With the first heat of Swedish national final Melodifestivalen right around the corner, it’s time for to say hej to the 30 artists competing to represent Sweden at the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest!
As with last year, six artists will compete in each of the five heats, with two acts going directly to the final. However, in a change from last year, only the third-placing artist from each heat will compete in a final qualification round at the end of Heat Five, with two artists qualifying for the final. This means that 12 entries will compete in the final, which will take place on Saturday 8th March.
This week’s heat will take place in LuleÃ¥, which will be the fourth time the city has hosted a Melfest heat, the last time being in 2020. It will also mark the first time in the 2020s that only one of the artists competing this week is under the age of 30!
Phoenix would also like to take this opportunity to thank SVT for once again granting us accreditation to this year’s Melodifestivalen – we can’t wait to bring you all the exclusive content as and when we get it!
Last year, Marcus & Martinus placed 9th for Sweden with their song ‘Unforgettable’. Let’s meet the six artists hoping to follow in their footsteps this week!
Albin Johns̩n feat. Pa РUpp i luften
35-year-old Albin Johnsén made his breakthrough onto the Swedish music scene in 2014 with the single ‘Din Soldat’ (‘Your Soldier’) featuring Kristin Amparo. The song topped the Swedish music charts and went platinum eight times there. He has since gone on to release six albums, amassing over 300 million streams in total. In 2017, he composed the song ‘Hjärtan Av Guld’ (‘Heart of Gold’) as the official Swedish song for the 2017 UEFA European Women’s Championship.
Albin has competed in Melfest as both a songwriter and an artist, with his last attempt being in 2020 where he performed the song ‘Livet börjärje nu’ (‘Life Begins Now’). This heat also took place in LuleÃ¥.
Pa is the stage name of Pa Modou Badjie, who is best known as a member of the group Panetoz. Like ‘Din Soldat’, Panetoz’s debut single ‘Dansa pausa’ also topped the Swedish music charts and went eight times platinum. They have since competed in Melfest three times with the songs ‘Efter solsken‘ (‘After Sunshine’) in 2014, ‘HÃ¥ll om mig hÃ¥rt’ in 2016 and ‘On My Way’ in 2023. All of these songs reached the final and reached the top 10 of the Swedish music charts.
Albin and Pa will be competing with the duet ‘Upp i luften’ (‘Up in the Air’) which, like all Melfest entries this year, will be available to stream from Friday onwards. In the meantime, why not listen to ‘On My Way’ by clicking below?
Maja Ivarsson – Kamikaze Life
45-year-old Maja Ivarsson is best known as the lead singer of indie-rock group The Sounds, who have released six studio albums and toured with well-known bands such as Foo Fighters, The Strokes and No Doubt. She has also contributed music to Hollywood films such as ‘Snakes on a Plane‘, ‘Final Destination 3’ and ‘Scream 4’. She is also a member of the techno duo Crew of Me & You, which formed in 2018.
Maja will be making her Melfest debut with the song ‘Kamikaze Life’ which was written by a host of Swedish songwriters, including Jimmy ‘Joker’ Thornfeldt. Last year, the entire top 3 of Melfest were Thornfeldt-penned entries and all of his songs bar one went to the final. Will this be a good omen for Maja? You’ll have to wait until Friday to hear ‘Kamikaze Life’ but check out the most well-known song from The Sounds, ‘Living in America’, while you wait:
John Lundvik – Voice of the Silent
Undoubtedly a familiar face to viewers is John Lundvik, who will be competing in Melfest for the fourth time. His most successful effort was in 2019 when he won the opportunity to represent Sweden at Eurovision with his song ‘Too Late For Love’ which placed fifth overall. Lundvik also helped to write the United Kingdom’s entry ‘Bigger Than Us’ that year, meaning that to this date Lundvik remains the only participant in Eurovision history to have competed as both a performer and songwriter in the same year.
Lundvik is back with his song ‘Voice of the Silent’ which he wrote alongside songwriters Jimmy Jansson, Peter Boström and Thomas G:son, all of whom helped to write 2023 Eurovision-winning entry ‘Tattoo’. Speaking about ‘Voice of the Silent’, Lundvik said:
The song is like a volcano, with an intense and pulsating energy that slowly builds at the beginning. When the chorus hits, it explodes into a full-blown musical explosion. For me, the song is about actions speaking louder than words. In a time when words are often redundant and easily forgotten, the song reminds us that real change happens through our actions, not our words. A message I believe is more important now than ever.
