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Melodifestivalen (; literally "the Melody Festival") is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters
Sveriges Television Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksdag (national ...
(SVT) and
Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio AB (, "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a licensing fee, the level of which is d ...
(SR). It determines the country's representative for the
Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
, and has been staged almost every year since 1959. In the early 2000s, the competition was the most popular television program in Sweden;Television in Sweden
Sweden.se (30 September 2005). Retrieved on 20 October 2006.
it is also broadcast on radio and the Internet. In 2012, the heats averaged 3.3 million viewers, and over an estimated four million people in Sweden watched the final, almost half of the Swedish population. The festival has produced six Eurovision winners and twenty-four top-five placings for Sweden at the contest. The winner of Melodifestivalen has been chosen by panels of jurors since its inception. Since 1999, the juries have been joined by a public telephone vote which has an equal influence over the outcome. The competition makes a considerable impact on the music charts in Sweden. The introduction of heats in 2002 raised the potential number of contestants from around twelve to thirty-two. A children's version of the competition, Lilla Melodifestivalen, also began that year. Light orchestrated pop songs, known locally as schlager music, used to be so prevalent that the festival was sometimes referred to as ("the schlager festival") or ("schlager Swedish championship") by the Swedish media."Jag koncentrerar mig på schlagerfestivalen"
I am concentrating on schlagerfestivalen" Aftonbladet.se (27 February 2002). Retrieved on 20 October 2006.
Anders Foghagen (13 October 2006
Agnes diskad från Schlagerfestivalen
Agnes disqualified from schlagerfestivalen" TV4.se. Retrieved on 20 October 2006.
However, other styles of music, such as rap, reggae, and glam rock, have made an appearance since the event's expansion. The introduction of a grand final in Stockholm has attracted substantial tourism to the city.The Swedish Research Institute of Tourism (17–18 March 2006)
Melodifestivalen 2006
. Retrieved on 23 January 2008.


Origins

With seven nations competing, the first
Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
took place in Lugano, Switzerland in May 1956. Sweden's first contest was the third, in 1958. Without broadcasting a public selection, Sveriges Radio (SR) chose to send Alice Babs to the contest in
Hilversum Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilvers ...
, Netherlands. The song selected was "" (The same stars shine for the two of us), later renamed "" (Little star). It finished fourth at Eurovision on 12 March 1958. The first Melodifestivalen, incorporated into the radio series, took place on 29 January 1959 at Cirkus in Stockholm; eight songs participated. Four "expert" juries in
Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
,
Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
, Malmö, and
Luleå Luleå ( , , locally ; smj, Luleju; fi, Luulaja) is a city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the capital of Norrbotten County, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has 48,728 inhabitants in its urban core (2018) and is the seat of Lu ...
decided the winner. The competition was won by Siw Malmkvist performing "Augustin", but SR decided that the winning song—regardless of its original performer—would be performed by
Brita Borg Brita Kerstin Gunvor Borg (10 June 1926 – 4 May 2010) was a Swedish singer, actress, and variety show artist. Her variety show career spanned from 1943 into the 1970s, while her singing career trailed away at the end of the 1960s. However, s ...
at Eurovision. This policy, of selecting the artist for Eurovision internally and having other artists perform potential Swedish entries at Melodifestivalen, was stopped in 1961. The competition became a stand-alone television programme in 1960, known as the . In the event's early years, it was broadcast to Norway and Denmark through the Nordvision network. The competition adopted its current name, ''Melodifestivalen'', in 1967. Melodifestivalen has failed to be staged on three occasions. In 1964, the competition was cancelled due to an artist's strike; Sweden did not send a song to Eurovision that year. Sweden was absent at Eurovision for a second time in 1970 because of a Nordic boycott of the voting system, which had led to a four-way tie for first place at the 1969 contest. After SR staged the 1975 contest in Stockholm, left-wing groups argued that Sweden should not spend money to win and host Eurovision again. This led to mass demonstrations against commercial music and the organisation of an anti-commercial . Therefore, Sweden decided not to send a song to Eurovision 1976 but returned in 1977.


