"The emotions are everywhere," Sanna Nielsen told TT afterwards.
Sanna Nielsen has been tipped to make it to the final ever since it was announced she would participate with the entry “Waste your love.” But it looked uncertain for a long time when Lilla Al-Fadji - Sanna Nielsen’s son’s favourite, she says - was the first to be announced as a finalist.
It was a long wait before it became clear that she had secured the second final spot.
"It's always terrible to sit in the greenroom. You know you have to endure it and hope for the best," said Sanna Nielsen.
This is the eighth time that Sanna Nielsen has participated in Melodifestivalen and it's 25 years since she first participated - at the age of sixteen. Last year, she was inducted into the Hall of Fame, which gave her the idea to participate again.
Lilla Al-Fadji first to the final
Already after Friday night's rehearsal, Lilla Al-Fadji with "Delulu" was number one with the audience in the Melodifestivalsklubben survey. Yet many were surprised that he charmed the viewers so much.
Lilla Al-Fadji himself was noticeably shocked in the greenroom to be the first finalist to be called up.
"In the song I sing 'We're taking 'Delulu' to Eurovision,' so I already knew what was going on, but I have a short memory because I'm a short man. So I had forgotten that I had thought about it. I was reminded again," he explained to TT afterwards.
The humorous character is performed by hip-hop artist Felipe Andres Leiva Wenger, better known as "Fille" in Ison & Fille. He co-wrote the song with Edward af Sillén and Daniel Réhn, who both wrote the script for last year's Melodifestival.
Terese at the checkout
Before the first finalist was announced, host Hampus Nessvold finally made an entrance as his comic character Terese at the checkout after doing other sketches during the first four weeks of this year's Melodifestival tour - to the cheers of the audience.
Caroline af Ugglas and the song "Snälla, snälla" were inducted into the Hall of Fame and af Ugglas also appeared on stage and performed the entry from 2009.
Meira Omar and Robin Bengtsson
At the very end of the evening, two more finalists were voted out from the so-called final qualifier, consisting of the three acts from each heat. And there, last year's finalist Meira Omar ("Dooset daram") and 2017 winner Robin Bengtsson ("Honey honey") drew the longest straw.
Facts: The result in Sundsvall
To the finals:
Lilla Al-Fadji - "Delulu"
Sanna Nielsen - "Waste your love"
For the final qualifiers:
Alexa – "Tongue tied"
Eliminated:
Vilhelm Buchaus – "Hearts Don't Lie"
Juliett – “Far from everyone else”
Blade – “Who you are”
Further from the final qualifier:
Meira Omar - "Dooset Daram"
Robin Bengtsson – "Honey honey"
The final of Melodifestivalen will be held on Saturday, March 7th in Strawberry Arena. These have gone there:
From the competition in Linköping:
Greczula – “Half of me”
A-Teens – “Iconic”
From the competition in Gothenburg:
Felicia – “My system”
Brandsta City Extinguishers – “Straight into the fire”
From the semi-final in Kristianstad:
Medina – “Long live love”
Saga Ludvigsson – “Ain’t today”
From the semi-final in Malmö:
Smash into pieces – "Hollow"
Cimberly – “Eternity”
From the semi-final in Sundsvall:
Lilla Al-Fadji - "Delulu"
Sanna Nielsen - "Waste your love"
From the final qualifier:
Meira Omar - "Dooset Daram"
Robin Bengtsson – "Honey honey"
