Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015

Sweden participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Heroes", written by Linnea Deb, Joy Deb and Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad. The song was performed by Måns Zelmerlöw. Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) organised the national final Melodifestivalen 2015 in order to select the Swedish entry for the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. After twenty-eight songs competed in a six-week long process consisting of four semi-finals, a second chance round and a final, "Heroes" performed by Måns Zelmerlöw emerged as the winner after gaining the most points from both an international jury and a public televote.

Eurovision Song Contest 2015
Country Sweden
National selection
Selection processMelodifestivalen 2015
Selection date(s)Semi-finals:
7 February 2015
14 February 2015
21 February 2015
28 February 2015
Second Chance:
7 March 2015
Final:
14 March 2015
Selected entrantMåns Zelmerlöw
Selected song"Heroes"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (1st, 217 points)
Final result1st, 365 points
Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2014 • 2015 • 2016►

In the second of the Eurovision semi-finals "Heroes" placed first out of the 17 participating countries, securing its place among the 27 other songs in the final. In Sweden's fifty-fifth Eurovision appearance on 23 May, "Heroes" became the sixty-third song to win the Eurovision Song Contest, receiving a total of 365 points and full marks from twelve countries. This was Sweden's sixth win in the contest, having previously won in 1974, 1984, 1991, 1999 and 2012.

Background
Main article: Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2015 Contest, Sweden had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-four times since its first entry in 1958.[1] Sweden had won the contest on five occasions: in 1974 with the song "Waterloo" performed by ABBA, in 1984 with the song "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" performed by Herreys, in 1991 with the song "Fångad av en stormvind" performed by Carola, in 1999 with the song "Take Me to Your Heaven" performed by Charlotte Nilsson, and in 2012 with the song "Euphoria" performed by Loreen. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004, Sweden had, to this point, only failed to qualify to the final on one occasion in 2010. In 2014, Sweden placed third in the contest with the song "Undo" performed by Sanna Nielsen.

The Swedish national broadcaster, Sveriges Television (SVT), broadcasts the event within Sweden and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. Since 1959, SVT has organised the annual competition Melodifestivalen in order to select the Swedish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Before Eurovision

SVT confirmed that Sweden would participate in the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest on 20 May 2014, at the same time announcing that the Swedish entry would be selected through the national final Melodifestivalen 2015.[2]

Melodifestivalen 2015
Main article: Melodifestivalen 2015

Melodifestivalen 2015 was the Swedish music competition that selected Sweden's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. Hosted by 2014 Swedish Eurovision entrant Sanna Nielsen and comedian Robin Paulsson, 28 songs competed in a six-week-long process which consisted of four semi-finals on 7, 14, 21 and 28 February 2015, a second chance round on 7 March 2015, and a final on 15 March 2015. Seven songs competed in each semi-final - the top two qualified directly to the final, while the third and fourth placed songs qualified to the second chance round. An additional four songs qualified to the final from the second chance round.[3] Among the competing artists were former Eurovision Song Contest contestants Eric Saade who represented Sweden in 2011, Jessica Andersson who represented Sweden in 2003 as part of the duo Fame and Marie Bergman who represented Sweden in 1971 and 1972 as part of the group Family Four as well as in 1994 performing in a duet with Roger Pontare.[4]

Semi-finals and Second chance
  • The first semi-final took place on 7 February 2015 at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg. "Sting" performed by Eric Saade and "Can't Hurt Me Now" performed by Jessica Andersson qualified directly to the final, while "Hello Hi" performed by Dolly Style and "Det rår vi inte för" performed by Behrang Miri featuring Victor Crone qualified to the second chance round.[5]
  • The second semi-final took place on 14 February 2015 at the Malmö Arena in Malmö. "Don't Stop Believing" performed by Mariette and "Möt mig i Gamla stan" performed by Magnus Carlsson qualified directly to the final, while "Forever Starts Today" performed by Linus Svenning and "Groupie" performed by Samir and Viktor qualified to the second chance round.[6]
  • The third semi-final took place on 21 February 2015 at the Östersund Arena in Östersund. "Jag är fri (Manne Leam Frijje)" performed by Jon Henrik Fjällgren and "Don't Stop" performed by Isa qualified directly to the final, while "Bring Out The Fire" performed by Andreas Weise and "I See You" performed by Kristin Amparo qualified to the second chance round.[7]
  • The fourth semi-final took place on 28 February 2015 at the Conventum Arena in Örebro. "Building It Up" performed by JTR and "Heroes" performed by Måns Zelmerlöw qualified directly to the final, while "Guld och gröna skogar" performed by Hasse Andersson and "Make Me (La La La)" performed by Dinah Nah qualified to the second chance round.[8]
  • The second chance round took place on 7 March 2015 at the Helsingborg Arena in Helsingborg. Four songs qualified to the final after winning a duel against another song and thereby completing the final line-up. The qualifying entries were "Forever Starts Today" performed by Linus Svenning, "Guld och gröna skogar" performed by Hasse Andersson, "Make Me (La La La)" performed by Dinah Nah and "Groupie" performed by Samir and Viktor.[9]

