With 3,310 entries for its national selection, Sweden will probably defeat all participating countries with the amount of submitted songs. Meanwhile, the Swedish press has begun speculating about who might be taking part in Melodifestivalen 2006.
82 more songs than last year reached SVT's office, which sets a new record. Statistically, this would mean that approximately one out of 2,720 Swedes entered a song. Christer Björkman, producer of the Swedish national selection, said it's “fantastic to see that the interest in the national selection is still growing”.
Melodifestivalen history
Melodifestivalen 1995 – 600 entries
Melodifestivalen 1996 – 1,475 entries
Melodifestivalen 1997 – 1,223 entries
Melodifestivalen 1998 – 1,126 entries
Melodifestivalen 1999 – 1,315 entries
Melodifestivalen 2000 – 1,394 entries
Melodifestivalen 2001 – 1,567 entries
Melodifestivalen 2002 – 1,830 entries
Melodifestivalen 2003 – 2,630 entries
Melodifestivalen 2004 – 3,228 entries
Melodifestivalen 2005 – 3,131 entries
Melodifestivalen 2006 – 3,310 entries
Tipped
Newspaper Aftonbladet names Jan Johansen and Tommy Nilsson, solo projects from Kayo, former Afrodite member, Jessica Andersson and Magnus Bäcklund of Fame and Magnus Carlsson of Alcazar are also mentioned. Sahlene, who represented Estonia in 2002 with Runaway, is said to be trying to represent Sweden once again. Sanna Nielsen, Ann Winsborn, Pernilla Wahlgren, Kikki Danielsson, Elisabeth Andreassen, Lotta Engberg and Anna Book. The male singers listed include Emil Sigfridsson, Andrès Esteche, Niklas Andersson, Karl Martindahl, Johan Becker, Rikard Wolff, Mikael Rickfors, Tommy Nilsson, and the 80's group Lustans Lakejer. Other names tipped include the group Rednex, who have entered several songs and Greger, a musician who plays traditional 'gipsy music' backed by music industry giant Warner Brothers. (Source: DotEurovision.com)
Shortlist
After all entries from abroad came in as well, SVT will confirm how many songs were submitted exactly. A first short list of songs is expected to be released on 13 October, the names will be added around the end of the year.
The final of Melodifestivalen 2006 takes place on 18th March, 2006, after four semifinals and a second-chance round. Earlier this year, Martin Stenmarck ended shared 19th for Sweden in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest with Las Vegas.
