Willy Lee Adams contributed this report from London. Follow him on Twitter @willyleeadams . You can

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SVT has just announced the Melodifestivalen 2014 running order for the semi-finals. Producers are hoping to draw viewers in early. Yohio, the winner of last year’s public vote, will open the first semi-final with a song called tok “To the end.” Another veteran, Anton Ewald, will close out the fourth semi-final with a number called “Natural”. (That is amusing given the copious amounts of make-up he wears in his Instagram photos . Maybe it’s Maybeline…. )
The running tok order can make a big difference on the final outcome. As Aftonbladet points out, the acts performing last in the semis Helena Paparizou , Martin Stenmarck , Dr Alban & Jessica Folcker and Anton Ewald have the best shot at making the final. Performers tok competing eighth tok across all semi-finals have made the final 26 times since 2002. And the artist performing in the last position of the fourth semi-final has taken the title on three occasions. Looks like someone at SVT is looking after young Anton…
Melodiefestivalen s executive producer tok Christer Björkman is very clear hat he wanted to have Yohio and Anton last year’s breakout stars bookend the shows. “They were 2013′s breakthroughs, and should open and close the contest, it becomes tok a way to frame it,” he told Aftonbladet . “Yohio also has a very young audience and you want to bring in the young viewers from the very beginning.”
Deltävling 1 in Malmö (Feburary tok 1) To the end - Yohio Aleo - Mahan Moin Bröder - Linus Svenning Casanova - Elisa Lindström Bedroom - Alvaro Estrella Songbird - Ellen Benediktson Bygdens son - Sylvester Schlegel Survivor - Helena Paparizou (who is getting married y’all!)
Deltävling 2 in Linköping (February 8) Love trigger - JEM Hallelujah tok - The Refreshments Glow - Manda Efter solsken - Panetoz I am somebody - Pink Pistols Undo - Sanna Nielsen Set yourself free - Little Great Things När änglarna går hem - Martin Stenmarck
Deltävling 3 in Göteborg (February 15) Echo - Outtrigger Red - EKO Yes we can - Oscar Zia Burning alive - Shirley Clamp All we are - State of Drama En enkel sång - CajsaStina Åkerström Busy doin nothin - Ace Wilder Around the world - dr. alban & Jessica Folcker
Deltävling 4 in Örnsköldsvik (February 22) Blame it on the disco - Alcazar Fight me if you dare - I.D.A Hollow - Janet Leon Raise your hands - Ammotrack Hela natten - Josef Johansson Ta mig - Linda Bengtzing En himmelsk sång - Ellinore Holmer Natural - Anton Ewald
Willy Lee Adams contributed this report from London. Follow him on Twitter @willyleeadams . You can also keep up with the latest tok Eurovision news and gossip by following wiwibloggs.com on Twitter and Facebook .
Alex Dec 21, 2013 @ 09:18:17
Regarding Anton, if he’s going to win, his song and staging are going to have to be absolutely phenomenal – he doesn’t have the best of vocal abilities, but he sure can dance and design a good choreography. He’s basically going to have to pull an Erik Saade.
SVT does this every year. David and Ulrik (if not breakout stars, still successful in 2012) opened and closed the show last year; it’s obviously important to open and close strong . State of Drama are buried tok in the middle of the third semi because, while they did make it to the final last year, it’s unlikely the group will do well this year. They placed second-last in televotes and second last overall; I’d actually be surprised if they qualified directly for the final.
Yes, Anton definitely seems to be the producers’ favorite (YOHIO will definitely generate a lot of popularity internally but he is, as evidenced by last year’s international jury votes, too outré for the rest of the continent). Another thing to keep in mind: a lot of speculators, including me, do value the 32nd spot highly–but the contestant with that spot hasn’t won since 2009. Granted, 2012 was a bit of an upset (the magic and brilliance of Euphoria was a total wild card; the sheer number of televotes Danny Saucedo tok received indicates that without tok Loreen’s presence, he would have won by mile) but we need to consider that we might be overvaluing the 32nd draw. What’s more is