It’s a big year for Sweden — and not just because it’s hosting Eurovision 2024 in Malmo. It’s a big year because Swedish artists are going to be extra thirsty to fly the blue-and-yellow on home soil.
Starting at 11:00 CET, state broadcaster SVT will be revealing all 30 of this year’s acts, who will compete across five semi-finals for a spot in the grand final in Stockholm. They’ll be revealing artists by heat and in alphabetical order based on the song title.
You can watch the SVT Melodifestivalen livestream here.
Our Tobias is on-the-ground and his camera is locked and loaded. We’ll be serving piping hot tea across our Instagram throughout the morning and afternoon. But for now here’s the list of acts Aftonbladet thinks are in. Will their leaks prove largely true as they have in years past? Let’s see…
Melodifestivalen 2024: Full list of artists by heat
Heat 1: Malmö (3 February)
- Lisa Ajax – Awful liar
- Elisa Lindström – Forever yours
- Samir & Viktor – Hela världen väntar
- Smash Into Pieces – Heroes are calling
- Melina Borglowe – Min melodi
- Adam Woods – Supernatural
Heat 2: Gothenburg (10 February)
- C-Joe – Aoma
- Liamoo – Dragon
- Engmans kapell – Norrland
- Fröken Snusk – Unga och fria
- Maria Sur – When I’m Gone
- Dear Sara (Sara Nutti) – The Silence After You
Heat 3: Växjö (17 February)
- Clara Klingenström – Aldrig mer
- Jacquline – Effortless
- Klaudy – För dig
- Cazzi Opeia – Give My Heart a Break
- Gunilla Persson – I Won’t Shake (la la la)
- Kim Cesarion – Take My Breath Away
Heat 4: Eskilstuna (24 February)
- Lia Larsson – 30 km/h
- SCARLET – Circus X
- Albin Tingwall – Done Getting Over You
- Lasse Stefanz – En sång om sommaren
- Danny Saucedo – Happy That You Found Me
- Dotter – It’s Not Easy to Write You a Love Song
Heat 5: Karlstad (2 March)
- Jay Smith – Back to My Roots
- Elecktra – Banne maj
- Chelsea Muco – Controlla’
- Annika Wickihalder – Light
- Medina – Que sera
- Marcus & Martinus – Unforgettable
Melodifestivalen 2024: Who are the artists?
Adam Woods
At Melodifestivalen 2023, Adam teamed up with Jon Henrik Fjällgren and Art North on the song “Where You Are (Sávežan)”. They won the first heat and went on to finish fourth in the final.
Annika Wickihalder
In 2021, she made it to the semi-finals of TV4’s talent show Idol.
Albin Tingwall
Albin Tingwall, 20, placed second on Idol’s 18th season.
C-Joe
C-Joe — full name Charles Joe Koroma — is among the best known Sierra Leonean artists based in Sweden. He blends reggae dancehall, Afrobeats and R&B in his songs, which include “Friendzone,” “No Other Girl” and “Fire.” His song “Tomato,” which you can play below, is a love song about how far he’ll go for the one he loves.
Cazzi Opeia
The 34-year-old brought the colour and the joy with her 2022 entry, “I Can’t Get Enough.” And she went even higher as co-writer of Loreen’s “Tattoo,” which won Eurovision in Liverpool. She’s apparently hungry for another win — and as the performer.
Chelsea Muco
Chelsea Muco, 26, won the talent competition Next Level and collaborated with acts including Jireel and Gee Dixon.
Clara Klingenström
Twenty-eight year old Clara Klingenström finished fifth at Melodifestivalen 2021 with the song “Behöver inte dig idag.” That was after qualifying from the Andra Chansen round.
Danny Saucedo
The 37-year-old star has always been a bridesmaid and never the bride. In 2011 he finished as runner-up to Eric Saade with the song “In the Club,” and a year later he finished second again with “Amazing” — this time behind eventual Eurovision winner Loreen.
In 2009 he finished third as part of the band EMD (with “Baby Goodbye”). In 2021 he placed seventh in the final with “Dandi dansa.”
