The Swedish national broadcaster, SVT,has revealedthat it has received a total of 2747 songs for next year’s Melodifestivalen.
The submission deadline for Melodifestivalen submission has expired and the number of songs received by SVT for the Swedish national selection has surpassed even the most optimistic predictions. A total of 2747 songs have been submitted for Melfest 2021 which is the highest number since 2018 and 202 songs more comparing to 2020 submissions.
Karin Gunnarsson, competition producer for Melodifestivalen 2021 says:
It is incredibly fun to see an increase in submitted entries as it shows a great interest in the competition. As a competition producer, it feels like I’ve got the world’s biggest musical candy bag to dive into, and that’s exactly what I’ll be doing in the next few days. It will be so exciting to hear how it sounds.
27 entries are left to be selected as the only act that is confirmed for Melodifestivalen 2021 is the P4 Nästa 2020 finalist, Julia Alfrida, who has been selected by a special jury to participate in the next edition of the competition. The selection jury selects 14 songs from the submitted entries, the other 14 entries are selected by SVT during the autumn. Later this autumn, it will be announced which songs and artists will compete in the Melodifestivalen 2021.
The Eurovision story so far
Sweden has partaken in the Eurovision Song Contest 58 times since making its debut in 1958, missing only three contests (1964, 1970 and 1976).
The Scandinavian country is one of the most successful nations in the Eurovision Song Contest, with a total of 6 victories, just one win behind Ireland. The country has the most top five results of the 21st century, with thirteen. In total, Sweden has achieved 24 top five results in the contest. After finishing second with Lill Lindfors and Svante Thuresson in 1966, Sweden went on to achieve its six victories with ABBA (1974), Herreys (1984), Carola (1991), Charlotte Nilsson(1999), Loreen (2012) and Måns Zelmerlöw (2015).
This year The Mamas won the Melodifestivalen 2020 with their entry “Move” and together the right to represent the Scandinavian country at Eurovision 2020 in Rotterdam. Unfortunately for them the contest was cancelled due to the covid-19 pandemic depirving them the chance to perform in The Netherlands.
