Maria Sur has been one of the favorites to go directly to the final in Melodifestivalen’s second competition in Gothenburg, as TV4 news has previously reported. She is now repeating the feat from last year – when she had recently fled the war in Ukraine and come to Sweden.
– It is part of me and my life. I will never be able to forget and not talk about it at all. But I don’t feel good when people only see me as a story, I want to be seen as an artist, she has previously told TT.
At 19 years old, Maria Sur is this year’s youngest participant in Melodifestivalen. The contribution “When I’m gone” is somewhat different from last year’s “Never give up”, which was an emotional ballad. Now she is making history as the first foreign artist to go directly to the final of Melodifestivalen twice.
Also Liamoo to the final
Even favorite Liamoo held up to the pressure and went straight to the final in Melodifestivalen. The 26-year-old has participated in the competition four times before – and has claimed a final place just as many times.
The entry “Dragon” with its ambitious fire show gives Liamoo a ticket straight to the Friends Arena and the final in Solna. The artist was the favorite tipped by the betting companies and the veteran in a starting field full of debutants – but he didn’t take any profit in advance.
Liamoo also had the biggest mishap of the evening. Part of the stunt fire show in the “Dragons” entry, when a flame is meant to shoot up in his hand, didn’t work when it mattered. But the artist still smiled widely at the cameras once the number was over.
Cheers for Miss Snusk
At the end of the evening’s kick-off party was Ms. Snusk’s well-known contribution “Young and free”, where a group of dancers wheel around the stage while the artist starts atop a 180 centimeter high shock pink horse. The moment where she climbs down and then back up on the horse caused pre-competition concerns.