Image Credit: Melodifestivalen // SVT // Alma Bengtsson
The rehearsals for Melodifestivalen 2023 have begun!
At Phoenix, we have been given accreditation for this years Melodifestivalen by SVT – meaning we can bring you all the information you need about this years rehearsals!
Here are our thoughts on what we’ve seen from the Heat 1 so far…
Tone Sekelius – ‘Rhythm Of My Show’
Dressed in all black, Tone starts alone on stage, with the lights changing to show the six dancers on stage as the beat kicks in. The main themes in this are black, red and purple – with smoke effects and lyrics on the LED screen. Tone dances during the instrumental section of the chorus, and gives us a high note at the end of the performance. The upbeat nature of the song makes it the perfect opener to Melodifestivalen 2023! Her second rehearsal was much stronger than the first, exuding confidence, energy and featuring some great vocals. You can see the pictures from her rehearsal below, and watch 30 seconds of it here.
LouLou LaMotte – ‘Inga Sorger’
LouLou LaMotte looks gorgeous in a long, glittery green dress! The performance features some complimentary gold and white lighting. Aside from this, there isn’t a lot more to report on – LouLou remains central on the stage surrounded by lighting (and a wind machine for the second chorus). Her vocal is as expected – pitch perfect. There is a great moment in the bridge where there’s one light behind LouLou that pulsates with the beat as it builds up to the final chorus. The second rehearsal run-through was as clean as the first rehearsal, with little changes to the performance. You can see the pictures from her rehearsal below, and watch 30 seconds of it here.
Rejhan – ‘Haunted’
Having your vocal as the main focus of your song is a brave choice, which works perfectly for Rejhan, who nails his rehearsals vocally. The best way to describe this is like a second part to ‘Every Single Day’ by Felix Sandman – a gentle piano ballad with emotional lyrics about heartbreak. This is another song that doesn’t use LEDs (for most of the performance), opting for some purple, red and white lighting behind Rejhan, that occasionally shows a dancer’s silhouette. During the bridge, Rejhan turns away from the audience, with a single light from the ceiling focusing just on him. The LED screen turns on to a static purple background for the final chorus, which ends with Rejhan solo onstage. For saying how young he is and that this is one of his first big performances since Talang 2021, his stage presence makes up for the simple way this is presented. Before his second rehearsals started, Rejhan sang parts of his song a-capella, proving what a talented vocalist he is. You can see the pictures from his rehearsal below, and watch 30 seconds of it here.
Elov & Beny – ‘Raggen gÃ¥r’
‘Raggen går’ features a road on the LED background which then lends itself to the fact they have a car onstage during the chorus which both Elov and Beny climb into alongside dancers. There’s also a set-up diner on stage in the second verse. After the second chorus, we get some rap vocals in the bridge, and the duo move through the audience with their dancers to the platform, before returning to the main stage. The main colours for this are red and orange, and we get some pyro at the end. This is clearly created to entertain, and it does just that. Think Det Vet Du’s 2017 entry ‘Road Trip’ meets a song by Samir & Viktor. Their second rehearsal was just as fun as the first, and may pick up votes from younger viewers. You can see the pictures from their rehearsal below, and watch 30 seconds of it here.
Victor Crone – ‘Diamonds’
Victor Crone is alone on stage for ‘Diamonds’ – with a smokey white background and single strip of light which turns gold as we reach the first chorus. As the chorus hits, yellow lighting surrounds him, and changes back into the white light for the second verse. For the second chorus, it uses the same lighting style as before but this time in blue. There’s minimal choreography with this – and it’s carried by Victor who remains mainly central on stage. He gives us some high notes as the pyrotechnics come up to give the last chorus the final push. The main trick with this is the clever LED work. The song is definitely an earworm, and is probably most comparable to ‘Storm’ out of his previous Eurovision/national final efforts. In his second rehearsal, he managed to hit all the high notes and the performance looked ever so slightly more polished. You can see the pictures from his rehearsal below, and watch 30 seconds of it here.
Eva Rydberg & Ewa Roos – ‘Länge leve livet’
This as a song in full isn’t as instantly captivating as ‘Rena Rama Ding Dong’, but the staging completely elevates it to another level. Eva & Ewa are sparkling in gold, and really tap into that 1920s showgirl sound with the staging and choreography – even doing some Charleston steps. They make full use of the LED – with the main colour themes being gold and blue, and the dancers in green and pink. They start on a platform, and in the first chorus, on screen effects focus solely on them whilst they’re surrounded by feathered fans. This one will be sure to get your toe-tapping, and one the older generation especially will be likely to resonate with and enjoy. Their second rehearsal was just as lively as the first, and with some slight-changes to the feather-fan section in the second verse. You can see the pictures from their rehearsal below, and watch 30 seconds of it here.
Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Arc North & Adam Woods – ‘Wherever You Are (Sávežan)’
Jon Henrik Fjällgren is well and truly back! ‘Wherever You Are (Sávežan)’ starts with the full focus on Jon Henrik, before panning out to show Adam Woods and Arc North. They’re stood on a platform with an LED structure of triangles behind them. The main colours for this are blue and silver. The lighting really kicks in as we reach the second chorus before the song slows down and sees Jon Henrik doing choreography with the female dancer on stage. The chorus features his joik vocals and some adlibs from Adam towards the end – who’s vocals are pretty spot on throughout. There are also flashes of different images on screen – from volcanoes to eyes – to relate to the lyrics that Adam is singing. The second rehearsal saw these images be more aesthetically fitting with the songs staging – using images with more of a blue and grey hue than the standard colours we saw yesterday, and there seems to be less focus on these too, helping the viewer connect more to the stage performance. Arc North is also more noticeable than he was in their first rehearsal. This is a great way to end the heat, and potentially one to watch for this year’s Melodifestivalen. You can see some photos from their second rehearsal below, and watch part of their first rehearsal here.
This weekend we’ll get to see all of the performances live for the first time in full. You can read our artist preview here.
Melodifestivalen Heat 1 will take place on SVT live at 7pm GMT // 8pm CET on Saturday February 4th 2023.
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