Participation

Hundreds of songs and performers have entered Melodifestivalen since its debut. Although songwriters living outside Sweden were once not allowed to enter Melodifestivalen, the 2012 contest marked the first time foreign songwriters could submit entries, provided that they collaborated with a Swedish songwriter. To be eligible, songwriters and performers must be at least sixteen years of age on the day of the first Eurovision semi-final.Melodifestivalen 2007—Tävlingsregler
Melodifestivalen 2007—Competition rules" Sveriges Television AB (May 2006). Retrieved on 21 October 2006.
Until 2001, participation in the festival was limited to a single night. The number of contestants ranged from five to twelve. A two-round system was used intermittently between 1981 and 1998, in which all but five of the contestants were eliminated in the first round of voting. Failure to reach the second round under this system was seen as a major failure for a prominent artist; when Elisabeth Andreassen failed to qualify in 1984, it almost ended her music career. The introduction of weekly heats in 2002 increased the number of contestants to thirty-two. At least ten of the contestants must perform in
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
. A CD of each year's competing songs has been released since 2001, and a DVD of the heats and final since 2003. Due to the proliferation of digital download and streaming into the 2010s, DVDs have not been issued for Melodifestivalen in recent years. Melodifestivalen has been the launch-pad for the success of popular local acts, such as ABBA, Tommy Körberg, and Lisa Nilsson. The competition has played host to performers from outside Sweden, including Baccara, Alannah Myles, Katrina Leskanich,
Cornelis Vreeswijk Cornelis Vreeswijk (; ; 8 August 1937 – 12 November 1987) was a Dutch-born Swedish singer-songwriter, poet and actor. He emigrated to Sweden with his parents in 1949 at the age of twelve. He was educated as a social worker and hoped to become ...
, and
Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...
. Melodifestivalen participants have also represented—and unsuccessfully tried to represent—other countries at Eurovision. While local success for Melodifestivalen winners is common, most contestants return to obscurity and few have major international success. The impact that the competition makes on the Swedish charts means an artist need not win the competition to earn significant domestic record sales. For example, the song which finished last at Melodifestivalen 1990, "" by Loa Falkman, topped
Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and known by its current name since October 2007, based on sales data from the Swedish R ...
, the Swedish singles chart. The most recent occurrence was 2016 with
Samir & Viktor Samir & Viktor or Samir och Viktor was a Swedish music duo that consists of ''Paradise Hotel'' contestant Samir Badran and fashion blogger Viktor Frisk. Samir & Viktor participated in Melodifestivalen 2015 with the song "Groupie", which finished ...
's song " Bada Nakna". In 2007, twenty-one participants reached the Sverigetopplistan.Barry Viniker (16 March 2007
Melodifestivalen invades charts
. ESCtoday.com. Retrieved on 20 April 2007.
The week after the 2008 final, songs from the festival made up the entire top fifteen on the domestic singles chart.


Selection of contestants

The process of narrowing thousands of potential entries down to twenty-eight lasts over seven months. SVT directly selects fourteen entries from amongst the submissions from the public at large. Thirteen additional entries come from special invitations made by SVT or other entries that SVT has selected from amongst the submissions. Finally, the twenty-eighth entry is selected via the "" competition. At least 10% of the final twenty-eight songs are sung in Swedish. The entire process can begin as early as May of the previous year and is finished by January.


