Live: Krista Siegfrids in Sweden’s second semi

ESCDaily is reporting live from Malmö Arena (where the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest was held) as the Swedish contestants take the stage for the second semi-final of Melodifestivalen 2016.

Seven artists will take the stage here in Malmö in search of making it to the Melodifestivalen final in Stockholm on the 12th of March. The top two contestants from tonight’s show, chosen by votes from the public, will automatically go on to the final. Two other songs will compete in Andra Chansen (The Second Chance) for a spot in the final. The event will be streamed live by Swedish broadcaster SVT on their website.

The seven performers and their songs are as follows (those voted directly to the final are in bold and those competing again in Andra Chansen are in italics):

  • David Lindgren – We Are Your Tomorrow
  • Victor och Natten – 100%
  • Molly Pettersson Hammar – Hunger
  • Isa – I Will Wait
  • Krista Siegfrids – Faller
  • Patrik Isaksson, Tommy Nilsson & Uno Svenningsson – Håll mitt hjärta hårt
  • Wiktoria – Save Me

Krista Siegfrids is having a very busy Eurovision preselection season. She is also hosting the semi-finals and final of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu, Finland’s selection competition. David Lindgren reached the Swedish final twice before and Isa was a finalist in last year’s edition.

All times are in Central European Time (CET)

21:24 – Andra Chansen and Final Results

The first to be sent to Andra Chansen is Molly Pettersson Hammar and ‘Hunger’. She is thrilled to make it through. The second to be sent through is Isa. She does not seem excited to be in Andra Chansen instead of sent straight to the final. Molly and Isa will be competing in Andra Chansen on 5th of March for a chance to be in the final. The final will take place at Friends Arena in Stockholm on 12th of March.

Wiktoria’s ‘Save Me’ is the second song voted directly through to the final. Her second performance of ‘Save Me’ for the audience is much more emotional and heartfelt.

Krista Siegfrids comes in fifth place.

21:17 – David Lindgren is the first to be voted through

The two artists going through to the final in Stockholm have been announced. The first to go through is David Lindgren with his song “We Are Your Tomorrow”. His positive song clearly resonated with the Swedish audience. He returns to the stage to perform the song again. He takes a moment to thank the audience as he begins the song. This second performance is filled with a little more energy.

21:07 – First round results are announced

Krista Siegfrids, Isa, Wiktoria, David Lindgren and, Molly Pettersson Hammar have made it through tonight’s first round of voting. Molly had a nervous wait as she was the last person announced. The wait seemed overwhelming for her as she looked to be on the verge of tears right before her name was announced. She is definitely a favorite of the press here at the Arena as there was a collective shout of relief in the press room when she was announced. Victor och Natten and the trio of Patrik Isaksson, Tommy Nilsson & Uno Svenningsson have been eliminated. Now we wait for the final results to see which two artists will be going to the final in Stockholm.

21: 05 – A Tribute to Schlager 

As the final votes are being counted the Charlotte Perrelli performs a tribute to schlager music.

20:57 – A Little Fun with Krista

The hosts have a little fun with their colleague Krista Siegfrids who is missing Finland’s semi-final tonight. She will return as host of UMK next week. They tell her they are going to link live to the Finnish semis but prank her, instead showing a video of an 1970s Finnish music video featuring men dressed in exercise clothing. Krista plays along and dances in time to the music.

20:55 – Review of Songs

There seems to be a lot of support in the press room for Molly Pettersson Hammar’s “Hunger”. So much for Swedish neutrality haha.

20:50 – Wiktoria’s Save Me

Wiktoria’s Save Me starts off on a much different note than the other six presented tonight, with the sound of acoustic guitars filling the Arena. . She takes a page out of Måns Zelmerlöw’s playbook and uses animation as part of her performance. She is wearing a skin colored bodysuit as various images are projected unto her body. The whole stage is lit up with the animations. This and Molly Pettersson Hammar’s Hunger may be the winners for most dramatic staging tonight.

20:45 – And Now a Dramatic Reading

A break inn between songs gives us a dramatic reading from two actors from the Royal Acting Company. The two men are mocking old songs from Melodifestivalen. A pretty funny interlude that delighted all the people in attendance.

20:45 – Håll mitt hjärta hårt

Patrik Isaksson, Tommy Nilsson & Uno Svenningsson strike a wonderful balance both on the stage and harmonically. They may have just disproven the age old saying “three’s a crowd”. The three men went with a much simpler performance than their fellow competitors. They each had their own individual moments to sing before joining together towards the end of the song. The song ends as metallic confetti rains down from the ceiling, the only flashy part of the entire performance.

20:38 – Krista Siegfrids crosses the Baltic

Siegfrids says in her introduction that this song is very much about love. Appropriate considering tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. She is appropriately dressed in a full body red jumpsuit, as are her backup dancers. The beat of the song is very upbeat and modern. It is very well received by the audience in Malmö Arena. Siegfrids takes a moment at the end of her song to thank Sweden for welcoming her.

20:30 – Isa’s I Will Wait Brings Drama to the Stage

This is Isa’s second performance in Melodifestivalen. Last year, she finished 7th overall in the final with “Don’t Stop”.

The beat of this song is very reminiscent of Undo by Sanna Nielsen. This is a power ballad and the dramatic stage set up reflects that fact. Isa makes full use of the back-lit white fabric that decorates the stage behind her. Her song also gets the press room interested.

20:25 – Molly Pettersson Hammar has got a hunger

Molly takes the stage with her song “Hunger” dressed in a long white gown. She is on a platform surrounded by real flames. Hunger combines electronic beats with Molly’s soulful voice. As the song progresses she leaves her platform to move to the front of the stage and is surrounded by pyrotechnics. Molly’s entire performance has centered around fire to reflect the fiery lyrics of the song.

20: 20 – Victor och Natten

Next up is Victor och Natten with his song 100%. Victor is joined onstage by five women dressed in black and white cheerleading outfits. The song is definitely catchy with a few people in the press room here in the Arena singing along to the chorus and nodding their heads. The song has definitely struck a chord with some of the younger people present.

20:12 – David Lindgren kicks off Melodifestivalen

This is Lindgren’s third time in Melodifestivalen. He previously competed in 2012 and finished in 4th place. In 2013, he finished in 8th place overall in the finals.

Lindgren’s stage set up is geared towards drama with a little help from green lasers and a smoke machine. We Are Your Tomorrow has very positive lyrics that Lindgren clearly hopes will resonate with the voting public. Towards the end he joins his backup dancers in a well-rehearsed dance routine.

20:10 – Proof of Sweden’s dedication to Melodifestivalen

Host Charlotte Perrelli in forms us that 4.5 million votes were recorded in last week’s semi in Gothenburg. That means that nearly half of Sweden’s population voted in the first semi.

20:00 – Starting with a Flashback

Melodifestivalen kicks off with a look back at last week’s semi results and moves right into to a caberet style performance of “Flickorna från Sverige (The Girls from Sweden)” featuring our hosts Gina Dirawi and Charlotte Perrelli.

19:55 – We are live! 

We are here Malmö Arena in southern Sweden waiting patiently for the show to begin. The mood is very positive here in Sweden’s third-largest city, which hosted Eurovision in 2013 after Loreen won ESC 2012 with her hit song ‘Euphoria’.

1 Comment

  1. Swedes tend to vote their favourite national artists, not really the songs. Krista being Finnish has therefore a big disadvantage.

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