Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest

Sweden has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 59 times since making its debut in 1958, missing only three contests since then (1964, 1970 and 1976). Since 1959, the Swedish entry has been chosen through an annual televised competition, known since 1967 as Melodifestivalen. At the 1997 contest, Sweden was one of the first five countries to adopt televoting. Sweden is the only country to have hosted the event in five different decades, three times in Stockholm (1975, 2000, 2016), twice in Malmö (1992, 2013) and once in Gothenburg (1985).

Sweden
Member stationSveriges Television (SVT)
National selection events
Participation summary
Appearances59 (58 finals)
First appearance1958
Best result1st: 1974, 1984, 1991, 1999, 2012, 2015
Nul points1963
External links
SVT official homepage
Sweden's page at Eurovision.tv
For the most recent participation see
Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Sweden is one of the most successful competing nations at the Eurovision Song Contest, with a total of six victories, second only to Ireland's seven wins, and has the most top five results of the 21st century, with 11. In total, Sweden has achieved 25 top five results in the contest. After finishing second with Lill Lindfors and Svante Thuresson in 1966, Sweden went on to achieve its six victories with ABBA (1974), Herreys (1984), Carola (1991), Charlotte Nilsson (1999), Loreen (2012) and Måns Zelmerlöw (2015).

Contest history

Richard and Per Herrey of Herreys (1984), Carola Häggkvist (1991), Måns Zelmerlöw (2015), Loreen (2012) and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA (1974)

Sweden's first entrant in the contest was Alice Babs in 1958, who was placed fourth. This remained the country's best result until 1966, when Lill Lindfors and Svante Thuresson were second.

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 and become one of the best-selling pop groups of all time. In the 1980s, Sweden achieved three successive top three results. After Carola finished third in 1983, the Herreys gave Sweden its second victory in 1984 with "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley". Kikki Danielsson then finished third in 1985. Carola returned to the contest in 1991, to give the Swedes their third win with "Fångad av en stormvind", defeating France in a tie-break. Charlotte Nilsson gave the country a second win of the decade in 1999, with "Take Me to Your Heaven". The 1990s also saw two third-place results, for Jan Johansen in 1995 and One More Time in 1996. In the 2000s, the best Swedish result was fifth place, which they achieved four times, with Friends in 2001, Fame in 2003, Lena Philipsson in 2004 and Carola, who in 2006, became the only Swedish performer to achieve three top five results. Together with Croatia and Malta, Sweden was one of only three countries never to have been relegated under the pre 2004 rules of the contest. Sweden was also the first country to win 3 semifinals.

In 2010, Anna Bergendahl became the first Swedish entrant to fail to make it to the final, finishing 11th in the semifinal, only five points from qualification (in 2008, Charlotte Perrelli finished 12th in the semifinal but qualified through the back-up jury selection). Since then, the country has been very successful, finishing in the top seven in all the editions except one. This includes victories for Loreen, who gave Sweden its fifth victory in 2012 with the song "Euphoria", making Sweden one of only two countries (along with the United Kingdom) to have Eurovision victories in four different decades, and for the sixth time with Måns Zelmerlöw's "Heroes" in 2015. Sweden is one of only two countries - along with Ukraine in 2004 and 2016 with Ruslana and Jamala respectively - to win twice since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, performing the feat in both 2012 and 2015 with 372 and 365 points respectively, making Sweden additionally the first country to have scored 300 points or more twice. They also finished third in 2011 with Eric Saade and "Popular", third in 2014 with Sanna Nielsen and "Undo", fifth with Frans and "If I Were Sorry" in 2016, fifth with Robin Bengtsson and "I Can't Go On" in 2017, and fifth with John Lundvik and "Too Late For Love" in 2019.

Melodifestivalen

Melodifestivalen is an annual music competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It has chosen the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest since 1959. It is 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 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.

