Read back: Melodifestivalen 2018 comes to a conclusion

Tonight is the big night in Sweden. Within the next few hours, we will know who will represent the country on the stage in Lisbon. Among the competitors are some well-known names from previous years

Twelve songs are competing tonight. Among them are entries from favorites such as Mariette, Jessica Andersson, and Margaret. Watch tonight’s show on SVT’s website here. A lot of the action will come in the second half of tonight’s show, as we noted earlier.

Here is the lineup for tonight:

  1. Mendez – Everyday
  2. Renaida – All the feels
  3. Martin Almgren – A bitter lullaby
  4. John Lundvik – My turn
  5. Jessica Andersson – Party voice
  6. Liamoo – Last breath
  7. Samir & Viktor – Shuffla
  8. Mariette – For you
  9. Felix Sandman – Every single day
  10. Margaret – In my Cabana
  11. Benjamin Ingrosso – Dance you off
  12. Rolandz – Fuldans

Follow live commentary from our editor Allie Lindo below. The newest posts will be at the top, so keep refreshing this page to see what is happening.

Liveblog of Melodifestivalen 2018 final

21:59 – AND THE WINNER IS!!!

BENJAMIN INGROSSO!!!!!

21:52 – Robin Bengtsson is back…briefly

Last year’s winner shares a short conversation with David Lindgren before a new version of “I Can’t Go On” is sung onstage. Caroline af Ugglas takes the stage to do an acoustic and broken down version of Robin’s Melodifestivalen winning song.

21:47 – Voting is now over

The televoting period is now over in Sweden. We will know who the winner is very soon. Right now it seems like it is a runoff between Benjamin Ingrosso and Felix Sandman.

21:41 – Top 3 after jury votes

Benjamin Ingrosso leads after the jury votes with 114 points. He has 20 points more than second place Felix Sandman, and third place is currently held by John Lundvik. Mariette is in fourth place, only 2 points behind Lundvik.

melodifestivalen 2018, friends arena

21:40 – Jury results are in!

Poland is up first: 8 points – Last breath, 10 points – Dance you off, 12 points – In my cabana. Not really a surprise there.

  • Albania gives their 12 points to Dance you off.
  • Iceland gives their 12 points to Every single day.
  • Italy gives their 12 points to Dance you off.
  • Cyprus gives their 12 points to Dance you off.
  • Australia gives their 12 points to Dance you off.
  • Georgia gives their 12 points to Every single day.
  • The UK gives their 12 points to Shuffla.
  • Armenia gives their 12 points to Dance you off.
  • France give their 12 points to Every single day.
  • Portugal gives their 12 points to Dance you off.

21:22 – Renaida Rerun

She’s back! This may help Renaida a little as her song will be the fresh in the minds of those who haven’t yet voted. She does a good job but has a bit less energy this time around which is understandable. Good luck to her!

21:14 – Renaida will perform once more

Due to technical difficulties in her performance, Renaida will perform the song one more time.

21:13 – Rolandz “Fuldans”

The two best things this song going for it are 1) it is very lively and 2) Rolandz really don’t care. Sometimes the best thing you can have on the stage is an artist that doesn’t take themselves too seriously.

Now we have spinning pyrotechnics. Really using up that pyrotechnic budget tonight eh SVT?

I like this song because it is just silly. Vocals and lyrics have been stronger than some others we have heard tonight (cough Mendez cough)

21:08 – Benjamin Ingrosso “Dance you off”

We come to another of tonight’s favorite songs. Not as much physical energy coming from Benjamin as his first performance back in semi final 1. Vocally still good, with the help of his backing vocals. My favorite thing about this song is the staging. I think the use of lights and colors are very well done for this song.

21:02 – Margaret “In my cabana”

This song is going to be a summer hit. Make no mistake about that. Margaret knows how to lay down summer hits like this. Her vocal performance tonight is much better than the last two times she sang this song. This has been the strongest performance from in Margaret’s cabana here in Sweden.

20:57 – Felix Sandman “Every single day”

It is no secret I have been favoring this song since its first performance. The one thing that may count against it is the vocal and musical similarity to Frans “If I Were Sorry”. Although this song has a different tone from the previous Mello winner.

