Semi-final 1 4 February 2017 Semi-final 3 18 February 2017 Second chance 4 March 2017 | Semi-final 2 11 February 2017 Semi-final 4 25 February 2017 Final 11 March 2017 | |
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Melodifestivalen 2017 was the 57th edition of the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen, which selected Sweden's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. The competition was organised by Sveriges Television (SVT) and took place over a six-week period between 4 February and 11 March 2017.
Contents
- Format
- Entry selection
- Presenters
- Competing entries
- Semi finals
- Semi final 1
- Semi final 2
- Semi final 3
- Semi final 4
- Second Chance round
- Final
- Eurovision Song Contest 2017
- References
The format of the competition consisted of 6 shows: 4 semi-final rounds, a second chance round and a final. An initial 28 entries were selected for the competition through three methods: an open call for song submissions, direct invitations to specific artists and songwriters and a wildcard given to one of the artists that participated in the Svensktoppen nästa competition organised by Sveriges Radio P4. The 28 competing entries were divided into four semi-finals, with seven compositions in each. From each semi-final, the songs that earn first and second place qualified directly to the final, while the songs that place third and fourth proceeded to the Second Chance round. The bottom three songs in each semi-final were eliminated from the competition. An additional four entries qualified from the Second Chance round to the final, bringing the total number of competing entries in the final to 12. All 6 shows were hosted by Clara Henry, David Lindgren and Hasse Andersson.
The winning song will compete for Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 to be held in Kiev, Ukraine. Sweden will compete in the first semi-final of Eurovision Song Contest 2017 on the 9th of May and will have to place within the top 10 out of the 18 in their semi-final in order to qualify and compete in the final on 13 May.
Format
Melodifestivalen 2017, organised by Sveriges Television (SVT), will be the sixteenth consecutive edition of the contest in which the competition will take place in different cities across Sweden. The four semi-finals will be held at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg (4 February), the Malmö Arena in Malmö (11 February), the Vida Arena in Växjö (18 February) and the Skellefteå Kraft Arena in Skellefteå (25 February). The Second Chance round will take place at the Saab Arena in Linköping on 4 March while the final will be held at the Friends Arena in Stockholm on 11 March. An initial 28 entries will compete in the semi-finals, with seven entries taking part in each show. The top two entries from each semi-final advance directly to the final, while the third and fourth placed entries advance to the Second Chance round. The bottom three entries in each semi-final will be eliminated. An additional four entries will qualify to the final from the Second Chance round, bringing the total number of competing entries in the final to 12.
Christer Björkman was announced as the executive producer of the competition, while Annette Helenius was assigned as the project manager for a second consecutive year.
Entry selection
Entries for the 2017 competition will be selected through three methods:
SVT opened two submission contests that accepted entries between 1 and 19 September 2016 for interested artists and songwriters to submit their proposals for the competition. The Regular contest was open for entries that had at least one songwriter that already had a musical work published, while the Public contest accepted entries from songwriters without previously published musical work. Entries submitted for the competition were required to be new compositions which had never been published, between 2–3 minutes in length and with at least one songwriter that holds Swedish citizenship. The choice of language was free, however, SVT aims to have 30% of the contest's places reserved for entries sung mainly in Swedish. SVT also aims to reserve at least 50% of the contest's places for entries written by female composers and lyricists either in a solo or collaborative capacity.
Following the conclusion of the submission periods, SVT received 2,478 entries—an increase of 28 entries from the previous year. 2,116 of the entries were entered into the Regular contest, while 362 entries were entered into the Public contest. SVT will create a shortlist of entries from the received submissions and will form a selection panel that will be tasked to select fourteen entries for the competition. Only five entries from the Public contest will be under consideration with no guarantee that one will be selected to compete in Melodifestivalen.
Presenters
At a press conference on 30 September 2016, Clara Henry, David Lindgren and Hasse Andersson were announced as the hosts for all six shows of Melodifestivalen 2017. Henry previously appeared in comedic skits and hosted pre and post shows during Melodifestivalen 2014. Lindgren and Andersson previously competed as artists in the competition; Lindgren took part in 2012, 2013 and 2016, while Andersson took part in 2015.
Competing entries
Information regarding the selected entries and artists were publicised by SVT on 30 November 2016. On 28 August 2016, Les Gordons were selected as the first artists for Melodifestivalen from the competing artists that took part in the Svensktoppen nästa competition organised by Sveriges Radio P4.
Semi-finals
As in previous years, Melodifestivalen will commence with four semi-finals, which will determine the eight entries that will advance directly to the final and the eight entries that will qualify to the Second Chance round.
Semi-final 1
The first semi-final took place on 4 February 2017 at the Scandinavium arena in Gothenburg. A total of 5,706,113 votes were cast throughout the show.
Semi-final 2
The second semi-final took place on 11 February 2017 at Malmö Arena in Malmö. A total of 5,395,695 votes were cast throughout the show.
Semi-final 3
The third semi-final took place on 18 February 2017 at Vida Arena in Växjö. A total of 5,756,071 votes were cast throughout the show.
Semi-final 4
The fourth semi-final took place on 25 February 2017 at Skellefteå Kraft Arena in Skellefteå. A total of 4,951,648 votes were cast throughout the show.
Second Chance round
Second Chance round took place on 4 March 2017 at Saab Arena in Linköping. The duels were revealed following the fourth semi-final on 25 February 2017. A total of 7,223,709 votes were cast throughout the show.
Final
The Final took place on 11 March 2017 at Friends Arena in Stockholm.
Eurovision Song Contest 2017
The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 will take place at the International Exhibition Centre in Kiev, Ukraine and will consist of two semi-finals on 9 and 11 May and the final on 13 May 2017. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. Sweden will be required to qualify from the first semi-final in order to take part in the final.