The Swedish Eurovision selection Melodifestivalen is a staple in the Eurovision bubble, with the announcement of the participants always an exciting time of year. In the lead up to the announcement for next year’s contest, we’ve picked out our dream Melodifestivalen, filled with 28 talented artists. Over four instalments, we will be revealing our Top 28 with the hopes that some of these artists make their return!
At the end of each instalment, there will be a poll for which artist you want to see return to the contest!
Check out Part 1 here, and Part 2 here.
Alcazar
Past Participation: 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2014
Alcazar have been a staple of Melodifestivalen for many years, and despite the group not currently being together, one can only dream of a reunion. We’ve seen the members participate at Melodifestivalen as soloists in recent years, so their interest in the contest is still there. Their first participation was back in 2003 with the song ‘Not a Sinner, Nor a Saint’ which finished 3rd overall.
They returned in 2005 with the song ‘Alcastar’, where they also finished 3rd in the final. Their next participation was in 2009 with the song ‘Stay the Night’. For the first time, they qualified directly to the final, however in the final finished 5th overall.
In 2010, the group returned with the song ‘Headlines’ which reached the second chance round, however failed to progress to the final. Their most recent participation was in 2014 with the song ‘Blame it on the Disco’ where they finished in 3rd place once again.
Anna Bergendahl
Past Participation: 2010, 2019, 2020
Anna Bergendahl has participated at Eurovision, but it’s time for redemption. After winning Melodifestivalen 2010 with her song, ‘This Is My Life’, she went on to represent Sweden at Eurovision however failed to qualify to the final. This was the first time since the Eurovision semi-finals were introduced that Sweden had failed to reach the final.
Anna made her return to Melodifestivalen in 2019 with the song ‘Ashes to Ashes’, where she finished 10th in the final. The following year, she returned to Melodifestivalen with the song ‘Kingdom Come’ which finished in 3rd place in the final.
Benjamin Ingrosso
Past Participation: 2017, 2018
Benjamin Ingrosso is another artist who has won Melodifestivalen, and subsequently represented Sweden at Eurovision. His first Melodifestivalen experience was actually winning Lilla Melodifestivalen, the competition for kids. As an adult, he competed at Melodifestivalen in 2017 with the song ‘Good Lovin’ which went on to finish in 5th in the final.
He returned the following year with the song ‘Dance You Off’, which qualified to the final and went on to win the competition. At Eurovision, he finished in 7th place. His most recent music releases have been in the Swedish language, so if he does return to the contest, could it be a Swedish language banger? Let’s hope so!
Eric Saade
Past Participation: 2010, 2011, 2015, 2021
Eric Saade is another familiar face to Melodifestivalen and Eurovision fans, having competed numerous times. His debut was back in 2010 with the song ‘Manboy’ which finished third overall. He returned the following year with ‘Popular’ which went on to win Melodifestivalen. As a result, he represented Sweden at Eurovision where he finished in 3rd place.
Eric returned in 2015 with the song ‘Sting’ which finished in 5th place overall. He hosted Melodifestivalen in 2019 alongside Sarah Dawn Finer, Marika Carlsson and Kodjo Akolor.
As a participant, Eric returned in 2021 with the song ‘Every Minute’. He qualified directly to the final and finished in second place behind Tusse.
Lisa Ajax
Past Participation: 2016, 2017, 2019
Fourth time might be the charm for Lisa Ajax, who first made her Melodifestivalen debut in 2016. Her first entry was titled ‘My Heart Wants Me Dead’ which landed her in 7th place in the final. The following year she returned with ‘I Don’t Give A’. Lisa qualified to the second chance round, and ultimately made it to the final. Overall, she placed 9th.
Lisa returned in 2019 with the song ‘Torn’. Once again, she qualified to the second chance round and ultimately the final. Again, she finished in 9th place. Prior to that, she participated at Lilla Melodifestivalen back in 2012.
Molly Hammar
Past Participation: 2015, 2016
Molly Hammar is another artist who we would love to see return to the contest! Molly first participated in 2015 with the song ‘I’ll Be Fine’, which unfortunately did not reach the final. She returned in 2016 with ‘Hunger’. Molly qualified for the second chance round, however did not qualify to the final.
Omar Rudberg
Past Participation: 2019
Omar Rudberg participated in Melodifestivalen as part of the group FO&O back in 2017. As a soloist, he made his debut in the contest in 2019 with the song ‘Om om och om igen’. Like his fellow bandmate Oscar, he failed to qualify from the semi-final.