Photo: Lizel Strömberg (ZEL Photography)

Another year of Melodifestivalen has wrapped, leaving many feeling a whole plethora of emotions. Along the way there were many casualties and robberies, so we've put together a list of some of the most jaw-dropping results. If you think we've missed any, be sure to leave them in the comment section!

5. Roger Pontare "Himmel och hav"

Roger Pontare is a seasoned veteran in the music industry and Melodifestivalen as a contest. When he was set to return, people more or less knew what his style would be - a traditional, Northern-Swedish song. At the semi-final 2 listening session, we didn't think much of the song. But once we first got the opportunity to see him perform it live, the mood, ambiance, and spirit of the song were entirely elevated by his flawless vocal delivery and genuine, authentic emotionality. With a fifth place finish in the semi-final, we think it unlikely that Roger will return any time soon, if ever, and it shows more than ever how the voting app has taken a toll on the older acts.

4. Dinah Nah "One More Night"

Back with another pop banger, Dinah Nah was the first big upset of Melodifestivalen 2017. Many international fans were left devastated and kicking off a storm on Twitter when she finished fifth in the first semi-final. Though the overall production value and styling could have been a bit stronger, it was clear that Dinah Nah was there to present a strong girl-power performance that dazzled and sparkled fans of dance-pop and clamour for it to return to the Swedish scene.

3. Jasmine Kara "Gravity"

Though by no means a newcomer to the Swedish scene, Jasmine Kara was a debutant to Melodifestivalen and landed with a fiery splash. "Gravity" was a soulful pop number with one hell of a drop in the chorus. Jasmine had superb vocal delivery and a raw emotional power that came from her determined authenticity as an artist. The song was also produced by Anderz Wrethov, who has repeatedly displayed a knack for producing bangers, and served one of the most memorable camera effects of the year that came in the form of a rotating background behind Jasmine as she sang the song's middle-8.

2. De Vet Du "Road Trip"

In one of the most visually spectacular performances to ever grace the Melodifestivalen stage, De Vet Du made a huge impression with their comedy-club pop song "Road Trip". Complete with their signature tongue-in-cheek humour, a massive prop car, sleek race-car driver jackets, one of the most shocking outcomes of the contest was not having their made-for-television entry in the finals. The performance boasted some of the best camera-work of the year and is sure to have others that follow trying to use some of that same type of visual appeal in their own performances.

1. Loreen "Statements"

By far, the most controversial turn of events in Melodifestivalen 2017 that had everyone talking was the shocking results of Loreen's return to the contest. Though expected to qualify direct to the finals and contend for the win, many were left flabbergasted when she only qualified to Andra Chanse. The shocks continued when she was announced to be paired against Anton Hagman in her duel. While Loreen's entry was edgy and avant-garde, it was clear that producers would've wanted her to be in the finals for how much of a draw she is both in and out of Sweden. Pairing her with one of the most commercially friendly songs of the contest was not well thought out in the slightest. Then, she was eliminated. We'll always remember you, Loreen, for staying bold and innovative.

Now is the time where we thank you for your continued support in tuning in and commenting on all our coverage of this year's Melodifestivalen. We have had a marvelous time speaking to the artists and bringing you all a deeper insight into who they are as creative individuals. As a special treat, we've compiled some never before seen bloopers and outtakes from the last six weeks. Enjoy!

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Photo: Lizel Strömberg (ZEL Photography)

Against the odds that bookmakers had published that either Wiktoria or Nano were the ones to look out for, Robin Bengtsson has won Melodifestivalen 2017. Though he came third in the public voting, the voting app has created an inflation on the value of the votes and so the overall point distributions from those figures meant that the international jury votes were of the utmost importance in determining who would walk away victorious. Ultimately, Robin was the clear jury-favourite after garnering 96 points from them in total as well as being the only act of the night to receive points from every country's jury. This bodes well for Robin in his next step - a run in Eurovision. This widespread appeal would suggest that the results will be favourable in May, particularly as Robin finds himself up against very few entries that are similar in style. "I Can't Go On" as a song is ready-made for radio and is a performance meticulously crafted for television.

