Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest

Sweden
Member station	Sveriges Radiotjänst (1958) Sveriges Radio (SR) (1959-1979) Sveriges Television (SVT) (1980-)
National selection events	Melodifestivalen
Appearances
Appearances	53 (52 finals)
First appearance	1958
Best result	1st: 1974, 1984, 1991, 1999, 2012
Worst result	Last: 1963, 1977
External links
SVT Official Homepage
Sweden's page at Eurovision.tv

Sweden has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 52 times since their debut in 1958, being absent a total of five times, in 1956, 1957, 1964, 1970 and in 1976. Since 1959, the Swedish entry has been chosen through an annual televised competition, known since 1967 as Melodifestivalen.

Sweden is one of Eurovision's most successful countries, having won the contest five times as well as having reached the top 5 a total of 19 times. They have also made it to the top ten 35 times. Sweden's first Eurovision victory was in 1974 with the song "Waterloo", performed by ABBA. Thanks to their victory in Brighton ABBA went on to gain worldwide success, still being one of the best-selling pop groups of all time. Since then Sweden has won in 1984, 1991, 1999 and most recently in 2012 with the song "Euphoria", performed by Loreen. Sweden and United Kingdom are the only countries with Eurovision victories in four different decades, and the only country to host it in five decades (1975, 1985, 1992, 2000, 2013).

From 2005 to 2010, the Swedish results were less successful. Apart from Carola's "Invincible", which came 5th in 2006, their best result in that period was the 18th place. Prior to the 2010 contest Sweden was among the few countries not to have missed a Eurovision final since 1976, but this record was broken in 2010 when Anna Bergendahl failed to make it to the final in Oslo. Later it was revealed that Bergendahl had placed 11th in the semifinal, only 5 points from qualifying. Sweden is still among the few countries who has not missed any Eurovision since 1976. The 2011 contest, however, marked a comeback for Sweden as a Eurovision country when Eric Saade came 3rd with the song "Popular" after a voting system change in Melodifestivalen. The positive tendency continued with the Swedish victory in 2012.

The Eurovision Song Contest has been hosted in Sweden five times, twice in Stockholm (1975 and 2000), twice in Malmö (1992 and 2013) and once in Gothenburg (1985).

Sweden was one of the first five countries to adopt televoting in 1997.

Melodifestivalen

Melodifestivalen is an annual music competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest since 1959. It is one of Sweden's most popular television shows, and it has been estimated that more than 4 million Swedes watch the show annually.

Almost every Swedish entry for Eurovision has been selected through Melodifestivalen. Only one entry, Sweden's first entry in 1958, was not selected through Melodifestivalen, having been selected internally by the Swedish broadcaster at the time, Swedish Radio Service.

In recent years Swedish songwriters have been involved in the writing of entries from several countries. For instance, in 2010 the songs from Denmark, Norway, Ireland and Azerbaijan were written entirely or partly by Swedes, in 2011 the songs from Russia and Azerbaijan, in 2012 the songs from Italy, United Kingdom, Ireland, Malta, Greece, Cyprus, Norway, Azerbaijan and Spain and in 2013 the songs from Georgia, Finland, Norway, Russia, Netherlands and Azerbaijan.

Contestants

NOTES

1. ^ In 2008, Sweden qualified through the back-up jury selection.

2. If a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. In addition from 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. If, for example, Germany and France placed inside the top ten, the countries who placed 11th and 12th were advanced to the following year's grand final along with the rest of the top ten countries.

Voting history

As of 2013, Sweden's voting history is as follows:

Most points given in the grand finals only Rank Country Points 1  Ireland 223 2  Norway 184 3  Denmark 182 4  United Kingdom 168 5  Germany 144 Most points received in the grand finals only Rank Country Points 1  Norway 292 2  Denmark 252 3  Finland 194 4  United Kingdom 175 5  Ireland 154

Most points given in the semis and finals Rank Country Points 1  Denmark 251 2  Ireland 237 3  Norway 208 4  United Kingdom 168 5  Iceland 155 Most points received in the semis and finals Rank Country Points 1  Norway 326 2  Denmark 300 3  Finland 214 4  United Kingdom 205 5  Ireland 175

Hostings

Year	Location	Venue	Presenters
1975	Stockholm	Stockholm International Fairs	Karin Falck
1985	Gothenburg	Scandinavium	Lill Lindfors
1992	Malmö	Malmö Ice	Lydia Cappolicchio and Harald Treutiger
2000	Stockholm	Globe Arena	Kattis Ahlström and Anders Lundin
2013	Malmö	Malmö Arena	Petra Mede

Marcel Bezençon Awards

Artistic Award

Voted by previous winners

Voted by commentators

Composer Award

Winners by OGAE members

Commentators and spokespersons

Over the years SVT commentary has been provided by several experienced radio and television presenters, including Jacob Dahlin, Ulf Elfving, Harald Treutiger, Pekka Heino, Kristian Luuk and Fredrik Belfrage. However since the 2009 Contest, Edward af Sillén has provided the SVT commentary alongside Shirley Clamp, Christine Meltzer Lind, Hélène Benno and Gina Dirawi.

Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest

Photogallery

See also

• Melodifestivalen
• Sweden in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
• Sweden in the Eurovision Dance Contest

References

External links

• SVT's site for Melodifestivalen
• Swedish Radio's site for Melodifestivalen
• Gylleneskor.se
• ESC Sweden
• OGAE Sweden, the Swedish branch of the ESC fan club
• Schlager Party, a London series of schlager events
• Schlager Radio
• Points to and from Sweden eurovisioncovers.co.uk

v t e Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest   Participation 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014   Artists 1950s 1956 to 1957 Alice Babs Brita Borg 1960s Siw Malmkvist Lill-Babs Inger Berggren Monica Zetterlund 1964 Ingvar Wixell Lill Lindfors and Svante Thuresson Östen Warnerbring Claes-Göran Hederström Tommy Körberg 1970s 1970 Family Four Family Four The Nova ABBA Lars Berghagen and The Dolls 1976 Forbes Björn Skifs Ted Gärdestad 1980s Tomas Ledin Björn Skifs Chips Carola Herreys Kikki Danielsson Monica Törnell & Lasse Holm Lotta Engberg Tommy Körberg Tommy Nilsson 1990s Edin-Ådahl Carola Christer Björkman Arvingarna Marie Bergman and Roger Pontare Jan Johansen One More Time Blond Jill Johnson Charlotte Nilsson 2000s Roger Pontare Friends Afro-dite Fame Lena Philipsson Martin Stenmarck Carola The Ark Charlotte Perrelli Malena Ernman 2010s Anna Bergendahl Eric Saade Loreen Robin Stjernberg   Songs 1950s 1956 to 1957 "Lilla stjärna" "Augustin" 1960s "Alla andra får varann" "April, April" "Sol och vår" "En gång i Stockholm" 1964 "Absent Friend" "Nygammal vals" "Som en dröm" "Det börjar verka kärlek, banne mig" "Judy, min vän" 1970s 1970 "Vita vidder" "Härliga sommardag" "You're Summer" "Waterloo" "Jennie, Jennie" 1976 "Beatles" "Det blir alltid värre framåt natten" "Satellit" 1980s "Just nu!" "Fångad i en dröm" "Dag efter dag" "Främling" "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" "Bra vibrationer" "E' de' det här du kallar kärlek?" "Boogaloo" "Stad i ljus" "En dag" 1990s "Som en vind" "Fångad av en stormvind" "I morgon är en annan dag" "Eloise" "Stjärnorna" "Se på mej" "Den vilda" "Bara hon älskar mig" "Kärleken är" "Take Me to Your Heaven" 2000s "When Spirits Are Calling My Name" "Listen To Your Heartbeat" "Never Let It Go" "Give Me Your Love" "It Hurts" "Las Vegas" "Invincible" "The Worrying Kind" "Hero" "La voix" 2010s "This Is My Life" "Popular" "Euphoria" "You" (Note: Entries scored out are when Sweden did not compete)

v t e Eurovision Song Contest Discography History Languages Marcel Bezençon Awards OGAE Presenters Rules Voting Winners Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest   Countries Active Albania Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Israel Italy Latvia Lithuania Macedonia Malta Moldova Montenegro Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Ukraine United Kingdom Inactive Andorra Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Luxembourg Monaco Morocco Serbia Slovakia Turkey Former Serbia and Montenegro Yugoslavia Unsuccessful attempts Kazakhstan Kosovo Lebanon Liechtenstein Qatar Scotland Soviet Union Tunisia   Contests 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014   Host cities 1950s Lugano Frankfurt Hilversum Cannes 1960s London Cannes Luxembourg London Copenhagen Naples Luxembourg Vienna London Madrid 1970s Amsterdam Dublin Edinburgh Luxembourg Brighton Stockholm The Hague London Paris Jerusalem 1980s The Hague Dublin Harrogate Munich Luxembourg Gothenburg Bergen Brussels Dublin Lausanne 1990s Zagreb Rome Malmö Millstreet Dublin Dublin Oslo Dublin Birmingham Jerusalem 2000s Stockholm Copenhagen Tallinn Riga Istanbul Kiev Athens Helsinki Belgrade Moscow 2010s Oslo Düsseldorf Baku Malmö Copenhagen Congratulations: 50 Years of Eurovision Copenhagen   Venues 1950s Teatro Kursaal Großer Sendesaal des hessischen Rundfunks AVRO Studio Palais des Festivals 1960s Royal Festival Hall Palais des Festivals Villa Louvigny BBC Television Centre Tivolis Koncertsal RAI Concert Hall Villa Louvigny Hofburg Palace Royal Albert Hall Teatro Real 1970s RAI Congrescentrum Gaiety Theatre Usher Hall Grand Théâtre Brighton Dome Stockholm International Fairs Nederlands Congrescentrum Wembley Conference Centre Palais des Congrès International Convention Center 1980s Nederlands Congrescentrum RDS Simmonscourt Pavilion Harrogate International Centre Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle Grand Théâtre Scandinavium Grieg Hall Centenary Palace RDS Simmonscourt Pavilion Palais de Beaulieu 1990s Koncertna dvorana Vatroslav Lisinski Studio 15 di Cinecittà Malmö Isstadion Green Glens Arena Point Theatre Point Theatre Oslo Spektrum Point Theatre National Indoor Arena International Convention Center 2000s Ericsson Globe Parken Stadium Saku Suurhall Arena Skonto Hall Abdi İpekçi Arena Palace of Sports Olympic Indoor Hall Hartwall Areena Belgrade Arena Olimpiisky Indoor Arena 2010s Telenor Arena Esprit Arena Baku Crystal Hall Malmö Arena B&W Hallerne Congratulations: 50 Years of Eurovision Forum Copenhagen Portal Project