Contestants

Table key
1
Winner
2
Second place
3
Third place
Last place
X
Entry selected but did not compete
Year Artist Language Title[1] Final Points Semi Points
Alice Babs Swedish "Lilla stjärna" 4 10 No semi-finals
Brita Borg Swedish "Augustin" 9 4
Siw Malmkvist Swedish "Alla andra får varann" 10 4
Lill-Babs Swedish "April, April" 14 2
Inger Berggren Swedish "Sol och vår" 7 4
Monica Zetterlund Swedish "En gång i Stockholm" 13 ◁ 0
Ingvar Wixell English "Absent Friend" 10 6
Lill Lindfors and Svante Thuresson Swedish "Nygammal vals" 2 16
Östen Warnerbring Swedish "Som en dröm" 8 7
Claes-Göran Hederström Swedish "Det börjar verka kärlek, banne mig" 5 15
Tommy Körberg Swedish "Judy, min vän" 9 8
Family Four Swedish "Vita vidder" 6 85
Family Four Swedish "Härliga sommardag" 13 75
The Nova English "You're Summer" 5 94
ABBA English "Waterloo" 1 24
Lars Berghagen and The Dolls English "Jennie, Jennie" 8 72
Forbes Swedish "Beatles" 18 ◁ 2
Björn Skifs Swedish "Det blir alltid värre framåt natten" 14 26
Ted Gärdestad Swedish "Satellit" 17 8
Tomas Ledin Swedish "Just nu!" 10 47
Björn Skifs Swedish "Fångad i en dröm" 10 50
Chips Swedish "Dag efter dag" 8 67
Carola Swedish "Främling" 3 126
Herreys Swedish "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" 1 145
Kikki Danielsson Swedish "Bra vibrationer" 3 103
Monica Törnell & Lasse Holm Swedish "E' de' det här du kallar kärlek?" 5 78
Lotta Engberg Swedish "Boogaloo" 12 50
Tommy Körberg Swedish "Stad i ljus" 12 52
Tommy Nilsson Swedish "En dag" 4 110
Edin-Ådahl Swedish "Som en vind" 16 24
Carola Swedish "Fångad av en stormvind" 1 146
Christer Björkman Swedish "I morgon är en annan dag" 22 9
Arvingarna Swedish "Eloise" 7 89 Kvalifikacija za Millstreet
Marie Bergman and Roger Pontare Swedish "Stjärnorna" 13 48 No semi-finals
Jan Johansen Swedish "Se på mig" 3 100
One More Time Swedish "Den vilda" 3 100 1 227
Blond Swedish "Bara hon älskar mig" 14 36 No semi-finals
Jill Johnson Swedish "Kärleken är" 10 53
Charlotte Nilsson English "Take Me to Your Heaven" 1 163
Roger Pontare English "When Spirits Are Calling My Name" 7 88
Friends English "Listen To Your Heartbeat" 5 100
Afro-dite English "Never Let It Go" 8 72
Fame English "Give Me Your Love" 5 107
Lena Philipsson English "It Hurts" 5 170 Top 11 previous year[lower-alpha 1]
Martin Stenmarck English "Las Vegas" 19 30 Top 12 previous year[lower-alpha 1]
Carola English "Invincible" 5 170 4 214
The Ark English "The Worrying Kind" 18 51 Top 10 previous year[lower-alpha 1]
Charlotte Perrelli English "Hero" 18 47 12[lower-alpha 2] 54
Malena Ernman French, English "La voix" 21 33 4 105
Anna Bergendahl English "This Is My Life" Failed to qualify 11 62
Eric Saade English "Popular" 3 185 1 155
Loreen English "Euphoria" 1 372 1 181
Robin Stjernberg English "You" 14 62 Host country[lower-alpha 3]
Sanna Nielsen English "Undo" 3 218 2 131
Måns Zelmerlöw English "Heroes" 1 365 1 217
Frans English "If I Were Sorry" 5 261 Host country[lower-alpha 3]
Robin Bengtsson English "I Can't Go On" 5 344 3 227
Benjamin Ingrosso English "Dance You Off" 7 274 2 254
John Lundvik English "Too Late for Love" 5 334 3 238
The Mamas English "Move" Contest cancelled X[lower-alpha 4]

Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest

Artist Language Title At Congratulations At Eurovision
Final Points Semi Points Year Final Points
ABBA English "Waterloo" 1 329 1 331 1974 1 24

Hostings

Year Location Venue Presenters
1975 Stockholm Stockholm International Fairs Karin Falck
1985 Gothenburg Scandinavium Lill Lindfors
1992 Malmö Malmö Isstadion Lydia Cappolicchio and Harald Treutiger
2000 Stockholm Ericsson Globe Kattis Ahlström and Anders Lundin
2013 Malmö Malmö Arena Petra Mede
2016 Stockholm Ericsson Globe Petra Mede and Måns Zelmerlöw

Awards

Marcel Bezençon Awards

Year Category Performer Song Composer(s)
lyrics (l) / music (m)
Final
result
Points Host city Ref.
2002 Artistic Award[lower-alpha 5] Afro-dite "Never Let It Go" Marcos Ubeda (m & l) 8 72 Tallinn
2006 Artistic Award[lower-alpha 5] Carola "Invincible" Thomas G:son, Bobby Ljunggren, Henrik Wikström, Carola 5 170 Athens
2012 Artistic Award[lower-alpha 6] Loreen "Euphoria" Thomas G:son (m & l), Peter Boström (m & l) 1 372 Baku
Composer Award
2013 Composer Award Robin Stjernberg "You" Robin Stjernberg, Linnea Deb, Joy Deb, Joakim Harestad Haukaas 14 62 Malmö
2015 Artistic Award[lower-alpha 6] Måns Zelmerlöw "Heroes" Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb 1 365 Vienna

Winners by OGAE members

Year Song Performer Final
result
Points Host city Ref.
2008 "Hero" Charlotte Perrelli 18 47 Belgrade
2012 "Euphoria" Loreen 1 372 Baku
2014 "Undo" Sanna Nielsen 3 218 Copenhagen

Conductors

Year Eurovision Conductor[lower-alpha 7] Melodifestivalen Conductor Musical Director Notes Ref.
1958 Dolf van der Linden No national final held N/A Host conductor [7]
1959 Franck Pourcel Thore Ehrling Host conductor
1960 Thore Ehrling
1961 William Lind
1962 Egon Kjerrman
1963 William Lind
1965
1966 Gert-Ove Andersson
1967 Mats Olsson
1968
1969 Lars Samuelson
1971 Claes Rosendahl [8]
1972 Mats Olsson
1973 Monica Dominique
1974 Sven-Olof Walldoff
1975 Lars Samuelson Mats Olsson
1977 Anders Berglund N/A
1978 Bengt Palmers
1979 Lars Samuelson
1980 Anders Berglund [9]
1981
1982
1983 Anders Ekdahl
1984 Curt-Eric Holmquist
1985 Curt-Eric Holmquist [lower-alpha 8]
1986 Anders Berglund N/A[lower-alpha 9] N/A
1987 Curt-Eric Holmquist
1988 Anders Berglund
1989
1990 Curt-Eric Holmquist
1991 Anders Berglund
1992 Anders Berglund [lower-alpha 10]
1993 Curt-Eric Holmquist N/A
1994 Anders Berglund
1995
1996
1997 Curt-Eric Holmquist
1998 Anders Berglund
1999 No orchestra Anders Berglund
2000 Curt-Eric Holmquist


Heads of delegation

Year Head of delegation Ref.
2013 Rennie Mirro
2015 Christer Björkman
2016 Mari Ryberger
2018 Christer Björkman

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. From 2009 to 2018 (except 2013 and 2016), Edward af Sillén provided the SVT commentary alongside various dual commentators.

