Loreen was the winner of the 2012 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with the track Euphoria on behalf of Sweden with an almost record amount of points especially having been revealed that she won both the tele-voting and the jury voting but nevertheless it seems that the search for the next artist to represent the home nation has already somewhat commenced with SVT, the broadcaster releasing the rules for the national selection, otherwise known as Melodifestivalen 2013. It seems to be that there have not been any major changes to the selection procedure next year except for the fact that the Web Joker has been replaced by the Public Contest which will have somewhat the same credentials as the former.

The project manager of the 2013 Melodifestivalen revealed that there have been some minor changes to the system for next year because except for this new method of introducing a participant without previous experience in the music field, there will also be the winner of the Svensktoppen Nästa 2012 will gain direct entry into the competition. The selection of the latter is quite interesting as new talent competes in a regional competition held through local radio broadcaster, P4 and the this year, there have been more than 950 songs submitted for the competition from all over Sweden. The winner will get the chance to be in the 2013 Melodifestivalen with a different song that the one submitted. We have heard some of the finalists, and it should be quite interesting. Foreign songwriters are permitted to enter once more as long as they collaborate with Swedes. In the meantime, fifteen acts will be chosen through the typical submission process as another sixteen entries will be directly picked by SVT, either from the submissions or through special invites as made by a specialized committee. You can read all of the rules in English on the official site. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com to see who will ultimately follow in Loreen's footsteps and represent Sweden on home soil.

Source: SVT