John Lundvik, Mellopedia
You’ll have to wait until Friday to hear ‘Voice of the Silent’ but in the meantime why not remind yourself of his Melfest-winning entry ‘Too Late For Love’?
Meira Omar – Hush Hush
31-year-old Meira Omar emigrated to Sweden from Afghanistan with her family in the 90s in order to flee the Taliban. She has also worked in Bollywood in Mumbai, India for five years and first gained popularity in the early 2020s with Bollywood-inspired dance videos which went on to acquire tens of millions of views on YouTube. Meira will also likely be recognisable to Swedish viewers for her participation in the Swedish edition of Love is Blind.
Having submitted songs to Melfest in the past, Meira is finally making her debut with the song ‘Hush Hush’. Speaking about the song, Meira has said:
The song is about love but draws some inspiration from my background and culture. It’s a nice pop song with some Middle Eastern influences. There will be a lot of dancing, and the lyrics will contain words in my language Dari, and also some Hindi.
Meira Omar, Mellopedia
This will mark the first time either Dari or Hindi have been used in Melfest. We’ll have to wait to hear them in ‘Hush Hush’ but in the meantime check out her 2020 debut single ‘Dive’:
Adrian Mac̩us РV̴r f̦rsta g̴ng
19-year-old Adrian Macéus is the youngest participant in this week’s heat and is a Polish-Swedish singer and actor. He made his breakthrough as an actor in 2017 when he got the lead in the musical ‘Billy Elliot‘ at the Stockholm City Theatre. In addition to other acting roles, Adrian has also starred as the Swedish voice of Miguel in the Oscar-winning Disney-Pixar film ‘Coco‘. Since 2024, Adrian has been studying at Musikmakarna in Örnsköldsvik which has allowed him to develop his craft.
Adrian will be making his Melfest debut with the mid-tempo song ‘VÃ¥r första gÃ¥ng’ (‘Our First Time’). As well as being a debutant himself, all of the songwriters involved are also making their Melfest debut, making this the fifteenth time this has happened in the contest’s entire history. Speaking about the song’s themes, Adrian said:
It’s a song about what it’s like to be in love, when it almost feels like it’s a matter of life and death. I’m in a relationship myself, and relationships always go up or down. When you’re very young, you don’t know what’s right and wrong. When things are going well, it feels so good, and when the slightest setback comes, it feels like the whole world is falling apart. It’s about always remembering why you got together in the first place and looking back to “Our first time.”
Adrian Macéus, Mellopedia
While you wait for the Friday release of ‘VÃ¥r första gÃ¥ng’, check out his latest single ‘Kär NÃ¥n Annanstans’ (‘Love Somewhere Else’):
Linnea Henriksson – Den känslan
Closing Heat 1 is 38-year-old Linnea Henriksson who got her big break in 2010 when she participated in the singing competition Idol, placing fourth overall. Since then, Linnea has released five solo albums. In 2020, Linnea hosted Melfest alongside Lina Hedlund and David Sundin, making her only the second person in the contest’s history to host the show before debuting as an artist (the first being Markoolio, who hosted the third heat in 2005 before competing in 2009). Linnea was also a commentator for the final of the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest along with Edward af Sillén, having been unable to join him for the semi-finals due to testing positive for COVID-19.
Linnea will be making her debut as a performer with the song ‘Den känslan’ which she says is a fitting title for her participation. She said:
It’s practical that the song is called what it is called, because “that feeling” was right. For me, Melodifestivalen is a folk festival that I’ve dreamed of and loved since I was little. It feels like it contains everything, and to be there I need to feel that the feeling was right […] I hope people get energy from the song. As an artist, you have the chance to leave the listener with a feeling, and I hope to give some energy and some joy.
Linnea Henriksson, Mellopedia
You’ll have to wait until Friday to see what feeling ”Den känslan’ leaves you with but in the meantime check out Linnea’s latest single ‘Ge inte upp pÃ¥ mig’ (‘Don’t Give Up On Me’).
Melodifestivalen Heat 1 takes place on February 1st 2025 at 20:00 CET // 19:00 GMT Live on SVT – click here to watch live.
Who’s your Melfest Heat 1 favourite? Leave a comment below to let us know!
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