Final

The final of Melodifestivalen 2015 was held on 14 March 2015 at the Friends Arena in Solna, Stockholm. The two winners from each semi-final and the four second chance winners qualified for the final, creating a twelve-song lineup. A mix of televoting/SMS voting and international jury voting selected "Heroes" performed by Måns Zelmerlöw as the winner.[10]

Draw Artist Song (English translation) Composer(s) Juries Viewers Total Place
1Samir & Viktor"Groupie"Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad, Maria Smith, Kevin Högdahl, Viktor Thell2920498
2JTR"Building It Up"John Andreasson, Tom Lundbäck, Robin Lundbäck, Erik Lewander, Iggy Strange Dahl2142510
3Dinah Nah"Make Me (La La La)"Dinah Nah, Dr. Alban (Alban Nwapa), Jakke Erixson, Karl-Ola Kjellholm1482212
4Jon Henrik Fjällgren"Jag är fri (Manne Leam Frijje)"
(I am free)		Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Erik Holmberg, Tony Malm, Josef Melin51881392
5Jessica Andersson"Can't Hurt Me Now"Aleena Gibson, Fredrik Thomander1582311
6Måns Zelmerlöw"Heroes"Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb1221662881
7Linus Svenning"Forever Starts Today"Aleena Gibson, Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad, Fredrik Kempe4118596
8Isa"Don't Stop"Isa Tengblad, Johan Ramström, Gustaf Svenungsson, Magnus Wallin, Oscar Merner3818567
9Magnus Carlsson"Möt mig i Gamla stan"
(Meet me in Old Town)		Thomas G:son, Lina Eriksson1018289
10Eric Saade"Sting"Arash Fahmi, Fredrik Kempe, Hamed "K-one" Pirouzpanah, David Kreuger4829775
11Mariette"Don't Stop Believing"Miss Li (Linda Karlsson), Sonny Gustafsson74281023
12Hasse Andersson"Guld och gröna skogar" (Gold and green forests)Anderz Wrethov, Elin Wrethov, Johan Bejerholm, Johan Deltinger1068784

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. In the 2015 contest, Australia also competed directly in the final as an invited guest nation. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into five different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.[11] On 26 January 2015, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Sweden was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 21 May 2015, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[12]

Once all the competing songs for the 2015 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Sweden was set to perform in position 13, following the entry from Iceland and before the entry from Switzerland.[13] All three shows were televised on SVT1, with commentary by Sanna Nielsen and Edward af Sillén as well as broadcast via radio on SR P4 with commentary by Carolina Norén and Ronnie Ritterland.[14][15] The Swedish spokesperson, who announced the Swedish votes during the final, was Mariette Hansson.[16]

Semi-final
Zelmerlöw at a dress rehearsal for the second semi-final

Zelmerlöw took part in technical rehearsals on 14 and 16 May,[17][18] followed by dress rehearsals on 20 and 21 May. This included the jury final where professional juries of each country, responsible for 50 percent of each country's vote, watched and voted on the competing entries.[19]

The stage show featured Zelmerlöw performing in front of a projection board. During the verses, the performance focused on him singing in front of the board, interacting with choreographed graphics such as stick-man figures. During the chorus, the LED displays in the background displayed bursts of light and movement.[17][18] On stage, Zelmerlöw wore black leather trousers and a grey jumper with nothing underneath. He was joined by five offstage backing vocalists: Britta Bergström, Michael Blomqvist, Linnea Deb, Alexander Holmgren and Jeanette Olsson.[20]

At the end of the show, the Sweden was announced as having finished in the top ten and subsequently qualifying for the grand final.[21] It was later revealed that the Sweden won the semi-final, receiving a total of 217 points.[22]

Final
Zelmerlöw during a press meet and greet.