Songs

SVT begins looking for songs nine months before the start of the televised Melodifestivalen (within days of the previous year's Eurovision final).Sietse Bakker (26 May 2006)
SVT announces Melodifestivalen 2007
. ESCtoday.com. Retrieved on 21 October 2006.
The deadline for submission is in September and songs can be in any language. In the pre-selection, song length is limited to three minutes and twenty seconds; songs must be shortened to three minutes if they reach the final twenty-eight and qualifying songs may also be remixed. The submission process is overseen by members of the Swedish Music Publishers Association (SMFF), whose task is to reduce the number of songs, which have numbered over 3,000 a year since 2002, to around 1,200. The 3,440 entries received in the preselection for Melodifestivalen 2009 was the most in the competition's history. The average has then lowered to around 2,500 bidding entries every year. The SMFF's choices are then given to a sixteen-person jury of music professionals, SVT staff and other members of the public.Melodifestivalen 2006—selection
. ESC.info.se. Retrieved on 21 October 2006.
The jury ranges from teenagers to people in their fifties.
ESC.info.se. Retrieved on 20 April 2007.
The songs that qualify, along with their composers and lyricists, are announced at the end of September. This is often followed by fervent speculation over who will perform the songs. Songwriters that qualify must provide interviews to SVT, attend a press conference before the competition, and remain open to promotional appearances if their song reaches the final.


Artists and wildcards

SVT selects performers for the entries. Artists who perform the demo of a song automatically enter the competition; they must perform their songs if suitable alternate performers cannot be found. The artists' songs risk disqualification if they refuse. In the past, this rule led to the disqualification of, among others, Carola's "" in 2003 and
Stephen Simmonds Stephen Guy Simmonds is a Swedish recording artist born in Täby, Sweden, 26 June 1975. Born to a Jamaican father, a musician by profession, and a Swedish mother, he was raised in Sweden, the United States, and Israel. He studied at Adolf Fre ...
's "So Good" in 2006.Sietse Bakker (17 December 2002)
Carola's Autumn Leaf exits
ESCtoday.com. Retrieved on 22 October 2006.
Alexander Borodin (25 November 2005)
Stephen Simmonds disqualified from Melodifestivalen
. ESCtoday.com. Retrieved on 22 October 2006.
SVT may also give songs to other performers without considering the interests of the demo artist. This prevented the Brandsta City Släckers (in 2004) and Pernilla Wahlgren (in 2005) from performing the songs they had submitted.Daniel Ringby (25 October 2003)
Brandsta City Släckers kicked out from Swedish preselection
. Retrieved on 22 October 2006.
Alexander Borodin (14 January 2005)
Swedish artists criticise Melodifestivalen official
. Retrieved on 22 October 2006.
Replacements for disqualified songs fare unpredictably at the competition. In 2006, "Naughty Boy" by Hannah Graaf (the replacement for Simmonds' song) finished second to last in its heat. In 2002 and 2007, by contrast, the replacements performed by Jan Johansen and Måns Zelmerlöw reached the final ten. The contestants that will perform the twenty-eight qualifiers from the preselection are announced in late November. Singer-songwriters are common. As such, artists often confirm that they will participate before the official announcement. The wildcard (''joker'') system was introduced in 2004 to diversify the music featured.Melodifestivalen 2007—FAQ in English
. SVT.se. Retrieved on 1 May 2007.
Four artists, one in each heat, were invited by SVT to enter a song of their choice into the competition, provided it does not breach the rules. The wildcard songs and artists were announced in January. Since the wildcards' introduction, three have won the competition. The wildcard system was discontinued in 2013.


