Melodifestivalen debutant Jay Smith had his song declined by SVT for the competition in 2023. 

Smith will perform Back To My Roots on Saturday night with the hope of qualifying to the final in Stockholm next weekend, but the song came close to appearing in Melfest in 2023. 

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• Jay Smith’s debut song for Melodifestivalen, Back To My Roots, was initially declined by SVT for the 2023 competition
• Despite the setback, Smith resubmitted the song for the 2024 edition, co-written with his sister Maria Smith and Victor Thell from Smith & Thell
• This isn’t uncommon, as other artists like Tone Sekelius and Engmans Kapell have faced similar rejections by SVT before their songs were eventually accepted in later years

Speaking to The Euro Trip, Smith said: “We actually submitted the song that I’m entering with now last year. 

“During the summer, when it was coming down to the last weeks of the submissions window, I got a phone call from my sister’s manager asking if we wanted to submit the song again, and we did, and here we are.” 

Smith’s sister is Maria Smith, one half of the country-pop duo Smith & Thell. She will provide backing vocals for her brother during his performance this weekend.

Jay and Maria wrote Back To My Roots together with Victor Thell from the band, along with Jonas Jurström and Jonathan Keyes. 

The Smith & Thell members have previously penned Melfest entries including Human by Oscar Zia which placed second in 2016, and All Inclusive by Sannex in 2021, although this was under the pseudonyms Greta Svensson and Hans Thorstensson. 

Jay isn’t the first artist have a song turned down by SVT only for the broadcaster to accept it at a later date.

Tone Sekelius submitted My Way to SVT on more than one occasion before she worked with Anderz Wrethov to enhance the song ahead of its acceptance into the 2022 edition of Melodifestivalen.

More recently, Engmans Kapell had their 2024 contribution, Norrland, turned down for the competition in 2023.

Expanding on how competing in Melfest came about, Jay said: “A couple of summers ago I was feeling a bit down. 

“Most of the gigs had been cancelled [because of the pandemic], and I was working as a roofer. 

“Suddenly l got a bunch of emails from people I’d never worked with who wanted me to sing their demos for Eurovision. 

“I told my sister when we were having a family dinner, and she said, ‘If you’re going to do that, why don’t you want to do it with us?’. 

“I said, ‘Well, I would but I didn’t think you wanted to or had the time to’.” 

Jay is no stranger to competition, having won Idol in 2010. 

Since then, he has released three studio albums and collaborated with fellow Melfest hopefuls Smash Into Pieces on a single called Boomerang in 2017. 

Jay Smith will perform Back To My Roots in the fifth Melodifestivalen heat on Saturday (March 2).