https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Sweden in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed Norwegian twins Marcus and Martinus won an easy victory in the Melodifestivalen competition on Saturday night, and will represent Sweden at Eurovision 2024 in Malmö in May. https://www.thelocal.se/20240310/norwegian-twins-to-represent-sweden-at-eurovision Sun, 10 Mar 2024 11:35:07 +0100 norwegian-twins-to-represent-sweden-at-eurovision Back in 1988, a 20-year-old by the name of Celine Dion won the Eurovision Song Contest in Switzerland. Will Vancouver-born Laurell Barker this year be the second Canadian to win? https://www.thelocal.se/20230217/a-canadian-at-melodifestivalen-laurell-barker-on-swedens-biggest-stage Fri, 17 Feb 2023 17:40:56 +0100 a-canadian-at-melodifestivalen-laurell-barker-on-swedens-biggest-stage Maria Sur, 17, arrived in Sweden in March after a journey of hundreds of kilometres through Ukraine and Poland from Zaporizhzhia, her home town. She tells The Local's Yuliia Kyzyk of what she hopes to gain from taking part in the Melodifestivalen song contest. https://www.thelocal.se/20221227/my-song-is-about-resilience-the-ukrainian-in-swedens-mello-song-contest Tue, 27 Dec 2022 15:22:34 +0100 my-song-is-about-resilience-the-ukrainian-in-swedens-mello-song-contest After 4 heats and a semi-final, Sweden's 'Melodifestivalen' concludes on Saturday night and the Eurovision Song Contest will have its Swedish entry for Turin. https://www.thelocal.se/20220205/melodifestivalen-2022-how-to-watch-swedens-most-popular-tv-show Sat, 05 Feb 2022 11:15:02 +0100 melodifestivalen-2022-how-to-watch-swedens-most-popular-tv-show In the first heat of Melodifestivalen Brits in Sweden lost the British-Swedish singer Shirley Clamp from the competition. The second heat saw 21-year-old Samira Manners with her distinctive English twang eliminated. Now there’s only one person to save British hopes in Sweden’s biggest TV spectacular - Alexander Grove. https://www.thelocal.se/20220226/last-brit-standing-alexander-grove-and-his-quest-for-melfest Sat, 26 Feb 2022 10:11:24 +0100 last-brit-standing-alexander-grove-and-his-quest-for-melfest The second heat of Melodifestivalen, the Swedish TV marathon to select a singer to the Eurovision Song Contest, may be of extra interest to Brits in Sweden, given the distinctive English accent of one of the contestants. https://www.thelocal.se/20220212/the-singer-giving-swedens-melodifestivalen-an-english-accent Sat, 12 Feb 2022 12:03:35 +0100 the-singer-giving-swedens-melodifestivalen-an-english-accent Swedish television's flagship programme, Melodifestivalen, will not tour the country in 2022. https://www.thelocal.se/20220114/swedens-eurovision-trials-cancel-live-tour-amid-rising-covid-numbers Fri, 14 Jan 2022 17:09:15 +0100 swedens-eurovision-trials-cancel-live-tour-amid-rising-covid-numbers Ben Robertson of ESC Insight shares his thoughts and predictions on the 12 remaining songs competing to represent Sweden at the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest. https://www.thelocal.se/20210310/watch-these-are-swedens-contenders-for-eurovision-song-contest Wed, 10 Mar 2021 10:10:39 +0100 watch-these-are-swedens-contenders-for-eurovision-song-contest The competition that selects Sweden's Eurovision Song Contest contender – Melodifestivalen – will get English commentary this year, to the expected excitement of non-Swedish speaking fans around the globe. https://www.thelocal.se/20210310/eurovision-fans-youll-now-be-able-to-watch-melodifestivalen-in-english Wed, 10 Mar 2021 11:25:30 +0100 eurovision-fans-youll-now-be-able-to-watch-melodifestivalen-in-english It's soon time again for the only Swedish TV event that can rival the Swedish love of Donald Duck at Christmas, welcome to another season of Melodifestivalen! https://www.thelocal.se/20210205/melodifestivalen-how-sweden-will-pick-its-eurovision-hit-in-a-pandemic-year