| Melodifestivalen 2012 | |
|---|---|
| Dates | |
| Heat 1 | 4 February 2012 |
| Heat 2 | 11 February 2012 |
| Heat 3 | 18 February 2012 |
| Heat 4 | 25 February 2012 |
| Second chance | 3 March 2012 |
| Final | 10 March 2012 |
| Host | |
| Venue | Globen, Stockholm, Sweden |
| Presenter(s) | Gina Dirawi Sarah Dawn Finer Helena Bergström |
| Directed by | Daniel Jelinek Mikael Olander |
| Website | svt |
| Participants | |
| Number of entries | 32: 8 in each heat; 10 in the final (2 from each heat, 2 from the Second Chance round) |
| Vote | |
| Voting system | 50% Jury, 50% SMS and telephone voting in the final. 100% SMS and telephone voting in the heats and Second Chance round. |
| Winning song | "Euphoria" by Loreen |
Melodifestivalen 2012 is a Swedish song contest that was held between 4 February and 10 March 2012. It selected the fifty-second Swedish entry to be internationally represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 (ESC 2012).[1]
As in the editions between 2009–2011, a maximum of eight people were allowed on stage, while only persons of 16 years or over are eligible. However, in accordance with Eurovision rules, only six people were allowed on stage for the Swedish entry at Eurovision. The main singer(s) were required to perform vocals live on stage. However, other backing vocals can be prerecorded, along with the song's backing track.
On 20 June 2011, SVT announced an open call for Melodifestivalen 2012, with some changes in the rules. The first change is that only one web wildcard will be chosen online to compete in Melodifestivalen 2012. The participants could upload audio files instead of video files online.[2]
The second change is that 16 songs were selected by the preliminary jury, with 15 being chosen by inviting specific composers, and another song from the chosen web wildcard, making a total of 32 songs again. The third change involves former Swedish Eurovision representative Christer Björkman being promoted from event producer to the executive producer of Melodifestivalen 2012. However, all songs were presented by Sveriges Television (SVT) from October to December 2011.
For the web competition, authors could upload their audio file on SVT's website between 1–20 September 2011. There were separate categories in the upload for established composers and newcomers.[3] A total of 3,485 songs were uploaded: 570 for the web wildcard and 2,915 for the annual contest.[4]
Helena Paparizou was the guest of honor at the final of the festival. She sang a jazz-dance version of the song by Eric Saade "Popular".[5]
- ^ Laufer, Gil. "Sweden: Song submission for 2012 now open". ESCToday. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
- ^ "SVT CALLS FOR MF 2012 SONGS". Oikotimes.com. 2011-06-20. Archived from the original on 2011-06-23. Retrieved 2011-06-21.
- ^ Storvik-Green, Simon (2011-07-07). "Sweden on the pursuit of new songs". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 2011-07-08.
- ^ M. Escudero., Victor. "3485 songs want to be the Swedish entry for Baku". EBU. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
- ^ "Se Helena Paparizou tolka "Popular" igen - Melodifestivalen | SVT.se". Archived from the original on 2012-04-12. Retrieved 2012-11-26.