Year Television commentator Radio commentator Spokesperson Ref.
1957 Nils LinnmanNo radio broadcastDid not participate
1958 Jan GabrielssonSame as television broadcastTage Danielsson
1959 Roland Eiworth
1960 Tage Danielsson
1961 Roland Eiworth
1962 Tage Danielsson
1963 Jörgen CederbergEdvard Matz
1964 Sven LindahlDid not participate
1965 Berndt FribergEdvard Matz
1966 Sven Lindahl
1967 Christina Hansegård
1968
1969
1970 No television broadcastNo radio broadcastDid not participate
1971 Åke StrömmerUrsula RichterNo spokesperson
1972 Bo BillténBjörn Bjelfvenstam
1973 Alicia LundbergUrsula Richter
1974 Johan SandströmSven Lindahl
1975 Åke Strömmer
1976 No television broadcastDid not participate
1977 Ulf ElfvingÅke Strömmer, Ursula RichterSven Lindahl
1978 Kent Finell
1979
1980 Arne Weise
1981 No radio broadcastBengteric Nordell
1982 Kent FinellArne Weise
1983 Agneta Bolme-Börjefors
1984 Fredrik BelfrageNo radio broadcast
1985 Jan Ellerås, Rune Hallberg
1986 Ulf ElfvingJacob Dahlin
1987 Fredrik BelfrageJan Ellerås
1988 Bengt GrafströmKalle OldbyMaud Uppling
1989 Jacob DahlinKent Finell, Janeric SundquistAgneta Bolme-Börjefors
1990 Jan JingrydKersti Adams-RayJan Ellerås
1991 Harald TreutigerKalle Oldby, Runne HallbergBo Hagström
1992 Björn Kjellman, Jesper AspegrenKalle Oldby, Lotta EngbergJan Jingryd
1993 Jan Jingryd, Kåge GimtellSusan Seidemar, Claes-Johan LarssonGösta Hanson
1994 Pekka HeinoClaes-Johan Larsson, Lisa SyrénMarianne Anderberg
1995 Pernilla Månsson, Kåge GimtellBjörn Hedman
1996 Björn KjellmanUlla Rundqvist
1997 Jan JingrydGösta Hanson
1998 Pernilla Månsson, Christer BjörkmanClaes-Johan Larsson, Anna HötzelBjörn Hedman
1999 Pekka Heino, Anders BerglundCarolina NorénPontus Gårdinger
2000 Pernilla Månsson, Christer LundhCarolina Norén, Björn KjellmanMalin Ekander
2001 Henrik OlssonJosefine Sundström
2002 Claes Åkesson, Christer BjörkmanKristin Kaspersen
2003 Pekka HeinoKattis Ahlström
2004 Jovan Radomir
2005 Annika Jankell
2006 Jovan Radomir
2007 Kristian Luuk, Josef SterzenbachAndré Pops
2008 Björn Gustafsson
2009 Edward af Sillén, Shirley ClampSarah Dawn Finer
2010 Edward af Sillén, Christine MeltzerEric Saade
2011 Edward af Sillén, Hélène BennoDanny Saucedo
2012 Edward af Sillén, Gina DirawiSarah Dawn Finer (as Lynda Woodruff)
2013 Josefine SundströmYohio
2014 Edward af Sillén, Malin OlssonCarolina Norén, Ronnie RitterlandAlcazar
2015 Edward af Sillén, Sanna NielsenMariette Hansson
2016 Lotta BroméCarolina Norén, Björn KjellmanGina Dirawi
2017 Edward af Sillén, Måns ZelmerlöwCarolina NorénWiktoria
2018 Edward af Sillén, Sanna NielsenUnknownFelix Sandman
2019 Edward af Sillén, Charlotte PerrelliEric Saade

Costume designers

Year Costume designers Ref.
2006 Lars Wallin
2009 Camilla Thulin

Photogallery

Songwriting for other countries

No restriction on the nationality of the songwriter(s) and the artist exists in the Eurovision Song Contest rules, which has resulted in countries being represented by songwriters and artist who are not nationals of that country. In recent years Swedish songwriters have been involved in the writing entirely or partly of entries from several countries apart from Sweden.