Watch our full interview with Robin Bengtsson, and additional finalists FO&O, Ace Wilder, Mariette, Benjamin Ingrosso, Boris René, Lisa Ajax, and Jon Henrik Fjällgren feat. Aninia here:

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Photo: Lizel Strömberg (ZEL Photography)

With one night left till the finals, this year's Melodifestivalen finalists took to the stage for a live dress rehearsal in Friends Arena complete with an audience of fans of the contest to better enhance the authenticity of the experience before the actual finals. We caught up with a few of the artists at a press conference following this rehearsal show in order to see how their run-throughs went and how they are feeling leading into the culmination of months of preparation.

Jon Henrik Fjällgren has qualified direct to the finals both times competing, with a particularly strong wave of support from the northern region of Sweden. He has timed this second time in the contest with the release of a new album. "The album is a story about my past and story about who I'm living now. It's a lot of songs bout the war that's going on for the Native people in the world. It's really deep stuff."

Anton Hagman defied the odds to win his Andra Chansen duel against Loreen and qualify to the finals. Though he entered the contest with a respectable following from posting covers on his YouTube channel, he was largely unknown to the general public and international audience. "It's a lot bigger here than it is in the other cities. I'm very happy. I'm not happy that I beat Loreen; I'm happy that I know there's so many people supporting me to bring me to the finals."

Benjamin Ingrosso is another debutant that has made it to the finals, and all the while maintaining a positive attitude and great enthusiasm for the experience. "I think it went good. I was performing for the audience this time because I knew that the camera wasn't on. I did my best and I tried to have so much fun. I know that the jury watched me but I didn't watch the camera."

Robin Bengtsson has made a few revisions to his performance for the finals, including changing the F-bombs to the word "freaking" and removed the crotch shot. "It's genuinely gone. I'm going full-on "freaking" cause I'm a full-on freak."

Watch our full interviews with Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Anton Hagman, Benjamin Ingrosso, Robin Bengtsson, and Ace Wilder here:

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Photo: Lizel Strömberg (ZEL Photography)

As is customary, the Melodifestivalen acts gave a press conference on the day of the first open (to the media) Melodifestivalen rehearsals of the week. They shared about their preparations leading up to the finals and gave us an opportunity to speak with some of the people we had yet to meet, such as Jon Henrik Fjällgren, who has returned to the contest after finishing as the runner-up in 2015.

"I have [thought] about it and I have missed it," says Fjällgren of his return to the contest. This time he is entering in collaboration with a singer called Aninia who sings in Swedish in-between the Joik (a traditional form of singing for Sami people) of Fjällgren. "She is an amazing singer and we are spiritually connected. She's great so why not?"

Benjamin Ingrosso has made it direct to the finals and now faces a line-up that has many acts that have not only previously competed in the contest but made it to the finals before. Still, he remains focused on giving his best performance. "I'm feeling good. I'm so excited, it's huge! It's a lot bigger than Malmö arena so it's gonna be a lot of fun." He plans to make some small changes to his performance by switching up his wardrobe, though he has yet to decide what exactly he'll be wearing on the night of the finals. "I think I will decide on Saturday, maybe."

Robin Bengtsson has had one of the better runs since all the songs were released to the Swedish public, as the top-selling/streaming songs have been his, Wiktoria's "As I Lay Me Down," and Nano's "Hold On". Whether it will be enough for him to win the whole thing is yet to be seen, but he and his team have already done the preparations to transfer the set-up of his performance to work in Friends Arena. "It's all set up now and looking great," says Bengtsson. "We just tried the treadmills a bit yesterday, like five minutes, but today we're gonna try the whole thing."