Shortly after the second semi-final, a winner's press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the order the countries were announced during the semi-final. Sweden was drawn to compete in the first half.[23] Following this draw, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final, as they had done for the semi-finals. Sweden was subsequently placed to perform in position 10, following the entry from Norway and before the entry from Cyprus.[24] On the day of the grand final, Sweden was the top favourite to win the competition according to the bookmakers.[25]

Zelmerlöw once again took part in dress rehearsals on 22 and 23 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show.[26] Zelmerlöw performed a repeat of his semi-final performance during the final on 23 May. Sweden won the competition with 365 points, beating Russia and Italy into second and third places respectively. Sweden received 12 points, the maximum number of points a country can give to another country, from twelve countries.[27][28] The broadcast was watched by an average 3.282 million people in Sweden with viewership peaking at 4.3 million.[29]

Marcel Bezençon Awards

The Marcel Bezençon Awards, first awarded during the 2002 contest, are awards honouring the best competing songs in the final each year. Named after the creator of the annual contest, Marcel Bezençon, the awards are divided into 3 categories: the Press Award, given to the best entry as voted on by the accredited media and press during the event; the Artistic Award, presented to the best artist as voted on by the shows' commentators; and the Composer Award, given to the best and most original composition as voted by the participating composers. "Heroes" was awarded the Artistic Award, which was accepted at the awards ceremony by Måns Zelmerlöw.[30]

Voting

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member were released shortly after the grand final.[31]

Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that the public televote and jury results were in disagreement in regards to the winner in the final. Sweden was the winner of the jury vote with 353 points, however, the nation only managed third place with 279 points in the public televote, finishing behind Italy and Russia respectively.[32] In the second semi-final, Sweden placed first with the public televote receiving 195 points and first with thejury vote with 208 points.[33]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Sweden and awarded by Sweden in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:[22][28][34][35]

Points awarded to Sweden
Points awarded to Sweden (Semi-final 2)
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Points awarded to Sweden (final)
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by Sweden

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Swedish jury:[31]

  • Filip Adamo – Chairperson – independent music professional, production manager
  • Lina Hedlund – singer
  • Henrik Johnsson – radio/TV producer, anchor
  • Rennie Mirro – dancer, choreographer, actor
  • Isa Tengblad (Isa) – singer, dancer, composer
Split voting results from Sweden (Semi-final 2)
Draw Country F. Adamo L. Hedlund H. Johnsson R. Mirro Isa Average Jury Rank Televote Rank Combined Rank Scoreboard (Points)
01  Lithuania 12 14 15 8 14 14 9 13
02  Ireland 4 4 1 3 4 3 14 8 3
03  San Marino 15 16 16 16 16 16 16 16
04  Montenegro 6 2 5 5 5 4 6 4 7
05  Malta 8 6 9 7 11 7 15 12
06  Norway 2 1 3 2 1 1 1 1 12
07  Portugal 16 10 10 11 12 12 12 15
08  Czech Republic 13 9 6 10 10 9 10 10 1
09  Israel 5 5 4 6 13 6 2 2 10
10  Latvia 1 3 2 1 3 2 7 3 8
11  Azerbaijan 3 8 8 4 2 5 11 7 4
12  Iceland 9 12 14 14 6 11 8 9 2
13  Sweden
14   Switzerland 7 15 12 12 7 10 13 14
15  Cyprus 11 7 7 9 8 8 4 5 6
16  Slovenia 10 11 13 15 15 15 5 11
17  Poland 14 13 11 13 9 13 3 6 5
Split voting results from Sweden (final)
Draw Country F. Adamo L. Hedlund H. Johnsson R. Mirro Isa Average Jury Rank Televote Rank Combined Rank Scoreboard (Points)
01  Slovenia 13 8 9 14 22 11 13 10 1
02  France 18 19 12 13 10 15 26 22
03  Israel 6 5 4 8 11 7 8 7 4
04  Estonia 14 12 13 12 18 13 5 8 3
05  United Kingdom 23 25 21 25 24 25 20 25
06  Armenia 26 24 25 26 26 26 18 23
07  Lithuania 19 13 14 20 23 18 16 17
08  Serbia 15 15 8 22 19 17 10 12
09  Norway 8 3 3 6 3 4 4 4 7
10  Sweden
11  Cyprus 16 10 15 21 17 16 17 16
12  Australia 3 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 12
13  Belgium 4 2 5 2 8 3 2 2 10
14  Austria 12 22 11 11 12 12 24 20
15  Greece 17 17 20 17 20 19 25 24
16  Montenegro 11 4 16 7 7 9 12 9 2
17  Germany 7 14 19 16 13 14 21 19
18  Poland 22 18 22 18 21 22 9 14
19  Latvia 5 6 2 1 6 2 11 6 5
20  Romania 21 23 18 15 15 20 15 18
21  Spain 10 16 17 10 9 10 14 11
22  Hungary 24 21 24 23 25 23 22 26
23  Georgia 20 20 23 19 14 21 19 21
24  Azerbaijan 9 9 10 5 5 8 23 15
25  Russia 2 7 7 9 4 6 7 5 6
26  Albania 25 26 26 24 16 24 6 13
27  Italy 1 11 6 4 2 5 3 3 8

