Melodifestivalen 2006

Melodifestivalen 2006
Final: 18 March 2006
Presenter: Lena Philipsson
Venue: Globen
Director: Sven Stojanovic
Commentator: Pekka Heino
Viewing figures (approx): 4,240,000 (about 38% of Sweden's population)
Voting: 50/50 Jury, SMS and telephone voting
Total number of televotes cast: 1,913,152
Interval Act: Helena Paparizou, Lena Philipsson
Winner: Evighet performed by Carola Häggkvist
Winner's result at Eurovision: 5th

Melodifestivalen 2006 was the selection for the 46th song to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest. It was the 45th time that this system of picking a song had been used. Five semifinals had taken place to select the ten songs for the final, in Leksand, Karlstad, Karlskrona, Gothenburg and a Second Chance round in Stockholm. The final was broadcast on SVT1 and Sveriges Radio's P4 network. Carola Häggkvist was the clear favourite to win the final , with bookmakers making her favourite and an Aftonbladet web poll showing her to have a clear margin over the other participants. The rehearsals sold out for the fourth year running , however Carola was unable to perform in the final rehearsal due to throat problems . This led to speculation that the final would be closer than expected. Aftonbladet claimed in April 2006 that the televote may have been tampered with , as various sources reported unexplained voting (predominantly for Carola) on their telephone bills. It is clear that this would not have affected the result. Various finalists and semifinalists entered the Swedish Hitlistan chart after the competition . The second placed song, "Temple of Love" finished fourth in the Eurovision Madrid National Finals Song Contest.

Semifinals

The semifinals for Melodifestivalen 2006 began on 18 February 2006. Ten songs from these semifinals qualified for the final on 18 March 2006. This was the fifth year that a semifinal format had been used for the competition, and interest was higher than ever.

Preselection

On 15 August 2005 SVT confirmed that Leksand, Karlstad, Karlskrona and Gothenburg would host the semifinals of Melodifestivalen 2006, with the final taking place at the Stockholm Globe Arena for the fifth year running (sixth overall). SVT received 3,310 songs for the competition, a new record . The song titles were unveiled on 12 October, and the artists fifteen days later. Steven Simmonds took his song off the line-up in November 2005, stating that SVT were forcing him to sing it himself, which he did not want to do. Lena Philipsson was a surprise choice as host, as rumours had been spreading that SVT wanted Helena Paparizou to present the Gothenburg semifinal or the final. Bodies Without Organs were unveiled as the first wildcard in a pre-Christmas special. There was much speculation that Eurovision Song Contest 1999 winner Charlotte Perrelli would be among the others, but Magnus Carlsson, Rednex and Andreas Johnson were confirmed as wildcards in late January 2006. The proposed changes to the voting format (caused by the controversy over Nanne Grönvall's defeat in Melodifestivalen 2005) never materialised.

Contributions that didn't make it

Other artists that submitted songs

Fredrik Wännman, Josefin Nilsson & Björn Kjellman, Pernilla Wahlgren, Elisabeth Andreassen, Lotta Engberg, Mikael Rickfors, Tommy Nilsson, Lustans Lakejer, Jan Johansen, Ann Winsborn, Emil Sigfridsson, Niklas Andersson, Rikard Wolff and The Wallstones.

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 1
Date: 18 February 2006
Presenter: Lena Philipsson
Venue: Ejendals Arena, Leksand
Voting: Telephone voting
Interval Act: Veniamin Showgroup
Viewing figures (approx): 3,045,000
Total number of televotes cast: 466,660
Qualifiers: Jag ljuger så bra performed by Linda Bengtzing, Sing For Me performed by Andreas Johnson
Second Chance: The Name of Love performed by Magnus Bäcklund, Kamelont performed by the Electric Banana Band
# Artist Song Televotes Place Results
Round 1 Round 2
1 Simone Moreno Aiayeh (The Music of the Samba) 6 688 — 8 Out
2 Electric Banana Band Kameleont 32 192 29 037 4 Second Chance
3 Anna Sahlene This Woman 22 078 25 954 5 Out
4 Magnus Bäcklund The Name of Love 39 442 45 561 3 Second Chance
5 Linda Bengtzing Jag ljuger så bra 49 506 56 658 2 Final
6 Pandang Kuddkrig 16 611 — 6 Out
7 Hannah Graaf Naughty Boy 14 230 — 7 Out
8 Andreas Johnson Sing for Me 56 354 61 323 1 Wildcard
Final

