All opinions expressed in this article are those of the person quoted and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the other team members or That Eurovision Site as a whole.
With less than 48 hours to go until Deltävling 4 of Melodifestivalen 2025 is due to commence, Daniel & Euan had a chance to watch some of the rehearsals for the second semi-final of the competition, where they gave their opinions and predictions for Saturday’s show.
Andreas Lundstedt- “Vicious”
Andreas emerges from a red sliding door that closes behind him, wearing a black outfit, including a leather jacket that has patches of red. He’s then joined by six dancers in front of a fence structure. He loses the jacket part of the way through the song. The LEDs are black and red with Vs and the word “Vicious” making appearances.
| Daniel | Euan |
| Oh I fully hate this. Whatever audience this song has I am the furthest thing from it. As well as that, the vocals are hardly the best and the stage show just feels a bit tacky. I’m sure the Alcazar fans will like this at least. | If this were ten years ago I think this would be in with a shout of winning. However for those reasons I really struggle to see it go far. There’s some really odd choices with the camera work when the dancers move the set and overall the whole thing just looks too dark. I doubt anyone is going to have a middling opinion on this; it’ll either be stanned hard or detested. |
| Daniel’s Prediction | Euan’s Prediction |
| Out | Out |
Ella Tiritiello – “Bara du är där”
Photo Credit: Stina Stjernkvist/SVT for Melodifestivalen 2025
The song begins with Ella wearing a frilly white dress and tights, lying on a lilac and purple circular bed, with the purple LEDs on the floor underneath it styled as a body of water (Bulgaria 2021 style). As Ella begins to stand up the “waves” turn into butterflies and fly away, as a fog effect cascades around her. At the midpoint of the song – Ella stands up as the waves return, before becoming the butterflies again, then finally reaching the screen behind her as various colourful dots.
| Daniel | Euan |
| Save me, Swedish sad girl. This is absolutely beautiful. The song is great, Ella has a really nice voice and the staging is absolutely stunning, I will always fall for staging that brings a nice fog effect and pretty LEDs. It’s a shame she’s a woman singing in Swedish, because it means Sweden will pay it dust – I’ve learned not to get my hopes up. | It’s been 30 seconds after listening to this song and I remember nothing about how it goes. I think that really speaks for itself with this. It feels like it’s waiting for a moment and the moment that arrives is just not impactful enough and quite lacking. |
| Daniel’s Prediction | Euan’s Prediction |
| Out | Out |
Tennessee Tears – “Yours”
Photo Credit: Stina Stjernkvist/SVT for Melodifestivalen 2025
Very similarly to the staging for their 2023 effort “Now I Know”, the band are on a set of stairs fitted with LEDs. They’re joined on stage by two guitar players, a bassist, a drummer and a backing vocalist. Jonas and Tilda eventually make their way down from the staircase, with the backing band staying behind them.
| Daniel | Euan |
| As a big fan of their 2023 entry, which was my winner of that year’s Mello, I feel a bit let down. It’s still firmly country, and still quite enjoyable, but just doesn’t scratch the same itch in my brain that “Now I Know” did. I also feel like it’s kind of a rehash of the 2023 staging and I’d loved to have seen something different from them. | It’s very pleasant and exactly what I was expecting from them. The extremely stripped back staging works really well. It doesn’t need anything more visually. The music from the chorus is quite catchy so I could see it doing enough to manage to secure a finalkvalet. |
| Daniel’s Prediction | Euan’s Prediction |
| Finalkvalet | Finalkvalet |
KAJ – “Bara badu bastu”
Photo Credit: Stina Stjernkvist/SVT for Melodifestivalen 2025
The performance opens with the three of them suited in an outdoors area as some lumberjacks work away. All of them appear on the central platform to dance during the first chorus. The stage then turns into a sauna as pictured above. The final part of the song sees the stage bathed in neon lights for more dancing.
