Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

participated in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2019 The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 was the 64th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Tel Aviv, Israel, following the country's victory at the 2018 contest with the song " Toy" by Netta. Organised by the European Broad ...

. The Swedish broadcaster (SVT) organised the national final in order to select the Swedish entry for the 2019 contest in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

, Israel. After a six-week-long competition consisting of four heats, a Second Chance round and a final, "Too Late for Love" performed by John Lundvik emerged as the winner after achieving the highest score following the combination of votes from eight international juries and a public vote.

Background

Prior to the 2019 contest, Sweden had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-eight times since its first entry in . Sweden had won the contest on six occasions: in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

with the song " Waterloo" performed by

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...

, in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

with the song "

Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" was the winning song in the Eurovision Song Contest 1984 performed in Swedish by the trio of brothers Herrey's, representing . Lyrics were written by Britt Lindeborg, and the tune by Torgny Söderberg. It was produced by ...

" performed by

Herreys Herreys (), sometimes Herrey's or Herrey, is a Swedish pop group, consisting of the three brothers Per Herrey (born 9 August 1958), Richard Herrey (born 19 August 1964), and Louis Herrey (born 3 November 1966). They won the Eurovision Song Con ...

, in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

with the song "" performed by

Carola Carola is a female given name, the Latinized form of the Germanic given names Caroline or Carol. People named Carola include: Acting * Carola Braunbock (1924–1978), Czech-born East German actress *Carola Höhn (1910–2005), German actres ...

, in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

with the song "

Take Me to Your Heaven Tusen och en natt is a 1999 album from Swedish dansband Wizex Wizex is a Swedish dansband formed in Osby in 1973. It purchased the rights to the name from a band that started as ''Ulrik Wittmans Kvintett'' in 1957''.'' When Ulrik Wittman left t ...

" performed by

Charlotte Nilsson Anna Jenny Charlotte Perrelli (; ; born 7 October 1974) is a Swedish singer and television host. She was the winner of the 1999 Melodifestivalen and subsequently that year's Eurovision Song Contest with the song " Take Me to Your Heaven". Sinc ...

, in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

with the song "

Euphoria Euphoria ( ) is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music and da ...

" performed by

Loreen Loreen may refer to: *Loreen (singer), Swedish singer *Loreen Rice Lucas (1914–2011), a Canadian author * "Loreen" (song), 1986 song by German singer Sandra See also *Loren (disambiguation) *Lorene Lorene is a given name. Notable people with the n ...

, and in

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 ...

with the song "

Heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

" performed by

Måns Zelmerlöw Måns Petter Albert Sahlén Zelmerlöw (; born 13 June 1986) is a Swedish pop singer, songwriter and television presenter. He took part in '' Idol 2005'', eventually finishing fifth, won the first season of '' Let's Dance,'' and scored a hit w ...

. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the , Sweden's entries, to this point, have featured in every final except for

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

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

Before Eurovision

Melodifestivalen ''2019''

''2019'' was the 58th edition of the Swedish music competition and will be held between 2 February 2019 and 9 March 2019. The four presenters were

Sarah Dawn Finer Sarah Dawn Finer (born 14 September 1981) is a Swedish singer, songwriter and actress. Her father is of English heritage from the United Kingdom, her mother is Jewish from the United States, and she was born and raised in Sweden. As a student, s ...

, Kodjo Akolor, Marika Carlsson and

Eric Saade Eric Khaled Saade (; ar, إريك سعادة, ʾĪrik Saʿāda, ; born 29 October 1990), is a Swedish singer and songwriter. He spent two years with the boy band What's Up!, leaving the band in February 2009 to pursue a solo career. After winn ...

. The winner of the contest would represent Sweden in the

in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Heats and Second Chance round

* The first heat took place on 2 February 2019 at the 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 ...

. "

Not with Me "Not with Me" is a song by Swedish singer Wiktoria. The song was performed for the first time in Melodifestivalen 2019, where it made it to the final.Wiktoria and "

Hello ''Hello'' is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826. Early uses ''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the ''Norwich C ...

" performed by

Mohombi Mohombi Nzasi Moupondo (born 17 October 1986) is a Congolese-Swedish musician, singer, composer and dancer. He grew up in Norsborg and Kista near Stockholm. Mohombi was RedOne's first signing to 2101 Records in joint venture with Universal Mu ...

qualified directly to the final, while " Ashes to Ashes" performed by

Anna Bergendahl Anna Henrietta Bergendahl (born 11 December 1991) is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She took part in Swedish TV4 music program ''Super Troupers'' in 2004, and in ''Idol 2008'' where she reached the Final 5 before being eliminated. In 2009, Be ...

and " Chasing Rivers" performed by Nano advanced to the Second Chance round. "No Drama" performed by High15, "" performed by

Zeana Zeana Muratovic, known simply as Zeana, (born 5 November 1992) is a Swedish singer. She participated in Idol 2016 which was broadcast on TV4 TV4 or TV 4 may refer to: *TV4 (Poland), a private Polish television station *TV4 (Sweden), a Swedish te ...

featuring

Anis don Demina Anis Don Demina (; born Anis Dhahir 25 April 1993) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, musician and DJ. Early life His Kurdish father, an auto mechanic, fled from the Gulf War to Russia where he met Anis's Belarusian mother, a pianist and musi ...

