WHEN? 7pm UK time Saturday 19 February 2022

WHERE? Avicii Arena, Stockholm

WHERE DO I WATCH? SVT Play 

Last week’s direct finalists were both previous Melodifestivalen competitors but this week we predict 2 new artists will go direkt till finalen.

• Read on for reasons including our finalen and Andra Chansen predictions

Show opener Cazzi Opeia I Can’t Get Enough (Bishat Araya, Jakob Redtzer, Cazzi Opeia, Paul Rey) PREDICTION: Direkt Till Finalen

Handclaps, a perky string backing and acrobatic female vocal morphing into uptemo electro power pop. This song feels like a bit of a litmus test for MF. Opeia has written for BTS and has a co-songwriting credit here. All 4 artists pre-qualified to the 12 March finalen have MF history and it’s a show which thrives on new blood for its longevity.

2. Lancelot Lyckligt slut (Happy ending) (Lance Hedman, Niklas Carson Mattsson) PREDICTION: 7th

A downbeat strumathon which we think will struggle from this position in the running order. A Swedish language song did DTF from Heat 2 however – and we thought former winner John Lundvik might only make the Andra Chansen.

3. Lisa Miskovsky Best To Come (Lisa Miskovsky, David Lindgren Zacharias) PREDICTION: Andra Chansen

Miskovsky finished 9th in 2012 with Why Start A Fire and this entry is similarly melodic, catchy and midtempo. We expect this will be well performed which could elevate its result.

4. Tribe Friday Shut Me Up (Isak Gunnarsson, Robin Hanberger Pérez, Noah Deutschmann) PREDICTION: 5th

We were surprised by the poor showing of rock band Browsing Collection last week and this, similarly, has a band feel, particularly 00s Blur drawing on 60s beat bands. It’s on the fringes of progressing and much will depend on whether the band sound convinces live.

LISTEN TO ONE-MINUTE CLIPS OF THESE SONGS

5. Faith Kakembo Freedom (Laurell Barker, Anderz Wrethov, Palle Hammarlund, Faith Kakembo) PREDICTION: Andra Chansen

Kakembo fell at this hurdle in 2020 and while this is a solid song much will depend on the pizzazz brought to the live vocal. This should definitely be in the mix come the close of this heat.

6. Linda Bengtzing Fyrfaldigt hurra! (Four Times Hurray!) (Thomas G:son, Linda Bengtzing, Myra Granberg, Daniel Jelldéus) PREDICTION: 6th

We’ve been listening to Bengtzing’s fabulous back catalogue on a loop in the run up to this heat and even with the involvement of G:son this has so much that is amazing to live up to. The 60-second clip isn’t quite hittng the spot for us but all could change with the live vocal and Bengtzing’s undoubted charisma. One to watch. Both predecessors in this penultimate position have gone DTF so far.

7. Anders Bagge Bigger Than The Universe (Anders Bagge, Jimmy Jansson, Peter Boström, Thomas G:son) PREDICTION: Direkt till finalen

Bagge is one of the bigger names in this heat and vocally this reminds of the Olsen Brothers who won Eurovision for Denmark in Stockholm in 2000. The song is widescreen anthemic with a Coldplay vibe and, embellishing the theme of new artists finding success in this heat, we see this being the 1st song announced to qualify.

• Picture via YouTube courtesy SVT Melodifestivalen
• Have you heard any of these songs or seen any of these shows? Let us know what you thought in the comments below Heat 1 preview Heat 2 preview Heat 3 preview Heat 4 preview Heat 1 predictions Heat 2 predictions
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