Melodifestivalen 2021 was the 61st edition of the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen. The competition was organised by (SVT) and took place over a six-week period between 6 February and 13 March 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all shows of this edition took place in the Annexet in Stockholm, and without an audience. The winner of the competition was Tusse with the song "Voices", who represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, where he came fourteenth with 109 points.
The format of the competition consisted of 6 shows: 4 heat rounds, a second chance round and a final. An initial 28 entries were selected for the competition through three methods: an open call for song submissions, direct invitations to specific artists and songwriters, and a wildcard given to one of the artists that participated in the P4 Nästa competition organised by Sveriges Radio P4. The 28 competing entries were divided into four heats, with seven compositions in each. From each heat, the songs that earned first and second place qualified directly to the final, while the songs that placed third and fourth proceeded to the Second Chance round. The bottom three songs in each heat were eliminated from the competition. An additional four entries qualified from the Second Chance round to the final, bringing the total number of competing entries in the final to 12.
All six shows were hosted by Christer Björkman, who was joined by guest co-hosts during each show: Lena Philipsson (heat 1), Oscar Zia and Anis Don Demina (heat 2), Jason Diakité (heat 3), Per Andersson and Pernilla Wahlgren (heat 4), Shirley Clamp (Second Chance round), and Shima Niavarani and Måns Zelmerlöw (final).
Format Due to pandemic precautions, SVT did not hold the usual Melodifestivalen tour around six different Swedish cities during the 2021 edition. Instead, all shows were held at Stockholm's Annexet hall, one of the venues in Stockholm Globe City (in which the host venue of and , the Ericsson Globe, is located). The shows did not have a live audience.
+ Competition ScheduleShowDateCityVenueHeat 16 February 2021StockholmAnnexetHeat 213 February 2021Heat 320 February 2021Heat 427 February 2021Second Chance6 March 2021Final13 March 2021
Presenters On 4 January 2021, the presenters of the 61st edition of Melodifestivalen were announced. Christer Björkman, outgoing contest producer of Melodifestivalen and head of the Swedish delegation at the Eurovision Song Contest, served as the main presenter for all six shows. Björkman was joined by different guest co-hosts during each show: Lena Philipsson (heat 1), Oscar Zia and Anis Don Demina (heat 2), Jason Diakité (heat 3), Per Andersson and Pernilla Wahlgren (heat 4), Shirley Clamp (Second Chance round), Shima Niavarani and Måns Zelmerlöw (final).
Competing entries Broadcaster SVT revealed on 27 November 2020 that they would be releasing the acts for Melodifestivalen 2021 on a countdown, starting on 1 December. Artist Song Songwriter(s) Alvaro Estrella "Bailá Bailá" Anderz Wrethov, Linnea Deb, Jimmy "Joker" Thörnfeldt Anton Ewald "New Religion" Jonas Wallin, Joe Killington, Anton Ewald, Maja Strömstedt Arvingarna "Tänker inte alls gå hem" Stefan Brunzell, Nanne Grönvall, Thomas G:son, Bobby Ljunggren Charlotte Perrelli "Still Young" Thomas G:son, Bobby Ljunggren, Erik Bernholm, Charlie Gustavsson Clara Klingenström "Behöver inte dig idag" Clara Klingenström, Bobby Ljunggren, David Lindgren Zacharias Danny Saucedo "Dandi dansa" Danny Saucedo, Karl-Johan Råsmark Dotter "Little Tot" Johanna Jansson, Dino Medanhodzic Efraim Leo "Best of Me" Efraim Leo, Cornelia Jakobsdotter, Amanda Björkegren, Herman Gardarfve Elisa "Den du är" Bobby Ljunggren, Ingela "Pling" Forsman, Elisa Lindström Emil Assergård "Om allting skiter sig" Emil Assergård, Jimmy Jansson, Jimmy "Joker" Thörnfeldt, Anderz Wrethov, Johanna Wrethov Eric Saade "Every Minute" Eric Saade, Linnea Deb, Joy Deb, Jimmy "Joker" Thörnfeldt Eva Rydberg & Ewa Roos "Rena rama