In a very close Melodifestivalen competition, The Mama’s transcended their backing vocalist status and won the Eurovision ticket as Sweden’s lead act. Without John Lundvik, they would have taken the Eurovision stage in Rotterdam with “Move”. What’s next for Sweden and SVT?
In today’s episode we look at Sweden in Eurovision2021. For a full review of their potential entry for 2020, check out this article on our partner website Eurovision Union. Check out our thoughts for next year below.
Key Takeaways: Strong vocalists
Melodifestivalen is famous for its grand spectacle. More people are allowed on stage than at Eurovision, and backing vocals do not have to be live. This has resulted in a few tricky entries for Sweden in the past, where shaky vocals only appeared after an act had already been chosen.
With The Mama’s, this was never a problem. Sweden was in the possession of a very secure and stable vocal group, and even one that already had Eurovision experience. Therefore, it is likely that the jury vote would again have gone smoothly for the Scandinavian country.
SVT will probably select via Melodifestivalen
Should they stick with The Mamas, SVT will give them something similar, a gospel-like popsong.
However, it is very hard to imagine Sweden dropping Melodifestivalen in 2021. For broadcaster SVT, this preselection is their biggest hit. Viewing figures lie far in the millions and the show has a huge popularity within the country. Added up with the fact that The Mamas were not the most convincing winner in recent years, it seems likely that the Melodifestivalen 2021 winner will go to Eurovision.
We won’t likely see The Mamas get an automatic ticket to Eurovision from the Swedish broadcaster. However it could be the case that we see the group return to Melodifestivalen next year. If so, it will take something special for us to see the Mamas return to Eurovision. Either way, the biggest challenge for Sweden will be to win back support among European televoters. Their last few entries have been too safe, not unique enough to capture the public vote.
This was supposed to be Sweden’s Eurovision 2020 entry
About “Next Up: Eurovision 2021”
In our series Next Up: 2021, we look ahead to the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. After the cancellation of Eurovision 2020, all participating countries now face the choice: Stick with their Eurovision singer, or come up with a new preselection or internal selection.
We make an analysis based on what we know so far. What will this country do, or most likely do? And is that the wise choice, looking at the fact that the Eurovision Song Contest remains a music competition?
