Sweden: Get To Know “Melodifestivalen 2023” Heat 3+4 Participants

The volume of excitement is infinite!
Since the line-up for “Melodifestivalen 2023″ was completed this morning.
You can read about the first half of the participants here


Note: The songs won’t be available before the show, however short snippets will be released before each heat.

Heat 3Saturday 18th of February 2023

#1. Marcus & Martinus – Air

Written by: Marcus, Martinus, Joy Deb, Linea Deb, Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt

Marcus & Martinus are 20 years old Norwegian twin duo.
According to Aftonbladet, SVT has shown an interest in the duo since 2016.
Earlier in 2022, they won the Swedish “Maksed Singer“.

You can listen to one of their songs:

#2. Melanie Wehbe – For The Show

Written by: David Lindgren Zacharias, Herman Gardarfve, Melanie Wehbe

Melanie Wehbe is a 30 year old singer-songwriter.
She has never competed at the “Melodifestivalen” as a performer.
However, she was involved as a song writer for the following:

  • The Mamas – “Move” (2020) – 1st place
  • Julia Alfride – “Rich” (2021) – eliminated in semi-final
  • Patrick Jean – “Tears Run Dry” (2021) – eliminated in the second chance round.
  • Lina Hedlund – “Victorious” (2019) – ended 11th in the final
  • Angelino – “The End” (2022) – eliminated in semi-final
  • Manda – “Glow” (2014) – eliminated in semi-final

You can watch her live performance of her recent song on SVT:

#3. Ida-Lova – Låt Hela Stan Se På

Written by: Andreas ”Giri” Lindbergh, Ida-Lova Lind, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb

Ida-Lova Lind is an 18 year-old Swedish singer, at the beginning of her career.
She will make her “Melodifestivalen” debut this year.
She’s the daughter of “Melodifestivalen 2010” host Christine Meltzer.
In 2013, she made her first live performance in front of the public.
Earlier this year, she released her debut EP – “Hallå världen kan du stanna

You can listen to one of her songs:

#4. Paul Ray – Royals

Written by: Dino Medanhodzic, Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, LIAMOO, Paul Rey

Paul Ray will return to “Melodifestivalen” for the 3rd time.
He made his debut in “Melodifestivalen 2020” with “Talking In My Sleep“. Paul qualified for the final through the “second chance” round and ended 6th in the final.

Paul participated in “Melodifestivalen 2021” with the song “The Missing Piece“.
Once again, he made his way to the final through the “second chance” round.
In the end, he finished 12th in the final:

#5. Nordman – Släpp Alla Sorger (Eng: Let Go of All Sorrows)

Written by: Jimmy Jansson, Thomas G:son  

The duo are among the veterans in the Swedish music industry. They started releasing music back in 1994.
Recently, they reunited again.
Nordman has participated twice in “Melodifestivalen“.

In 2005, they performed the song “Ödet var min väg” and ened in 9th place

In 2008, they performed “I Lågornas Sken” and ended in 6th place in the final:

#6. Laurell – Sober

Written by: Anderz Wrethov, Andreas Stone Johansson, Laurell Barker, Thomas Stengaard

Laurell Barker is a 43 year-old Candanian singer-songwriter.
In the recent years, she has lived in Malmö.
Laurell will make her debut in “Melodifestivalen” as a performer, but this isn’t her first time as a songwriter. So fat, she has written 10 songs for “Melodifestivalen”.
One of her latest contributions was the song “Freedom“, performed by Faith Kakembo

In 2019, she made history as the first female songwriter with 3 different songs in the grand final of Eurovision 2019: Switzerland (“She Got Me”) , Germany(“Sister”), United Kingdom(“Bigger Than Us”).

#7. Casanovas – Så Kommer Känslorna Tillbaka
(Eng: So The Feelings Come Back)

Written by: Henrik Sethsson, Mikael Karlsson

Casanovas is a Swedish dansband that was formed back in 1989.
They have made amazing career with 5 Swedish Grammy Awards nominees and conquering the local charts in different occasions.
 Henrik Sethsson, who is one of the band members, has wrote Sweden’s song for Eurovision 2001: “Listen To Your Heartbeat” that has won “Melodifestivalen 2001

You can listen to one of their songs:

Heat 4 – Saturday, 25th of February 2023

#1.Signe & Hjördis – Edelweiss

Written by: Anderz Wrethov, Jimmy Jansson, Myra Granberg


Signe and Hjördis Bornemark are Swedish sisters who have always had a great passion to music.
They are 16 and18 years old that come from a family with musical background.
Their “Melodifestivalen 2023” song will be a folk-pop song, even though they create plenty of music in other genres as well, like jazz and progressive rock.

#2. Axel Schylström – Gorgeous 

Written by: Axel Schylström, Herman Gardarfve, Jonas Thander, Malin Halvardsson

The 29 year-old singer will make a “Melodifestivalen” comeback.
Axel became known after his participation in “Swedish Idol” in 2015, where he finished in 4th place.
His debut was in 2017 with the song “När ingen ser”, when he was eliminated in the “Second chance” round.

Last year, he was one of the songwriters of Theoz’s song, that qualified for the final after getting a second chance in the semi-final.