ding dong" Göran Sparrdahl, Kalle Rydberg, Ari Lehtonen Frida Green "The Silence" Anna Bergendahl, Bobby Ljunggren, David Lindgren Zacharias, Joy Deb Jessica Andersson "Horizon" David Kreuger, Fredrik Kempe, Jesper Jakobsson Grand, Markus Lidén, Christian Holmström Julia Alfrida "Rich" Julia Alfrida, Jimmy Jansson, Melanie Wehbe Kadiatou "One Touch" Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Jimmy "Joker" Thörnfeldt, Anderz Wrethov Klara Hammarström "Beat of Broken Hearts" David Kreuger, Fredrik Kempe, Niklas Carson Mattson, Andreas Wijk Lillasyster "Pretender" Isak Hallén, Jakob Redtzer, Martin Westerstrand, Ian Paolo Lira, Palle Hammarlund Lovad "Allting är precis likadant" Mattias Andréasson, Alexander Nivek, Lova Drevstam, Albin Johnsén Mustasch "Contagious" Ralf Gyllenhammar, David Johannesson Nathalie Brydolf "Fingerprints" Andreas "Stone" Johansson, Etta Zelmani, Laurell Barker, Anna-Klara Folin Patrik Jean "Tears Run Dry" Herman Gardarfve, Patrik Jean, Melanie Wehbe Paul Rey "The Missing Piece" Fredrik Sonefors, Laurell Barker, Pauli Jokela Sannex "All Inclusive" Greta Svensson, Hans Thorstensson Tess Merkel "Good Life" Tony Malm, Tess Merkel, Palle Hammarlund, Mats Tärnfors The Mamas "In the Middle" Emily Falvey, Robin Stjernberg, Jimmy Jansson Tusse "Voices" Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Jimmy "Joker" Thörnfeldt, Anderz Wrethov Wahl feat. Sami "90-talet" Sami Rekik, Christopher Wahlberg, Josefin Glenmark, Jesper Welander, Andreas Larsson
Heats Heat 1 The first heat took place on 6 February 2021. 3,308,000 viewers watched the heat live. A total of 7,824,951 votes were cast, using 628,624 devices (which is a record for a heat).
ArtistSongVotesPlaceResult 1Kadiatou"One Touch"967,331296Out 2Lillasyster"Pretender"1,159,154484Second Chance 3Jessica Andersson"Horizon"1,065,794385Out 4Paul Rey"The Missing Piece"1,239,146683 Second Chance 5Arvingarna"Tänker inte alls gå hem"1,190,449722 Final 6Nathalie Brydolf"Fingerprints"825,414117Out 7Danny Saucedo"Dandi dansa"1,377,663781 Final
+ Detailed televoting resultsSongAge groups 39 1015 1629 3044 4559 6074 75+ 1"One Touch"108421121 2"Pretender"2281264410 3"Horizon"44244884 4"The Missing Piece"12121088666 5"Tänker inte alls gå hem"866610121212 6"Fingerprints"11112212 7 "Dandi dansa"61012101210108
Heat 2 The second heat took place on 13 February 2021. 2,972,000 viewers watched the heat live. A total of 7,471,451 votes were cast, using 581,410 devices.
ArtistSongVotesPlaceResult 1Anton Ewald"New Religion"1,218,312682Final 2Julia Alfrida"Rich"751,337117Out 3Wahl feat. Sami"90-talet"961,160306Out 4Frida Green"The Silence"1,028,299474 Second Chance 5Eva Rydberg & Ewa Roos"Rena rama ding dong"997,947523 Second Chance 6Patrik Jean"Tears Run Dry"1,049,434445Out 7Dotter"Little Tot"1,464,962921 Final
+ Detailed televoting resultsSongAge groups 39 1015 1629 3044 4559 6074 75+ 1"New Religion"101081010686 2"Rich"41111111 3"90-talet"82284222 4"The Silence"18448868 5"Rena rama ding dong"26622101212 6"Tears Run Dry"641066444 7 "Little Tot"1212121212121010
Heat 3 The third heat took place on 20 February 2021. 3,188,000 viewers watched the heat live. A total of 8,002,967 votes were cast, using 647,000 devices, again a record for a heat.
ArtistSongVotesPlaceResult 1Charlotte Perrelli"Still Young"1,272,523622Final 2Emil Assergård"Om allting skiter sig"987,458345Out 3Klara Hammarström"Beat of Broken Hearts"1,252,895584 Second Chance 4Mustasch"Contagious"763,045186Out 5Elisa"Den du är"613,779187Out 6Alvaro Estrella"Bailá Bailá"1,193,914603 Second Chance 7Tusse"Voices"1,919,353941Final
+ Detailed televoting resultsSongAge groups 39 1015 1629 3044 4559 6074 75+ 1"Still Young"464810101010 2"Om allting skiter sig"64842226 3"Beat of Broken Hearts"121010106442 4"Contagious"22224114 5"Den du är"11111661 6"Bailá Bailá"88668888 7 "Voices"1012121212121212
Heat 4 The fourth heat took place on 27 February 2021. 2,953,000 viewers watched the heat live. A total of 6,957,584 votes were cast, using 565,705 devices.