, and "" performed by

Arja Saijonmaa Arja Enni Helena Saijonmaa (born 1 December 1944 in Mikkeli) is a Finnish singer, political activist and occasional actress. Life and career She studied at the Sibelius Academy and earned a Bachelor of Arts at the Helsinki University. She made ...

were eliminated from the contest. * The second heat took place on 9 February 2019 at the

Malmö Arena Malmö Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Malmö, Sweden, and the venue for home games of SHL ice hockey club Malmö Redhawks. It is the largest arena in the SHL, and the second-largest indoor arena in Sweden. Apart from hosting Redh ...

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...

. " Hold You" performed by

Hanna Ferm Hanna Alma Beata Ferm (born 23 October 2000) is a Swedish singer. She competed in '' Idol 2017'', where she placed second. Career Ferm participated in the TV4 talent show ''Talang Sverige 2014'', which was broadcast on TV3. She made it to th ...

and

Liamoo Liam Cacatian Thomassen (born 10 September 1997), known professionally as Liamoo, is a Swedish singer. In 2016, he won the twelfth season of Swedish ''Idol'' series and released his winner's single " Playing with Fire". Career 2016–2018: '' ...

and " I Do Me" performed by

Malou Prytz Malou Trasthe Prytz (born 6 March 2003) is a Swedish singer. Prytz competed in Melodifestivalen 2019 with the song " I Do Me" in the second semi-final, qualifying to the final. She resides in Ryd in Småland, Sweden. Discography Extended p ...

qualified directly to the final, while "" performed by Vlad Reiser and "Army of Us" performed by

Andreas Johnson Jon Erik Andreas Johnson (born 22 March 1970 in Bjärred, Sweden) _Biography_))).html" ;"title="allmusic ((( Andreas Johnson > Biography )))">allmusic ((( Andreas Johnson > Biography )))/ref> is a Swedish pop/rock singer-songwriter and musician ...

advanced to the Second Chance round. "I Love It" performed by Oscar Enestad, "" performed by

Jan Malmsjö Jan Wilhelm Malmsjö (born 29 May 1932) is a Swedish stage and film actor, musical star and singer. He is married to Marie Göranzon and father to Jonas Malmsjö. Biography Malmsjö was born in Lund, Sweden. He trained at the prestigious Roy ...

, and "

Tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

" performed by

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 ...

were eliminated from the contest. * The third heat took place on 16 February 2019 at the

Tegera Arena Tegera Arena is an arena in Leksand, Sweden primarily used for ice hockey. It was opened in October 2005, and is the home arena of Leksands IF. It holds 7,650 people. History Construction of a new arena, replacing the former Leksands ishall fro ...

Leksand Leksand () is a locality and the seat of Leksand Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 5,934 inhabitants in 2010. Sport Leksand is famous for the Leksands IF ice hockey team, who have won 4 Swedish Championships, although the team is curren ...

. " Norrsken (Goeksegh)" performed by

Jon Henrik Fjällgren Jon Henrik Mario Fjällgren (born 26 April 1987) is a Swedish-Sámi singer and ''jojkare'', an interpreter of Sámi joik. He was the winner of ''Talang Sverige 2014'', the Swedish version of ''Got Talent''. Upon winning the competition he relea ...

and "

Victorious ''Victorious'' (stylized as ''VICTORiOUS'') is an American sitcom created by Dan Schneider (TV producer), Dan Schneider that originally aired on Nickelodeon, debuting on March 27, 2010, and concluding on February 2, 2013 after four seasons. Th ...

" performed by

Lina Hedlund Lina Maria Hedlund (born 28 March 1978) is a Swedish singer and member of the pop group Alcazar (band), Alcazar. She also has a solo career. Career Hedlund was born in Bollnäs. She has participated in Melodifestivalen a number of times, in M ...

qualified directly to the final, while "Who I Am" performed by

Rebecka Karlsson Ida ''Rebecka'' Eloise Karlsson (born 12 June 2000) is a Swedish singer. At the age of eight she participated in Talang 2009 which is broadcast on TV4. She again participated on the show in Talang 2014 which was broadcast on TV3, making it to t ...

and "" performed by

Martin Stenmarck Martin Olof Jon Stenmarck (born 3 October 1972) is a Swedish singer. He represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "Las Vegas", finishing 19th with 30 points. Career In 2006, Stenmarck released his first single in Swe ...

advanced to the Second Chance round. "Somebody Wants" performed by the Lovers of Valdaro, "Habibi" performed by

Dolly Style Dolly Style is a Swedish girl group. The group was created by Emma Nors and Palle Hammarlund and features three girls that call themselves Molly, Holly and Polly. The trio claims to originate from a "dollhouse in Dollyville". The group is inspir ...

