Sweden: Here are the Melodifestivalen 2018 participants

A total of 2,771 songs have been submitted for the next Melodifestivalen in Sweden. 28 acts have been selected by the Swedish national broadcaster SVT, to compete in Melodifestivalen 2018, and one of these will represent Sweden in Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon. The artists of next year's Melodifestivalen were presented at a live press conference on Tuesday.

Among the known faces are Kikki Danielsson. She will compete for the 10th time in Melodifestivalen, and has won the contest two times earlier: In 1982 with "Dag efter dag" and again in 1985 with "Bra vibrationer".

Back is also Jessica Andersson who participated in Melodifestivalen 6 times earlier, and represented Sweden in 2003 as part of the duo Fame with the song "Give Me Your Love".

Samir & Viktor are back for the third time in Melodifestivalen.

Melodifestivalen 2018 Lineup

Deltävling 1 Karlstad 3 February

Odds: Who will qualify to the Final from Karlstad?

• Renaida – "All The Feels"
• Benjamin Ingrosso – "Dance Your Off"
• Edward Blom – "Livet På En Pinne"
• John Lundvik – "My Turn"
• Kikki Danielsson – "Osby Tennessee"
• Sigrid Bernson – "Patrick Swayze"
• Kamferdrops – "Solen Lever Kvar Hos Dig"

Deltävling 2 Göteborg 10 February

Odds: Who will qualify to the Final from Göteborg?

• Ida Redig – "Allting Som Vi Sa"
• Jonas Gardell – "Det Finns En Våg"
• Margaret – "In My Cabanna"
• Liamoo – "Last Breath"
• Samir & Viktor – "Shuffla"
• Mimi Werner – "Songburning"
• Stiko Per Larsson – "Titta Vi Flyger"

Deltävling 3 Malmö 17 February

Odds: Who will qualify to the Final from Malmö?

• Martin Almgren – "A Bitter Lullaby"
• Dotter – "Cry"
• Moncho – "Cuba Libre"
• Mendez – "Everyday"
• Kalle Moraeus & Orsa Spelmän – "Min Dröm"
• Jessica Andersson – "Party Voice"
• Barbi Escobar – "Stark"

Deltävling 4 Örnsköldsvik 25 February

Odds: Who will qualify to the Final from Örnsköldsvik?

• Felicia Olsson – "Break That Chain"
• Felix Sandman – "Every Single Day"
• Mariette – "For You"
• Rolandz – "Fuldans"
• Emmi Christensson – "Icarus"
• Elias Abbas – "Mitt Paradis"
• Olivia Eliasson – "Never Learn"

SVT's super miss

At the live press conference on Tuesday, SVT had made a big failure: On the blueprint behind the artists, SVT has renamed the competition - to "Melodyfestivalen".
– The human factor. A little sad, but it became a miss simply. That was not meant like this, says Jan-Erik Westman, Press Spokesman at SVT.

Melodifestivalen 2018

• 3 February: Deltävling 1 (Karlstad)
• 10 February: Deltävling 2 (Gothenburg)
• 17 February: Deltävling 3 (Malmö)
• 24 February: Deltävling 4 (Örnsköldsvik)
• 3 March: Second Chance (Kristianstad)
• 10 March: Final (Stockholm)

The format for Melodifestivalen 2018 is the same as last year: Each of the 4 heats qualifies 2 songs directly to the final Each of the 4 heats qualifies 2 songs to the "second chance"-show. In the "second chance" 4 songs will be selected for the final.

Host of all the shows are David Lindgren.

Sweden in Eurovision Song Contest

Since 1958 Sweden has participated 57 times in Eurovision Song Contest with great succes. They have won the contest 6 times:

• 1974: Abba - "Waterloo"
• 1984: Herreys - "Diggi-loo Diggy-ley"
• 1991: Carola - "Fångad Av En Stormvind"
• 1999: Charlotte Nilsson - "Take Me To Your Heaven"
• 2012: Loreen - "Euphoria"
• 2015: Måns Zelmerlöw - "Heroes"

They came last two times (1963 and 1977), and since the introduction of the Semi-finals in 2004 Sweden managed to qualify for the Grand Final 13 out of 14 times! (only skipped the qualification in 2010).