| Daniel | Euan |
| For a group of Finns performing in the Swedish selection, it’s insane how Norsk Melodi Grand Prix the vibes are here. It’s fun and the staging is sure to stand out in this, and any lineup, but I wish this was more in your face than it actually is. | The simple virtue of this being the most uptempo song this week makes me confident of this being DTF guaranteed. Visually this is probably the best stage show of this year’s Melfest. They’ve managed to capture the right kind of fun charm and the whole thing feels fun. Something which I think these sorts of acts struggle to do well on the Swedish stage. |
| Daniel’s Prediction | Euan’s Prediction |
| Direkt till finalen | Direkt till finalen |
AmenA – “Be Good Do Better”
Photo Credit: Stina Stjernkvist/SVT for Melodifestivalen 2025
She begins her performance bathed in green light in start contrast to her all purple outfit. The stage is empty apart from her and four dangling cables lit up. The focus on the performance is entirely on her as she weaves through the light with light dancing, as the colours around her change to white and purple.
| Daniel | Euan |
| I didn’t watch Hello Mello but this feels like it would probably fit right in there, though maybe because I think she sounds a bit like a child singer. I also think the lyrics just seem a little bit basic. | The song doesn’t really work with her vocal type, and the simplistic nature of the lyrical content, and the fact that the staging seems half baked makes it overall just comes off a bit JESC and quite forgettable. |
| Daniel’s Prediction | Euan’s Prediction |
| Out | Out |
Måns Zelmerlöw – “Revolution”
Photo Credit: Stina Stjernkvist/SVT for Melodifestivalen 2025
Måns begins the performance between two jagged walls shrouded in darkness in a longer coat. The stage is lit up as paper is blasted throughout this tunnel. Towards the end of the performance as the song heats up the walls are opened up and the stage is bathed in light.
| Daniel | Euan |
| Revolution is definitely not at Heroes level, but I really like the stage show here, it’s meticulously planned out and it really shows, elevating the song massively. More importantly than anything else, Måns is clearly having an absolutely fantastic time on stage. | I will start off with the only negative point. The camera work at points is dreadful and doesn’t set the scene well. Now. On to the important part. I do think that Stockholm should go for the Tele2 arena next year over the Strawberry and Avicii arenas because it’s better to host in the city centre with as many viewers as possible, because Måns is absolutely, hands down, without one shadow of a doubt winning Eurovision with this. With slightly more refined camera and lighting work that we’ll see in Basel. The song is not to ‘Heroes’ level, but that was always going to be impossible to achieve. The lyrics, the hook, the overall vibe are utterly immaculate. His vocals were great and he has the great stage presence we’ve come to expect from Måns even when he’s alone. |
| Daniel’s Prediction | Euan’s Prediction |
| Direkt till finalen | Direkt till finalen |
The fourth semi-final of Melodifestivalen 2025 will air on the 22nd of February at 20:00 CET. Don’t forget to follow That Eurovision Site to keep up to date with the latest coverage of this year’s selection.
What we know about Melodifestivalen 2025
As we earlier reported 30 songs will participate in Melodifestivalen 2025, two songs will directly qualify for the final from each semi-final, (which will consist of ten entries for the final)
The entry that placed third in each semi-final will still have a chance to make it to the final (which will be made up of five entries). Out of the five participants who placed third in each semi-final, the act with the highest score across all of the Semi-Finals will automatically be given a place in the final, with the remaining four acts fighting it out for the remaining spot. The act with the highest points from the vote will then be awarded the last spot in the final
As usual, Sweden’s Eurovision 2025 representative will be selected via a mixture of televoting and an international jury.
Sweden’s Eurovision Journey
In 1958, Sweden made their debut in the Eurovision Song Contest, with Alice Babs representing them with the song “Lilla stjärna” which placed fourth. Since their debut, the Scandinavian nation has managed to win seven times (1974, 1984, 1991, 1999, 2012, 2015 and 2023).
In 2024, Marcus and Martinus represented Sweden on home soil. As the host entry, their song “Unforgettable” did not need to compete in the semi-finals. At the close of voting in the grand final, they had received 174 points. 125 points were received by the juries, while the twins received 49 points by televoters.
What are your thoughts on this week’s entries? Who would you like to see represent Sweden at Eurovision in 2025? Let us know in the comments or on social media. Be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik-Tok as we prepare for Eurovision 2025!
News Source: SVT
Photo Credit: Stina Stjernkvist/SVT for Melodifestivalen 2025
Tim J