By Aline Mahrud

WHEN?: 7pm UK time Saturday 25 February 2023

WHERE?: Malmö Arena, Malmö WHERE DO I WATCH?: SVT Play

Last year Loreen’s 2012 Eurovision winner Euphoria lost its crown as the Contest’s best-loved song in the ESC250 and perhaps it’s fitting then that the queen returns to Melodifestivalen in 2023 with a new song.

• Read on for reasons including Loreen, Mariette and Axel Schylström

7. Loreen Tattoo (Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Jimmy Jansson, Lorine Talhaoui, Moa Carlebecker, Peter Boström, Thomas G:son)

Loreen of course returned to MF in 2017 when Statements could only make the Andra Chansen. We said then: ‘We loved the Kate Bush imagination around the visuals but still feel the song is a bit of a racket.’

Euphoria of course is number 1 in our list of the greatest Eurovision winners of the 21st Century.

Loreen also entered MF in 2011 with My Heart Is Refusing Me but it also bowed out in AC. This year Loreen has co-written her entry with some big names including our favourite act from 2022 Cazzi Opeia.

4. Mariette One Day (Jimmy Jansson, Thomas G:son, Mariette Hansson)

2023 will be Mariette’s 5th MF appearance and she has always previously reached the finalen.

Her most successful appearance was with her debut entry Don’t Stop Believing which finished 3rd in 2015.

In 2017 she finished 4th with A Million Years.

She was 5th a year later with For You and in 2020 Shout It Out was 10th. This year Mariette has co-written her entry with 2 of MF’s most prolific songwriters.

6. Axel Schylström Gorgeous (Axel Schylström, Herman Gardarfve, Jonas Thander, Malin Halvardsson)

Schylström competed in MF in 2017 with När ingen ser (When no-one sees) which went out in Andra Chansen. He co-wrote Theoz’s entry last year which finished 7th and has a credit on the act’s 2023 song which competes in Heat 2.

Of the new names to us in this heat we urge you to check out 1 of our favourite sites Scandipop.

3. Smash Into Pieces Six Feet Under (Andreas “Giri” Lindbergh, Benjamin Jennebo, Chris Adam, Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Per Bergquist)

5. Emil Henrohn Mera, Mera, Mera (More, more, more) (Emil Henrohn, Jakob Redtzer, Ji Nilsson, Marlene Strand)

1. Kiana Where Did You Go (Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb)

2. Signe & Hjördis Edelweiss (Anderz Wrethov, Jimmy Jansson, Myra Granberg)

• Keep an eye on monstagigz.com during January as we’ll be previewing 2023’s 28 entries.
• During February this site will predict how each heat will go on the Friday after we’ve heard the songs before the Saturday events. Heat 1 preview Heat 2 preview Heat 3 preview Heat 1 predictions Heat 2 predictions Heat 3 predictions Heat 4 predictions Semi final predictions Finalen predictions
• In March we’ll forecast how the finalen will go and how each of the 12 qualifiers would do in May in Liverpool at Eurovision.
• Picture via Facebook courtesy Tone Sekelius, Melodifestivalen and SVT
• Have you heard any of these songs or seen any of these shows? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
• Enjoyed this review? Follow monstagigz on Twitter @NeilDurham, email neildurham3@gmail.com and check us out on Instagram and Facebook