Hosting

The venues for each year's Melodifestivalen are announced in September of the preceding year. The heats are held in towns and cities throughout Sweden. The 16,300-capacity
Avicii Arena Avicii Arena, originally known as Stockholm Globe Arena and previously as Ericsson Globe, but commonly referred to in Swedish simply as Globen (; "the Globe"), is an indoor arena located in Stockholm Globe City, Johanneshov district of Stockh ...
in Stockholm has hosted the final since the heats were introduced in 2002, through to 2012. In 2013, the final moved to the newly built
Friends Arena Nationalarenan, currently known as Friends Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a retractable roof multi-purpose stadium in Stockholm, Sweden. Located next to the lake Råstasjön in Solna, just north of the City Centre, it is the biggest stadium in ...
in
Solna Municipality Solna Municipality ( sv, Solna kommun or , ) is a municipality in Stockholm County in Sweden, located just north of Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockholm urban area. Solna is one of t ...
,
Stockholm County Stockholm County ( sv, Stockholms län, link=no ) is a county or '' län'' (in Swedish) on the Baltic Sea coast of Sweden. It borders Uppsala County and Södermanland County. It also borders Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The city of Stockholm ...
. The Scandinavium in
Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
was offered the 2005 final, but turned it down as it clashed with a Frölunda ice hockey match. The event spent its early years at one venue: Cirkus in Stockholm, which hosted the first ten competitions. It has hosted the final of Melodifestivalen seventeen times in total. The Stockholm Globe Arena has hosted seven finals, and SVT's headquarters in Stockholm has staged five. The competition first took place outside Stockholm in 1975 as part of a
decentralisation Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. Conce ...
policy at SR. Stockholm has hosted 37 finals in total, including the first fourteen. Gothenburg has hosted eight, and Malmö seven. The competition's final has never been held outside these cities. Before the 2002 expansion, the host of the previous year's Melodifestivalen would host the Eurovision Song Contest in the event of a Swedish victory. Hence, the 1985 Eurovision was held in Gothenburg, the 1992 contest in Malmö and the 2000 contest in Stockholm. Since 2002, the only venues that have hosted more than three heats are Gothenburg's Scandinavium, which has hosted one every year since 2003, and Malmö's Malmö Arena. In 2008, was held in
Kiruna (; se, Giron ; fi, Kiiruna ) is the northernmost Stad (Sweden), city in Sweden, situated in the province of Lapland, Sweden, Lapland. It had 17,002 inhabitants in 2016 and is the seat of Kiruna Municipality (population: 23,167 in 2016) in Norr ...
, north of the
Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at w ...
. Since
2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
, the final is held at the
Friends Arena Nationalarenan, currently known as Friends Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a retractable roof multi-purpose stadium in Stockholm, Sweden. Located next to the lake Råstasjön in Solna, just north of the City Centre, it is the biggest stadium in ...
.Här hålls Melodifestivalen 2008
. Melodifestivalen 2008 is to be held here" SVT.se (11 September 2007). Retrieved on 11 September 2007.
In 2021, all shows of that year's Melodifestivalen took place in the Annexet in Stockholm, and without an audience present, due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic continued to affect the organisation of Melodifestivalen in
2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
, with the first three heats of that year's competition all held at the Avicii Arena, and the remaining shows at the Friends Arena.


Televised rounds

The Melodifestivalen takes place over six Saturdays and consists of six live shows: four heats, in which seven songs compete; a Second Chance () round featuring songs which missed out on direct qualification from the heats; and a grand final. Ten songs comprise the final: two direct qualifiers from each of the heats, and the two best-ranked songs in the Second Chance round. Since 2015, there are seven songs for each heat, and twelve (eight direct qualifiers and four from the Second Chance round) in the final.


Heats and Second Chance

Prior to the introduction of the current format of heats () in 2002, the competition was usually a single live show. Under the current system, four heats are broadcast at 20:00  CET on consecutive Saturday nights. The heats begin in early February, and seven songs compete in each show. Unlike in the final, no juries are used; televoting decides the results. The songs are performed live with telephone lines open for the first round of voting; two songs with the fewest votes do not qualify to the second round. The top five battle for a place in the final and Second Chance round – with the first and second-placed songs directly qualifying for the final (known in Swedish as ), and the third and fourth-placed songs progressing to the Second Chance round. Both finalists reprise their entries at the end of the broadcast. The organisation of a heat system for Melodifestivalen popularised televised heats at other Eurovision national selections. A similar system was adopted by the Eurovision Song Contest itself in 2004, which features a semi-final (later expanded to two in 2008) and a final, and remains in place to the present day. The Second Chance round () is the fifth heat in which the remaining four entries to the final are chosen. The third- and fourth-placed songs from each heat (eight songs in total) compete in the event. The first Second Chance round in 2002 had a panel of former winners decide the two finalists. Between 2003 and 2006, the heat performances were re-broadcast, and a round of voting narrowed the songs to three or four. Another round then determined the two finalists. The programme was broadcast on the Sunday afternoon after the fourth heat. It was held in a smaller venue than those that would have hosted the heats—such as Berns Salonger in Stockholm, which hosted the Second Chance round in 2005. In 2007, the Second Chance round became a full heat, taking place in a venue comparable in size to those hosting the others. The expanded Second Chance takes place on a Saturday night, adding an extra week to the event's timetable. The format of voting also changed with the introduction of a knock-out system. The system pairs the eight songs off against each other, then narrows them down to four before pairing them off again. The winners of the two-second round pairings go through to the final. The two finalists do not reprise their songs at the end of the programme. In 2015, the system was changed again. The eight songs are divided into four duels, with one song from each duel qualifying into the final, bringing the number of finalists to 12. In 2022, several changes were made to the overall format. The Second Chance round was reformatted into a semi-final (), where the eight songs are placed into two groups, with the top two from each group proceeding to the final. In 2023, the format of the semi-final was changed, with the top four of the eight songs all proceeding to the final, similar to the preceding heats.


