Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1965
After a year of absence, Sweden competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 1965 with the opera singer Ingvar Wixell, and the song "Absent Friend" (originally "Annorstädes vals") composed by Dag Wirén. For the first time, one singer sang all the songs in the national final, and Ingvar was also the first male singer to represent Sweden. It was the first ESC entry that was not performed in the country's native language; this led to the introduction of the language rule the following year. The contest was held in Naples that year, and Sweden finished 10th out of 18.*
| Eurovision Song Contest 1965 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Sweden | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Melodifestivalen 1965 | |||
| Selection date(s) | 13 February 1965 | |||
| Selected entrant | Ingvar Wixell | |||
| Selected song | "Absent Friend" | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 10th, 6 points | |||
| Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Melodifestivalen 1965
Melodifestivalen 1965 (known as the Svensk sångfinal) was the selection for the seventh song to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest. It was the sixth time that this system of picking a song had been used. Ingvar Wixell performed all of the songs. Eight songs were submitted to Sveriges Radio for the competition, of which two were turned down by Wixell. The final was broadcast on Sveriges Radio TV but was not broadcast on radio.
| Running Order | Artist | Song | Songwriters | Points | Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ingvar Wixell | "Stilla och tyst" | Owe Thörnqvist | 28 | 2nd |
| 2 | Ingvar Wixell | "Kommer vår" | Bobbie Ericson, Bo Eneby | 5 | 4th |
| 3 | Ingvar Wixell | "Varm i dej" | Bo Nilsson | 2 | 5th |
| 4 | Ingvar Wixell | "Förtrollad stad" | Torbjörn Lundqvist, Bo Setterlind | 14 | 3rd |
| 5 | Ingvar Wixell | "Väldigt vacker" | Georg Riedel, Berndt Rosengren | 1 | 6th |
| 6 | Ingvar Wixell | "Annorstädes vals" | Dag Wirén, Alf Henrikson | 50 | 1st |
At Eurovision
On the night of the final Wixell performed 10th in the running order, following Monaco and preceding France. Sweden gained 6 points and ranked 10th. The Swedish jury awarded its 5 points to Denmark, who had arguably the most old-fashioned song of the night.
Points awarded by Sweden
| 5 points |  Denmark |
| 3 points |  United Kingdom |
| 1 point |  Luxembourg |