Worldfestivalen 2017

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**Worldfestivalen 2017** was the XXth edition of the international music competition Worldfestivalen, which usually found worldwide success for the winning artists and songs. The competition was organised by American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and took place over a six-week period between 4 February and 11 March 2017.

The format of the competition consisted of 6 shows: 4 semi-final rounds, a second chance round and a final. An initial 28 countries were selected for the competition through three methods: an open call for broadcaster submissions, direct invitations to specific broadcasters and a wildcard given to one of the broadcasters that participated in another contest. The 28 competing countries were divided into four semi-finals, with seven compositions in each. From each semi-final, the countries that earn first and second place qualified directly to the final, while the countries that place third and fourth proceeded to the Second Chance round. The bottom three songs in each semi-final were eliminated from the competition. An additional four entries qualified from the Second Chance round to the final, bringing the total number of competing entries in the final to 12. All 6 shows were hosted by Ian Somerhalder, Nina Dobrev and Paul Wesley, as a parting gift for fans of American television series The Vampire Diaries; also used as a way to attract more viewers.

## Format

Worldfestivalen 2017, organised by American Broadcasting Company (ABC), will be the sixteenth consecutive edition of the contest in which the competition will take place in different cities across the host nation. The four semi-finals will be held at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg (4 February), the Malmö Arena in Malmö (11 February), the Vida Arena in Växjö (18 February) and the Skellefteå Kraft Arena in Skellefteå (25 February). The Second Chance round will take place at the Saab Arena in Linköping on 4 March while the final will be held at the Friends Arena in Stockholm on 11 March. An initial 28 entries will compete in the semi-finals, with seven entries taking part in each show. The top two entries from each semi-final advance directly to the final, while the third and fourth placed entries advance to the Second Chance round. The bottom three entries in each semi-final will be eliminated. An additional four entries will qualify to the final from the Second Chance round, bringing the total number of competing entries in the final to 12.

Christer Björkman was announced as the executive producer of the competition, while Annette Helenius was assigned as the project manager for a second consecutive year.

### Entry selection

Entries for the 2017 competition will be selected through three methods:

* 14 entries will be chosen by a selection panel from submissions received by ABC through an open call for broadcasters.
* 13 entries will be selected by ABC via special invitations to broadcasters.
* 1 entry will be provided by the selected artist from another competition.

ABC opened two submission contests that accepted entries between 1 and 19 September 2016 for interested artists and songwriters to submit their proposals for the competition. The *Regular contest* was open for entries that had at least one songwriter that already had a musical work published, while the *Public contest* accepted entries from songwriters without previously published musical work. Entries submitted for the competition were required to be new compositions which had never been published, between 2–3 minutes in length and with at least one songwriter that holds the respective countries citizenship. The choice of language was free, however, ABC aims to have 30% of the contest's places reserved for entries sung mainly in English. ABC also aims to reserve at least 50% of the contest's places for entries written by female composers and lyricists either in a solo or collaborative capacity.

Following the conclusion of the submission periods, ABC received 2,478 entries—an increase of 28 entries from the previous year. 2,116 of the entries were entered into the *Regular contest*, while 362 entries were entered into the *Public contest* ABC will create a shortlist of entries from the received submissions and will form a selection panel that will be tasked to select fourteen entries for the competition. Only five entries from the *Public contest* will be under consideration with no guarantee that one will be selected to compete in Worldfestivalen.

### Presenters

At a press conference on 30 September 2016, Ian Somerhalder, Nina Dobrev and Paul Wesley were announced as the hosts for all six shows of Worldfestivalen 2017. Somerhalder and Wesley have been series regulars of American breakout series The Vampire Diaries since 2009, while Dobrev was from 2009 to 2015. ABC stated that though they do not broadcast The Vampire Diaries, it would be great, not only for US, but the entire world to see the infamous trio one last time before the series ended.

## Competing entries

Information regarding the selected entries and artists were publicized by ABC on 30 November 2016. On 28 August 2016, a broadcaster was selected as the first country for Worldfestivalen from the competing broadcasters that took part in the competition.

## Semi-finals

As in previous years, Worldfestivalen will commence with four semi-finals, which will determine the eight entries that will advance directly to the final and the eight entries that will qualify to the Second Chance round. The highest ranked native single from each country will represent it.

## Second Chance round

Second Chance round took place on 4 March 2017 at Saab Arena in Linköping. The duels were revealed following the fourth semi-final on 25 February 2017. A total of 7,223,709 votes were cast throughout the show.

## Final

The Final took place on 11 March 2017 at Friends Arena in Stockholm.

## *Eurovision Song Contest 2017*

Main article: Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017
The *Eurovision Song Contest 2017* will take place at the International Exhibition Centre in Kiev, Ukraine and will consist of two semi-finals on 9 and 11 May and the final on 13 May 2017. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. Sweden will be required to qualify from the first semi-final in order to take part in the final.

## References

1. ↑ The NPBC (25 February 2017). "MELODIFESTIVALEN SECOND CHANCE ROUND DUELS REVEALED". Eurovoix. https://eurovoix.com/2017/02/25/melodifestivalen-duals-released/.
2. ↑ Jordan, Paul (9 September 2016). "Kyiv to host Eurovision 2017!". European Broadcasting Union. http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=kyiv\_to\_host\_eurovision\_2017. Retrieved 11 September 2016.

## External links

* Template:Sv icon Melodifestivalen Official Site

Template:Melodifestivalen