Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000

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Roger Pontare represented Sweden at the millennium's first Eurovision Song Contest.
Roger Pontare represented Sweden at the millennium's first Eurovision Song Contest.

Sweden was the host of the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 thanks to Charlotte Nilssons victory the previous year. Sveriges Television chose to hold the contest in Sweden's capital, Stockholm. The entry of the home country was chosen in Melodifestivalen 2000. 1 394 songs were submitted and 10 progressed to the final, which was one of the most seen TV shows ever in Sweden with 4 175 000 wiewers. Just like last year, 11 juries combined with televotes selected the winner, which surprisingly was folk-inspired rock song När vindarna viskar mitt namn. It was sung by Roger Pontare, who had also represented Sweden at the 1994 contest. The song was written and composed by Thomas Holmstrand, Linda Jansson and Peter Dahl.

Roger performed his song in the 18th spot, and received much cheers from the home public. The song had been translated into English and was now called When spirits are calling my name, and the stage number was quite spectacular with Native American and Sami themes. Sweden finished 7th with 88 points (including 12 points from Turkey), which was enough to qualify them for the next contest as well.