Photo: Lizel Strömberg (ZEL Photography)

Litho Nericcio first burst onto the scene to Melodifestivalen viewers back in 2014 when he both choreographed and danced in Ace Wilder's "Busy Doin' Nothin'" routine. With a fresh, modern style completely new to the contest, he continued to impress in her next two competitive entries, and also choreographed Krista Siegfrids' "Snurra min jord" entry.

He thinks of Ace Wilder as a sister, as the two first met when she was still just a teenager. The creative partnership has revitalised Melodifestivalen and pushed it into a modern era of radio-bangers and the type of content one would expect to see at a global awards show. It's impressive how committed Nericcio remains to his art, and even more so that he focuses on creating a vision instead of just fixating on money and clicks. He admits that he gets more offers to choreograph routines than he accepts, as he wants to work on artists and projects that he feels he can best connect with creatively.

His honesty is refreshing when sharing his thoughts on Sweden's knack for following trends as opposed to setting them. This insight into the Swedish culture puts much into perspective regarding why many Swedes fail to release music videos, or push to produce content that is bold and innovative. This discussion that's had between us is a must for any and all hardcore fans of Melodifestivalen.

Watch our full interview with Litho Nericcio here:

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Composers Anderz Wrethov and Gabriel Alares are no strangers to Melodifestivalen and the Eurovision scene. Wrethov has written on eleven entries in Melodifestivalen, including his two for this year (Jasmine Kara's "Gravity" and Alice Svensson's "Running with Lions"), as well as the third-place finisher in Eurovision 2009, "Always" by Arash. Alares has composed Eurovision entries for Russian, Moldovan, and Norwegian contestants and has written both the 2016 and 2017 Melodifestivalen entries for Krista Siegfrids.

Though many of their songs have ended up in these song contests, not all of their songs are written with that being the end-game. Still, they express a great appreciation for what these shows offer to the people that tune in. "It's a great opportunity to have your song out and have that kind of impact to so many people, to watch and judge if it's good or not," says Wrethov. "Also you can make a lot of different types of music which I think is a very cool thing to do as a songwriter. You don't have to just do one type of sound or one type of artist because here it's so diverse with so many types of artists and genres as well. I like that, I think that's really cool and fun. From Hasse Andersson to Samir & Viktor, for me it's fun."

"I agree," says Alares. "I think it's wonderful that we have Melodifestivalen. The whole thing itself is the whole country's party, so to speak. Everyone is welcome."

"Melodifestivalen in Sweden is like our Super Bowl in music. I think Sweden is on top of the national finals because we have a long tradition with Melodifestivalen of course and also the development of the music. First you had this schlager music in the 1980's and there was only one type of artist that wanted to be in Mello. Then it changed so much that it's been a music festival. A lot of different types of music and styles, to make that so wide and great in so many ways, it's amazing."

The first entry Anderz Wrethov has for 2017 is Jasmine Kara's "Gravity," a song they wrote together. "Last year I was thinking of Jasmine Kara. I didn't know her but I've seen for quite a long time, on television, she's been around. I really loved her voice and thought she was a great artist. We met this summer at a session. First we wrote one song that felt really great. It was more like an uplifting, powerful, light pop song. We saw each other again and we wrote this song, "Gravity". Everything came very fast, it was a couple of hours with a piano and singing. She's really passionate and really emotional with her type of songwriting and the way she is as a person. So she's really inspiring for me as a producer and songwriter as well."

Alares has nothing but praise to offer about Krista Siegfrids, whom he not only wrote on songs for but also sings as one of the backing vocalists during her performance. "She's such a dream to work with, she's lovely. We did the song last year. It took off with her wanting a follow-up to that song. There were talks about making an EP or some compilation of songs in Swedish. We just did that very quick. I think we did it last summer. We just made it very quick, we were all very overworked at the time. It was the first one we really tried out just to feel if it was the right sound because obviously it's very different to the one we wrote for her last year. It's a bit more modern and it builds up to the chorus but then it's not really like a banger of a chorus that I probably maybe usually do, it's more laid-back production-wise. We just fooled around with stuff. She just came to love that song so much, she fell in love with it instantly. She was around in Stockholm writing with other people just to find a bunch of songs. Obviously you can always hit [the] jackpot with someone else. She got good feedback from people back home in Finland. Apparently SVT loved the song when they sent it in. It got chosen."

