Melodifestivalen 4

Melodifestivalen 4 was the fourth edition of the Melodifestivalen. The contest took place in Stockholm, Sweden, after Agnes won the third edition with the song "24 Hours". It was the first time that Sweden hosted the contest. SVT chose Ericson Globbe in Stockholm as the host venue for the edition while Petra Mede were selected as the presenter.

The format of the competition consisted of 6 shows: 4 semi-final rounds, a second chance round and a final. The 37 competing countries were divided into four semi-finals, with nine compositions in each, except the first semi final. From each semi-final, the songs that earned first, second and third place qualified directly to the final, while the songs that placed fourth and fifth proceeded to the Second Chance round, from the first semi-final the sixth place advanced to the Second Chance round because the participants in that semi were ten instead of nine. The bottom four songs in each semi-final were eliminated from the competition. An additional five entries qualified from the Second Chance round to the final, bringing the total number of competing entries in the final to 20.

Forty countries participated in the edition including Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Lebanon and Morocco that made their debut appearance with Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Moldova and Monaco returning. Israel, Kazakhstan, Poland, San Marino and Serbia announced their withdrawal from the third edition.

Location
Stockholm is the capital of Sweden. It has the most populous urban area in Sweden as well as in Scandinavia. 1 million people live in the municipality, approximately 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropolitan area. The city stretches across fourteen islands where Lake Mälaren flows into the Baltic Sea. Outside the city to the east, and along the coast, is the island chain of the Stockholm archipelago. The area has been settled since the Stone Age, in the 6th millennium BC, and was founded as a city in 1252 by Swedish statesman Birger Jarl. It is also the county seat of Stockholm County.

Stockholm is the cultural, media, political, and economic centre of Sweden. The Stockholm region alone accounts for over a third of the country's GDP, and is among the top 10 regions in Europe by GDP per capita. Ranked as an alpha-global city, it is the largest in Scandinavia and the main centre for corporate headquarters in the Nordic region. The city is home to some of Europe's top ranking universities, such as the Stockholm School of Economics, Karolinska Institute, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University. It hosts the annual Nobel Prize ceremonies and banquet at the Stockholm Concert Hall and Stockholm City Hall. One of the city's most prized museums, the Vasa Museum, is the most visited non-art museum in Scandinavia. The Stockholm metro, opened in 1950, is well known for the decor of its stations; it has been called the longest art gallery in the world. Sweden's national football arena is located north of the city centre, in Solna. Avicii Arena, the national indoor arena, is in the southern part of the city. The city was the host of the 1912 Summer Olympics, and hosted the equestrian portion of the 1956 Summer Olympics otherwise held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Stockholm is the seat of the Swedish government and most of its agencies, including the highest courts in the judiciary, and the official residencies of the Swedish monarch and the Prime Minister. The government has its seat in the Rosenbad building, the Riksdag (Swedish parliament) is seated in the Parliament House, and the Prime Minister's residence is adjacent at Sager House. Stockholm Palace is the official residence and principal workplace of the Swedish monarch, while Drottningholm Palace, a World Heritage Site on the outskirts of Stockholm, serves as the Royal Family's private residence.

Semi-final allocation draw
The draw that determined the semi-final allocation was held on 10 October 2021. The thirty-seven countries were divided into five pots, based on their geographical place. Each time a country was drawn from the pot, its semi-final was determined.

The five pots were the following:

Participating countries
Forty countries participated in the edition including Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Lebanon and Morocco that made their debut appearance with Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Moldova and Monaco returning. Israel, Kazakhstan, Poland, San Marino and Serbia announced their withdrawal from the third edition.

Returning artists
Neev was internally selected for the second time to represent Portugal; he previously represented the country in the first edition with the song "Breathe" and took the 3rd place in the final with 105 points alongside the Norwegian duo Seeb. Sasha Lopez was internally selected to represent Romania alongside with Ester Peony; he previously represented Moldova in the first edition with Misha Miller and the song "Smoke Me" and finished the 7th place in the final with 81 points, and in the second edition with Bruja and the song "Overdose" and finished 6th in the first semi final with 82 points failing to qualify to the final. Kygo was internally selected to represent Norway with Zoe Wees; he hosted the second edition held in Lillehammer, Norway.

Semi-final 1
The first semi-final took place on 27 October 2021. Czech Republic, Finland and Morocco qualified directly to the final, while Austria, Denmark and Russia advanced to the Second Chance round.

Semi-final 2
The second semi-final took place on 27 October 2021. Greece, North Macedonia and Romania qualified directly to the final, while Belarus and Turkey advanced to the Second Chance round.

Semi-final 3
The third semi-final took place on 27 October 2021. Cyprus, Germany and Latvia qualified directly to the final, while Ireland and Portugal advanced to the Second Chance round.

Semi-final 4
The fourth semi-final took place on 27 October 2021. Belgium, Montenegro and Spain qualified directly to the final, while France and Norway advanced to the Second Chance round.

Second Chance
The second chance round took place on 2 November 2021. Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Norway and Russia qualified to the final.

Final
The final took place on 15 November 2021. Denmark won the contest with an amount of 193 points, 5 points ahead the runner-up Morocco, Greece, Romania and Spain completed the top 5 of the edition.

Other countries

 * Further information: List of countries in Melodifestivalen

Countries that are active members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) are also eligible to participate in Melodifestivalen. As in every edition, an invitation to all the members have been sent in order to confirm whether they will participate or not. The following list of countries declined stating their reasons as shown below.

Active EBU members

 * (KAN) missed the entry deadline and they were forced to withdraw.
 * (RTL) Charles was selected as the representative of the country with the song "Far Gone". The hod broke the rules and the country disqualified.
 * (TVP) missed the entry deadline and they were forced to withdraw.
 * (RTS) announced that the country will take a one edition break, a return in the next edition is very likely.

The following countries' broadcasters confirmed their non-participation without providing further information:


 * - RTVA
 * - BHRT
 * - M1
 * - KTRC
 * - SMRTV
 * - JC1