Melodifestivalen 2017 singer Axel Schylström has told the latest episode of the Melfest Monday podcast he believes Anton Ewald’s microphone was “barely on” as he progressed to the Grand Final.

Anton qualified with his song “New Religion” from Saturday’s second semi-final, with social media divided over his performance – specifically his use of pre-record vocals on his entry’s backing track.

Speaking on Melfest Monday, Axel said that while he doesn’t believe Anton broke the rules, he would have liked to have seen more from the performance.

“It is hard to define the rules there, because you are allowed to have some backing vocals recorded before. It’s hard to say how much you are allowed to have. He had quite the volume of the backing singer who was singing live with him.”

Melodifestivalen rules have allowed pre-recorded vocals for many years, with the EBU also changing the rules to allow on-tape vocals to be used in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

Axel went on to criticise Anton’s performance further.

“You know, his mic was barely on… you have to sing a bit more to get my fair share of respect on the Melfest stage.”

Anton Ewald and Dotter progressed to the Melodifestivalen Grand Final on Saturday, while Frida Green and Eva Rydberg & Ewa Roos qualified for the Second Chance round.

Image Credit: Jan Ainali