8pm CET Update: Covid means all shows will now be from Stockholm

WHERE DO I WATCH? SVT Play

Bergendahl is Sweden’s least successful Eurovision entrant, failing to make the final in 2010, and her successful return to Melodifestivalen – finishing 10th with Ashes To Ashes in 2019 and 3rd with Kingdom Come a year later – has been a genuine thrill.

• Read on for reasons including Klara Hammarström and Lillasyster

Bergendahl opens the show in this final heat of 2022 and, with the same writing team behind Higher Power as Kingdom Come and Ashes To Ashes, we’re no doubt we’re in for something both special and familiar.

We said of Kingdom Come: ‘Last year’s return was an underrated thrill and this delivers much more, much like Robin Bengtsson in Heat 1. It’s country tinged but with a full-on pop beat at its heart. A modern schlager’ ranking it 2nd behind Dotter’s Bulletproof.

We placed Ashes To Ashes third behind Wiktoria’s gigantic Not With Me saying: ‘1 of our personal favourites, we don’t think Sweden will be quite so receptive. Beautiful garden staging and a fine country-infused return for Melodifestivalen’s least successful winner.’

Show opener Anna Bergendahl Higher Power (Anna Bergendahl, Thomas G:son, Bobby Ljunggren, Erik Bernholm)

Bergendahl says: ‘It’s a song that has some darkness to it, but still a lot of power. The viewers can expect a big and powerful feeling.’

2. Lillasyster ‘Til Our Days Are Over (Jimmy Jansson, Palle Hammarlund, Ian-Paolo Lira, Martin Westerstrand)

Timely return for these rockers after Måneskin’s Eurovision win last year made the genre cool again. 2021 entry Pretender went on to be a big hit but bowed out in Andra Chansen. We said: ‘Gravel-voiced rock is far from our go-to music genre but this is so out there that it’s going to attract an audience. 2nd in the running order is far from ideal but there’s usually a metal entry that makes the finalen and this could well be in with a shout.’

7. Klara Hammarström Run To The Hills (Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Julie Aagaard, Anderz Wrethov, Klara Hammarström)

John Lundvik is the last MF entry to win the competition after performing last in Heat 4 in 2019 and it’s often felt to be a gentle nod from SVT to the song if not most worthy of winning then at least providing a quality end to the 1st round of the selection process.

Hammarström debuted in MF with Nobody in 2020 when she finished 5th in her heat. We predicted direkt-til-finalen saying: ‘Robin Bengtsson and The Mamas made it through to the finalen last week and there are no fewer than four female soloists with the potential to join them this week. Klara’s (pictured above) sounding very Dua Lipa to these ears and that’s always a good thing. One to watch.’

Last year she made the finalen via Andra Chansen finishing 6th with Beat Of Broken Hearts. We saw it finishing 21st to 26th at Eurovision saying: ‘It was the only duel result that we predicted correctly in Andra Chansen. It’s the only Fredrik Kempe song in the finalen yet 1 of 2 K/Claras. Performed and staged well but reminding us a little too much of a song from hit film The Greatest Showman to be 1 of our favourites.’

Other acts include:

3. Malin Christin Synd om dig (Sorry for you) (Jonathan Lavotha, Oliver Heinänen, Malin Christin)

Read more about Wiktoria’s sister, her Steps and Eurovision 2021 co-writing credits and the other acts below at the joyous Scandipop site.

4. Tenori La stella (The star) (Dan Sundquist, Kristian Lagerström, Marcos Ubeda, Bobby Ljunggren, Sarah Börjesson Wassberg)

5. Medina In i dimman (Into the fog) (Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Sami Rekik, Dino Medanhodzic, Ali Jammali)

6. Angelino The End (Angelino Markenhorn, Julie Aagaard, Melanie Wehbe, Thomas Stengaard)

• Keep an eye on monstagigz.com during January as we’ll be previewing 2022’s 28 entries. Heat 1 preview Heat 2 preview Heat 3 preview
• During February this site will predict how each heat will go on the Friday after we’ve heard the songs before the Saturday events.
• In March we’ll forecast how the finalen will go and how each of the 12 qualifiers would do in May in Turin at Eurovision.
• Picture via Facebook courtesy Anna Bergendahl.
• Have you heard any of these songs or seen any of these shows? Let us know what you thought in the comments belowEnjoyed this review? Follow monstagigz on Twitter @NeilDurham, email neildurham3@gmail.com and check us out on Instagram and Facebook