Magnus Bäcklund and Rednex have topped the second chance round of Melodifestivalen 2006 to fill the remaining two slots in the Swedish final. They will now compete against the eight winners of the four qualifier rounds next Saturday.
Magnus and Rednex will join Linda Bengtzing, Andreas Johnson, Magnus Carlsson, Kikki Danielsson, BWO, The Poodles, Björn Kjellmann and Carola in Saturday's final. The full list of ten final songs now comprises:
1. Linda Bengtzing – Jag ljuger så bra
2. Andreas Johnson – Sing for me
3. Magnus Carlsson – Lev livet!
4. Kikki Danielsson – Idag og imorgon
5. BWO – Temple of love
6. The Poodles – Night of passion
7. Björn Kjellmann – Älskar du livet
8. Carola – Evighet
9. Magnus Bäcklund – The name of love
10. Rednex – Mama take me home
Magnus himself is no stranger to Melodifestivalen success, having won the 2003 edition as one half of the duo Fame, singing Give me your love which won through to represent Sweden in Latvia. His former singing partner Jessica Andersson just missed out this year, coming fifth in the third round of the selection process.
In an internet poll on the website of newspaper Aftonbladet shortly after the winners were announced, Carola took an early lead as favourite to win, with BWO and second chance winners Rednex trailing behind in a distant second and third position, after the first 15,000 votes. You can watch the performances of all the songs on SVT's Melodifestivalen site at this link.
Fundraising success
An impressive 480,449 votes were cast by the televoting public via phone and SMS, and raised 721,990kr. (around 75,000 Euros) for the Radiohjälpen initiative, which targets developing countries with its fundraising schemes.
Last year, Alcazar and Linda Bengtzing were the lucky second-chancers with the songs Alcastar and Alla flickor respectively. Reaching the final via the second chance round is by no means a reason to discount a song's chances, attested to by Alcazar's third placing at the grand final of Melodifestivalen 2005. Alcazar's own Magnus Carlsson needed no second chance this year, making it straight to the final in the second qualifier of this year's selection.
Saturday's eventual winner will face the vote in the international qualifier round due to the low placing Sweden received in Kyiv last year.