Final

The final takes place at 20:00 CET on a Saturday in early or mid-March. Twelve songs (eleven songs in
2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
, ten songs before
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
) participate, two from each heat, four from the Second Chance round, and, only in 2009, the international jury's choice. A running order is decided by the competition's supervisors the week before to ensure that similar songs and artists are kept apart in the final. Dress rehearsals for the final are held on the prior Friday, and tickets sell out almost as quickly as those for the final itself.Barry Viniker (17 March 2006)
Sell-out public dress rehearsal at the Globen
. ESCtoday.com. Retrieved on 28 October 2006.
The final attracts substantial tourism to its host city Stockholm; a survey in 2006 showed that 54% of spectators had travelled from outside the city. Of these, 6% had come from outside Sweden. As in the Eurovision Song Contest (and due to the final usually also being broadcast in other
Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...
via the Eurovision network), a broadcast of the
EBU The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who are members of the Co ...
logo introduces and closes the television coverage, accompanied by the prelude to Marc-Antoine Charpentier's setting of " Te Deum". Video "postcards" introduce the entries. The final includes interval performances, which are performed while the juries deliberate and before the televote closes. Former Melodifestivalen contestants have performed as interval acts in the past, including Lena Philipsson in 2005 and the multi-artist medley of former entries in 2000. The winner receives a trophy, ("The Great Songbird"), from the previous year's winner. The trophy, designed by Ernst Billgren, was unveiled in 2005 and awarded to all previous Melodifestivalen winners at the gala in March of that year. The winner of the competition reprises their song at the end of the event.