Wrethov also has an entry in week four, Alice's "Running with Lions", which opens with the sound of actual lions roaring. "It's a little like the same as Jasmine. I was thinking of Alice already last year because she's been in my mind and I really love her vocals. Great singer, like Jasmine, fantastic. That song started up with good friends of mine, we were writing a song, I had this idea that we were gonna write a song for Alice. So we had a verse and an idea of a chorus, then Alice came down to Malmö and she liked it very much and was really excited about it. So we finished up the song, recorded vocals, also very fast like Jasmine's song. So actually it's the demo vocals that we saved for it. It was so good, same as Jasmine. The first takes we did was there, it was perfect. It's a powerful song, "Running with Lions", with some orchestral things in there."

Alares reveals that he also had an interest in writing for Alice. "It's a funny thing with Alice, I thought we had written a song for her this year. I also had her in mind very much because I [remembered] her vocals and I heard she was maybe going to enter the contest. I had so [many] songs to finish at that time but then I just bumped into her on the label. We had never met but I knew who she was and she knew who I was so we just started to chat by the coffee machine. I just got very blown away by her attitude. She's a winner. I was very inspired by how she talked about this. She was like, 'I want a song that I can win the whole thing [with]." I like that attitude so I was very inspired. I called a friend, Jimmy Jansson, and I said, 'We have to try to write a song for Alice because I think she is a really cool girl and she sings very well.' So we did and we got great feedback and I thought, 'Yeah, this is gonna be a banger!' and then, 'Oh no, we chose Wrethov's song.'"

Being that Alares has written for Russian artists competing in Eurovision and Wrethov has written for artists spanning numerous countries as well, we felt it important to ask about their thoughts on the common practice of viewers projecting feelings related to political leaders and policies onto artists. "It's a big question, obviously," begins Alares. "In these competitions that we've been writing for, it's a bit of a shame because I know from having been in the inner circle I have seen that [it] has effected the artist. They're just there because they're amazing performers. They love to sing. They're born in Russia but they're still people that want to express something and tell the world something, just as an artist from Norway or Spain. They had no intention of singing [or] doing propaganda for any political statements. That's my take. Sometimes it gets a little bit mixed up. The poor girls that sang for Russia in Copenhagen, they were booed out. That's very strange and we also got boos in the arena, or maybe it was the semi-final, I don't remember, really. It's just an amazing artist that happens to be from a certain country."

"This competition is about the song and the love, to have a party around the globe or Europe," adds Wrethov. "It shouldn't have anything to do with that type of things. We are musicians, artists, and writers."

"All artists share the same dream, to express and to touch people's hearts," says Alares.

Watch our full interview with Anderz Wrethov and Gabriel Alares here:

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Another semi-final has wrapped and with it, a new wave of results. Robin Bengtsson ("I Can't Go On") and Owe Thörnqvist (Boogieman Blues) qualified direct to the finals, while FO&O ("Gotta Thing About You") and Anton Hagman ("Kiss You Goodbye") qualified to Andra Chansen. Finally, Bella & Filippa ("Crucified), Jasmine Kara ("Gravity"), and Krista Siegfrids ("Snurra min jord") finished 5th, 6th, and 7th, respectively.

This marks the second direct qualification for Robin Bengtsson, who qualified direct last year with "Constellation Prize" which quickly became a dark-horse entry before finishing a respectable fifth place in the finals. "I was confident but when you're standing up there and they're gonna announce the results, your heart starts to pound and you get really nervous." Bengtsson's performance is not only memorable for the strong attitude, choreography, and treadmills. There is also a crotch-shot serving as a tongue-in-cheek joke about the song's more salacious qualities. "I think we all agreed on that choice and we're proud of it."

Krista Siegfrieds was emotional following her second non-qualification. "I'm so sorry because I thought our song was really good and I still think it is awesome. Yeah, a few tears. I'm proud of our show, we nailed it, we were so fierce. It was so tough. Everybody had great songs, it was amazing."

Jasmine Kara's non-qualification was one of the biggest shocks of the night but she remains grateful for the opportunity to perform her song for such a large audience. "It felt really good. I actually cried happy tears after. It was a good cry. It was so worth all the shit to come here. When you feel that your message goes through, that's all that matters."