Lisa Ajax is another back-to-back Melodifestivalen competitor and finalist. Once again she has entered with a song written on by The Family, "I Don't Give A". She won in her Andra Chansen duel against Axel Schylström in what seemed to be a close duel. "It's so hard to say when it's only two people like me or Axel and you don't know what people will like the most. It was a touch situation." She says an EP is coming and just recently recorded a new song that will be released soon.

Watch our full interviews with Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Benjamin Ingrosso, Robin Bengtsson, and Lisa Ajax during the first Melodifestivalen finals rehearsals here:

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Photo: Lizel Strömberg (ZEL Photography)

Robin Bengtsson is a contender for this year's Melodifestivalen win. Though much of the focus has stayed on Wiktoria and Nano, particularly after Loreen's shocking elimination, it is entirely clear that his entry has all the makings of a potential winner. From the sleek, sultry production backing a catchy melody, his spot-on vocals, the clever and memorable staging, styled to perfection wrapped in all the attitude of an artist that's already won, there's no doubt that this has the potential to take home the win.

Bengtsson is unphased by his position in the running order, fourth out of twelve entries, and whether going on this early could block his win. "I think it has a lot to do with who's performing before and after you. Both Lisa and Jon Henrik's songs are ballads and mine is more up-tempo. I don't need the best spot."

Bengtsson has also been spending time in the studio recording material for his upcoming EP. Should his entry win and be sent to Eurovision, it's unclear how the release date of the EP will be effected. But one change that has been made for the finals is that the profanity will be taken down a notch to the word "freaking" instead which will allow the entry to not be too edgy for the jury voters and also get ahead of the change that would be necessary to make it abide by Eurovision rules.

Watch our full interview with Robin Bengtsson 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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Robin Bengtsson broke out as the dark horse of Melodifestivalen 2016 with his entry "Constellation Prize" and finished a respectable fifth overall. His participation in the contest helped to jump-start his career, as his earlier releases were not marketed to optimise their traction despite being quality content. He entered Melodifestivalen 2016 still having a day-job but his success allowed him to finally do music full-time. This time around he is entering with an uptempo soul-pop song more representative of his style, "I Can't Go On", which was co-written by the 2013 Melodifestivalen winner Robin Stjernberg.

"I actually decided to go back when I heard the song I'm going to sing, which I love. It was originally written for me by Robin, K-One, and David. But then Robin thought maybe this is too high for him because he was singing in his key which is like four above mine. So when I got the demo I thought, 'I am not gonna sing this.' Then we changed the key and it felt great."

"I Can't Go On" has also been under scrutiny by the Swedish press for its use of F-bombs. Bengtsson finds the negative attention strange. "I don't think that it's such a big deal, actually. The funny thing is that Swedish artists who sing in Swedish, they curse all the time in Swedish and people don't mind. So I don't see what the big deal is, to be honest, when you do it in English."

In contrast to his 2016 entry, Bengtsson has brought a considerably more elaborate, flashy, and impressive stage presentation for his song. There's back-up dancers, choreography that he participates in, with all of them doing it on treadmills that stop and start to match the song, and the entire number begins backstage and follows Robin and his dancers to the stage in time for the first chorus.

"First of all, we had the idea of starting the whole thing backstage, which I got from a Jason Derulo music video with my manager and we thought that'd look cool, taking a different path to the stage. Then I think it was Zain, the choreographer, who [came] up with the idea with the treadmills. Then the real work started. 'We're gonna build this. How much are they gonna cost?' I think we were like, ten people involved in this, just making it happen. They're programmed to the music. We spent like a full day just programming and trying all the different kinds of moves on them. Then we had two more days to practice on them before they shipped them away here. So we haven't actually done that much rehearsing on them. A total of ten hours, maybe."

Viewers that were only introduced to Bengtsson through last year's contest may be unaware of the true personality he holds unless they took the time out to research more of his back catalogue in which he displayed more of that attitude. "This feels more like the stuff that I did before. This feels actually more like me but I'm guessing for the audience and the viewers, it's gonna be a whole new me because the only me that they know is last year's Melodifestivalen. This is gonna be more fun. It's great to be able to do a performance like this because you don't always have a huge arena and big stage like this."