ArtistSongVotesPlaceResult 1Tess Merkel"Good Life"868,050405Out 2Lovad"Allting är precis likadant"783,763216Out 3Efraim Leo"Best of Me"1,035,821523 Second Chance 4The Mamas"In the Middle"1,550,459941Final 5Sannex"All Inclusive"609,909147Out 6Clara Klingenström"Behöver inte dig idag"930,002514 Second Chance 7Eric Saade"Every Minute"1,179,580722Final
+ Detailed televoting resultsSongAge groups 39 1015 1629 3044 4559 6074 75+ 1"Good Life"64446646 2"Allting är precis likadant"26622111 3"Best of Me"108884464 4"In the Middle"1212121212121210 5"All Inclusive"41111222 6"Behöver inte dig idag"12268101012 7 "Every Minute"810101010888
Second Chance The Second Chance round took place on 6 March 2021. 2,732,000 viewers watched the show live. A total of 9,159,642 votes were cast, using 632,883 devices (which are both records for the Second Chance round).
Duel Artist Song Votes Points Result I 1 Alvaro Estrella "Bailá Bailá"1,365,3767 Final 2 Lillasyster "Pretender" 1,163,8071 Out II 3 Frida Green "The Silence"925,4731 Out 4 Paul Rey "The Missing Piece"1,207,5817Final III 5 Eva Rydberg & Ewa Roos "Rena rama ding dong"1,173,4923 Out 6 Clara Klingenström "Behöver inte dig idag"1,276,0405 Final IV 7 Klara Hammarström "Beat of Broken Hearts" 1,139,2628 Final 8 Efraim Leo "Best of Me"908,6110 Out
+ Detailed televoting resultsDuelSongAge groupsTotal 39 1015 1629 3044 4559 6074 75+I 1"Bailá Bailá"111111107 2"Pretender"000000011II 3"The Silence"000000011 4"The Missing Piece"111111107III 5"Rena rama ding dong"111000003 6"Behöver inte dig idag"000111115IV 7"Beat of Broken Hearts"111111118 8"Best of Me"000000000
Final The final took place on 13 March 2021. A record-breaking 16,752,439 votes were cast, using 1,159,881 devices (which is a record for a final).
Artist Song Juries Public Total Place 1Danny Saucedo"Dandi dansa"3935747 2Klara Hammarström"Beat of Broken Hearts"4336796 3Anton Ewald"New Religion"9162511 4The Mamas"In the Middle"50561063 5Paul Rey"The Missing Piece"1872512 6Charlotte Perrelli"Still Young"3228608 7Tusse"Voices"79961751 8Alvaro Estrella"Bailá Bailá"7192610 9Clara Klingenström"Behöver inte dig idag"3952915 10Eric Saade"Every Minute"69491182 11Dotter"Little Tot"57481054 12Arvingarna"Tänker inte alls gå hem"2222449
+ Detailed international jury votes Song Total 1"Dandi dansa"3373666539 2"Beat of Broken Hearts"8488452443 3"New Religion"222219 4"In the Middle"66641281750 5"The Missing Piece"15213618 6"Still Young"5137511032 7"Voices"1210121071241279 8"Bailá Bailá"1157 9"Behöver inte dig idag"10710523239 10"Every Minute"48512810121069 11"Little Tot"712461078357 12"Tänker inte alls gå hem"347822International jury spokespersons Bruno Berberes Kleart Duraj Felix Bergsson Tali Eshkoli Simon Proctor Zibbz Alexia Moutafidou Lars Lourenco
+ Detailed televoting resultsSongVotesAge groupsTotal 39 1015 1629 3044 4559 6074 75+ 1"Dandi dansa"1,309,74110664411335 2"Beat of Broken Hearts"1,341,5668855323236 3"New Religion"1,066,340743216 4"In the Middle"1,646,1983101010766456 5"The Missing Piece"998,0302327 6"Still Young"1,016,5571588628 7"Voices"2,964,269121212121212121296 8"Bailá Bailá"1,071,1885213232119 9"Behöver inte dig idag"1,455,60511461010101052 10"Every Minute"1,471,3244577855849 11"Little Tot"1,488,5996788644548 12"Tänker inte alls gå hem"923,022177722
References
External links Melodifestivalen Official Site