Ahead of his reveal, Aftonbladet got some tea on his then potential return.
“The shows have gone very well, but the latest songs have not become hits in the same way as a few years ago,” their source says. Another informant makes clear that Danny has gone back and forth with the Mello decision, recognising how it could go wrong.
“He knows that he is gambling by performing in Mello, he has to have a really strong song and make sure to get a hit.”
Dear Sara
Sara Nutti, 27, participated on the short-lived X Factor back in 2012.
Dotter
Dotter, real name Johanna Jansson, first competed in 2018 with “Cry”. She went out in her heat. In 2020 she came second with “Bulletproof” and in 2021 she finished fourth with “Little Tot“. Since then she has both become a mum and released music in Swedish. However, according to the source, the competing song will be in English.
Elecktra
She finished fourth on Drag Race Sweden. And now Elecktra wants to snatch some crowns at Melfest.
“Elektra is completely ready for Mello,” a well-informed source tells Aftonbladet. “The song is very Electric, exactly as you imagine it should sound.”
Elisa Lindström
Elisa Lindström has competed at Melodifestivalen twice before. But both times she crashed out in her heat (with “Casanova” in 2014 and “Den du är” in 2021). She’s currently playing a lead role in a musical called “De’ e’ det här vi kallar kärlek”.
Fröken Snusk
Fröken Snusk has a filthy mouth and likes to drop dirty lyrics. So many Swedes are puzzled how she’s landed in a family-friendly show. But the epadunk star has made a big name for herself in recent years with hits like “Ride me as a dala horse” and “Raggarbilar (Warra warra)”. So apparently her star power eclipsed any and all concerns.
She wears a pink balaclava — and plans to do so throughout Melodifestivalen. No one knows who she actually is!
“It will be interesting to see what song she does,” their source says. “SVT are usually sensitive and with her there is usually a lot of sex. At the same time, you want her to do what she is known for, not something half-baked, because the artists who compromise usually don’t succeed.”
“I don’t really know how SVT is going to solve that in a neat way,” another source says. “It will certainly not be uncomplicated.”
Gunilla Persson
Gunilla Persson is a 64-year-old former fashion model and TV personality. A few decades ago, she modelled lingerie for La Perla and appeared on the cover of the German edition of Harper’s Bazaar. In the 1980s, she had a small role on the wildly popular soap opera Dallas. Younger Swedes may know her mostly from the reality show Swedish Hollywood Wives and for participating in the celebrity version of The Biggest Loser. You’ll note that she is not known for singing.
According to Aftonbladet, Gunilla will compete with a song about her persona, “The Gunilla”, which has contributed to her cult status on Swedish Hollywood wives.
Her song has reportedly been written by Fredrik Andersson, who wrote Frans’ Eurovision 2016 song “If I Were Sorry”.
Jacqline Moss
Jacqline Mossberg Mounkassa — who now goes by Jacqline Moss — placed second on Idol, back in 2021.
Jay Smith
Idol 2010 winner Jay Smith is said to be in the mix. The 42-year-old has stayed out of the limelight since his win, releasing several solo albums and playing with rock bands including Smash Into Pieces. Apparently he wants to leave rock behind him and has re-invented himself as a country music singer.
Kim Cesarion
Kim Cesarion rose to prominence back in 2013 with the song “Undressed.” It reached the charts in countries across the Nordics as well as Australia, New Zealand and the USA and now has more than 88 million streams on Spotify.
He’ll compete with a song written alongside Mathias Andreasson and Albin Johnsen. The latter broke through with “Din soldat” in 2014 and has competed at Melodifestivalen twice — in 2016 and 2020.
Klaudy
William Schenberg, 24, comes from Tolered in Gothenburg. He’ll sing under the stage name Klaudy. He participated in SVT’s music show “Songland” and wrote a song alongside Cherrie.
Lasse Stefanz
Lasse Stefanz, with frontman Jönsson, 67, is a Swedish dansband formed in 1967. The group has competed once before in the Melodifestivalen, in 2011 with “En blick och nänting händer“, however they got knocked out in Andra chansen, second chance.