What sells this song is Felix’s emotion while he sings. So far Mariette and John Lundvik have been the only other ones to bring this level of emotion to their songs tonight.

Let’s see if the juries and audience agree with me.

20:53 – Mariette “For You”

A lot of people have been waiting for this song tonight. Mariette is certainly a crowd favorite.

For you is a good song and Mariette is a strong singer. Once again I make an appeal to her and her team to change the choreography for this song. Still Mariette does the stage justice. This song does have a good chance but let’s see what the audience and jury decide.

20:48 – Thanks Bulgaria!!

20:46 – Samir & Viktor “Shuffla”

I have already accepted the fact that I will be hearing this song for the next few months at least. It’s going to be on radios in Sweden everywhere. I can wait to see what the international juries make of this song.

If this song were to go through to Lisbon, I wonder how much more they would change the lyrics to appeal to a more European crowd. I doubt it will make it that far though.

20:42 – LIAMOO “Last breath”

One of the stronger songs left in this battle for Lisbon. This is an interesting song asking a question I’m sure a few of us have wanted to ask others in life. I like this song, but I feel it is more of a summer radio hit than a ESC song.

I know I will be listening to this song again, no matter what happens tonight.

20:37 – Jessica Andersson “Party voice”

Yikes Jessica is off to a bit of a rough start with her “party voice”. Sounds like she was a bit out of tune in the first few words. She recovered though, because she is a professional. A decent song. Great for parties. But a bit outdated for where Sweden is with ESC entries. That doesn’t stop some in the crowd from starting a chant of her name though.

I still haven’t figured out how to dance like a mother. Maybe I should ask Jessica to teach me.

20:31 – John Lundvik “My turn”

I finally figured out what I liked so much about this song. It reminds me of some of the classic 90s R&B songs about love and romance. Lundvik is surrounded by pyrotechnics as he reaches the high point of the song. The strongest vocal performance of the night so far. Almgren’s singing is a close second.

20:26 – Martin Almgren “A bitter lullaby”

I like Martin Almgren as a person. He seems like a cool guy to hang out with. As a result, I want to like this song a bit more than I do.

I don’t dislike it. It is an inspirational song with a great message. Lyrically it is stronger than some of the other songs on the stage. Most importantly, Martin can sing (pay attention Mendez). But this song just doesn’t feel 100% right for ESC. It deserves to be here tonight, I just don’t see it going further.

20:21 – Renaida “All the feels”

I’ve already said it, but this was one of the few good songs to come out of the first two weeks of competition. All things considered, I’m happy to see this song again on the stage at Friends Arena.

We still have the orange theme going on. Renaida sounds stronger tonight than in her previous two performances. I feel comfortable saying this song won’t make it to Lisbon. However, I look forward to more from Renaida in the future.

20:15 – First out, Mendez “Everyday”

Aaaaaaaaand he still can’t sing. Not sure I was expecting that to change between last week and tonight.

Mendez sings about pushing play and rewind. For this song I would like to press fast forward. Or maybe delete? Yes definitely delete. That’s really all I have to say for this song.

20:06 – Showstart

We are off to a high energy start from show host David Lindgren and his backup dancers, the Mello Army. Halfway through the song we have actual fireworks going off inside Friends Arena. Lindgren is singing One Together, the theme song of this year’s competition.

After the song Lindgren informs us we can expect a guest-filled evening. Looking forward to it!

20:00 – Welcome back!

Hej från Sverige! It’s the big night in Sweden and soon we know who will be going to Portugal. (Please let it be Felix Sandman. Please let it be Felix Sandman. Please let it be Felix Sandman). This completely 100% unbiased reporter is looking forward to what the night holds.

Tonight’s winner will be decided in two parts. There will be the usual televotes from the Swedish public, but those will be added to votes from 11 international juries. The juries tonight are from: Poland, Albania, Iceland, Italy, Cyprus, Australia, Georgia, the UK, Armenia, France and Portugal. The international juries caused some controversy last year, as they overwhelmingly voted for Robin Bengtsson. As a result, Bengtsson represented Sweden despite not capturing the public vote.