Melodifestivalen 2022 reached its Semi Final stage, as in this week’s show eight acts are going to compete in two sets, for a total of four places that lead to next week’s Grand Final. Ahead of this week’s show, we managed to speak to one of the contestants, who already represented Sweden at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest – Anna Bergendahl. Check out everything she told us in this interview here:

Hello Anna, first of all I would like to congratulate you for being selected for the Melodifestivalen 2022 out of 2500 submissions. How does that feel and what made you decide to return back tothe contest?
Thank you! Melfest is such an incredible experience and I’ve been fortunate enough to get a lot of love from it throughout the years, which is kind of addictive. However, it always starts with a song that I love, which is also the case this time around.

After your victory at Mello 2010, you came back with “Ashes to Ashes“, “Kingdom Come” and now “Higher Power” is there any similarity to it with the previous entries except the team which you created it? Can you tell us more about “Higher Power” and what does it mean to you?
To us, Ashes to Ashes, Kingdom Come and Higher Power is a trilogy. Hopefully people will see the coherence between these songs. Still, I think Higher Power is something new. My ultimate goal as a songwriter is to instill hope. Higher Power is about a strength you get when you need it the most, in the darkest of times. It’s difficult to be a human being, and I want my music to be a friend through everything that happens in a life.

Your last two performances were so different from each other but both had an amazing concepts, what can we expect from this one?
You will get concept. Dennis Bröchner and Zain Odelstål are the masterminds behind the numbers, and they’ve also created the number to Higher Power. It’s very inspiring to work with them and see these different worlds come to life.

We could say that your dream job is to become a singing anesthesiologist given the fact that you are educating yourself to become one and on the other hand you are a successful singer. How is it to combine the two and do you have any advice to the ones who are pursuing their dream education while also sing?
A singing anesthesiologist would be a losing game, since the patients are asleep 😉 Jokes aside, I love balancing both. One inspires the others. And I’ve actually had patients who’ve asked me to sing for them. There is a connection between my artistry and future work as a physician – the least I can do in both is to try to instill hope. My advice would be to be prepared to work very hard, never give up and believe in yourself.

In October 2020 you released an EP “Vera” which in Slavic languages means Faith – were you aware of that and has it inspired the title or something else?
My niece, Vera, was born with a rare medical condition, and the EP is dedicated to her. The fact that it means faith in Slavic languages really moves me.

You can check out “Vera” on Spotify and iTunes

Back in 2008 you competed in Swedish Idol and among the judges was Anders Bagge who is also competing at Mello 2022, how does it feel to possibly having a chance to compete against each other in the final of the show?
Well, now I know that he made it to the final – congratulations to him! I really hope that I, too, will make it to the final. It’s been years since I saw him so I would love a chat with him! Robin Bengtsson, who competed in Idol the same year as me, is also in the final. I think the three of us makes a good trio 😉

You represented Sweden at Eurovision 2010, is there a memory or an anecdote which happened during the show which you’d like to share with the readers?
It was a wonderful time. One evening, I laughed so hard at a restaurant that I peed my pants. Fortunately, it rained as we walked home, so I could blame the rain. I don’t know if anyone bought it 😉

One of your recent releases includes a collaboration with Tyler Rich for “Bottom of This Bottle” how was that experience and can we expect any similar duets in future?
It was a lot of fun! Being a solo artist can be a little lonely, so I love doing duets and there’s definitely more to come.

Speaking of duets, If you had a chance to make a duet with any Melodifestivalen/Eurovision participant, who would you choose?
Salvador Sobral!

What do you do when you’re not singing and creating music? Any hobbies?
Most of my days are filled with work and studies. But if I get a chance, I like to play tennis and do TV series marathons.

What are your plans after Melodifestivalen 2022?
Hopefully, if the pandemic allows, I will go on a long tour in Sweden. If I get the chance, I would love to perform in other parts of Europe too.

Thank you so much for your time Anna. We wish you the best of luck at Melodifestivalen. Do you want to share something else or you maybe have a message for readers of escbubble?
I love the ESC fans. They always make me feel like a queen. Thank you so much for your love and support!

Give a listen to Anna Bergendahl’s “Higher Power” right here: