Rehearsals have started for Heat 4 of Melodifestivalen 2025!
Phoenix would also like to take this opportunity to thank SVT for once again granting us accreditation to this years Melodifestivalen – we can’t wait to bring you all the exclusive content as and when we get it!
To learn more about the six artists competing this week, click here.
Read on to find out more about the upcoming performances and see images from rehearsals!
Andreas Lundstedt – ‘Vicious’
Kicking off Heat 4 is Andreas Lundstedt with his disco-pop inspired ‘Vicious’. Beginning by walking through the opened LED screens down a red strip on the floor which spells out the song title, we open with the chorus before transitioning into the first verse. The lighting is red and white with the stage also changing between these colours on a black background. Behind Andreas is a curved structure, which is moved throughout his performance – with it framing him and the dancers during the second verse, forming a wall behind them for the second chorus. A low whispered bridge see’s the lights flash red, before a big note into the final chorus, which Andreas pulls off in his rehearsals with ease – ending with ‘Vicious’ on the screen behind him. Seeing Andreas back really does give old-school Melodifestivalen energy – his stage experience really shines through, and it’s great to see him return with a modern song and staging. His Friday rehearsal lets us hear his voice a lot more over the backing vocals, and the lighting is a lot brighter at the beginning – allowing us to see Andreas much better. You can see images of his rehearsal below!
Ella Tiritiello – ‘Bara du är där’
From a big dance number to the slowest song in this years heat, Ella Tiritiello makes her debut on the Melfest stage with ‘Bara du är där’. Dressed in white, she begins on a platform draped with purple fabric with Ella lying down – the floor LED’s showing purple waves. She’s lit by a golden light and surrounded by smoke throughout the entire performance. The floor LED is interactive, and extends to the LED screen transforming into butterflies behind her during the second verse – accompanied by purple lights. Ella is vocally perfect in each of her run throughs, and for saying she is just 18 year old she performs with complete confidence. Friday’s camera angles really bring this entire performance to life, and is a respectable debut entry for Ella no matter how the results go during the show. You can see images from her performance below!
Tennessee Tears – ‘Yours’
For ‘Yours’, Jonas from Tennessee Tears begins with an acoustic version of the chorus, before we switch to Tilda singing over the full beat as the first verse kicks in. They’re standing on steps at the back of the stage, surrounded by a full band. The LED is designed to look like they have even more lights than those installed on the stage and the steps – all of which are golden. Jonas is taking much more of a role in the song this time compared to ‘Now I Know’ back in 2023. There’s a clap along section in the bridge, and whilst Jonas remains behind the microphone stand with his guitar for most of the song, Tilda walks around and interacts with the on-stage band. Improving vocally with each run through, this brings the tempo back up after Ella and slots nicely into Heat 4. Seeing this with the cleaner camera angles makes this performance really click, and on Friday they appear to be much more relaxed on stage, especially during the evenings dress rehearsal. You can see images from their rehearsal below!
KAJ – ‘Bara Bada Bastu’
Where to begin with this? ‘Bara Bada Bastu’ is one of the year’s most innovative stagings – and there’s a lot going on! Starting sitting around a fire and surrounded by greenery both on stage and on the LED – KAJ are joined by dancers for the chorus which has some interesting choreography. The wooden structure behind them is flipped over to give the appearance of a sauna, the lighting going red as the fire continues to burn. The lights change to white, green and pink as the smoke on stage begins to increase and we get an almost club-lighting like section for the last section with on screen smoke effects. There is absolutely nothing like this in Melodifestivalen 2025, and despite the clear humorous angle of the song and staging the performance holds up incredibly well despite a relatively complicated concept. If the Swedish audience are feeling like something a little different this weekend, this is the song they’ll gravitate to. You can see images from their performance below!
Credit: SVT // Melodifestivalen // Stina Stjernkvist
AmenA – ‘Do Good Be Better’
AmenA begins ‘Do Good Be Better’ standing between the two LED screens with green lights behind her and four white rope lights on stage, which change to pink for the second part of the performance. For the bridge she turns her back to the audience with pink and red lighting highlighting her on stage. The rope lights turn blue and pink in the last chorus. She eased into the performance with each of her rehearsals, growing in confidence during her run throughs. On Friday, AmenA seemed much more comfortable with being on stage and had a stronger vocal. You can see images from her rehearsal below!
Credit: SVT // Melodifestivalen // Stina Stjernkvist
Måns Zelmerlöw – ‘Revolution’
Måns Zelmerlöw closes heat 4 with ‘Revolution’, and completely elevates the song (much like he did with ‘Heroes’ back in 2015). He’s inside a huge structure, made up of what can only be described as lots of white walls slatted together, which he remains in for the majority of his stage show. He begins in complete darkness, lit by a spotlight – making his way down a small corridor that starts to light up as we reach our first chorus. Keeping the interactive elements going not just in this heat but from his last time in the contest, his movements control the lighting – which flashes as the beat kicks in, accompanied by smoke and lots of confetti. For the second verse he walks up and down the corridor, filmed between the walls, before the LED screen lights up in white and the wind machine kicks in for our second chorus, where it seems like he is – intentionally – fighting against the wind and confetti (which on Thursday didn’t quite go to plan, sticking to his face at one point!). He finally comes out onto the edge of the structure which opens up during the bridge and he removes his coat – walking around for a big final moment with lots of lighting, a string section and a huge note at the end of the performance, where everything returns to that initial darkness. Camera angles were improved on Friday, as were the vocals – with the backing vocals slightly louder to help support Måns slightly in the chorus. Is this the Melfest winner? The last 30 seconds or so feels like that kind of “moment”, but with strong competition from Greczula and Klara Hammarström – who are already qualified for the final – Måns is certainly going to have to pull out all the stops to get his second win. You can see images form his rehearsal below!
Credit: SVT // Melodifestivalen // Stina Stjernkvist
Melodifestivalen Heat 4 takes place on February 22nd 2025 at 20:00 CET // 19:00 GMT Live on SVT – click here to watch live.
Who’s your Melfest Heat 4 favourite? Leave a comment below to let us know!
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