Tonight, the third out of four semi finals of Melodifestivalen 2010, Sweden's pre-selection to determine their representative at this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo, is held. Eight acts will compete for two spots in the national final.

The show

The show starts at 20:00 CET andis broadcast on SVT 1 and SVT World.The hosts of the show are Christine Meltzer, Måns Zelmerlöw and Dolph Lundgren and it takes place at the Scandnavium in Gothenburg. Eight acts present one song each and the qualifiersare chosen in two rounds of televoting. The winner of the first round directly qualifies for the national final on 13th March (the bottom three will already have been removed when the voting in the first round closes). The second, third, fourth and fifth placed entries will compete in the second round of the televoting. The winner of the second round will directly qualify for the national final as well while the second and third placed acts will qualify for the second chance round Andra chansen on 6th March.

How to watch?

A webcast will be made available for international viewers on the official website here.

Participants

Composer/Lyricist in brackets.

1. Alcazar –Headlines
(Tony Nilsson, Peter Boström)
Esctoday.com poll results – 30.7%

Alcazar does not let their trademark down. Their name as an vital part on the stage, costumes and choreography still do not shadow the song.

2. Johannes Bah Kuhnke – Tonight
(Sharon Vaughn, Anders Hansson)
Esctoday.com poll results – 4.9%
Johannes has started his career in Gothenburgh. It is the chance to see if the walls would help him to pave the way to the final in Globen. The rhythmic song accompanied by fourbacking vocalists and blue shades invites us to feel the fire tonight.

3. Elin Lanto – Doctor Doctor
(Tony Nilsson, Mirja Breitholtz)
Esctoday.com poll results – 3.7%

Elin Lanto, who also participated in Andra chansen of Melodifestivalen 2007 with a song Money,owns the stage together with her band.The singer bares a striking resemblance with Gwen Stefani and has borrowed Carola's wind machine.Even esctoday.com poll results reveal that this pop/rock entry might not be the Melodifestivalen material, but it is certainly bubbling with life and has a hit potential/

4. Erik Linder – Hur kan jag tro på kärlek?
(Tony Malm, Niclas Lundin/Kenneth Gärdestad)
Esctoday.com poll results – 9.8%

Erik Linden wonders how he can believe in love? The upplifting ballad with accents of the nordic drums is his Melodifestivalen debut. It is one of the two songs performed in Swedish tonight.

5. Getty Domein – Yeba
(Tuomas Pyhäjärvi/Getty Domein Mpanzu)
Esctoday.com poll results- 6.1%

The third heat has gone multi-lingual. Getty Domein adds some spice to the semi final with his African – French entry. Strong African beat, haunting vocals, red background, smoke blowing across the stage have an immediate impact.

6. Timoteij – Kom
(Niclas Arn, Karl Eurén, Gustav Eurén)
Esctoday.com poll results – 12.3%

The catchy Swedish etno – pop entry performed by four blonde girls on the stage each having a musical instrument are on their way to capture the public's hearts. There have been numerous even successful attempts to combine the traditional and modern music in the history of both Melodifestivalen and Eurovision Song Contest. Will this be Timoteij's safe card?

7. Darin – You're out of my life
(Henrik Janson, Tony Nilsson)
Esctoday.com poll results – 19.6%

With his performance, Darin clearly proves he has left the youth idol star and turned into a serious pop artist. Darin is alone on the stage during the performance. The visual experience is supported by the white and blue lights on the backing screens thus having the emphasis on the performance rather than show.

8. Crucified Barbara – Heaven or hell
(Håkan Larsson, Jörgen Svensson, Björn Lönnroos)
Esctoday.com poll results – 12.3%

The second girl band tonight.Crucified Barbara offers a hard hitting rock performance with strong vocals and guitar pieces. Theband has already toured Europe and now hopes to gain more success and recognition in Melodifestivalen.

The first round is over and the televote will determine which songs are competing for their ticket to Globen where the final of Melodifestivalen will take place.