Despite not qualifying directly to the final, Meira Omar’s “Hush Hush” from Melodifestivalen 2025‘s first heat is dominating Swedish streaming platforms. This opinion article explores its chances of representing Sweden at Eurovision.
Europe’s largest and most beloved Eurovision national selection, Melodifestivalen 2025, kicked off last Saturday with its first heat. One song from this heat, “Hush Hush” by Meira Omar, placed third and advanced to the “Second Chance” round at the end of the fifth heat on March 1, a week before the final, where it will have another opportunity to reach the grand final.
Despite this, the song has received high praise in Sweden and is dominating the country’s viewing and listening platforms. So, what are Omar’s chances of still being sent to Eurovision 2025 in Basel, Switzerland?
Since the release of the first heat previews, “Hush Hush” has been stuck in my head, and apparently, I’m not alone. Despite not advancing directly to the final, the song reached the top spot on Spotify Sweden’s Viral 50 chart, an achievement that surprised even Omar herself. Additionally, the song garnered no less than 215,000 views on YouTube in just five days, far surpassing the second most-viewed song from the same heat – “Kamikaze Life” by Maja Ivarsson, which advanced directly to the final but only received 101,000 views.
Omar’s performance in the first heat didn’t go as planned. At the beginning of the song, one of the cameramen fell, causing numerous filming issues. This may well be one of the factors contributing to the high number of views for this performance, due to the curiosity of Swedes in particular and Eurovision fans in general to see what kind of mishap occurred (which is quite unusual for Sweden, it should be noted). Many comments refer to the fact that the singer wasn’t given another chance to perform without the filming issues, and many believe this is the song Sweden should send to Eurovision 2025.
It’s evident that Meira brought her Afghan roots to the song and performance. Along with the catchy lyrics: “Bom bom, chici, chici, chici, Bia bia bia, bia bia bia, hush hush”, the singer performed a traditional dance with her dancers and brought a musical style to the contest that reminds of Mediterranean sounds, which sound authentic to the Swedish ear. So what are the singer’s chances of still winning the contest?
Stina Dahlgren, a journalist for the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet who covers Melodifestivalen and Eurovision competitions, shared with me the popularity of the song in Sweden and its chances of winning the entire contest:
“It has actually been the number one hit on Spotify Sweden several days in a row. It has also been one of the most viral songs on TikTok from heat 1. So even though it didn’t made it straight to the final, it has been of the most successful songs from the first heat. I think a lot of people were surprised that Meira, who is famous for being in the Swedish version of ‘Love is blind’, actually can sing. And Meira has a lovely and kind personality and were really popular in ‘Love is blind’, so I think she as a person is as popular as the song. Will it win Melodifestivalen? No. The competition is too hard. But it’s a victory for her just to have made it this far.”
In 2013, Robin Stjernberg won Melodifestivalen with the song “You” after advancing from the Second Chance round. With the tremendous support Meira Omar is currently receiving, could we possibly see her at Eurovision 2025 in Basel? Only time will tell.
Melodifestivalen 2025 – What We Know So Far
Full List of Cities and Dates for Melodifestivalen 2025
- Semi-Final 1: February 1, Coop Norrbotten Arena, Luleå
- Semi-Final 2: February 8, Scandinavium, Gothenburg
- Semi-Final 3: February 15, ABB Arena, Västerås
- Semi-Final 4: February 22, Malmö Arena, Malmö
- Semi-Final 5 & Second Chance Round: March 1, Husqvarna Garden, Jönköping
- Grand Final: March 8, Friends Arena, Stockholm
Song Submission and Selection
The song submission window for Melodifestivalen 2025 opened on August 23 and closed on September 13. According to official information from SVT, a record 2,794 songs were submitted. Out of these, 30 songs were selected to compete in the contest, with one ultimately chosen to represent Sweden at Eurovision 2025, to be held in Basel, Switzerland.
Changes to the Competition Format
This year, the production team introduced several changes to the Melodifestivalen format:
- Qualification to the Final:
The format remains largely unchanged, with the top two songs from each of the five semi-finals advancing directly to the final. However, this year, only the third-place songs in each semi-final will compete for the final two spots in the grand final. - Voting Updates:
The song that receives the highest number of votes across all semi-finals will automatically qualify for the grand final. Following this, an additional voting round will open for the four remaining third-place songs, from which one more song will secure a spot in the final. - Grand Final Structure:
As in previous years, the grand final will feature 12 songs. The winner will be determined through a combination of public voting (50%) and jury voting (50%).
Earlier Release of Songs
Another significant change concerns the timing of song releases. Previously, songs that advanced to the final were not released on streaming platforms until after the last semi-final, while songs that were eliminated were made available immediately after their respective heats.
This year, SVT announced that all competing songs in each semi-final will be released one day before the show. This allows fans to listen in advance, form opinions, and enjoy their favorite tracks earlier.
Ticket sales for Melodifestivalen 2025 have opened on November 6. The hosts for the event will be Kristina “Keyyo” Petrushina and Edvin Tornblom.
Sweden in Eurovision 2024
“Unforgettable” is the name of the song performed by the duo Marcus & Martinus in the grand final of Eurovision 2024. The duo was chosen to represent Sweden at Eurovision after winning the Swedish pre-selection, Melodifestivalen. Sweden finished ninth in the final with 174 points.
Eurovision 2025: This will be Sweden’s 63rd participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. Sweden joined the competition in 1958 and has won it seven times over the years. Sweden’s most recent victory was at Eurovision 2023 with the song “Tattoo,” performed by the singer Loreen.