References
  1. "Sweden Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  2. Jiandani, Sanjay (20 May 2014). "Sweden: SVT confirms participation in Eurovision 2015". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  3. Escudero, Victor M. (29 September 2014). "Sweden's Melodifestivalen dates, changes and presenters announced". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 31 March 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  4. Escudero, Victor M. (24 November 2014). "Sweden: Meet half of Melodifestivalen 2015 contestants". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  5. Escudero, Victor M. (7 February 2015). "Melodifestivalen kicks off in Sweden". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  6. Escudero, Victor M. (14 February 2015). "Sweden finds two more finalists in Malmö". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  7. Escudero, Victor M. (21 February 2015). "Sweden's third semi results". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  8. Escudero, Victor M. (28 February 2015). "Last Melodifestivalen semi-final results". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  9. Escudero, Victor M. (7 March 2015). "Melodifestivalen final line-up complete". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  10. Escudero, Victor M. (14 March 2015). "Sweden: Måns Zelmerlöw wins Melodifestivalen". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
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  14. "Nöjesbladet avslöjar: Sanna Nielsen och Edward af Sillén nya Eurovision-paret - Melodifestivalen - Nöjesbladet - Aftonbladet" [Nöjesbladet reveals: Sanna Nielsen and Edward af Sillén new Eurovision pair - Eurovision Song Contest - Nöjesbladet - Aftonbladet]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  15. "Tiominuterspodden från ESC i Wien - del 2: Så var första semifinalen" [Tiominuterspodden by the ESC in Vienna - Part 2: How was the first semi-final]. sverigesradio.se=20 May 2015 (in Swedish).
  16. Roxburgh, Gordon (23 May 2015). ""Good evening Vienna" - Voting order revealed". eurovision.tv. EBU. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
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  20. Dahlander, Gustav (14 April 2015). "Här är kören – de sjunger med Måns Zelmerlöw i Eurovision Song Contest 2015". svt.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  21. Roxburgh, Gordon (21 May 2015). "Line-up is now complete for the Grand Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  22. "Eurovision Song Contest 2015 Second Semi-Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  23. Brey, Marco; Escudero, Victor M. (21 May 2015). "The second Semi-Final winners' press conference". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
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  25. West-Soley, Richard (23 May 2015). "Eurovision odds: Russia snaps at Sweden's heels as showdown draws close". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  26. Roxburgh, Gordon (22 May 2015). "Decision night for the 40 juries around Europe...and beyond". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
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  28. "Eurovision Song Contest 2015 Grand Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  29. Sundeby, Maria Askerfjord (25 May 2015). "Pekade mot tittarrekord – föll på målsnöret". svt.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 22 December 2015.
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  32. Quinn, Angus (24 May 2015). "Eurovision 2015 Split Results: Who Did the Jury Hurt?". wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  33. Adams, Willy Lee (25 May 2015). "Semi final split results: Who the jury hurt at Eurovision 2015". wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  34. "Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 Second Semi-Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  35. "Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 Grand Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
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