Melodifestivalen 2012 is presented by Helena Bergström, Sarah Dawn Finer and Gina Dirawi and they were in charge of starting the show tonight at Vida Arena, in the South town of Växjö.
Then it was time for the first eight songs of this year's competition to take to the stage (first results in bold):
Sean Banan - Sean Den Förste Banan
Abalone Dots - På Väg (7th)
The Moniker - I Want To Be Chris Isaak (This Is Just The Beginning) (8th)
Afro-Dite - The Boy Can Dance
Dead By April - Mystery
Marie Serneholt - Salt And Pepper (6th)
Thorsten Flinck & Revolutionsorkestern - Jag Reser Mig Igen
Loreen - Euphoria
Check out this gallery with stills of the first semi-final of Melodifestivalen 2012:
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Five of the songs went through after the first results were announced (finalists in bold):
Jag Reser Mig Igen with Thorsten Flinck & Revolutionsorkestern
The Boy Can Dance with Afro-Dite (5th)
Sean Den Förste Banan with Sean Banan
Euphoria with Loreen (written by Thomas G:son & Peter Boström)
Mystery with Dead by April (written by Pontus Hjelm)
The following two songs proceed to the second chance round, Andra Chansen, on the 3rd of March:
Sean Banan - Sean Den Forste Banan
Thorsten Flinck & Revolutionsorkestern - Jag Reser Mig Igen
Afro-Dite represented Sweden in Tallin ten years ago and reached 8th place in the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest with the song Never Let It Go. The Moniker got the bronze medal in last year's Melodifestivalen with Oh My God! and Loreen was evicted in "andra chansen" with the radio hit My Heart Is Refusing Me while last year's presenter Marie Serneholt, a former A Teens member, participated with Disconnect Me in one of the semi-finals in 2009.
The second semi-final takes place next Saturday 11th of February in the city of Gothenburg with eight new acts trying to represent Sweden in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest in Baku.
