After the rehearsal on Friday night, Felicia received the most votes in the Melodifestivalsklubben survey, with 50 percent. Brandsta City Släckers is tipped to come in second with 30 percent.
Felicia's "My System" has more techno and house vibes than her previous songs in the epadunk genre, like Fröken Snusk. This could potentially scare off viewers, she speculates.
That could be a disadvantage. I think the song is one that does better outside of Sweden. But you never know.
Difficult starting field
Robin Bengtsson is described as a veteran in this context and has reached the finals all four times he has previously participated - in 2017 he also won the entire contest.
"I've really had a luxurious time. If I go out with my head in front now, I can at least lean on old credentials," he says.
The starting field is hard to predict this week, according to both artists and pundits. Robin Bengtsson agrees.
I'm usually pretty good at guessing and feeling who will advance, but now there are so many unique genres and numbers. It's going to be a matter of taste for the Swedish people.
His song "Honey Honey" is more country-oriented than his other songs. Whether the new direction will appeal to viewers remains to be seen.
The good thing is that you can't influence anything other than going out and doing your best. You have to live with the fact that it's a judging competition.
“Outside the box”
Felicia is the big favorite tonight, but says she tries not to pay attention to the speculation.
I kind of want to keep out things like the odds here and there. Of course I would have been sad if I didn't go on. But in that case I would think that what I'm doing, my song, is far from Mello, outside the box.
Brandsta City Släckers - despite being the favorites and their previous successes - feel no pressure.
"We're just happy that we got to be there," says bassist Ulf Johansson.
But dreams of the final are still alive, notes colleague Tom Börjesson.
We want to go to the Globe, that would have been awesome.
It's called Friends Arena, Ulf Johansson corrects, but barely has time to finish the sentence before frontman Glenn Borgkvist breaks in:
Strawberry even. And of course we're going there, it's nothing to laugh about! There's nothing else.
