In an interview with the news paper Aftonbladet, the project leader of the Swedish national final next year, Thomas Hall, confidently declared: “Now I can almost guarantee, after having listened through all of the entries in 'Melodifestivalen 2003', that we are heading for a victory.”

When asked about the entries of Melodifestivalen 2003, Christer Björkman, the Swedish representative in the Eurovision Song Contest 1992 and the jury leader of the selection process previous to Melodifestivalen 2003, told Aftonbladet: “The entries of 'Melodifestivalen 2003' are more modern and younger than in previous finals. They reflect the music played on the radio these days. This is partly a result of the rejuvenation process which the selection jury has been through, as well as a response to the new rule which states that songs can be performed in any language. Half of the participants are known to the general public, the other half are still unknown.”

The Swedish national final Melodifestivalen is the most popular programme of the Swedish broadcaster SVT during the entire year. The six shows in Melodifestivalen 2002 were watched by a total of 18.8 million Sweds. Concerning the viewing rates, the project leader of the event, Thomas Hall, says: “We are going to beat that number. Next year it's gonna be even better.”

Earlier we almost took it for granted that Jan Johansen, Swedish representative in Eurovision 1995, would perform his self-composed song You. This is not correct. The performer of this song will be Anneli Magnusson Fors, better known as the so-called “techno queen” Pandora, who had some international hits in the early nineties. Instead, Jan Johansen will form a duet with Pernilla Wahlgren performing the song Let the Spirit Fly.

December 17th, SVT will announce the names of all the participants in Melodifestivalen 2003, as well as who are going to be the hosts of the event.