Sweden was represented at the

Eurovision Song Contest 1961 The Eurovision Song Contest 1961 was the 6th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 18 March 1961 in the in Cannes, France. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (RTF), and originally known as the () ...

with the song "", composed by Bobbie Ericsson, with lyrics by Bo Eneby, and performed by

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 ...

. The Swedish participating broadcaster, (SR), selected its entry through a national final. The song was performed once by Siw Malmkvist, once by Gunnar Wiklund in the national final. However, none of them was considered acceptable for singing in Eurovision, so SR chose

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

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) 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 Internatio ...

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

Before Eurovision

(retroactively often referred to as 1961) was the Swedish national final and it was the third time that (SR) used a national final to select their song. 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: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

and one with a smaller orchestra. Approximately 550 songs were submitted to SR 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, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

on 6 February 1961, broadcast on , but was not broadcast on radio. Siw Malmkvist won with "" but

went to Eurovision.

At Eurovision

On the night of the final, Lill-Babs performed 7th in the running order, following the and preceding . At the close of the voting "" had received only 2 points (from ), placing Sweden 14th of the 16 competing entries.

Voting

Every participating broadcaster assembled a jury panel of ten people. Every jury member could give one point to his or her favourite song.

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 1961 1961 Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1961 Eurovision Eurovision es:Melodifestivalen 1961 pt:Melodifestivalen 1961 sv:Melodifestivalen 1961