Voting

Before the introduction of the current voting system in 1999, a group of regional or age-based juries decided the winner of Melodifestivalen. In 1993, televoting was used experimentally but proved unsuccessful. The Swedish telephone network collapsed due to the number of calls, and claims by the Swedish tabloid press suggested the use of televoting had drastically altered the results. Evening newspapers released what they claimed to be the back-up juries' votes, which showed that the winner, Arvingarna's " Eloise", would have finished fourth had the juries' votes counted. SVT never confirmed the accuracy of these claims. The current voting format introduced in 1999 is a positional voting system, similar to that used at the
Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
. The voting is made up of two segments, in the first of which juries announce their votes; in the second segment, the televoting result is announced. The total value of votes has usually been 2 x 473 points (2 x 638 since 2018), which means that tele-votes and juries have an equal 50/50 weighing in the final result. The juries, usually 11, have represented either Swedish regions or, since 2010, countries participating in the year's Eurovision Song Contest. Until 2017, each jury awarded 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 points to their top seven songs; however, since 2018, the points have been changed to 1 to 7, 8, 10 and 12 points. After the jury voting, the televoting result is revealed by the hosts in ascending order. Between 1999 and 2010, the televoting points were fixed; the top seven songs would receive 11, 22, 44, 66, 88, 110 and 132 points (12, 24, 48, 72, 96, 120, and 144 points for the 2009 contest). Between 2011 and 2018, televoting points are given to each entry based on its percentage of the total vote. If an entry receives 10% of the televotes it will be equivalent to 10% of 473 points, i.e. 47–48 points (or 638 and 63–64 points respectively in 2018). Starting in 2019, the public votes are separated by age groups, each giving 1 to 7, 8, 10 and 12 points in the final to the songs. The song with the highest number of points at the end of the voting is the winner. Telephone lines open immediately after the radio preview for the final and do not close until the juries have voted. Two telephone numbers are used for each song, giving voters the option of whether to donate money to SVT's charity appeal or not as they vote. Viewers can also vote by text message, and only residents of Sweden can vote. The votes of the juries are announced by spokespeople who are not members of the juries. The votes are read in ascending order, beginning with one point and finishing with twelve. When read, they are repeated by the host, for example:
Spokesperson: “” (''One point to song number two.'')
Presenter: “ ong name” (''One point to ong name'')
Since 2010, most spokespeople have announced the points in English, with the hosts repeating them in Swedish. As the votes are announced, they are collated on a graphic scoreboard. SVT varies the way the jury votes are announced from year to year. For example, the finalists of '' Expedition: Robinson'' acted as spokespeople in 2004, and in 2006 Fredrik Lindström announced jury tallies using the dialects of each region. The final of Melodifestivalen has broken Nordic voting records on several occasions; in 2007, voting figures exceeded two million for the first time.Melodifestivalen engagerar som aldrig förr
Melodifestivalen engages like never before" SVT.se (13 March 2007). Retrieved on 4 May 2007.
If there is a tie, the song that has received more votes from the public receives the higher position. There have been two ties for first place in the history of the contest. In 1969, Tommy Körberg tied for first place with Jan Malmsjö. The juries then voted for their favourite out the two, leading to Tommy Körberg winning. In 1978, Björn Skifs tied for first place with Lasse Holm and Wizex (performing together); a similar tie-break process resulting in Skifs winning.


Winners

Fifty-six of Sweden's fifty-seven Eurovision representatives have come from Melodifestivalen; the 2020 winner was scheduled to participate in Eurovision before the latter was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sweden has won the Eurovision Song Contest six times: in 1974, 1984, 1991, 1999, 2012 and 2015. Sweden has the second highest number of wins for a country at Eurovision; only Ireland has won the contest more. The 1974 Eurovision winner, ABBA's "
Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat * Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place. Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Antarctica *King George Island (S ...
", was voted the most popular Melodifestivalen song of all time at the gala in March 2005.Alla tiders Melodifestival
. SVT.se (3 March 2005). Retrieved on 24 May 2007.
Later that year, it was voted most popular Eurovision song of the contest's first fifty years at a gala in Copenhagen.ABBA win 'Eurovision 50th' vote
BBC News (23 October 2005). Retrieved on 25 April 2007.
The following table lists those entries which finished fifth or higher at Eurovision:


