Extra: At the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö we handed out our 3D glasses to the participants making them able to see our videos - pictures can be found on Google+,
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On February 4th the first Swedish semi final kicks off with debutant Sean Banan. The honour of closing the fourth semi final is veteran Danny Saucedo. This year, 14 of the 32 songs have Swedish lyrics which is an unusually high number.
After weeks of preparations, tonight it was finally time for the first Swedish semi final of 2011. With lots of experienced artists competing this week the conditions were perfect for an exciting evening. And indeed it was exciting, and when the evening had come to an end Danny and Swingfly was the ones crowned winners of this heat.
This Saturday 6th June, the Swedes will be celebrating their national holiday. There will be various activities from all over Sweden broadcast on SVT, activities such as performances of former participants from Melodifestivalen. There will also be a soccer game where Sweden meets their neighbour Denmark on Saturday night.
After tonight's live show, two artists qualified for the final in Stockholm, which will be held on the 14th of March. An additional two songs have to go through the Second Chance to get to the final.
After Friday nights dress rehearsal EuroVisionary talked to three of the artists about their performances and expectations for tomorrow’s semi-final. Alcazar, Marie Serneholt, Nina Söderquist found time to talk to us.
As well as a lot of other Swedish fans, I am counting down the hours until Saturdays live show. After having seen the performances on stage during yesterdays rehearsals, I’m really excited...and really torn regarding who will go through to the final.
There were a lot of tension in the air when the dress rehearsals started earlier today. This was the last time the artists rehearsed on stage before tonights dress rehearsal. We are getting closer to the final moment where everything needs to be ready.
Finally it’s time for the first Semi final of Melodifestivalen 2009. Eurovisionary attended the first day of rehearsals to take the pulse on the artists. Eight artists will compete for two direct spots to the final. Among those are well known names such as Shirley Clamp, Emilia and Alcazar.
