🇸🇪 Sweden: Farah Abadi and Jesper Rönndahl organize Melodifestivalen 2023
Farah Abadi and Jesper Rönndahl have been appointed as presenters for Melodifestivalen 2023.
Farah Abadi and Jesper Rönndahl will be the presenters for Melodifestivalen 2023. The news was revealed today at a press conference at SVT’s headquarters today.
Farah Abadi has been a presenter on Sweden’s Radio for ten years and has also presented “1 against Sweden” on SVT. Last year she was the green room host for the semi-finals of Melodifestivalen and was co-presenter of the final.
Farah commented on the return to Melodifestivalen:
“It feels so incredibly fun to be part of Melodifestivalen again. And think that I will have funny, sharp and wonderful Jesper Rönndahl by my side.”
Jesper Rönndahl is a comedian and presenter. He is best known for being a regular participant on “På spåret” from 2013 to 2018 and for hosting the satirical new show “Sveriges nyheter” between 2018 and 2019.
Jesper commented on his new role:
“This is the biggest TV show I’ve done, and of course it’s exciting. I haven’t exactly excelled as a music guy, so my role is probably more to keep track of everything – and to be funny. Or, I think that’s what they have in mind anyway? Anyway, it feels incredibly safe and happy and fun to have Farah by my side.”
Melodifestivalen 2023 will take place in six cities in Sweden. Dates and host cities for the shows are:
- Semi-final 1: 4 February – Gothenburg
- Semi-final 2: February 11 – Linköping
- Semi-final 3: February 18 – Lidköping
- Semi-final 4: 25 February – Malmö
- Semi-final 5: March 4 – Örnsköldsvik
- Final: March 11 – Stockholm
These cities were to host the 2022 Melodifestivalen before the tour was canceled due to concerns about the Omicron variant of Covid-19. Melodifestivalen 2022 was held between Avicii Arena and Friends Arena, both of which are located in Stockholm.
Cornelia Jakobs represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy. She placed fourth in the final with “Hold Me Closer”, making it the best result for the nation since they won the competition in 2015.
Image source: SVT | Source: SVT
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 being in 2015. Sweden’s first victory came in 1974 when ABBA won the competition in Brighton with “Waterloo”. Since missing out on the final in 2010, Sweden has finished third twice and won the competition twice, only in 2013 and 2021 did the country end up outside the top 10 in the final.