Semifinal 2

Semifinal 2
Date: 25 February 2006
Presenter: Lena Philipsson
Venue: Löfbergs Lila Arena, Karlstad
Voting: Telephone voting
Interval Act: Stage-TV, Tommy Körberg
Viewing figures (approx): 2,320,000
Total number of televotes cast: 306,074
Qualifiers: Lev livet performed by Magnus Carlsson, Idag och imorgon performed by Kikki Danielsson
Second Chance: En droppe regn performed by Niclas Wahlgren, Mi amore performed by Velvet
# Artist Song Televotes Place Results
Round 1 Round 2
1 Magnus Carlsson Lev livet! 31 115 49 610 1 Wildcard
Final
2 The Elephantz Oh Yeah 7 856 — 8 Out
3 Sonya Etymon 16 541 17 299 5 Out
4 Östen med Resten Ge mig en kaka till kaffet 13 617 — 6 Out
5 Pablo Cepelda La chica dela copa 12 630 — 7 Out
6 Kikki Danielsson Idag och imorgon 35 792 35 753 2 Final
7 Niclas Wahlgren En droppe regn 17 600 23 339 3 Second Chance
8 Velvet Mi amore 21 496 22 627 4 Second Chance

Semifinal 3

Semifinal 3
Date: 4 March 2006
Presenter: Lena Philipsson
Venue: Arena Rosenholm, Karlskrona
Voting: Telephone voting
Interval Act: Anders Lundin, Andreas Nilsson, Jan Åström, David & FoFo
Viewing figures (approx): 3,110,000
Total number of televotes cast: 411,478
Qualifiers: Temple of Love performed by BWO, Night of Passion performed by The Poodles
Second Chance: Faller du så faller jag performed by Patrik Isaksson, Golden Star performed by Elysion
# Artist Song Televotes Place Results
Round 1 Round 2
1 BWO Temple of Love 38 733 53 820 2 Wildcard
Final
2 Jessica Folcker When Love's Comin' Back Again 14 725 — 7 Out
3 Gregor Mi amor 6 801 — 8 Out
4 Jessica Andersson Kalla nätter 17 873 26 247 5 Out
5 The Poodles Night of Passion 45 927 56 242 1 Final
6 Elysion Golden Star 27 241 31 864 4 Second Chance
7 Patrik Isaksson Faller du så faller jag 22 985 33 080 3 Second Chance
8 Kayo Shekoni Innan natten är över 17 770 — 6 Out

Semifinal 4

Semifinal 4
Date: 11 March 2006
Presenter: Lena Philipsson
Venue: Scandinavium, Gothenburg
Voting: Telephone voting
Interval Act: Morgan Alling
Viewing figures (approx): 3,645,000
Total number of televotes cast: 653,991
Qualifiers: Älskar du livet performed by Björn Kjellman, Evighet performed by Carola Häggkvist
Second Chance: Mama Take Me Home performed by Rednex, Silverland performed by Roger Pontare
# Artist Song Televotes Place Results
Round 1 Round 2
1 Roger Pontare Silverland 29 939 37 645 4 Second Chance
2 Laila Adéle Don't Try To Stop Me 17 851 — 7 Out
3 Günther and the Sunshine Girls Like Fire Tonight 20 767 — 6 Out
4 Sandra Dahlberg Jag tar det jag vill ha 26 462 34 769 5 Out
5 Evan Under Your Spell 13 600 — 8 Out
6 Rednex Mama Take Me Home 37 104 50 418 3 Wildcard
Second Chance
7 Björn Kjellman Älskar du livet 40 574 53 000 2 Final
8 Carola Häggkvist Evighet 139 952 151 021 1 Final