Rules

Most of Melodifestivalen's rules are dictated by those of the Eurovision Song Contest. However, regulations have been introduced by the Swedish broadcasters. The competition's official rules are released by SVT early in preparation for each year's Melodifestivalen, to ensure any changes are noted by songwriters and performers. There was a limit of six people on stage for each performance. This included the Melodifestivalen choir (, literally "the house choir"), a five-person group of flexible backing singers used by most participants. Artists could use some or all of the back-up singers, or use their own group. All vocals had to be completely live; human voices were not allowed on backing tracks. However, from 2009, the number of performers allowed on stage was eight, and voices were allowed on backing tracks.Melodifestivalen förändras
Melodifestivalen changes" Sveriges Television. Retrieved on 27 August 2008.
A live orchestra was used every year from the event's debut to 2000, except 1985 and 1986. Two orchestras were used between 1960 and 1963, a large orchestra and , a jazz quartet. Since 2001, participants have performed to backing tracks. Entries cannot be publicly broadcast until the heats are previewed on radio.Hör låtarna först i Sveriges Radio P4
Hear the songs first on Sveriges Radio P4" SR.se (30 January 2007). Retrieved on 4 May 2007.
Entries eliminated in the heats may be broadcast as soon as the heat has finished. An embargo is placed on songs that qualify for the later rounds until the previews for the Second Chance are broadcast. After this, restrictions on the broadcast of contestant songs are lifted. Broadcasters sometimes make sweeping changes to winning songs before they go to Eurovision. For example, at Melodifestivalen 1961, Siw Malmkvist won with "April, April". Performing after her victory, she stumbled on the lyrics of the song and laughed out loud. The press criticised this as childish. SR replaced her with Lill-Babs for the Eurovision Song Contest.The press literally described it as having "played the monkey"
Melodifestivalen 1961
. Gylleneskor.se. Retrieved on 11 January 2008.
The 1987 winner " Fyra bugg och en Coca Cola", performed by Lotta Engberg, is another example; the song's title was changed to "Boogaloo" for Eurovision, as use of a brand name was against the Contest's rules. This name was chosen as Sweden's two previous Eurovision winners had also included the suffix "-loo". Until 1999, competing songs were only permitted in Swedish, apart from 1965, 1973, 1974, 1975. This did not stop most winning entries recording English (and other-language) versions of their songs. Since the abolition of Eurovision's language restrictions in 1999, regardless of the performance language at Melodifestivalen, every Swedish entry has been in English. Spanish, French, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Bosnian and Persian are among the other languages to have featured. Cameron Cartio's entry in Melodifestivalen 2005 was performed in a constructed language.


Media coverage

Melodifestivalen is broadcast on television, radio and the Internet. It is broadcast on
SVT1 SVT1 (SVT Ett; commonly referred to as Ettan) is the primary television station of the Swedish public service broadcaster Sveriges Television in Sweden. History Television in Sweden officially launched on 4 September 1956 with the launch of '' ...
with international coverage on SVT World and later SVT Play. Until 1987, the competition was broadcast on Sveriges Radio TV, later known as TV1. Between 1988 and 2000, the event was broadcast on different channels depending on where it was held. Finals in Stockholm were broadcast on Kanal 1 (formerly TV1) while finals in Gothenburg or Malmö were broadcast on
TV2 Channel 2 or TV 2 may refer to: Television networks, channels and stations *Channel 2 (Iran), operated by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting *Channel 2 (Israel), a commercial television station *, entertainment and music television in Latvia * ...
. Sveriges Radio has broadcast the event on P1, P3 and P4, where is currently broadcast. Although the final is traditionally held on a Saturday, in 1990 it was held on a Friday. TV2 suggested this would attract more viewers. In 1991, it was held on Easter Sunday for the same reason. The 2002 final was delayed by a week for coverage of the
2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...
. The competition has had an official website since 1999.
Webcast A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand. Essentially, web ...
s have been provided since 2005. Since 2006, between February and the Eurovision final in May, SR has webcast a radio station dedicated to the competition called ''P4 Melodifest''. On P4, the public previews the heats participants every Friday. Broadcast the night after the final, a ("the day after") television programme acts as an epilogue to the event. It gauges the reactions of the finalists after the competition's climax. No commentary is given for the event on television.
Carolina Norén Krång Anna Carolina Norén (born 29 January 1965) is a Swedish radio presenter for Sveriges Radio and television presenter. She has been the host of the music chart show Svensktoppen since 2007 and also commentates on Sveriges Radio's broadcast ...
is commentator on the event for
Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio AB (, "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a licensing fee, the level of which is d ...
. The festival has been broadcast in widescreen since 2002 and
Dolby Digital Dolby Digital, originally synonymous with Dolby AC-3, is the name for what has now become a family of audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. Formerly named Dolby Stereo Digital until 1995, the audio compression is lossy ...
since 2004. The competition's viewing figures have been rising since 2002. In 2007, approximately 4.1 million Swedes—almost 44% of the country's population—watched the final, and between 2.9 million and 3.2 million viewers watched each of the heats. The viewing figures for the 2007 festival are nearly two million short of the highest recorded viewing figures from 1990.Melodifestivalen—Viewing figures
ESC.info.se. Retrieved on 21 October 2006.
Melodifestivalen is given heavy coverage in the Swedish press. A study by the Economic Science and Communication Department at Karlstad University concluded that coverage from the press may have influenced the results of the 2007 festival.


