We’re back in Malmo for the fourth heat of Melodifestivalen 2025. I had amazing memories of attending the live shows last year inside the Malmo Arena. Ace Wilder opens the show with ‘Busy Doing Nothing’, with hosts Edvin and Keyyo joining her.
1. Andreas Lundstedt - "Vicious"
We start off with postcards featuring Nannes Carpool, where singer Nanne Grönvall chats and sings with the competing artists. “Vicious” is an energetic dance pop. Andreas is singing with 6 background dancers, and the staging features a lot of red lighting.
2. Ella Tiritiello - "Bara du är där"
Melodifestivalen newcomer Ella is next, with Loreen as one of the songwriters. "Bara du är där" is a pop ballad in Swedish. She starts off singing laying down on a bed with purple lighting. Later on she got up, with flying butterflies across the screen.
3. Tennessee Tears - "Yours"
Melodi nummer tre is the duo Tennessee Tears singing a country pop song ”Yours”. They are accompanied by a country band. It’s anthemic, and there’s a lot of guitar strings on this one.
4. KAJ - "Bara bada bastu"
Here comes Finnish band KAJ with their fun banger "Bara bada bastu". They are singing in Swedish with some Finnish lyrics. The staging starts with them sitting around a campfire with lumberjack dancers. We are also treated with a surprise sauna reveal. This is definitely an uplifting song that will make everyone say ‘Sauna!’.
5. AmenA - "Do Good Be Better"
Up next is Yemeni-Swedish singer AmenA. She is singing a pop ballad in English titled "Do Good Be Better". AmenA was alone on stage with 4 wires of lights from the ceiling. The final chorus showcased colourful lighting in the background.
6. Måns Zelmerlöw - "Revolution"
Finally here is former winner Måns. He is singing a 2010’s EDM track called “Revolution” between cardboard cutouts staging. This reminds me of Lesley Roy’s Maps. The stage opens up, with wind and confetti blowing.
After recap, the hosts were singing former Melodifestivalen songs dedicated to the six acts tonight. There is also a skit about ‘Schlager SM – 94’, which I found out was a music competition created in 1994 as a reaction to the poor quality of Mello entries that year.
The voting closed, and Måns was announced as the first finalist. Voting reopens for another round after. The interval act was Hasse Andersson singing ‘Guld och gröna skogar’. There are children on stage singing with him.
Finally, Ella Tiritiello was announced as third placer, and KAJ were announced as second finalist. Måns was dancing with them on stage for the reprise.
Recap of results:
1st - Måns Zelmerlöw - "Revolution" (Final)
2nd - KAJ - "Bara bada bastu" (Final)
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3rd - Ella Tiritiello - "Bara du är där" (Final Qualification round)
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Out:
4th - Andreas Lundstedt - "Vicious"
5th - Tennessee Tears - "Yours"
6th - AmenA - "Do Good Be Better"