Carola Häggkvist sang a duet entitled “One love” with another of Sweden’s song contest veterans, Andreas Johnson, and was widely tipped to cruise to the final in Stockholm’s Globen arena on March 15th.
Häggkvist and Johnson will now have to compete in the ‘second chance’ heat in Kiruna on March 8th. They will be joined by Ola, a teen favourite that made his name on Idol. Ola sang an eighties rock hit, “Love in stereo.”
“We hadn’t taken anything for granted. Even if you did,” said Carola in an interview with SVT after her loss.
Sanna Nielsen, the artist with the most Melodifestivalen performances since the turn of the century, was visibly shocked by her surprise success and reported that “she hadn’t believed any of the polls that tipped her as a favourite.” Sanna sang a ballad called “Empty room.”
Joining Sanna in Globen will be twin brothers Henrik and Magnus Rongedal who sang disco with “Just a minute.”
The brothers thanked the Swedish public for their support and they put the secret of their success down to the fact that they visibly have so much fun on stage. Rongedal used the English word “flabbergasted” to describe his elation as his Swedish failed him.
The Swedish Melodifestivalen continues its tour of the country next week in Linköping on February 23rd.
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