By Aline Mahrud

WHEN? 7pm UK time Saturday 11 February 2023

WHERE? Saab Arena, Linköping

WHERE DO I WATCH? SVT Play 

We were surprised by the 1st qualifier in last week’s opening heat and think the quality, and therefore the competition, is much tougher here.

• Read on for reasons including finalen and Andra Chansen predictions

1. Wiktoria All My Life (Where Have You Been) (Herman Gardarfve, Melanie Wehbe, Patrik Jean, Wiktoria Johansson) PREDICTION: Finalen

More 80s bop than the modern day pop that we most associate with Wiktoria we think either this or show closer Theoz will make the finalen. Wiktoria has made the finalen in each of her 3 previous MF appearances but could find this a stretch.

2. Eden Comfortable (Benjamin Rosenbohm, Eden Alm, Emil Adler Lei, Julie Aagaard) PREDICTION: 7th

Last week Loulou LaMotte sang 2nd and gave a strong performance of a great song and had a disappointing result. Tik Tok performer Eden gives us a laidback ballad that is especially unassuming.

3. Uje Brandelius Grytan (Stew) (Uje Brandelius) PREDICTION: 6th

Heat 1’s oldest participants also struggled last week and while this is a more traditional 60s-type, mid tempo effort it will also have a lot of work to do.

4. Panetoz On My Way (Anders Wigelius, Daniel Nzinga, Jimmy Jansson, Nebeyu Baheru, Njol Badjie, Pa Modou Badjie, Robert Norberg) PREDICTION: 5th

We thought this would be a dancefloor banger and it bangs even harder than we ever could have coped for. There’s a lot else going on in this heat however which could be to its detriment. This male quintet finished 9th with Efter Solsken (After sunshine) in 2014 and 2 years later Håll om mig hårt (Hold me hard) was 8th. 1st English language entry for them with prolific MF collaborator Jansson once again aboard. Could just miss out on progressing.

LISTEN TO ONE-MINUTE CLIPS OF THESE SONGS

5. Tennessee Tears Now I Know (Anderz Wrethov, Jonas Hermansson, Thomas Stengaard, Tilda Feuk) PREDICTION: Andra Chansen

There’s a great variety of styles in this heat and country can be remarkably contemporary if done well. This strikes us as good enough and different enough to make it eventually to the finalen via andra chansen probably.

6. Maria Sur Never Give Up (Anderz Wrethov, Laurell Barker) PREDICTION: Finalen

Ukraine won last year’s Eurovision and Maria has been given a song that works very well for this Ukranian refugee giving a different and more current spin on a news story that is never far away from our screens. A great deal will depend on the performance but we think a lot of the audience will be quite moved by this.

7. Theoz Mer av dig (More Of You) (Axel Schylström, Jakob Redtzer, Peter Boström, Thomas G:son) PREDICTION: Andra Chansen

17-year-old Theoz performed the poppy Som du vill (As You Wish) in 2022 finishing 7th in the contest and earning a top 10 hit in his native country. Co-writer Schylström appears later in the selection as a performer and G:son famously co-penned Loreen’s 2012 contest winner Euphoria. This is pop fun that builds on his previous success and doubtless will see his popularity rise.

• 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 3 predictions Heat 4 predictions Semi final predictions Finalen predictions
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