Melodifestivalen 2003


Melodifestivalen 2003 was the 43rd edition of the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen, which was organised by Sveriges Television and took place over a five-week period between 15 February and 15 March 2003. The winner of the competition was Fame with the song "Give Me Your Love", who represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, where they came fifth with 107 points.

Format

The heats for Melodifestivalen 2003 began on 15 February 2003. Ten songs from these heats qualified for the final on March 15, 2003. This was the second year that a heat format had been used for the competition. "När löven faller" composed by Carola Häggkvist and Ingemar Åberg was disqualified prior to the competition due to Carola's refusal to participate as an artist with no replacement singer found, while "Someone, Somewhere, Someday" composed by Peter Ågrenwill and Mattias Holmlund to be performed by Nathalie Family was disqualified due to the singer being under the required age of 16 years old at the time the Eurovision Song Contest would be held.
ShowDateCityVenue
Heat 115 February 2003JönköpingTipshallen
Heat 222 February 2003GothenburgScandinavium
Heat 31 March 2003LuleåArcushallen
Heat 48 March 2003SundsvallNordichallen
Viewers' Choice9 March 2003StockholmSVT Broadcasting House
Final15 March 2003StockholmStockholm Globe Arena

The Winners' Choice round was replaced by the Viewers' Choice round where the public could now vote for the top two songs among the third- and fourth- placed ones from the heats.

Contest overview

Heat 1

The first heat took place on 15 February 2003 at the Tipshallen in Jönköping. 2,977,000 viewers watched the heat live. A total of 429,810 votes were cast, with a total of collected for Radiohjälpen. The heat was hosted by Mark Levengood, Charlotte Nilsson, and Lena Philipsson.

Heat 2

The second heat took place on 22 February 2003 at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg. 3,180,000 viewers watched the heat live. A total of 632,206 votes were cast, with a total of collected for Radiohjälpen. The heat was hosted by Mark Levengood and Carola Häggkvist.

Heat 3

The third heat took place on 1 March 2003 at the Arcushallen in Luleå. 2,914,000 viewers watched the heat live. A total of 340,882 votes were cast, with a total of collected for Radiohjälpen. The heat was hosted by Mark Levengood and Barbro Svensson.

Heat 4

The fourth heat took place on 8 March 2003 at the Nordichallen in Sundsvall. 3,047,000 viewers watched the heat live. A total of 444,972 votes were cast, with a total of collected for Radiohjälpen. The heat was hosted by Mark Levengood and Roger Pontare.

Viewers' Choice

The Viewers' Choice round took place on 9 March 2003 at the SVT Broadcasting House in Stockholm. 2,282,000 viewers watched the show live. A total of 341,866 votes were cast, with a total of collected for Radiohjälpen. The show was hosted by Marianne Rundström and Rickard Olsson.
ArtistSongVotesPlaceResult
1Méndez"Carnaval"33,3155Out
2Markus Landgren"Television"21,7637Out
3Brandsta City Släckers"15 minuter"44,1913Out
4Alcazar"Not a Sinner nor a Saint"102,2401Final
5Liverpool"Love Is All"28,0606Out
6Style"Stay the Night"21,4908Out
7Bubbles"TKO "55,5962Final
8Lina Hedlund"Nothing Can Stop Me"35,2114Out

Final

The final took place on 15 March 2003 at the Stockholm Globe Arena in Stockholm. 3,813,000 viewers watched the show live. A total of 1,230,751 votes were cast, with a total of collected for Radiohjälpen. The show was hosted by Mark Levengood and Jonas Gardell.