Sweden chose their entrant for the

Eurovision Song Contest 1961 The Eurovision Song Contest 1961 was the 6th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. Once again, the contest was held in the French seaside city of Cannes, having also hosted the . Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and ho ...

through Melodifestivalen 1961. The song "April, april", performed once with

Siw Malmkvist Siw Gunnel Margareta Malmkvist (born 31 December 1936) is a Swedish schlager singer and actress popular in Scandinavia and West Germany. She had a number one hit in West Germany in 1964 with "''Liebeskummer lohnt sich nicht''" (''"Lovesickness ...

, once with

Gunnar Wiklund Lars Gunnar Wiklund (17 August 1935 – 29 September 1989) was a Swedish singer. He scored several Svensktoppen hits, and participated in Melodifestivalen four times. Early life Lars Gunnar Wiklund was born on 17 August 1935 in Luleå, Sweden, ...

, won. However, none of them was considered acceptable for singing in ESC, so

Lill-Babs Barbro Margareta Svensson (9 March 1938 – 3 April 2018), known by her stage name Lill-Babs, was a Swedish singer, actress and television host. From the early 1950s until her death in 2018, she was one of Sweden's best-known and popular singers. ...

was chosen as representative instead. In the contest, once more held in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

, she finished in 14th place (out of 16).

Before Eurovision

Melodifestivalen 1961

Melodifestivalen 1961 was the Swedish national final and it was the third time that this system of picking a song had been used. One singer performed the song with a large

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

and one with a smaller orchestra. Approximately 550 songs were submitted to SVT for the competition. The final was held in the

Cirkus CirKus are a trip hop band formed by Burt Ford (Cameron McVey), Karmil (aka Matt Kent), Lolita Moon and Neneh Cherry. History DJ and producer Karmil was recruited by Burt Ford (Neneh's husband Cameron McVey) as an assistant recording engi ...

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 ...

on 6 February 1961, broadcast on Sveriges Radio TV, but was not broadcast on radio.

won with "April, april" but

went to Eurovision. *: Performer with large orchestra *: Performer with smaller orchestra

At Eurovision

On the night of the final, Lill-Babs performed 7th in the running order, following the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and preceding

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. At the close of the voting "April, april" had received only 2 points (from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

), placing Sweden 14th of the 16 competing entries.ESC History - Sweden 1961
/ref>

Voting

Every country had a jury of ten people. Every jury member could give one point to his or her favourite song.

References

External links

{{Melodifestivalen

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1961

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 ...

es:Melodifestivalen 1961 pt:Melodifestivalen 1961 sv:Melodifestivalen 1961