, and "" performed by

Omar Rudberg Omar Josué Rudberg (né González; born 12 November 1998) is a Venezuelan-Swedish singer and actor. Before launching his solo music career in 2018, he gained recognition and began his professional music career in 2013 as a member of the Swedish ...

were eliminated from the contest. * The fourth heat took place on 23 February 2019 at the

Sparbanken Lidköping Arena Sparbanken Lidköping Arena is an indoor arena in Lidköping, Sweden. It is the home arena for the bandy team, Villa Lidköping BK. The normal capacity of the arena is 4,500 for bandy games and 12,500 for concerts, and the arena was opened on Dec ...

Lidköping Lidköping () is a locality and the seat of Lidköping Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had about 40 000 inhabitants in 2021. It is situated on the southern shore of Lake Vänern and sometimes refers to itself as "Lidköpin ...

. " Too Late for Love" performed by

John Lundvik John Lundvik (; born 27 January 1983) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and former sprinter. He was part of the athletic team for IFK Växjö. Lundvik also has a singing and songwriter career having composed songs for films and the Wedding of ...

and " On My Own" performed by Bishara qualified directly to the final, while " Torn" performed by

Lisa Ajax Lisa Kristina Ajax (born 13 August 1998), is a Swedish singer, and winner of '' Idol 2014''. She also participated at Lilla Melodifestivalen 2012 with the song "Allt som jag har". Ajax participated in Melodifestivalen 2016 with the song " My H ...

and "

I Do I Do may refer to: * "I do", a phrase used in some marriage vows; used by brides and grooms in response to questions posed by either the officiant or the other marriage partner Film and TV Film * ''I Do'' (1921 film), a silent comedic short f ...

" performed by

Arvingarna Arvingarna is a Swedish dansband formed in Gothenburg in 1989. The group consists of Casper Janebrink (vocals and bass guitar), Lars Larsson (guitars, vocals and keyboards), Kim Carlsson (vocals and guitars) and Tommy Carlsson (drums and vocals). ...

advanced to the Second Chance round. "Stormbringer" performed by Pagan Fury, "" performed by

Anton Hagman Anton Per Erik Hagman (born 8 September 1998) is a Swedish singer. He competed in Melodifestivalen 2017 with the song "Kiss You Goodbye "Kiss You Goodbye" is a song recorded by Swedish singer Anton Hagman. The song was released as a digital dow ...

, and "" performed by Ann-Louise Hanson were eliminated from the contest. * The Second Chance round () took place on 2 March 2019 at the Rosvalla Nyköping Eventcenter in

Nyköping Nyköping () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Nyköping Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 32,759 inhabitants as of 2017. The city is also the capital of Södermanland County. Including Arnö, the locality on the ...

. " Ashes to Ashes" performed by

, " Chasing Rivers" performed by Nano, " Torn" performed by

, and "

" performed by

qualified to the final.

Final

The final took place on 9 March 2019 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 ...

Solna 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 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 ...

. Twelve songs competed — two qualifiers from each of the four preceding heats and four qualifiers from the Second Chance round. The combination of points from a viewer vote and eight international jury groups determined the winner, John Lundvik with the song "Too Late for Love". The viewers and the juries each had a total of 464 points to award. The nations that comprised the international jury were , , , , , , and the .

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the " Big Five" (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. The

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...

(EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 28 January 2019, 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 16 May 2019, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. Once all the competing songs for the 2019 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 8, following the entry from

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

and preceding the entry from

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Semi-final

Sweden performed eighth in the second semi-final, following the entry from Denmark and preceding the entry from Austria. At the end of the show, Sweden was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Sweden placed third in the semi-final, receiving a total of 238 points: 88 points from the televoting and 150 points from the juries.

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry 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 was permitted to 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 as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.

Points awarded to Sweden

Points awarded by Sweden

Detailed voting results

The following members comprised the Swedish jury: * Calvin Bozic (jury chairperson)PR and project leader record company * Mathias Lugoboniassistant music director *

artist * Adnan Sahuricdancer and choreographer * Haida Jamshidi

References

External links

Official SVT Eurovision website
{{Eurovision Song Contest 2019

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019

Eurovision 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 ...