It’s finally here ! After 5 weeks of heats and a second chance vote, tonight Sweden will make their choice as to who they will send to represent them on home soil at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö in May when they hold the final of Melodifestivalen 2024 at the Friends Arena in Stockholm, Sweden.

Twelve acts will compete tonight for that golden ticket to represent the host nation in Malmö . The running order is as follows:

1. “When I’m Gone” – Maria Sur.
2. “Back To My Roots” – Jay Smith
3. “Awful Liar” – Lisa Ajax
4. “Heroes Are Calling” – Smash Into Pieces
5. “Give My Heart A Break” – Cazzi Opeia
6. “Light” – Annika Wickihalder
7. “Unforgettable” – Marcus & Martinus
8. “It’s Not Easy to Write a Love Song” – Dotter
9. “Que Sera” – Medina
10. “Dragon” – LIAMOO
11. “Effortless” – Jacqline
12. “Happy That You Found Me” – Danny Saucedo

During the first four weeks you have had Richard keeping you company for our live blogs of the Swedish shows but as he’s not available this evening , he has handed the reigns over to me tonight , so you have me ,Sarah , to take you through the evening, as we live blog the events in Stockholm. Those of you already familiar with our blogs will know the drill by now , all you have to do to keep up with our blog is REFRESH THIS PAGE . Please do feel free to to leave us comments on your own thoughts about the show too, it’s always great to see how different our musical tastes are and whether you agree with anything I say tonight about the acts .

You can watch the live show HERE and , as with last year, English commentary is also available via SVT Play HERE

LIVE BLOG STARTS HERE

I love your enthusiasm but you’re a bit too early ! Come back later at 20.00 CET /19.00 GMT when we will join the link to Stockholm and Melodifestivalen 2024.

Welcome back ! In a few minutes we’ll be linking up to the live webstream for Melodifestivalen. Remember tonight you can get commentary in English as well as Swedish. Remember , to follow our blog tonight, just REFRESH THIS PAGE . Who are you most looking forward to seeing this evening ? While we’re waiting for the show to begin, let’s cast our minds back to last year when Loreen triumphed and then went on to win Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool,UK

Still waiting for the English commentary link to start . It does make life easier for me to follow events if I follow that link !

And here we are ! over to Stockholm now . Starting with tonight’s contestants singing an acoustic version of Tattoo , last year’s winner .

As with Eurovision , we get a “flag ” parade of the acts tonight

And Loreen walks on stage , carrying the trophy , ready for her successor tonight

She chats to host , Carina Berg , then she greets the audience .

Voting , the public can vote by telephone or the SVT app . This counts for 50 % of the vote whilst the remaining votes are decided by international juries

And we are off , but first the in house experts , Tina and Ronnie , who bring all kinds of stats , etc throughout the show .

Ready for the first act now and it’s Maria Sur .

Maria Sur “When I’m gone “

Maria is back with a more uptempo number than last year , when she finished 9th . Can she do better this year? She starts off alone on stage , with laser beams galore . This is definitely not for those with epilepsy . She wears her all in one outfit , showing quite a bit of leg ! She’s joined by her backing dancers who dance enthusiastically on stage and Maria does keep well in sync with them . Her vocals are ok but I feel a times she does seem a bit breathless when she has to do the higher notes , a point Richard picked up on yesterday in rehearsals . Nevertheless, it’s a banger of a song and a great opener .

Back To My Roots” – Jay Smith

Now Jay was ( for me ) a surprise second chance qualifier and I do wonder had he not been in heat 5 , when the second chance vote took place , if he would have been here tonight . Now I have to admit, I’m not a great fan of country or rock, which this is a mixture of and it has had mixed reception at Eurovision. Sadly, I have seen better than this. The staging does seem very bland , all we have are the words “Back to my roots in large letters on the stage and Jay and his band performing, all dressed very casually as is typical with country acts . I think this will struggle against the stronger entries and won’t trouble the top of the score board tonight.

“Awful Liar” – Lisa Ajax

Lisa last performed in 2022 in Melodifestivalen . She starts alone on stage , dressed under a spotlight, all dressed in black, with baby bump showing nicely . There’s a moon image behind her . She’s joined by contemporary dancers in the background, which compliments the staging and Lisa’s vocals It’s a gentle ballad and Lisa’s vocals are fine . I do feel there’s a bit of lack of camera connectivity , which is vital for getting those home votes from TV viewers. I don’t think this will trouble the top of the scoreboard tonight but what do I know ?

