🇸🇪 Sweden: New format for voting and results presentation for Melodifestivalen 2022
Aftonbladet reports that there is a new voting format together with a new format for presenting results for the Melodifestivalen 2022.
Ahead of the first live semi-final of this year’s Melodifestivalen, SVT is expected to reveal major changes in the calculation and presentation of the results in the upcoming semi-final, second chance and the grand final. The hope is that the changes will make the show more exciting for viewers
Overall, the number of acts qualifying from each semi-final, second round and finally participating in the final remains unchanged.
Semifinal changes
In the previous voting system used in the semifinals, users could vote via the app after all songs have been performed. In the first ballot, the two acts with the least number of votes are eliminated. Then the voice lines open again. In the second round of voting, one of the two qualifying acts is announced at random, and after the winners’ replays, the second chance acts are revealed, culminating in the finalist being revealed. In this system, votes made via the app were sorted into seven age groups, which in the semi-finals give points (1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12) based on the votes in each group.
Under the new system, viewers will receive 5 free votes in the app, which unlike before can be used while the artists perform. After all, the entries have been performed the act that has received the most votes during the first part of the show will be announced as the first finalist. This vote is not based on age and solely on the number of votes.
The remaining six acts enter the second vote. Again, viewers will have 5 free votes, but the votes in the first round will also be transferred for the remaining acts. The results in round two are based on the act that receives the highest score from the different age categories. Each age category will give the score as in the previous voting system based on the ranking of an artist in this age group. As before, the groups will give the following points: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12.
The presentation of this result will, however, be made using a Eurovision-style voting presentation, where the points for each age group will be revealed on the screen with 12 points announced orally and the remaining points will be displayed on the screen.
This means that for the first time the individual points from each age group will be displayed on the screen in the live shows. The acts who placed third and fourth in this ranking will move on to the second chance, which has also been given a new format for 2022.
In summary, this means that the first finalist is chosen based solely on the overall popularity of receiving the highest number of votes, while the second finalist is chosen from receiving the highest total result from the various age-based voting blocks. The acts that placed second and third in the second round of voting go on to the second chance.
The winning acts will no longer perform their songs again after the announcement as finalists, which was the case under the previous system.
Second chance
As previously reported, the duels had been removed. The replacement for Andra Chansen and its duels is a new semifinal. As previously mentioned, the second and third placed acts from the second vote in the semifinals will be included in this show.
After all four semi-finals, the eight acts in the new semi-final will be divided into two groups. The acts are drawn randomly in a live show that is broadcast online via SVT play on March 1.
From each group, the two songs that get the most votes go on to the final. Voting will be based on the age category system, which is used in the second round of the semi-finals. This means that the two acts in each round who get the most points from the different age groups advance to the final.
The vote will not be presented as in the semifinals but the winner will simply be announced.
Final
Voting will take place during the artist’s performances and viewers will have five votes in the app to use at present.
After the international jury has presented their votes, viewers will receive additional votes so that viewers can continue to influence the vote even after the international jury has voted.
Voters will still be divided into age groups during the voting in the final but will hand out additional points due to the larger number of acts in the final. Each age group gives the following points: 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
When the votes are reported, viewers are told how many points have been awarded by the public and which age group was responsible for these points.
As before, the act that receives the most votes from the public and the jury will be crowned the winner and become Sweden’s representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022.
Melodifestivalen 2022
The current Covid-19 situation has meant that the regular Melodifestivalen tour in Sweden has not been able to continue. At the time of writing, all that is known is that Avicii Arena will host the first heat in Stockholm. It is still not known if Avicii Arena will host the remaining 5 live shows, or if other arenas in Stockholm will host. However, Eurovoix understands that ticket holders for the final, which will take place on March 12 in Friends Arena, have been informed that SVT still hopes that the show can continue as planned.
SVT is expected to make a final decision on the final within the next few weeks in the light of the covid-19 development in Sweden, where the government’s guidelines currently limit the audience to a capacity of 500 people.
The dates for the Melodifestivalen 2022 are as follows:
- Semifinal 1: Stockholm – Avicii Arena (February 5)
- Semifinal 2: Unknown place (February 12)
- Semifinal 3: Unknown place (February 19)
- Semifinal 4: Unknown place (February 26)
- Second Chance: Unknown location (March 5)
- Final: Stated to be Stockholm – Friends Arena (March 12)
This year, Oscar Zia will host the 2022 edition of the Melodifestivalen. Oscar has participated in the Melodifestivalen on three occasions. In 2013, he was the background singer for Behrang Miri on the song “Jalla Dansa Sawa”. In 2014, he participated for the first time as a solo artist and finished eight in the final with “Yes We Can”. The same year he was a member of the Swedish jury for Eurovision 2014. In 2016, he participated as a solo singer again with “Human” and finished second in the final. Last year he hosted semifinal 2 in the Melodifestivalen together with Christer Björkman and Anis Don Demina.
Image source: EBU / Andres Putting | Source: Aftonbladet
Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest
Sweden debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1958 and has continued to be one of the competition’s most successful countries. The country has won the competition six times, the most recent was 2015. Sweden’s first victory came in 1974 when ABBA won the competition in Brighton with “Waterloo”. Since missing in the final in 2010, Sweden has finished third twice and won the competition twice, only in 2013 did the country end up outside the top 10 in the final.