#3. Emil Henrohn – Mera Mera Mera 

Written by: Emil Henrohn, Jakob Redtzer, Ji Nilsson, Marlene Strand

Emil Henrohn is a 25 year old Swedish TikTok star. He made his breakthrough earlier this year with several viral clips on TikTok. “Melodifestivalen” was one of his dreams for a long time, and he will fulfill it this year.

In the meantime, you can listen to one of his releases:

#4. Mariette – One Day

Written by: Mariette, Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Thomas G:son

Mariette Hansson is a 39 year old Swedish singer-songwriter.
She became known after participating in the “Swedish Idol” in 2009, where she ended 4th.
In 2014, she toured with Swedish band “Ace Wilder“, who also participated in “Melodifestivalen“.

In 2015, she competed in “Melodifestivalne 2015” with the song “Don’t Stop Believing

In 2017, she competed with “A Million Years” and ended 4th in the final

In 2018, she ended 5th in the final with the song “For you”:


In 2020, she participated in “Melodifestivalen 2020” and ended 10th in the final:

#5. Smash Into Pieces – Six Feet Under

Written by: Andreas ”Giri” Lindbergh, Benjamin Jennebo, Chris Adam, Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Per Bergquist

Smash Into Pieces is an alternative rock band.
The band was formed in 2008 and has already released 7 studio albums.
Benjamin Jennebo, the guitarist of the band, composed Victor Crone‘s song for “Melodifestivalen 2020″ – “Troubled Waters”.
This will be their debut in “Melodifestivalen”.

Let’s listen to one of their songs:

#6. Loreen – Tattoo

Written by: Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Jimmy Jansson, Loreen, Moa ”Cazzi Opeia” Carlebecker, Peter Boström, Thomas G:son

One of the well-known Swedish Eurovision stars is Loreen.
She won Eurovision 2012, and has also participated in “Melodifestivalen” in the years 2011 and 2017. Her Eurovision song “Euphoria” is considered to be one of the all-time fan’s favorites.

Loreen has had many doubts about returning to “Melodifestivalen“, especially due to the fact she failed to qualify for the final of “Melodifestivalen 2017“.

#7. Kiana Blanckert – Where Did You Go?

Written by: Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb

The young singer Kiana will be 16 years old in February 2023, and therefore is aligned with the age restrictions of Eurovision and “Melodifstivalen“.
She made her debut via the reality show “Talang 2021” where she finished in 2nd place.
Her mother is a professional dancer and Kiana has been taking dance classes since she was three years old. 
You can listen to one of her performances:

Melodifestivalen 2023″ – Known Details

  1. Melodifestivalen 2023” dates and locations are:
    • Heat 1 – 4th of February 2023, will be held in Gothenburg.
    • Heat 2 – 11th of February 2023, will be held in Linköping.
    • Heat 3 – 18th of February 2023, will be held in Lidköping.
    • Heat 4 – 25th of February 2023, will be held in Malmö.
    • Semi-Final (Second Chance) – 4th of March 2023, will be held in Örnsköldsvik.
    • The Grand Final – 11th of March 2023, will be held in Stockholm
  2. 28 songs will be part of the line-up, and 7 songs will be performed in each heat.
  3. 2 artists will qualify directly from each heat for the final
  4. The 8 artists who will end up in 3rd and 4th place in the heats will compete in the semi-final. 4 of them will qualify for the final.
  5. Therefore, 12 artists will compete in the final.
  6. The results in the grand final will be determined by a combination of 50% public vote and 50% international jury.

Having said this, we have the full line-up for “Melodifestivalen 2023“:

Heat 1

  1. Victor Crone – Diamonds
  2. Rejhan – Haunted
  3. Loulou LaMotte – Inge Sorger
  4. Eva Rydberg & Ewa Roos – Länge Leve Livet (Eng: Long Live Life)
  5. Elov & Beny – Raggen Går
  6. Tone Sekelius – Rhythm Of My Show
  7. Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Arc North feat. Adam Woods  Where You Are (Sávečan)

Heat 2

  1. Wiktoria – “All My Life” (Where Have You Been)
  2. Eden – “Comfortable”
  3. Uje Brandelius – “Grytan” (Eng: Stew)
  4. Theoz – “Mer Av Dig”
  5. Maria Sur – “Never Give Up”
  6. Tennessee Tears – “Now I Know”
  7. Panetoz – “On My Way”

Heat 3

  1. Marcus & Martinus – Air
  2. Melanie Wehbe – For The Show
  3. Ida-Lova – Låt Hela Stan Se På
  4. Paul Ray – Royals
  5. Nordman – Släpp Alla Sorger (Eng: Let Go of All Sorrows)
  6. Laurell – Sober
  7. Casanovas – Så Kommer Känslorna Tillbaka
    (Eng: So The Feelings Come Back)

Heat 4

  1. Signe & Hjördis – Edelweiss
  2. Axel Schylström – Gorgeous 
  3. Emil Henrohn – Mera Mera Mera 
  4. Mariette – One Day
  5. Smash Into Pieces – Six Feet Under
  6. Loreen – Tattoo
  7. Kiana Blanckert – Where Did You Go?

What do you think about the second half of the participants?
Which song are you waiting for the most?
Would one of the returning artists end up winning “Melodifestivalen 2023?”

Doron Lahav is 30-year-old, who lives in Israel. Doron has been watching the Eurovision Song Contest since early 2000s. Doron works as a Data Scientist and shows interest in singing and writing.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: