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 station	Sveriges Television (SVT) Former members Sveriges Radio (1958–1979)
National selection events	Internal selection 1958 National final Melodifestivalen 1959–1963 1965–1969 1971–1975 1977–2021
Participation summary
Appearances	59 (58 finals)
First appearance	1958
Best result	1st: 1974, 1984, 1991, 1999, 2012, 2015
Nul points	1963
External links
SVT official homepage
Sweden's page at Eurovision.tv
For the most recent participation see Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

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 five in six of the last seven contests, including 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 winning 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

Main article: 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
1958	Alice Babs	Swedish	"Lilla stjärna"	4	10	No semi-finals
1959	Brita Borg	Swedish	"Augustin"	9	4
1960	Siw Malmkvist	Swedish	"Alla andra får varann"	10	4
1961	Lill-Babs	Swedish	"April, April"	14	2
1962	Inger Berggren	Swedish	"Sol och vår"	7	4
1963	Monica Zetterlund	Swedish	"En gång i Stockholm"	13 ◁	0
1965	Ingvar Wixell	English	"Absent Friend"	10	6
1966	Lill Lindfors and Svante Thuresson	Swedish	"Nygammal vals"	2	16
1967	Östen Warnerbring	Swedish	"Som en dröm"	8	7
1968	Claes-Göran Hederström	Swedish	"Det börjar verka kärlek, banne mig"	5	15
1969	Tommy Körberg	Swedish	"Judy, min vän"	9	8
1971	Family Four	Swedish	"Vita vidder"	6	85
1972	Family Four	Swedish	"Härliga sommardag"	13	75
1973	The Nova	English	"You're Summer"	5	94
1974	ABBA	English	"Waterloo"	1	24
1975	Lars Berghagen and The Dolls	English	"Jennie, Jennie"	8	72
1977	Forbes	Swedish	"Beatles"	18 ◁	2
1978	Björn Skifs	Swedish	"Det blir alltid värre framåt natten"	14	26
1979	Ted Gärdestad	Swedish	"Satellit"	17	8
1980	Tomas Ledin	Swedish	"Just nu!"	10	47
1981	Björn Skifs	Swedish	"Fångad i en dröm"	10	50
1982	Chips	Swedish	"Dag efter dag"	8	67
1983	Carola	Swedish	"Främling"	3	126
1984	Herreys	Swedish	"Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley"	1	145
1985	Kikki Danielsson	Swedish	"Bra vibrationer"	3	103
1986	Monica Törnell & Lasse Holm	Swedish	"E' de' det här du kallar kärlek?"	5	78
1987	Lotta Engberg	Swedish	"Boogaloo"	12	50
1988	Tommy Körberg	Swedish	"Stad i ljus"	12	52
1989	Tommy Nilsson	Swedish	"En dag"	4	110
1990	Edin-Ådahl	Swedish	"Som en vind"	16	24
1991	Carola	Swedish	"Fångad av en stormvind"	1	146
1992	Christer Björkman	Swedish	"I morgon är en annan dag"	22	9
1993	Arvingarna	Swedish	"Eloise"	7	89	Kvalifikacija za Millstreet
1994	Marie Bergman and Roger Pontare	Swedish	"Stjärnorna"	13	48	No semi-finals
1995	Jan Johansen	Swedish	"Se på mig"	3	100
1996	One More Time	Swedish	"Den vilda"	3	100	1	227
1997	Blond	Swedish	"Bara hon älskar mig"	14	36	No semi-finals
1998	Jill Johnson	Swedish	"Kärleken är"	10	53
1999	Charlotte Nilsson	English	"Take Me to Your Heaven"	1	163
2000	Roger Pontare	English	"When Spirits Are Calling My Name"	7	88
2001	Friends	English	"Listen To Your Heartbeat"	5	100
2002	Afro-dite	English	"Never Let It Go"	8	72
2003	Fame	English	"Give Me Your Love"	5	107
2004	Lena Philipsson	English	"It Hurts"	5	170	Top 11 previous year[lower-alpha 1]
2005	Martin Stenmarck	English	"Las Vegas"	19	30	Top 12 previous year[lower-alpha 1]
2006	Carola	English	"Invincible"	5	170	4	214
2007	The Ark	English	"The Worrying Kind"	18	51	Top 10 previous year[lower-alpha 1]
2008	Charlotte Perrelli	English	"Hero"	18	47	12[lower-alpha 2]	54
2009	Malena Ernman	French, English	"La voix"	21	33	4	105
2010	Anna Bergendahl	English	"This Is My Life"	Failed to qualify		11	62
2011	Eric Saade	English	"Popular"	3	185	1	155
2012	Loreen	English	"Euphoria"	1	372	1	181
2013	Robin Stjernberg	English	"You"	14	62	Host country[lower-alpha 3]
2014	Sanna Nielsen	English	"Undo"	3	218	2	131
2015	Måns Zelmerlöw	English	"Heroes"	1	365	1	217
2016	Frans	English	"If I Were Sorry"	5	261	Host country[lower-alpha 3]
2017	Robin Bengtsson	English	"I Can't Go On"	5	344	3	227
2018	Benjamin Ingrosso	English	"Dance You Off"	7	274	2	254
2019	John Lundvik	English	"Too Late for Love"	5	334	3	238
2020	The Mamas	English	"Move"	Contest cancelled X[lower-alpha 4]

Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest

Further information: 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

Further information: 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	[2]
2006	Artistic Award[lower-alpha 5]	Carola	"Invincible"	Thomas G:son, Bobby Ljunggren, Henrik Wikström, Carola	5	170	Athens	[2]
2012	Artistic Award[lower-alpha 6]	Loreen	"Euphoria"	Thomas G:son (m & l), Peter Boström (m & l)	1	372	Baku	[3]
	Composer Award							[3]
2013	Composer Award	Robin Stjernberg	"You"	Robin Stjernberg, Linnea Deb, Joy Deb, Joakim Harestad Haukaas	14	62	Malmö	[4]
2015	Artistic Award[lower-alpha 6]	Måns Zelmerlöw	"Heroes"	Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb	1	365	Vienna	[5]

Winners by OGAE members

Further information: OGAE

Year	Song	Performer	Final result	Points	Host city	Ref.
2008	"Hero"	Charlotte Perrelli	18	47	Belgrade	[6]
2012	"Euphoria"	Loreen	1	372	Baku	[6]
2014	"Undo"	Sanna Nielsen	3	218	Copenhagen	[6]

Related involvement

Heads of delegation

Year	Head of delegation	Ref.
2013	Rennie Mirro	[7]
2015	Christer Björkman	[8]
2016	Mari Ryberger	[8]
2018	Christer Björkman	[9]

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 Linnman	No radio broadcast	Did not participate
1958	Jan Gabrielsson	Same as television broadcast	Tage Danielsson
1959			Roland Eiworth
1960			Tage Danielsson
1961			Roland Eiworth
1962			Tage Danielsson
1963	Jörgen Cederberg		Edvard Matz
1964	Sven Lindahl		Did not participate
1965	Berndt Friberg		Edvard Matz
1966	Sven Lindahl
1967	Christina Hansegård
1968
1969
1970	No television broadcast	No radio broadcast	Did not participate
1971	Åke Strömmer	Ursula Richter	No spokesperson
1972	Bo Billtén	Björn Bjelfvenstam
1973	Alicia Lundberg	Ursula Richter
1974	Johan Sandström		Sven Lindahl
1975	Åke Strömmer
1976	No television broadcast		Did not participate
1977	Ulf Elfving	Åke Strömmer, Ursula Richter	Sven Lindahl
1978		Kent Finell
1979
1980			Arne Weise
1981		No radio broadcast	Bengteric Nordell
1982		Kent Finell	Arne Weise
1983			Agneta Bolme-Börjefors
1984	Fredrik Belfrage	No radio broadcast
1985		Jan Ellerås, Rune Hallberg
1986	Ulf Elfving	Jacob Dahlin
1987	Fredrik Belfrage		Jan Ellerås
1988	Bengt Grafström	Kalle Oldby	Maud Uppling
1989	Jacob Dahlin	Kent Finell, Janeric Sundquist	Agneta Bolme-Börjefors
1990	Jan Jingryd	Kersti Adams-Ray	Jan Ellerås
1991	Harald Treutiger	Kalle Oldby, Runne Hallberg	Bo Hagström
1992	Björn Kjellman, Jesper Aspegren	Kalle Oldby, Lotta Engberg	Jan Jingryd
1993	Jan Jingryd, Kåge Gimtell	Susan Seidemar, Claes-Johan Larsson	Gösta Hanson
1994	Pekka Heino	Claes-Johan Larsson, Lisa Syrén	Marianne Anderberg
1995	Pernilla Månsson, Kåge Gimtell		Björn Hedman
1996	Björn Kjellman		Ulla Rundqvist
1997	Jan Jingryd		Gösta Hanson
1998	Pernilla Månsson, Christer Björkman	Claes-Johan Larsson, Anna Hötzel	Björn Hedman
1999	Pekka Heino, Anders Berglund	Carolina Norén	Pontus Gårdinger
2000	Pernilla Månsson, Christer Lundh	Carolina Norén, Björn Kjellman	Malin Ekander
2001	Henrik Olsson		Josefine Sundström
2002	Claes Åkesson, Christer Björkman		Kristin Kaspersen
2003	Pekka Heino		Kattis Ahlström
2004			Jovan Radomir
2005			Annika Jankell
2006			Jovan Radomir
2007	Kristian Luuk, Josef Sterzenbach		André Pops
2008			Björn Gustafsson
2009	Edward af Sillén, Shirley Clamp		Sarah Dawn Finer
2010	Edward af Sillén, Christine Meltzer		Eric Saade	[10]
2011	Edward af Sillén, Hélène Benno		Danny Saucedo	[11]
2012	Edward af Sillén, Gina Dirawi		Sarah Dawn Finer (as Lynda Woodruff)	[12]
2013	Josefine Sundström		Yohio	[13]
2014	Edward af Sillén, Malin Olsson	Carolina Norén, Ronnie Ritterland	Alcazar	[14]
2015	Edward af Sillén, Sanna Nielsen		Mariette Hansson	[15][16]
2016	Lotta Bromé	Carolina Norén, Björn Kjellman	Gina Dirawi	[17]
2017	Edward af Sillén, Måns Zelmerlöw	Carolina Norén	Wiktoria	[18]
2018	Edward af Sillén, Sanna Nielsen	Unknown	Felix Sandman	[19]
2019	Edward af Sillén, Charlotte Perrelli		Eric Saade	[10]

Costume designers

Year	Costume designers	Ref.
2006	Lars Wallin	[20]
2009	Camilla Thulin	[21]

Photogallery

• 
  Alice Babs in Hilversum (1958)
• 
  Ingvar Wixell in Naples (1965)
• 
  Carola Häggkvist in Athens (2006)
• 
  The Ark in Helsinki (2007)
• 
  Charlotte Perrelli in Belgrade (2008)
• 
  Malena Ernman in Moscow (2009)
• 
  Anna Bergendahl in Oslo (2010)
• 
  Eric Saade in Düsseldorf (2011)
• 
  Loreen in Baku (2012)
• 
  Robin Stjernberg in Malmö (2013)
• 
  Sanna Nielsen in Copenhagen (2014)
• 
  Måns Zelmerlöw in Vienna (2015)
• 
  Frans in Stockholm (2016)
• 
  Robin Bengtsson in Kiev (2017)
• 
  Benjamin Ingrosso in Lisbon (2018)
• 
  John Lundvik in Tel Aviv (2019)

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.

• In 2010, the songs from Belarus, Denmark, Georgia, 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;
• In 2013, the songs from Georgia, Finland, Norway, Russia, Netherlands and Azerbaijan.
• In 2014, the songs from Azerbaijan, Ireland, Denmark, Russia, United Kingdom and Ukraine;
• In 2015, the songs from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Macedonia, Netherlands, Spain and Russia.
• In 2016, the songs from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Georgia, Lithuania, Norway, Malta, Moldova and Russia.
• In 2017, the songs from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Macedonia, Poland, Greece, Ireland, Serbia and Switzerland.
• In 2018, the songs from Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Malta, and Poland.
• In 2019, the songs from Azerbaijan, Denmark, Malta, Moldova, Cyprus, Switzerland, Norway, the Netherlands, and United Kingdom.
• In 2020, the songs from Denmark, France, Germany and Malta

See also

• Melodifestivalen
• Sweden in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Junior version of the Eurovision Song Contest.
• Sweden in the Eurovision Dance Contest – Dance version of the Eurovision Song Contest.
• Sweden in the Eurovision Young Dancers – A competition organised by the EBU for younger dancers aged between 16 and 21.
• Sweden in the Eurovision Young Musicians – A competition organised by the EBU for musicians aged 18 years and younger.
• Sweden in the Turkvision Song Contest – A contest for countries and regions which are of Turkic-speaking or Turkic ethnicity.
• Sweden's voting at the Eurovision Song Contest

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.

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. Granger, Anthony (29 April 2019). "Latvia: Ell & Nikki's Creative Director Brought In For Carousel". eurovoix.com. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
8. Knoops, Roy (28 April 2016). "Sweden: Head of Delegation talks about Frans and Eurovision". esctoday.com. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
9. "THE VOTING RESULTS OF THE 2ND SEASON OF DEPI EVRATESIL". eurovision.am. 26 February 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
10. Ek, Torbjörn (9 April 2019). "Perrelli ny Eurovision-kommentator" [Perrelli new Eurovision commentator]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 16 January 2020.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. "Sanna Nielsen och Edward af Sillén kommenterar Eurovision Song Contest". Melodifestivalen. SVT. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
16. 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.
17. Granger, Anthony (20 April 2016). "Sweden: Gina Dirawi To Announce The Swedish Vote". eurovoix.com. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
18. Granger, Anthony (12 April 2017). "Sweden: Wiktoria Announced as Spokesperson For Eurovision 2017". eurovoix.com. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
19. "Sanna Nielsen kommenterar Eurovision" [Sanna Nielsen commentates on Eurovision]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). 9 May 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2020.

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