Sweden: Read back our liveblog of the second semifinal

The Swedish city of Malmö is hosting the second semifinal in Melodifestivalen 2017. The city, which hosted the Eurovision song contest in 2013, welcomes back a two-time Melfest winner to the stage.

Two of tonight’s artists will be voted straight through to the final in Stockholm in March, while another two will be sent to the second chance round, Andra Chansen. The running order for tonight is below.

Songs through to the final are in bold and songs going to Andra Chansen are in Italics.

  • Mariette – “A Million Years”
  • Roger Pontare – “Himmel och hav”
  • Etzia – “Up”
  • Allyawan – “Vart har du vart”
  • Dismissed – “Hearts Align”
  • Lisa Ajax – “I Don’t Give A”
  • Benjamin Ingrosso – “Good Lovin”

The show starts at 20:00 CET and our editor Allie Lindo will be keeping you updated below. Follow along on SVT’s website here. The most recent comments will be on the top.

UPDATE: The show has finished, the liveblog has closed. However feel free to read our live commentary below!

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21:29 – Thank you for following us tonight!

Next week we will be back for SF3 in this exciting season of Melodifestivalen!

21:23 – Final results announced

The first song to Andra Chansen is “Hearts Align” by Dismissed. The second song to Andra Chansen is “I Don’t Give A” by Lisa Ajax.

The second song direct to the final is “Good Lovin'” by Benjamin Ingrosso.

21:16 – Who is going further?

SVT seems to be having technical issues with displaying voting results. Issues now fixed here we go! The first song through to the final is “A Million Years” by Mariette.

21:13 – Tack för att du har röstat

“Thank you for all of the votes” sing a group of female singers who were hiding in the audience. Very “Love Actually” of the SVT producers. Soon we will know who goes on to the final and who goes to Andra Chansen.

21:06 – Vi har ett resultat

Time for results! After a brief pause due to technical issues we learn the songs eliminated tonight. Etzia and Allyawan are eliminated, leaving five songs still in the running to go to the final or Andra Chansen.

21:00 – Lindgren covers Melfest classics

Host David Lindgren covers some of the more memorable songs from Melodifestivalen throughout the years, including Måns Zelmerlöw’s “Heroes” and Loreen’s “Euphoria”. He goes shirtless for last year’s “Bada nakna”. In case anyone wanted to know, “dad bod” in Swedish is “papakropp”. Lindgren kindly treats us to his papakropp onstage, standing about in only his boxers and shoes.

20:57 – Voting over

Voting has ended here in Sweden soon it will be time to find out who will be going on and who has been eliminated.

20:55 – Let’s review

Blink and you’ll miss it! Melodifestivalen never wastes much time so we are already at the voting stage of the night. All over Sweden votes are now being cast by text, phone, and app. We have seen a mix of performances tonight covering different genres. We’ve seen new faces and old. Overall, it has been interesting but somewhat underwhelming.

Personally I am narrowing my eyes at Etzia for her attempt at dancehall. I am quite disappointed by her performance most of all.

20:50 – Final song of the night

Benjamin Ingrosso is the final artist to perform for the night. In his introduction video Benjamin tells us of his passion for cooking, including making pasta for his colleagues in the studio.

Ingrosso’s song “Good Lovin” is fun and could be very catchy. He has won Lilla Melodifestivalen in the past so he knows how to work the stage. Lyrically, this song isn’t very complicated but the performance itself distracts from that. Ingrosso brings us pyrotechnics (which have been lacking all night), lots of high-energy backup dancers, and a solid vocal performance. Probably another solid contender for tonight. But now it’s time for Sweden to decide. This was the last performance of the night.

20:43 – Welcome back Lisa

Lisa Ajax is back at Melodifestivalen. As she walks onto the stage she delivers what has to be called one of the best vocal performances so far in this year’s Melfest. This song drops a few expletives as the title implies. It seems to be a strong contender for tonight. The lyrics are quite repetitive which almost crosses the line into annoying but outside of the repetitive chorus, it is still a solid song. I will be shocked if this doesn’t make it directly to the final.

