The Melody Festival 2012, The winner is...

... Loreen!

I'm proud to present this year's winner of the Melody Festival and Sweden's representative in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. Loreen turned out to be the clear winner this year, according to the jury groups as well as the Swedish public. With a staggering 670 551 votes (32.7% of total votes) in the finale she outnumbered first runner up, Danny Saucedo (who received 22.3% of the total votes), with 212 163 votes.

Another thing I really enjoyed was to see Björn Ranelid feat. Sara Li ending up as the finale's looser. Not because I wish Björn Ranelid any harm, but because I'm happy, and very relieved, to know that people in Sweden still recognizes bad music when they hear it.

All in all, the finale was satisfying. Good show with a good mix of music. The only little thing that annoyed me was Danny's behavior after they announced Loreen the winner. I can understand why he was disappointed and there is nothing wrong with showing sadness, however, bashing Loreen and the Swedish public is uncalled for. He might not have won, but he did receive 458 388 votes and his fans and supporters paid for each and every one of them. I expected more professionalism from Danny.

The Melody Festival 2012 has come to an end, but Loreen's journey is far from over. I am very proud of Sweden and our collective decision to send talented Loreen, and I'm very curious to see how she does in the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, May 22-26. The song has a distinctly modern sound and Loreen has a very special quality which makes this performance stand out from the crowd. A massive and costly stage show with fireworks and a sea of talented dancers can be spectacular, but sometimes a single woman with an amazing voice can truly make a lingering impact.