Liamoo
Liamoo, or Liam Cacatian Thomassen, 26, will also appear for the fourth time next year. Liamoo won Swedish “Idol” in 2016 and debuted in Melodifestiavlen in 2018 with “Last Breath,” which finished sixth. In 2019 he competed in a duet with Hanna Ferm and came third with “Hold You” and in 2022 he finished fourth with “Bluffin“.
Lia Larsson
Lia Larsson, 22, is a TikTok star from Mora who recently had epa-dunk success with songs like “Banka banka” and “Fara ner på byn”. Her music has been streamed almost 30 million times,
Lisa Ajax
In 2022 Lisa finished last in her heat when singing alongside Niello. Well she’s done with that. Instead, she’s ready to hit it solo again — like she did in 2016, 2017, and 2019. Her debut entry “My Hearts Wants Me Dead” remains her best placing song (seventh in the final). She also performed it at our debut Wiwi Jam at the Hard Rock Cafe in Stockholm.
Maria Sur
Maria Sur captured the hearts of millions last year with her song “Never Give Up,” which captured her perseverance amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. Maria and her mother fled the country shortly after Russia’s invasion and headed to Sweden, where Maria continued to pursue her dreams of becoming a singer.
Ahead of the competition last year, she told us: “I’m so happy that I have this chance to share with people my story and this song about my dreams, about fighting for my dreams, about struggles with all of this. This is gonna be a message for people. Move on, keep working, never give up and follow your dreams. If you will do this nothing is impossible.”
She ended up winning Heat 2 ahead of Panetoz and placed ninth in the final.
Marcus & Martinus
Last year’s runners-up are ready to go one better. According to the newspaper, the beloved Norwegian duo are keen to participate…even though the contest conflicts with their massive arena tour this winter. That means the 21-year-old twins will have to request a specific heat that doesn’t conflict with their schedule, which will take them through Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
Aftonbladet’s sources say that If SVT really wants to include an act, then they’ll make it happen. “But it’s also challenging fate a bit,” they say. “If you are not free to compete every week, there is a greater risk of ending up in a more difficult competition.”
“I usually discourage artists from trying to request specific weeks or cities during Mello, because SVT wants to do the best for each artist. If you are limited by which cities work, it becomes more difficult.”
Medina
Let’s start with Swedish hip-hop duo Medina, which consists of Sam Rekik, 43, and Ali Jammali, 41.
After splitting for a few years, they reunited for Melodifestivalen 2022. They sang “In i dimman” and qualified for the final from Heat 4. In the final they climbed all the way to third place, behind Cornelia Jakobs and Anders Bagge. On top of that they hit #2 on the Swedish charts.
Melina Borglowe
Melina Borglowe, 26, hails from Växjö. She shares the same small record company Ten, which previously had success in Melodifestivalen with artists such as Benjamin Ingrosso, Felix Sandman and Bishara.
Samir & Viktor
They’re the three-time Melodifestivalen veterans who aren’t afraid to rip off their shirts while singing about naked swimming. And now Samir & Viktor are poised to hit the Mello 2024 stage to see if they can improve on fourth place — their best-ever finish in Sweden’s national final.
You’ll recall that the group split more than three years ago. During their hiatus, Samir became a real estate broker and Viktor started a social media agency, while also pursuing a solo music career. But “serious income losses” during Sweden’s economic recession compelled them to reunite in June 2023 to release “Skål” (that’s “Cheers!”).
Scarlet
The female hard rock duo was formed in 2018. They toured Europe alongside Smash Into Pieces, who are, of course, said to be in the running at this year’s Melfest.
The newspaper’s source says: “This is something that has never been heard or seen in Mello before, so it will attract attention.”
Smash Into Pieces
Smash into pieces, an experienced rock band formed in 2008, made their debut in Melodifestivalen 2023 with the song “Six Feet Under“. The rock band had huge success and ended up third. So far “Six Feet Under“ has received over 19 million streams on Spotify.