“Heroes Are Calling” – Smash Into Pieces

Now these guys finished 3rd last year, which apparently even surprised them ! Rock generally has mixed results at Eurovision but if it’s done well can get good results as Finland have proved over the years . It’s a powerful song and I think is better than last year’s song , though some of you may debate that . There’s red laser beams , a backdrop which resembles an apocalypse and a masked drummer !What more could you want. These guys know how to sell a song and rock fans may vote in droves for this. Big reception from the audience ! This could be surprise contender for the win .

“Give My Heart A Break” – Cazzi Opeia

Oh, now I have been looking forward to this one !Cazzi is dressed in a pink outfit which is apparently made from Christmas tinsel ! She starts off in what looks like an oversize key hole , we then see some lovely stage effects, including a pink and yellow heart backdrop , with her backing dancers dressed in yellow outfits, with pink spots and pink tinsel outfits. I really do feel like I have been transported into some kind of imaginary land .It’s a happy, colourful song and Cazzi has a lot of stage presence and no problem with vocals , she knows how to sell a song ! The youngest age groups may appreciate this , not so sure about the older groups .

“Light” – Annika Wickihalder

Annika was a surprise qualifier from last week’s second chance round . She starts alone on stage and is again dressed in the silver dress she wore last week, As the song title suggests , there’s plenty of spotlights behind Annika in stage , with some smoke effects . Annika shows passion and emotion in her vocals and facial expressions , however I do think she needs connection with the camera a bit more .She’s joined by backing singers , who she interacts well with on stage and there’s even a bit of the wind machine a la Carola thrown in ! A good performance .

Marcus and Martinus “Unforgettable”

Here come the favourites to win tonight . They were unlucky to miss out on victory last year and had a certain Loreen not been taking part, they probably would have been in Liverpool . We have some restricted staging effects here similar to Benjamin Ingrosso in 2018, I feel they are aiming for the televotes, rather than jury by doing this .They are joined by their backing dancers, who they dance around the grid staging with . Typical electro pop , very similar to the early 2000’s . The crowd are going wild for this ! The choreography is slick . If this doesn’t win, I am not sure what will !

Dotter “It’s not easy to write a love song”

Dotter’s third attempt to go to Eurovision and has been unlucky not to be selected to represent Sweden . However , it’s strong year this year , so she sadly may again be unlucky .She starts off draped over a piano , which she rolls around on while singing. It must be hard to sing and do that at the same time and Dotter does this well. It’s different from a lot of the uptempo songs we have heard so far and if the Swedes want to send a ballad sung by someone who is a strong performer then Dotter is the one to choose . She has no problems with camera connectivity and sings with emotion . Could be a contender .

Medina -Que Sera

And we’re off to the carnival and Medina really do make you feel as if you are at a Brazilian carnival !They are singing in different languages this evening and are here to win . We start off with one of the guys on a bike on stage and then three of the backing singers standing on podiums with lead vocalist and two other singers on the stage floor . It reminds me a bit of Jessy Matador for France in 2010 , with lots of energetic dancing , of all types s . The crowd are singing and dancing to this . If Sweden send this to Malmo, this will really bring the arena down !This might be a candidate to beat Marcus and Martinus.

Liamoo “Dragon”

Liamoo is on stage alone, and as the song suggests there’s the dragon fire with Liamoo surrounded by towers which throw out fire pyros . . He’s dressed in black . I can’t help but feel that this is like Andrew Lambrou’s staging for Cyprus last year . Even some of the movements resemble Andrew . Nevertheless, Liamoo sings with emotion and he is clearly enjoying himself . I don’t think this is goimg to be Liamoo’s year though , unfortunately .

We’re off to the Green room now and Carina chats with some of the acts already performed .

“Effortless” – Jacqline

This song was written by Cazzi who performed earlier. This song has been well regarded in pre contest polls and who knows, she could be a contender for the top spot tonight . Jacqline starts off on stage in what looks like a box , along with four backing dancers in skin tight suits , she’s dressed in a black feathered outfit and knee length boots , she interacts well with the backing dancers , it’s very 90’s in style and the choreography is very slick . Age groups who remember the 90’s and have fond memories of them could vote strongly for this . Though if she goes to Malmo, I don;t think she will be a contender for the win there.

Danny Saucedo ” Happy that you found me “

Danny is another who has been unlucky not to have gone to Eurovision after a few tries . This is a bit more of a toned down effort in comparison to his previous efforts . He’s dedicated this song to his son, apparently . His staging is simple in comparison to previous efforts ,with several arches on stage which he walks through .Now Danny is a good performer and has no problem at all with stage presence or vocals, I just can’t help but feel that in comparison to other efforts, this is not his best one. He’s popular in Sweden though ,so may pick up votes based on popularity .

And that’s it! You’ve heard them all ! It’s time to vote and we get our first recap .Over to our experts .

We’re getting an “extra act ” according to them , including some performers and actors you may recognise joined by Bjorn ,Swedish actor and comedian

And they come onto the stage, all are dressed in white , this is quite a genius act by the Swedes. It’s all very Westlife !

That was brilliant ! At least if you’re a lover of Boyzone or Westlife type music . Will they be at Eurovision in Malmo , I wonder ? Carina chats to all the performers .

Ooh we have the International Jury votes now ….This will be interesting .Public voting now paused while this happens .

Points 1-7 given automatically as in Eurovision

Belgium -8 to unforgettable 10 to Que Serra 12 to Cazzi !

Ireland -8 to Jay Smith 10 to Danny S 12 to Medina !

Medina lead !

Malta -8 -Medina 10 to Annika 12 to Marcus and Martinus

Serbia -8 to Maria Sur 10 to Annika 12 -Marcus and Martinus

Australia – 8 to Dotter 10 -Maria Sur 12 to Marcus and Martinus

Iceland -8 to Danny 10 to Jacqline 12 to Marcus and Martinus

Germany -8 to Annika -10-Jacqline 12 to Marcus and Martinus

Gap widening at the top , M and M in the lead

Cyprus -8 to Lisa 10 to Liamoo 12 to Marcus and Martinus

As it stands after International Jury Results , but, as we know , things can change with the public vote !

Time for a toilet break, there’s another recap as public voting recommences

Some surprises in those Jury votes, I didn’t expect Cazzi to get so much love from the juries , surprised to see Dotter so low ! Not surprised by Medina being in the top 3 .But…… we still have the public vote to come and as we have seen in Eurovision itself , this can change everything ! The public may be thinking differently to those juries .

Countdown to voting closure ….AND THE VOTE IS CLOSED !!

We have a little film with Bjorn again , thinking about what he has to give Carina, apparently . He takes his guitar and walks onto the stage . Big cheer when he starts singing, he’s so loved in Sweden !

A song to serenade Carina by the looks of it !As it’s in Swedish , I can’t understand what it’s about . Anyone out there who’s Swedish and can translate ?

And Carina joins him and sings together with him on stage !

That was quite sweet ! :-)

Oh, we have a result …..here’s the public vote !It’s squeaky bum time now !

As at Eurovision, we start off with the act that got the lowest in the jury votes and work up to to the leaders .

This is as it stands at the moment

Jay Smith – 26 points

Dotter -8 points …that’s a shock !

Smash into pieces 59 points

Lisa Ajax -11

Danny S -40 points

Maria S -35 points

Liamoo-45 points

Annika -25 points

Jaqline -21 points

Medina – 61 points – they go into the lead

Nerves are real now …!! Cazzi next to receive points

Cazzi gets 41 points , not enough for the win but gets third

Medina or Marcus and Martinus …..M and M need 20 points to win

Medina get 61 points

Marcus and Martinus get 92 points and they have won !!!

Final Result

Not surprised at all by the winners or second place . Surprised at Dotter being last ! Wonder if she will come back for another try in future years .

And, that’s it folks , we have the reprise of the winning song with Marcus and Martinus singing while mixing with the audience .

So , that concludes our coverage for tonight. Thanks for joining us this evening . What do you think ? Do you think Sweden will be heading for a back to back win and 8th victory in Malmo ? Let us know your thoughts in our comments box and you can find us on our Facebook and X feeds .

Thank you and Goodnight Europe ! Good morning Australia !!

Author : Sarah Rudman

Source : SVT