Another surprise of the night was the FO&O qualifying only to Andra Chansen when they had long been expected to be direct qualifiers. "We feel like we rocked it. Everything went great, the pyro was working, the death elevator was working. We're gonna try to fix some little details. Something is missing."

Watch our interviews with Robin Bengtsson, Krista Siegfrids, Jasmine Kara, and the FO&O here:

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Following the first public dress rehearsal, we caught up with some this week's Melodifestivalen competitors to track their progress of putting on their entries, the audience response, and more!

FO&O's "Gotta Thing About You" makes use of a platform on which the boys climb on before it rises up and shoots out a large display of sparks. "We have to be fast because the pyrotechnics, we have to be up in the air at a safe distance so they don't burn people. So we're a bit in a hurry to fix all the safety stuff, we have three new microphones that we pick up," says Felix. "We literally got like five seconds to make everything happen," adds Omar.

Robin Bengtsson was pleased to have another rehearsal to ensure things will run smooth with his highly technical performance on the night of the show. "It felt like everything was in place. I haven't watched it so I don't know about the dancers but I think I did my part."

Krista Siegfrieds was feeling confident following her public dress rehearsal and spoke highly about the effects of her performance and how she wants them to work precisely to enhance her show. "They said before the rehearsal they had some issues with my technical effects. The song needs these effects because it's really cool and I feel like it lifts the show."

Anton Hagman's pre-show video displayed his love of the Star Wars franchise, even having gotten two tattoos related to it, one on his inner wrist and the other on his chest. "I just fell in love with Star Wars the first time I saw it. It's me and my dad's thing to watch Star Wars together."

Jasmine Kara suffered a technical glitch during her performance when the music for her song cut off in the middle of her show. She was however, permitted to do it again from the beginning to ensure a full run-through. "I was like 'Yes! I get to do it again!' It was really fun. Even if it happens tomorrow, I would still be happy. Honestly, every little second I can be on this stage and see this many people and reach out with my music, I'm so happy."

Watch all our post-dress-rehearsal interviews with the FO&O, Robin Bengtsson, Krista Siegfrids, Anton Hagman, and Jasmine Kara here:

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Krista Siegfrids is no stranger to the world of Eurovision and its various national selections. After being a fan-favourite during Eurovision 2013 when she represented with her highly pro-LGBT+ entry for Finland, "Marry Me". Following this, Krista has kept active on the Eurovision circuit, having hosted the Finnish national selection, Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), and competed in Melodifestivalen in 2016 with her Swedish-language entry "Faller" which narrowly missed out on qualifying from the semi-finals. This year, she returns to Melodifestivalen, more determined than ever to not only prosper in the contest but break out in the Swedish market.

Siegfrids assures us she's out for revenge her second time through the competition. "This year I'm back with a better song, with a better show, and I was really close last year to [making] it to Andra Chansen so I think that actually, there's a chance for me. I know it's a bit hard because I'm a Finnish person in Sweden. It's quite difficult but still I think that it's a good song so I think that people could actually like it. I love Melodifestivalen, I love Eurovision, I wanna be in this bubble forever. I love this."

Siegfrids aims to break out more in Sweden, and this is why she chooses to compete in the contest by singing in Swedish. To further make her entry more competitive, she has taken a more personal approach with writing the song. "I think the song is better and it's more me. It's very personal. I wrote the song for my boyfriend, once again. I always do happy songs. This is quite a melancholy song. It's about the every day struggle. You're in a relationship with somebody, you love him, and you're just trying to get your shit together. Both of you [are] focusing on your careers, you're far away from each other, but you still want to be together because you love each other, so it's about that. But then it's baked into a clubby vibe so it's a cool song, it's very modern, it's fresh, the beat is nice, you're gonna love it, you're gonna dance! Litho Nericcio did the choreography. He worked with Ace Wilder. Litho heard my song and he loved it. He believes in me and that's nice. I just told Litho, 'You can choose the dancers because you know them and you've got the eye for it.' He chose two girls and two boys. The choreography is like Michael Jackson meets Beyonce."

Siegfrids remains open to the possibility of competing again in Eurovision as the Finnish representative. The Finnish entry for Eurovision 2017 has already selected, and Siegfrids is even more eager at the prospect of someday hosting Melodifestivalen. "I would love it! Can you please just send tweets and messages to Christer Björkman and just say that Krista, she would be an amazing host, I would totally love that! That would be so cool!"

Watch our full interview with Krista Siegfrids here:

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