Fri, 05 Feb 2021 13:13:37 +0100 melodifestivalen-how-sweden-will-pick-its-eurovision-hit-in-a-pandemic-year Ben Robertson has been following Melodifestivalen around Sweden for the past six weeks. Ahead of the final on Saturday, here are his thoughts and predictions on the 12 remaining songs competing to represent Sweden at Eurovision 2020. https://www.thelocal.se/20200304/eurovision-melodifestivalen-these-are-the-finalists-and-some-predictions Wed, 04 Mar 2020 14:54:11 +0100 eurovision-melodifestivalen-these-are-the-finalists-and-some-predictions How does Sweden make its six-week Eurovision tryouts so tantalising that they are even more watched than the Eurovision Song Contest final itself? https://www.thelocal.se/20200229/melodifestivalen-and-the-power-of-the-speculation-storyline Sat, 29 Feb 2020 10:12:20 +0100 melodifestivalen-and-the-power-of-the-speculation-storyline One key difference from the Eurovision Song Contest to the Swedish try-outs is the amount of children present at each of the shows. But what is it that makes so many children love Melodifestivalen so much? ESC Insight's Ben Robertson investigates. https://www.thelocal.se/20200227/how-melodifestivalen-became-swedens-favourite-childrens-programme Thu, 27 Feb 2020 17:59:59 +0100 how-melodifestivalen-became-swedens-favourite-childrens-programme Ben Robertson travelled to the industrial town of Luleå to watch Melodifestivalen's third heat last week. But is it worth the while of small towns to host Sweden's hyped Eurovision Song Contest try-outs? https://www.thelocal.se/20200221/should-little-lule-have-hosted-melodifestivalen Fri, 21 Feb 2020 18:12:17 +0100 should-little-lule-have-hosted-melodifestivalen ESC Insight's Ben Robertson looks into why Sweden's second city is unlikely ever to host the Eurovision Song Contest, as part of his series covering Melodifestivalen. https://www.thelocal.se/20200214/why-gothenburg-might-never-host-another-eurovision-song-contest Fri, 14 Feb 2020 17:59:59 +0100 why-gothenburg-might-never-host-another-eurovision-song-contest The run-up to Sweden's Eurovision try-outs is veiled in secrecy. ESC Insight's Ben Robertson gives The Local a sneak peek at the intricate process. https://www.thelocal.se/20200212/melodifestivalen-and-the-secret-wednesday-playthrough Wed, 12 Feb 2020 16:59:59 +0100 melodifestivalen-and-the-secret-wednesday-playthrough Ben Robertson explains how moving to Sweden has only helped his love for the country's unique take on Eurovision Song Contest grow fonder. https://www.thelocal.se/20200207/opinion-why-swedens-melodifestivalen-means-so-much-to-me Fri, 07 Feb 2020 12:47:59 +0100 opinion-why-swedens-melodifestivalen-means-so-much-to-me Sweden's six-week tryouts for Eurovision have kicked off, and once again are dominating Swedish society. ESC Insight's Ben Robertson looks into how Melodifestivalen became such a large phenomenon in Sweden. https://www.thelocal.se/20200205/why-melodifestivalen-is-swedens-biggest-tv-show Wed, 05 Feb 2020 07:59:59 +0100 why-melodifestivalen-is-swedens-biggest-tv-show With Melodifestivalen's six-week parade around Sweden set to kick off, Ben Robertson looks at their biggest pre-show announcement for 2020. SVT will be starting the Melodifestivalen Hall of Fame, and Ben Robertson wonders how this works and who should be part of this list. https://www.thelocal.se/20200131/swedens-best-eurovision-moments-youve-probably-never-heard-of Fri, 31 Jan 2020 17:59:59 +0100 swedens-best-eurovision-moments-youve-probably-never-heard-of Sweden's six-week musical extravaganza begins on Saturday February 1st. Before you even think about printing scorecards, buying the snacks and donning the sequins here are some key facts about this year's show. https://www.thelocal.se/20200129/what-you-need-to-know-about-melodifestivalen-2020 Wed, 29 Jan 2020 07:59:59 +0100 what-you-need-to-know-about-melodifestivalen-2020