20:38 – Fifth song already!

We are powering through the songs here in Sweden. Next up is Dismissed, who explain in their introduction video that they seek to open people’s minds and defy expected gender norms. They explain the most important thing for all of them is to be true to themselves. Quite touching words really.

Dismissed parade onto the stage a bit like models on a catwalk. This song reminds me a bit of emo rock music. Vocally this is actually quite a solid performance. One of the better ones so far tonight. This song would comfortably fit in somewhere in between My Chemical Romance and Panic! At the Disco. An enjoyable song really.

20:34 – Allyawan up next

Etzia was a bit of a disappointment so can Allyawan save the night? Allyawan is a rapper so as a result each song so far tonight has been from different genre.

There is nothing really special about this performance tonight. It seems a bit rough and unfinished. There is room for improvement but will it be enough for the Swedish audience to give him a chance?

20:28 – Caribbean vibes from Etzia

Now here I need to explain that I have high hopes for Etzia as she was born in New York, where I used to live. She sings raggae and dancehall, which are music genres from Jamaica.

Oh dear. The title of the song is “Up” but I think this song is headed down. As Etzia begins the performance, her voice seems a little off for the song. The key seems off. Additionally, she tries to incorporate Jamaican patois into the lyrics but it doesn’t quite work unfortunately. I say this as someone who actually does speak patois.

This is the least favorite song for me tonight. Sorry Etzia.

20:20 – A true veteran takes the stage

Roger Pontare is back! He has won this competition twice, going on to represent Sweden at ESC in Dublin 1994 and Stockholm 2000. Regardless of what happens tonight, it is a real treat to see him performing again.

He starts off with something a little different. He walks onto the stage holding a lit torch. The stage itself is surrounded with flaming torches as Roger begins to sing. This song, completely in Swedish, certainly has power behind it. Unfortunately at certain points Roger’s voice is lost in the music. But this is the kind of song that is deceivingly simple. The crowd in the Arena seem to be drawn to the song as Roger reaches the dramatic end.

20:15 – Nu kör vi!

And we are officially on our way here in Skåne. We are reintroduced to Mariette who tells us in her intro video how much she loves snow. Her song “A Million Years” is not about snow but she does take the stage in a snow-white jumpsuit. Her backup dancers are also dressed all in white. They are attached to what seems to be bungee cords. Will this be the most acrobatic performance of Melodifestivalen this year?

I like this song but I am concerned it lacks the energy to properly connect with the audience. Somehow despite the interesting backing music, this song doesn’t seem to be living up to its full potential onstage. However, it is a solid overall performance from Mariette.

20:10 – Hasse’s new identity

After his performance last week, Hasse is now being referred to as Sweden’s newest rock hero by his co-hosts. Quite a few signs in Malmö Arena are also referencing Hasse’s new identity.

We are then introduced to tonight’s artists.

20:05 – Skåne pride takes centerstage

Hasse Andersson takes the stage to sing about his pride of being from Skåne. Hasse was born in Malmö, which is located in the southernmost province of Skåne, also known as Scania in English. He speaks with a distinctive Skånska accent which is well-known throughout Sweden. The other two hosts join him on stage to continue the tongue-in-cheek musical tribute to Skåne.

20:00 – Let’s get started!

It’s time for semifinal number two in Sweden and once again we are ready for anything and everything. Tonight’s show is live from Malmö, Sweden’s third-largest city and former host of the Eurovision Song Contest. Tonight’s hosts are, once again, Clara Henry, Hasse Andersson and David Lindgren. We will hear seven songs tonight. Two of them will go directly to the final in Stockholm, and two more will be sent to Andra Chansen.

19:54 – Preview

Roger Pontare is a very familiar and welcome face for Melfest fans having previously competed in Melodifestivalen a total of four times. He won twice in 1994 and 2000, going on to place thirteenth and seventh respectively in Dublin and Stockholm. Lisa Ajax takes the Melodifestivalen stage again after competing last year. In 2016 she placed seventh in the final competition. Mariette is also back after coming in third place in the Melodifestivalen 2015 final in Friends Arena.