As we run into the Final of Melodifestivalen, we thought we’d look at last week’s show which saw the final four acts go through to the Final of the Swedish national selection show, Melodifestivalen 2020. The Andra Chansen round (which means The Second Chance round in English), allows the third and fourth positions from each of the Semi-Finals a second chance to make it through to the Final. They are split into duels with one going through and one being sent home.
The Andra Chansen round of Melodifestivalen 2020 took place at the Stiga Sports Arena in Eskilstuna, Sweden on 29 February 2020. It was hosted by David Sundin, Linnea Henriksson, and Lina Hedlund. For the first time this year, there wasn’t an opening act, this was due to the extra-long interval where past competitors, songwriters, producers, and hosts were inducted into the Hall of Fame. During this entire exciting segment of the show, we saw lots of gold star awards given to many different and truly unforgettable people who have helped Melodifestivalen’s longevity and helped it become what it is today. We also saw various performances from iconic Melodifestivalen artists, we watched Lill Lindfors & Måns Zelmerlöw start with a cheeky number titled “Nygammal vals” which was then followed by a medley by Towa Carson, Siw Malmkvist, and Ann-Louise Hanson where they sang their songs “April april”, “Du vet var jag finns”, “Zum, zum, zum lilla sommarbi”, “Augustin”, “Svenska flicka”, “Alla har glömt”, before joining together to sing their song “C’est la vie”. Continuing on with a melody we were then treated by various different artists performing one after the other, first the show celebrated Family Four’s song “Vita vidder” with Andreas Johnson, David Sundin, and Linnea Henriksson, then Andreas Johnson sang “Sing With Me”, followed by Anna Book with “ABC”, next up was After Dark who sang “La Dolce Vita”, on stage next was Cecilia Vennersten with the song “Det vackraste”, Claes Göran Hederström came on stage next with “Det börjar verka kärlek”, then Ann-Christine Bärnsten performed “Ska vi plocka körsbär”, next on stage was Kikki Danielsson with “Bra vibrationer”, and then Alcazar ended the medley with their awesome song “Stay The Night”. That was followed by Eurovision 2012 winner Loreen singing her new song “Fiction Feels Good”. Following that, five out of Sweden’s six Eurovision winners – Herreys, Carola, Charlotte Nilsson, Loreen, and Måns Zelmerlöw – took to the stage individually to receive their gold star awards; Sweden’s first winners, ABBA also received an award but they were not in attendance and so a clip of them winning with “Waterloo” was shown. We then got a sketch from TV presenter Björn Gustafsson acting as if he was nervous being on stage whilst claiming he wasn’t nervous at all – he once performed on Melodifestivalen in 2008 in a comedic song in dedication to the host’s girlfriend. The whole segment ended with two legends, Björn Skifs & Tomas Ledin, playing pianos back-to-back as they sang their songs “Minns du Hollywood”, “Det blir alltid värre framåt natten”, “Det ligger i luften”, “Fångad i en dröm”, “Just nu”, and “Michelangelo”.
Winning their duels, Melodifestivalen’s Andra Chansen round saw Anis don Demina, Paul Rey, Felix Sandman, and Méndez feat. Alvaro Estrella go through to the final with their songs “Vem e som oss”, “Talking In My Sleep”, “Boys With Emotions”, and “Vamos amigos” respectively. The Andra Chansen videos haven’t been uploaded to YouTube on the Melodifestivalen YouTube Channel, however, their previous performances are available to watch.
Melodifestivalen 2020 Andra Chansen Duel I
WINNER: Anis don Demina – Vem e som oss
Still as catchy as the first time, and definitely uplifting. It’ll be interesting to see how this does in the Final, but it wasn’t at all a surprise to see it go through.
ELIMINATED: Ellen Benediktson & Simon Peyron – Surface
In theory, this shouldn’t work but it does, and both artists gave this performance more focus and intention, but it was still missing something. The song itself is brilliant and both Ellen Benediktson and Simon Peyron have perfect voices, it just didn’t feel right. It’s more of a grower song than anything else and needs to be listened to on repeat before it properly grows on us.
Melodifestivalen 2020 Andra Chansen Duel II
WINNER: Paul Rey – Talking In My Sleep
Just as powerful as before, Paul Rey really showed his vocal capabilities and how he can flood emotion into a track with his Andra Chansen performance of “Talking In My Sleep”. Probably in one of the closest duels in the recent history of Melodifestivalen, it was surprising to see an emotional ballad-pop track beat out Malou Prytz’s unforgettable “Ballerina”, but Paul Rey had the edge on emotion and we once again got chills after he had finished his song. Such a difficult duel, they both deserved to be in the Final.
ELIMINATED: Malou Prytz – Ballerina
Fierce and full of confidence Malou Prytz impresses for the second time, making this duel one of the most difficult ones to vote for. “Ballerina” starts off slowly but it picks up and we can’t help but love it as much as we loved it the first time we heard it – thing is, the exact same happened during her Semi-Final performance. Why were these two ever paired up together? We’re really going to miss Malou Prytz and this song in the Melfest Final.
Melodifestivalen 2020 Andra Chansen Duel III
WINNER: Felix Sandman – Boys With Emotions
Probably one of the easiest wins of the night, Felix Sandman’s “Boys With Emotions” is catchy and emotional, showcasing to the world about a very important topic that is affecting the world globally. This not only deserves to be in the Final but it also deserves to become a worldwide hit as this message needs to be heard everywhere.
ELIMINATED: Frida Öhrn – We Are One
She received the least amount of votes during the night, Frida Öhrn had the difficulty of following Felix Sandman with his absolutely incredible song “Boys With Emotions”. This track isn’t all that bad, and Frida Öhrn’s vocals were on-point throughout, it just felt like something was missing, or it was because she had to go up against such a great act and song.
Melodifestivalen 2020 Andra Chansen Duel IV
WINNER: Méndez feat. Alvaro Estrella – Vamos amigos
Another heated duel, only this time around we saw two light up-tempo numbers. Méndez featuring Alvaro Estrella came out on top with the Spanglish track “Vamos amigos”. They totally nailed this performance this time around and we couldn’t help but love every second of this.
ELIMINATED: Drängarna – Piga & dräng
They brought some Swedish country/folk with some Irish blend, Drängarna sure know how to put on a show and we were loving this, however, we’re not surprised it didn’t get sent through to the final – even though we feel it deserves to be there. Catchy and addicting, “Piga & dräng” is an unexpected number which has torn people into either liking or disliking it. Shame we aren’t seeing it on stage for a third time, tonight.
That’s it for the Andra Chansen round. You can watch this show on the SVT website. We have 12 acts in the Final of Melodifestivalen 2020 and we’re super excited to see what happens. Who will win? We know who we’re rooting for. Whoever wins out of the 12 acts, we know they’ll push Sweden on to the left side of the board at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 Grand Final, as all 12 acts are of a high calibre. Not only that, they’ll mark history as becoming the 60th winner of Melodifestivalen.
Check out our thoughts on the previous Melodifestivalen 2020 shows, Semi-Final 1, Semi-Final 2, Semi-Final 3, and Semi-Final 4.
The running order for the Final has also announced. Check out who sings when in the Final of Melodifestivalen 2020, below:
The final of the Melodifestivalen 2020 will take place at the Friends Arena in Stockholm, Sweden on 7 March 2020. It will be presented by David Sundin, Linnea Henriksson, and Lina Hedlund. We look forward to seeing who they crown tonight.
What did you make of the Andra Chansen round of Melodifestivalen 2020? Did your favourites get through to the Final? Let us know on Twitter @CelebMix.
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