This Saturday Sweden will start searching for the artist who will represent the country in Baku at the Eurovision Song Contest in May. Here is a look at the first heat from the town of Växjö where we will see former Eurovision participants and other well known names together with singers who will take part in the competition for the first time.

Song nr. 1: Sean Banan – Sean Den Förste Banan

1Sean Banan, whose original name is Sean Samadi, was born in Iran 1985 and came to Sweden at an early age. Sean has made his name known With appearances in television shows and his song Skaka rumpa which for a while was the most played song on Spotify in the summer of 2010. In February 2012 he will appear in a movie together with Kikki Danielsson (who made numerous appearences at Melodifestivalen and also came 3rd for Sweden at Eurovision 1985). A crazy number on the stage in Växjö is probably to be expected.

The song is written by Sean Samadi, Joakim Larsson, Hans Blomberg and Mårten Andersson.

Song nr. 2: Abalone Dots – På väg

Abalone Dots consits of the three female members Rebecka Hjulström, Sophia Hogman and Lousie Holmer. The group plays a mix of bluesgrass and country, or "softgrass" as they like to call it themselves. They released their first album in 2007 and a second followed in 2009.
The group received a price at the Swedish Grammy Awards in 2009 in the category for best folk music/singer songwriter of the year.

The song is written by Rebecka Hjukström, Sophia Hogman, Louise Holmer and Victor Källgren.

Song nr. 3: The Moniker – I Want To Be Chris Isaak (This Is Just the Beginning)

The Moniker, or Daniel Karlsson as his real name is, had his big breakthrough after taking part in Melodifestivalen 2011 where he finshed in third place with the song Oh My God!. Daniels talent was discovered in the Swedish Idol 2007 edition where he finished in 4th place.

The song is written by Daniel Karlsson himself.

Song nr: 4: Afro-Dite – The Boy Can Dance

Afro-Dite who represented Sweden at the Eurovison Song Contest in 2002 is making a comeback in the competition. The group consits of the female trio Gladys del Pilar, Blossom Tainton and Kayo Shekoni. The groups first apperance in Melodifestivalen was a sucess, they won with the song Never Let It Go and got to represent Sweden at the Eurovision song contest 2002 in Estonia where they finished in a respectable 8th place. They girls were back to try their luck in Melodifestivalen 2003 with the song Aqua Playa where they made it to the final and finished 7th.

The song is written by Figge Boström, Catrine Loqvist and Johan Lindman.

Song nr. 5: Dead by April – Mystery

Dead by April is a rock band from Gothenburg formed in 2007. The four members of the group are Jimmie Strandell, Zandro Santiago, Marcus Wesslén and Alex Svenningson. Their debut album with the same title as the groups name came out in 2009 and they received the best newcomer award at the Swedish Metal Awards and the Bandit Rock Awards. The band has aslo toured outside Sweden in the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan.

The song is written by the ex-band member Pontus Hjelm.

Song nr. 6: Marie Serneholt – Salt & Pepper

28 year old Marie Serneholt is a well known name to followers of Melodifestivalen. She has been taking part as a performer in Melodifestivalen 2009 with the song Disconnected and also hosting the show in 2011 together with Rickard Olsson.
Marie was also one of the members in the group A-teens during 1998 – 2004. In 2006 she released the single That’s the Way That My Heart Goes.

The song is written by the Lina Eriksson, Mårten Eriksson and Figge Boström.

Song nr. 7: Thorsten Flinck & Revolutionsorkestern – Jag reser mig igen

Thorsten Flinck is a praised, and also in many eyes a controversial, actor, theatre director and musician. He worked at The Royal Dramatic theatre between 1986 and 2002 and had in many tv productions. In 2002 Thorsten formed the group called Flincka fingrar with which he has been touring around with since. In 2005 the album "Vildvuxna rosor" was released and in 2008 the group changed name to Revolutionsorkestern and in 2011 the album "Thorsten Flinck och Revolutionsorkestern" was released.

The song is written by Thomas G:son and Ted Ström.

Song nr. 8: Loreen – Euphoria

Loreen participated in Melodifestivalen 2011 where she got as far as to the second chance heat with the song My Heart is Refusing Me. The song was a hit in the swedish charts and she aslo had a follow up single named Sober. She also took part in swedish Idol 2004 where she came 4th.

The song is written by Thomas G:son and Peter Boström.

The show will start at 20:00 CET on Saturday the 4th of February and can been seen by visiting the Swedish national broadcasters site www.SVT.se.