See also

Notes

  1. According to the then-Eurovision rules, the top ten non-Big Four countries from the previous year along with the Big Four automatically qualified for the Grand Final without having to compete in semi-finals. For example, if Germany and France placed inside the top ten, the 11th and 12th spots were advanced to next year's Grand Final along with all countries ranked in the top ten.
  2. Qualified through the back-up jury selection.
  3. If a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year.
  4. The 2020 contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  5. Voted by previous winners.
  6. Voted by commentators.
  7. All conductors are of Swedish nationality unless otherwise noted.
  8. Also conducted the Belgian entry
  9. That year's Swedish national final had the entries presented as music videos, so there was no orchestra present.
  10. Berglund also conducted and played accordion for the Yugoslav entry, as well as re-arranging the French entry.

References

  1. "Sweden - Eurovision Song Contest Israel 2019". eurovision.tv.
  2. "Marcel Bezençon Awards". eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  3. "Winners of the Marcel Bezençon Awards 2012". eurovision.tv. 27 May 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  4. "Winners of the Marcel Bezençon Awards 2013". eurovision.tv. 19 May 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  5. "Winners of the Marcel Bezençon Awards 2015". eurovision.tv. 25 May 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  6. Cobb, Ryan (21 April 2017). "Analysing ten years of OGAE voting: "Underneath the fan favourite bias is a worthwhile indicator"". escxtra.com. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  7. Roxburgh, Gordon (2012). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume One: The 1950s and 1960s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 93–101. ISBN 978-1-84583-065-6.
  8. Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 142–168. ISBN 978-1-84583-093-9.
  9. Roxburgh, Gordon (2016). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Three: The 1980s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84583-118-9.
  10. Granger, Anthony (29 April 2019). "Latvia: Ell & Nikki's Creative Director Brought In For Carousel". eurovoix.com. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  11. Knoops, Roy (28 April 2016). "Sweden: Head of Delegation talks about Frans and Eurovision". esctoday.com. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  12. "THE VOTING RESULTS OF THE 2ND SEASON OF DEPI EVRATESIL". eurovision.am. 26 February 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  13. Ek, Torbjörn (9 April 2019). "Perrelli ny Eurovision-kommentator" [Perrelli new Eurovision commentator]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  14. Bokholm, Mirja (28 April 2011). "Eurovision Song Contest 2011: Danny Saucedo delar ut Sveriges poäng i Düsseldorf" [Eurovision Song Contest 2011: Danny Saucedo awards Sweden's points in Düsseldorf]. poplight.zitiz.se (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  15. Roxburgh, Gordon (26 May 2012). "Running order for the voting tonight". eurovision.tv. EBU. Archived from the original on 18 June 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  16. Bokholm, Mirja (22 April 2013). "YOHIO presenterar de svenska rösterna i Eurovision Song Contest" [YOHIO presents the Swedish votes in the Eurovision Song Contest]. SVT (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  17. Albinsson, Mathilde (30 April 2014). "Alcazar presenterar de svenska rösterna i Eurovision Song Contest 2014" [Alcazar present the Swedish votes in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014]. SVT (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 25 April 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  18. "Sanna Nielsen och Edward af Sillén kommenterar Eurovision Song Contest". Melodifestivalen. SVT. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  19. Dahlander, Gustav (22 April 2015). "Mariette Hansson delar ut Sveriges poäng i Eurovision Song Contest 2015" [Mariette Hansson awards Sweden's points in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015]. SVT (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 5 January 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  20. Granger, Anthony (20 April 2016). "Sweden: Gina Dirawi To Announce The Swedish Vote". eurovoix.com. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  21. Granger, Anthony (12 April 2017). "Sweden: Wiktoria Announced as Spokesperson For Eurovision 2017". eurovoix.com. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  22. "Sanna Nielsen kommenterar Eurovision" [Sanna Nielsen commentates on Eurovision]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). 9 May 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
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