Do we like Petra Mede?
Our score: 7 out of 10. Decent and on the right side with no harm found, but little documented beyond her hosting, so we stop short of the top end.
Petra Mede is a Swedish comedian who got her start as a dancer and briefly worked as a backing singer before moving into comedy. She went on to host Sweden's national film awards and Melodifestivalen, the contest that picks Sweden's Eurovision entry, and she appeared on the political satire show Parlamentet.
Her big break was Eurovision. SVT picked her to host the 2013 contest in Malmö, and she went on to host again in 2016 and a third time in 2024, the last with Malin Åkerman. When she got the 2013 gig she said she'd learned that saying “yes thanks” is a lot more fun than “no thanks”.
On the harm check, we searched for anything she's said or done about LGBTQ+ people, women, migrants, health or the climate, and found nothing nasty. What did turn up is a gag in the 2024 semi-final, where she told viewers who could sing along to a run of nil-point songs that they were a true Eurovision fan, after a mock slip into a gay slur's first syllables. PinkNews reported gay fans responded online with delight, which is the right sort of laugh at the right sort of expense.
She's also been open about her love of the contest. In 2021 she said she loves Melfest and Eurovision and that it will always be part of her. She said she'd expected 2024 to be her last time as host, and joked a fourth turn would take an alien.
On the good-person test, a search for court cases, lawsuits or allegations came up empty, and she's had no recent scandal. The record is thin on charity or acts at a personal cost: honestly, that's the whole list. A long, drama-free career as a crowd favourite is real, but it isn't the same as a documented history of standing up for others.