Second Chance Round

Second Chance Round
Date: 12 March 2006
Presenters: Carin Hjulström-Livh & Henrik Johnson
Venue: SVT TV-Huset, Stockholm
Voting: Telephone voting
Interval Act: Melodifestivalen quiz
Viewing figures (approx): 2,140,000
Total number of televotes cast: 480,449
Qualifiers: The Name of Love performed by Magnus Bäcklund, Mama Take Me Home performed by Rednex
# Artist Song Televotes Place Results
Round 1 Round 2
1 Electric Banana Band Kameleont 14 961 — 6 Out
2 Magnus Bäcklund The Name of Love 35 823 53 582 2 Final
3 Niclas Wahlgren En droppe regn 10 584 — 8 Out
4 Velvet Mi amore 12 076 — 7 Out
5 Elysion Golden Star 25 947 33 583 5 Out
6 Patrik Isaksson Faller du så faller jag 36 613 51 270 3 Out
7 Roger Pontare Silverland 36 180 45 188 4 Out
8 Rednex Mama Take Me Home 53 635 68 670 1 Final

Results

# Artist Song Songwriters Votes Place
Jury Public Total
1 Andreas Johnson Sing for Me Andreas Johnson, Peter Kvint 112 88 200 3rd
2 Björn Kjellman Älskar du livet Calle Kindbom, Dan Fernström 6 0 6 9th
3 Linda Bengtzing Jag ljuger så bra Lars "Dille" Diedricson, Martin Hedström, Ingela "Pling" Forsman 34 22 56 7th
4 The Poodles Night of Passion Robert Olausson, Maiti Alfonzetti, Sonja Aldén, Johan Lyander 32 66 98 4th
5 Magnus Carlsson Lev livet! Anders Glenmark, Niklas Strömstedt 19 0 19 8th
6 Rednex Mama Take Me Home Matthews Green, Michael Clauss 17 44 61 6th
7 Carola Evighet Bobby Ljunggren, Thomas G:son, Henrik Wikström 102 132 234 1st
8 Magnus Bäcklund The Name of Love Lina Eriksson, Mårten Eriksson 57 11 68 5th
9 Kikki Danielsson I dag & i morgon Thomas G:son, Calle Kindbom 2 0 2 10th
10 BWO Temple of Love Alexander Bard, Anders Hansson 92 110 202 2nd

Juries

Song Örebro Luleå Falun Karlstad Umeå Norrköping Göteborg Sundsvall Växjö Malmö Stockholm Total
Sing for Me 8 12 10 12 12 12 8 10 12 10 6 112
Älskar du livet - - - - - - 6 - - - - 6
Jag ljuger så bra 1 6 6 1 2 6 1 4 2 4 1 34
Night of Passion 6 2 2 6 1 2 2 1 4 2 4 32
Lev livet - - 1 4 4 1 - - 1 - 8 19
Mama Take Me Home 4 4 - - - - - 8 - 1 - 17
Evighet 2 8 12 10 10 10 12 12 8 8 10 102
The Name of Love 10 1 8 8 8 4 4 2 6 6 - 57
Idag och imorgon - - - - - - - - - - 2 2
Temple of Love 12 10 4 2 6 8 10 6 10 12 12 92

Televotes

Song Jury No. of televotes (%) Points Total
Sing for Me 112 350.938 (18%) 88 200
Älskar du livet 6 83.917 (4%) - 6
Jag ljuger så bra 34 138.249 (7%) 22 56
Night of Passion 32 180.784 (9%) 66 98
Lev livet 19 44.825 (2%) - 19
Mama Take Me Home 17 154.115 (8%) 44 61
Evighet 102 437.876 (23%) 132 234
The Name of Love 57 101.799 (5%) 11 68
Idag och imorgon 2 51.742 (3%) - 2
Temple of Love 92 368.907 (19%) 110 202

Returning artists

Artist Previous year(s)
Sahlene 2003
Magnus Bäcklund 2003 and 2004 as Fame
Jessica Andersson
Linda Bengtzing 2005
BWO
Jessica Folcker
Anne-Lie Rydé
Magnus Carlsson 2000, 2001, and 2002 with Barbados, 2003 and 2005 with Alcazar
Östen med resten 2002, 2003
Kikki Danielsson 1978 with Wizex, 1980, 1981, 1982 with Chips, 1983, 1985, 1992, 2002 as Kikki, Bettan & Lotta
Roger Pontare 1994, with Marie Bergman, 2000
Sandra Dahlberg 2004
Annika Ljungberg 2002
Carola 1983, 1990, 1991

See also

References

    External links