Musical styles and presentation

Melodifestivalen's image has evolved throughout its existence, but one word has defined the competition's music: '' schlager''. In Sweden, ''schlager'' (a German word literally meaning a "hit") represents any song associated with the competition, from the jazz music featured heavily in the 1960s to entries such as
Linda Bengtzing Linda Birgitta Bengtzing (born 13 March 1974) is a Swedish pop singer famous for her participation in the fourth season of ''Fame Factory'' in Sweden and for her entries at Melodifestivalen 2005, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2020 and 2022. ...
's in 2006. Christine Demsteader of '' The Local'' described Swedish schlager as "typically characterized by an annoyingly repetitive melody and trivial lyrics of little or no meaning". Jazz artists such as Monica Zetterlund and Östen Warnerbring won the event in the 1960s. ABBA, who won Eurovision in 1974, went on to be Sweden's most successful music export. The group influenced not only Melodifestivalen, but the entire Swedish mainstream music scene. In the 1980s, Bert Karlsson's Mariann Grammofon record label was responsible for the prevalence of "easy, memorable tunes". The early twenty-first century has seen more variety in the competition, such as Afro-dite's 2002 disco winner and The Ark's 2007 "retro glam rock" effort. On-stage
gimmick A gimmick is a novel device or idea designed primarily to attract attention or increase appeal, often with little intrinsic value. When applied to retail marketing, it is a unique or quirky feature designed to make a product or service "stand ou ...
s have long been a part of performances at the competition. Lena Philipsson's use of a microphone stand in her performance of "" at the 2004 competition is an example. When Philipsson hosted Melodifestivalen in 2006, four tongue-in-cheek short films were broadcast during the heats to show what had happened to the microphone stand in the years since her win.
Pyrotechnics Pyrotechnics is the science and craft of creating such things as fireworks, safety matches, oxygen candles, explosive bolts and other fasteners, parts of automotive airbags, as well as gas-pressure blasting in mining, quarrying, and demolition. ...
are another common gimmick in Melodifestivalen performances. After the 2007 event, Karolina Lassbo of ''Dagens Media'' criticised the festival's musical content and production, arguing that the 1988 competition was "the time when Melodifestivalen was still a schlager competition" and the event had become "a cross between eality series''Fame Factory'' and nter-city game show''Stadskampen''".Karolina Lassbo (16 March 2007)
Melodifestivalen tappade fattningen
Melodifestivalen has dropped its composure" ''Dagens Media''. Retrieved on 15 September 2007.


See also

* Lilla Melodifestivalen * List of historic rock festivals * Melodi Grand Prix * Dansk Melodi Grand Prix *
Eesti Laul Eesti Laul (English: 'Estonian Song' or 'The Song of Estonia') is an annual music competition organised by Estonian public broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, a ...
* Sanremo Music Festival * Golden Stag * Turkvision Song Contest *
Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest Sweden has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 61 times since making its debut in Eurovision Song Contest 1958, 1958, missing only three contests since then (Eurovision Song Contest 1964, 1964, Eurovision Song Contest 1970, 1970 and Euro ...
* Marcel Bezençon Awards – Melodifestivalen Winners section


Notes


References


Bibliography

* Leif Thorsson. ''Melodifestivalen genom tiderna'' (1999, second edition 2006). Stockholm: Premium Publishing AB. .


External links


SVT official site

SVT official site

MSN Melodifestivalen News

Reports and pics of Melodifestivalen
{{authority control 1959 Swedish television series debuts Eurovision Song Contest selection events Music competitions in Sweden Recurring events established in 1959 Singing competitions Sveriges Television original programming Sveriges Radio programmes Swedish music television series Swedish reality television series February events March events Music festivals established in 1959