Bengtsson has been working on writing new material for an upcoming EP he plans to release after the contest. When asked if he is trying to win the whole thing, he toes the line between being truly competitive and focusing on simply optimising his time on the big stage again. "I would love to win but it's not my main focus. My main focus is to get to the finals and get a radio hit and streams on Spotify. But I would love to win, it would be cool to go to Eurovision."

Watch our full interview with Robin Bengtsson here:

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In semi-final 3, the competitive calibre jumps up in comparison with semi-final 2. The odds-on favourite to qualify is adolescent boy band The Fooo Conspiracy that have amassed a following of teenaged girls in regions spanning the globe. Expect to see a good deal of choreography in their performance, as it's been a large selling point in their brand since the band's conception. Originally a foursome, The Fooo Conspiracy will be competing as a threesome after one of the members left the group. With some slight adjustments on formations, the transition shouldn't be too difficult.

The other favourite to qualify direct is Robin Bengtsson, who was one of the breakout stars of Melodifestivalen 2016 with his entry, "Constellation Prize." Robin has promised his new song will be more sexy and up-tempo than his previous entry, and it was also co-written by previous Melodifestivalen winner Robin Stjernberg who is a friend and co-label-mate of his. Capitol doesn't have the most competitive reputation as far as staging goes but given Robin's success last year, hopefully this year will up the calibre of staging. Also if Robin ups his energy to match the song, he's bound to improve on the overall performance quality.

Watch our full-breakdown of all the acts in semi-final 3 and their odds of qualifying here:

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SVT held it's official press conference announcement for Melodifestivalen 2017 to announce the participating artists. The names and songs are as follows:

GÖTEBORG – SEMI-FINAL 1AmareArtist: Adrijana
Songwriters: Martin Tjärnberg, Adrijana Krasniqi

"Her Kiss"Artist: Boris René
Songwriters: Tim Larsson, Tobias Lundgren

"Hold On"Artist: Nano
Songwriters: Nano Omar, Gino Yonan, Ayak, Carl Rydén, Christoffer Belaieff, Rikard de Bruin, David
Francis Jackson

"Mitt liv"Artist: Charlotte Perrelli
Songwriters: Charlotte Perrelli, Lars Hägglund

"One More Night"Artist: Dinah Nah
Songwriters: Thomas G:son, Jimmy Jansson, Dinah Nah, Dr Alban

"Road Trip"Artist: De Vet Du
Songwriters: Johan Gunterberg, Christopher Martland

"Wild Child"Artist: Ace Wilder
Songwriters: Peter Boström, Thomas G:son, Ace Wilder


MALMÖ – SEMI-FINAL 2
A Million YearsArtist: Mariette
Songwriters: Thomas G:son, Johanna Jansson, Peter Boström, Mariette Hansson, Jenny Hansson

"Good Loovin'"Artist: Benjamin Ingrosso
Songwriters: Benjamin Ingrosso, Louis Schoorl, Matt Pardon, MAG

"Hearts Align"Artist: Dismissed
Songwriters: Ola Salo, Peter Kvint

"Himmel och hav"Artist: Roger Pontare
Songwriters: Thomas G:son, Alexzandra Wickman

"I Don’t Give A"Artist: Lisa Ajax
Songwriters: Ola Svensson, Linnea Deb, Joy Deb, Anton Hård af Segerstad

"Up"
Artist: Etzia
Songwriters: Johnny Sanchez, Hanif Sabzevari, Simon Gribbe, Erica Haylett

"Vart haru varit"Artist: Allyawan
Songwriters: Masse Salazar, Samuel Nazari


VÄXJÖ – SEMI-FINAL 3Boogieman BluesArtist: Owe Thörnqvist
Songwriters: Owe Thörnqvist

