Melodifestivalen gets underway in Sweden

The venue of the 1985 Eurovision Song Contest, Scandinavium, in Gothenburg hosted the first semi-final of the very popular Melodifestivalen, the Swedish selection for the Eurovision Song Contest.

This year the shows are hosted by Gina Dirawi along with a different guest presenter every week. This week it was the turn for one of the co-hosts of the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest and also our presenter in 2013, Petra Mede.

After the lines were closed the presenters announced the results of the first semi-final of Melodifestivalen 2016. These two were the winners and thus proceed to the final in Stockholm:

• Ace Wilder - Don’t Worry
• Robin Bengtsson - Constellation Price

Two further songs will get a second chance in the so-called Andra Chansen round:

• Albin & Mattias Andréasson - Rik 
• Samir & Viktor - Bada nakna

The line-up of the first semi-final

These are the six songs that took part in tonight's first semi-final, alongside their final placing:

1. Samir & Viktor - Bada nakna (Second chance)
   (Fredrik Kempe, David Kreuger, Anderz Wrethov)
2. Pernilla Andersson - Mitt guld 6th
   (Pernilla Andersson, Fredrik Rönnqvist)
3. Mimi Werner - Ain’t No Good 5th
   (Mimi Werner, Göran Werner, Marcus Svedin, Jason Saenz)
4. Albin & Mattias Andréasson - Rik (Second chance)
   (Albin Johnsén, Mattias Andréasson)
5. Robin Bengtsson - Constellation Price (Final)
   (Bobby Ljunggren, Henrik Wikström, Mark Hole, Martin Eriksson)
6. Ace Wilder - Don’t Worry (Final)
   (Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Anton Hård af Segerstad, Ace Wilder)

Earlier this week, after excerpts of the participating songs were made public, one of the participating songs was disqualified because of a breach of the rule that state that songs cannot have been published before September 2015. The following song had already been entered, in English, for the Moldovan Eurovision selection in 2014 and published online by the broadcaster TRM: 

• Anna Book - Himmel för två
  (Sven-Inge Sjöberg, Lennart Wastesson, Larry Forsberg, Camilla Läckberg)

Even though it did not compete, Anna performed her song in the show. The Spanish entrants in 2006, Las Ketchup, also performed as an interval act.

The top two songs in the semi-final, chosen by televoting and app voting, qualified for the final in Stockholm on the 12th of March. The second chance round Andra Chansen will be held one week before on the 5th of March.

Do you agree with the results in Sweden tonight?