WHEN?: Saturday 21 February 2025 7pm UK time

WHERE?: Malmö Arena, Malmö WHERE TO WATCH? SVT

We were shocked Korslagda were eliminated in last week’s Heat 3 and wonder whether Smash Into Pieces will benefit from the result as rock fans look for something they can root for in the 7 March final.

• Read on for reasons including Timo Räisänen, Cimberley and Erika Jonsson

1. Cimberley Eternity (Cimberly-Malaika Wanyonyi, David Lindgren Zacharias, Dino Medanhodzic, Melanie Wehbe)
   PREDICTION: 4th

We’re expecting a strong vocal from this Kenyan/Finnish singer who won the 19th season of Idols Sweden in 2023. This is very much an uptempo girl bop with a song structure that will be familiar to MF die-hards and may benefit from the most diverse heat thus far this year.

2. Timo Räisänen Ingenting är efter oss (Nothing is after us) (Andreas ‘Giri’ Lindbergh, Jimmy ‘Joker’ Thörnfeldt, Joy Deb, Lina Räisänen, Linnea Deb, Timo Räisänen) PREDICTION: 3rd

We think this Swedish rock/indie musician who has been part of Håkan Hellström’s group and has also played in the band Her Majesty could spring this week’s surprise. Pleasing indie with a stellar songwriting team that we’re very much enjoying.

3. Meira Omar Dooset Daram (I Love You)  (Anderz Wrethov, Jimmy ‘Joker’ Thörnfeldt, Laurell Barker, Meira Omar) PREDICTION: Qualifier

This means I Love You in Farsi and is an attempt to bring the Arash sound to a wider audience. Similar to last year’s Hush, Hush which finished 10th this could go 1 better than making it to final from Andra Chanson.

LISTEN to the 60-second clips at STV Play

4. Felix Manu Hatar att jag älskar dig (Hate that I love you) (Axel Schylström, Felix Manu, Fernand MP, Karl Flyckt) PREDICTION: 6th

A picked guitar and a delicate song in Swedish that might pluck at the heartstrings but could struggle in this company. Definitely needs a strong vocal to avoid getting lost.

5. Erika Jonsson Från landet (From the country) (Amir Aly, Erika Jonsson, Mikael Karlsson) PREDICTION: 5th

We can hear a nod to Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 in the tune and this country act celebrating rural life once again in Swedish has amassed over 25 million Spotify streams.

6. Smash Into Pieces Hollow (Benjamin Jennebo, Chris Adam Hedman Sörbye, Per Bergquist, Philip Strand) PREDICTION: Qualifier

Rock is a music genre that consistently does well at Melodifestivalen without often winning and we feel this is the least competitive of the band’s MF entries but they will be the favourites to progress here. This rock Swedish 4-piece from Örebro came 3rd in both 2023 with Six Feet Under and in 2024 with Heroes Are Calling. 

• Keep an eye on monstagigz.com during January as we’ll be previewing 2025’s 30 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 3 preview Heat 4 preview Heat 5 preview Heat 1 predictions Heat 2 predictions Heat 3 predictions Heat 4 predictions Heat 5 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 Vienna at Eurovision.
• Picture via Facebook courtesy 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