"Crucified"Artist: Bella & Filippa
Songwriters: Peter Hägerås, Mats Frisell, Jakob Stadell, Filippa Frisell, Isabella Snihs

"Gotta Thing"Artist: The Fooo Conspiracy
Songwriters: Robert ”Mutt” Lange, Tony Nilsson

"Gravity"Artist: Jasmine Kara
Songwriters: Anderz Wrethov, Jasmine Kara

"I Can’t Go On"Artist: Robin Bengtsson
Songwriters: David Kreuger, Hamed ”K-One” Pirouzpanah, Robin Stjernberg

"Kiss You Goodbye"Artist: Anton Hagman
Songwriters: Christian Fast, Tim Schou, Henrik Nordenback

"Snurra min jord"Artist: Krista Siegfrids
Songwriters: Krista Siegfrids, Gustaf Svenungsson, Magnus Wallin, Gabriel Alares


SKELLEFTEÅ – SEMI-FINAL 4As I Lay Me DownArtist: Wiktoria
Songwriters: Justin Forrest, Jonas Wallin, Lauren Dyson

"Bound To Fall"Artist: Les Gordons
Songwriters: Jonatan Renström, Albert Björliden, Andreas Persson, Carl Ragnemyr, David Runebjörk,
Jimmy Jansson

"Du får inte ändra på mig"Artist: Sara Varga och Juha Mulari
Songwriters: Sara Varga, Lars Hägglund

"En värld full av strider"Artist: Jon Henrik Fjällgren feat. Aninia
Songwriters: Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Sara Biglert, Christian Schneider, Andreas Hedlund

"När ingen ser"Artist: Axel Schylström
Songwriters: Behshad Ashnai, Axel Schylström, David Strääf

"Running with Lions"Artist: Alice
Songwriters: Anderz Wrethov, Andreas ”Stone” Johansson, Denniz Jamm, Alice Svensson

"Statements"Artist: Loreen
Songwriters: Anton Hård af Segerstad, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Loreen

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Photo: Lizel Strömberg

The Dark Horse Few Saw Coming

Robin Bengtsson began his week in Melodifestivalen in the middle of the odds. Many believed he would qualify to Andra Chansen with the help of some carry-over recognition from his third-place finish on Swedish Idol back in 2008. When we met with Robin to speak about his Melodifestivalen entry, "Constellation Prize", and finally making it into the contest, he was soft-spoken, humble, but eager to get the opportunity to finally be on the Melodifestivalen stage.

Robin had previously submitted songs in for consideration on two occasions, but with the help of his manager suggesting that Robin be the one to sing "Constellation Prize" when it had yet to find a singer, finally things started to come together. He released a truly excellent EP entitled "Under My Skin" back in 2014 comprised of well-produced songs with a great groove, including "Fired" and "Sleep On It", under the artist name "B Robin".

Competition is not something that Robin is particularly interested in, as he is instead more concerned with showing Swedish and international viewers just how passionate he is about music and singing. "Constellation Prize" spins a somewhat elaborate narrative in which Robin's love interest is with someone new but Robin hopes to still be with her even if he's not her first choice ("Consolation Prize") and that perhaps their love is written in the stars ("Constellation"). Melodically and production-wise, the song isn't the most innovative but truly soars live due to Robin's superb vocals as well as his remarkable ability to emote the narrative and create a connection with viewers.

Much to Robin's surprise, he ended up not only placing in the top 4 on Saturday night, but qualified direct to the finals in Stockholm. With many more rounds of competition to take place, it's difficult to say how he will end up placing but if there's one thing that is clear, it's that Robin Bengtsson has now broken out in the way he had hoped to do. Hopefully an EP or album will soon follow his run in Melodifestivalen that will return back to the funkier soul-pop that was so well-executed on his EP but now he will have an even larger audience to enjoy the content.

Watch our sit-down, one-on-one interview with Robin Bengtsson here:

Also watch as we checked in with Robin after the first dress rehearsal:

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