The Heat 2 Rehearsals for Melodifestivalen 2024 are underway!
Phoenix have been given accreditation for this years Melodifestivalen by SVT, meaning we can bring you all the information you need about this year’s rehearsals!
Here are our thoughts on what we’ve seen from the Heat 2 rehearsals so far…
You can read all about the artists competing by clicking here – 🇸🇪 Sneak Peek: Melodifestivalen 2024 Heat 2
Maria Sur – ‘When I’m Gone’
Maria Sur begins alone on stage, in the centre of two blue lasers, which expand as the beat kicks in. As she reaches the chorus, a single strip of light appears behind her, before expanding to form a diamond. In the second verse, these lines start to replicate a heartbeat on the LED before returning to the diamond formation for the second part of the song. The key to this performance is the lighting, which surrounds Maria throughout the entire performance, building to a great show at the end. If you liked the staging for ‘Air’ by Marcus & Martinus last year, then you’ll probably enjoy this too as it takes a similar approach.
Maria is joined by 4 dancers, who she joins for some choreo in the second half of ‘When I’m Gone’, and during Friday’s rehearsal she seemed much more confident in the routine. Vocally, she held back during Thursday’s run-through, but gave it everything on Friday, hitting her high notes at the end with more and more ease during each rehearsal. This time, she seems a lot more confident on the Melfest stage despite being just 19-years-old and a relatively ‘new’ artist in Sweden. This is incredibly different to her last entry ‘Never Give Up’, showing her versatility as an artist, whilst also remaining a little more authentic with her past releases, which have all been upbeat.
You can see images from her rehearsal below!
Engmans Kapell – ‘Norrland’
A bit of folk music is always welcome in Melodifestivalen and this is exactly what we get here! With a simple LED screen displaying a field with clouds in the sky, birds flying past, bubbles falling down and a huge heart in the middle reading the song’s title ‘Norrland’. It remains relatively the same throughout beyond the main LED screen disappearing at one point to be replaced by yellow and red lighting, allowing the focus to be on Engmans Kapell.
With 6 members, it’s impossible for the stage to ever feel empty. It’s clear to see they’re experienced live performers, with each run-through free of any nerves or problems. Near the end of the song, there’s a clap-along section, which is sure to get the audience participating during the live show on Saturday! The final chorus sees a large amount of red and yellow confetti fall down for some extra impact.
This rehearsal remained mainly unchanged on Friday, just with a few cleaner camera cuts here and there. ‘Norrland’ isn’t a song we can count out going into Saturday, and will likely pick up votes from viewers looking for something that feels authentically ‘Swedish’. The song is a love letter to northern Sweden, and is just one of two songs performed in this heat in the native language.
You can see images from their rehearsal below!
Dear Sara – ‘The Silence After You’
‘The Silence After You’ begins with Dear Sara alone on stage, with a single light behind her. Coming up to the first chorus, she moves towards a light that’s hanging from the ceiling, hitting it away as the chorus begins. When this happens, the LED follows the movement of the swinging light, leaving us with some impressive effects. She remains central for most of the performance, with the LED bursting into waves of coloured lines for the second section of the song, as pink and blue lights appear between screens. It’s a nice upbeat number, and despite some understandable nerves her vocals remain stable, with her stage presence improving with each run through. Her Friday rehearsals saw some visual enhancements, but remained pretty similar to what she presented on Thursday (and what you’ll have seen in her rehearsal clip).
You can see images from her rehearsal below!
C-Joe – ‘Ahumma’
C-Joe has 6 dancers for ‘Ahumma’, along with three separate LED steps that change colour to match with the equally colourful and patterned LED screen, which stays the same throughout the performance. His personality absolutely shines through, with a great stage presence and solid vocal throughout each and every rehearsal. ‘Ahumma’ is a welcome addition to Melodifestivalen, bringing a genre we haven’t really seen or heard before in the contest in recent years, really standing out amongst its competitors and potentially putting C-Joe in a great position to qualify this Saturday. Friday’s run-through was much cleaner in execution in all areas, but remained similar to Thursday’s rehearsal.
You can see images from his rehearsal below!
Liamoo – ‘Dragon’
The key word for this performance is fire! It begins with Liamoo alone on an empty stage, with floor LEDs and the back screen showing minimal fire effects with each beat, before the LED’s burst with flames during the chorus, alongside four towers on stage that contain pyro. This is the best we’ve ever heard Liamoo vocally, who is using some pre-recorded vocals in the chorus which add to the power and strength of ‘Dragon’. There’s an instrumental section ahead of a slowed down bridge, where he appears to be holding a flame in his hand, before further fire rises from the front of the stage for the final chorus. Friday’s rehearsal had extra pyro, more smoke and better lighting, with Liamoo interacting with the LED screen at times, creating a captivating performance.
One thing you can guarantee with Liamoo is that no Melfest entry will ever be the same, and this is certainly a step away from his previous entries, especially his 4th place track ‘Bluffin’ from 2022. ‘Dragon’ has all the ingredients to take Liamoo to his fourth Melodifestivalen final, but only time will tell if we see him there.
You can see images from his rehearsal below!
Fröken Snusk – ‘Unga & Fria’
The most ambitious staging we’ve seen from Melfest so far this year, Fröken Snusk begins sitting on a bright pink graffiti’d horse, surrounded by pink crates. As we get into the pre-chorus, she’s joined by 6 dancers and the LED, which begins to form the entrance to ‘Fröken’s Park’. She’s dressed in a sparkling pink bodysuit, whilst the dancers are in a similar fuschia and white. When the chorus drops the focus switches to the dancers so Fröken has time to move from the horse to sit on the crates and do some choreography with her dancers. The bridge requires her to get back onto the horse, which during Thursday’s rehearsal she had some trouble with. However, tweaks on Friday have helped tidy this up so she has more time to carry out this section of the performance. She remains on the horse for the final section of the song, which turns to face the audience during the last chorus. There’s a lot of pre-recorded backing vocals in the chorus, but she sings the verses 100% live with some great vocals. Towards the end, the dancers put on their own pink balaclavas, tying in with Fröken Snusk’s incognito image. ‘Unga & Fria’ is definitely going to divide opinion, but as she’s one of the biggest artists in Melfest this year there’s a huge possibility we’ll be seeing her qualify this Saturday.
You can see some images from her rehearsal below!
Melodifestivalen 2024 Heat 2 takes place on February 10th 2024 at 20:00 CET // 19:00 GMT Live on SVT – click here to watch live.
Who’s your Melfest Heat 2 favourite? Leave a comment below to let us know!
Thank you to SVT, Melodifestivalen & Stina Stjernkvist for all of the images from this weeks rehearsals, and thank you to SVT for our accreditation for the show!
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