Melodifestivalen

Television broadcast
Original title	Melodifestivalen
Country of production	Sweden
original language	Swedish , English
Year (s)	since 1959
Production ; company
length	90 & 120 minutes
Episodes	6 in 60 seasons
Broadcasting ; cycle	1958–1963, ; 1965–1969, ; 1971–1975, ; 1977–
genre	music
Theme music	The Attic - The Theme
production	Christer Björkman (until 2021) , Karin Gunnarsson
Moderation	various
First broadcast	January 29, 1958 on SVT (then SR)

Melodifestivalen is the Swedish preliminary decision for the Eurovision Song Contest . It has become the most watched entertainment show for the public television company Sveriges Television (SVT) in Sweden and across Scandinavia over the years

history

The Swedish preliminary decision for the Eurovision Song Contest has been held since 1959. The year before, the participant was determined by the SKAP, the "Association of Swedish Composers of Popular Music". Since the first participation in 1958, Sweden did not take part in the Eurovision Song Contest three times, so there was no preliminary decision. This happened in 1964 because of a participant strike, in 1970 in protest against the EBU and in 1976 in protest against the commercial nature of the show and to save money.

mode

Since 2002, the participants for the national preliminary decision have been selected in four preliminary rounds. These are usually the winner and the runner-up in the preliminary rounds. After that there is a fifth preliminary round. The third and fourth placed in the first four preliminary rounds get a second chance in Andra Chansen and can sing for the last two (8 + 2 = 10) final places.

In 2007 the mode of the last preliminary decision was changed slightly again. There are also four preliminary rounds with eight titles each. As with ski jumping, Andra Chansen then competes two songs against each other, so that at the end of the preliminary round there are four songs left. The audience now has another choice. Again two songs compete against each other. The two winners move on to the final. The system of preliminary decisions was considered as early as the 1980s , but it was feared that the audience would lose interest in the competition. The opposite was the case after the introduction of the preliminary rounds: audience interest grew steadily.

In 2015 , the rules of the Melodifestival were changed again: In the four semi-finals, unlike before, there are no longer eight, but only seven participants. Of these, however, the first and second placed qualify directly for the final and the third and fourth placed for Andra Chansen . Four acts will make it to the finals there, so that there are now twelve songs competing for the Swedish starting place in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Every year, shortly after the end of the annual festival, all Swedes are called upon to submit songs for the preliminary decision for the coming year. Who can ultimately participate will be decided by a jury made up of various representatives of the Swedish population. They also receive training for their work. In addition to the submitted songs, however, “Jokers” are determined every year, which can participate independently of this submission process. The Ark , which won the Melodifestivalen in 2007 , made it into the preliminary decision as a wild card. For several years now, the winner or an interpreter of the P4 Nästa selected by the jury has been taking part in the Melodifestivalen.

poll

Until 1998, a jury chose the winner, which was divided up representative either according to place of residence or age. However, since 1999 the Swedish viewers have been involved via televoting . In the final, which has been taking place in the Friends Arena since 2013 , an international jury will be involved in the vote. Half of the points are awarded by the international jury and half by the Swedish audience. Here the jury points are read out first, and then the aggregated audience vote is awarded. A similar voting was introduced at the ESC 2016 .

In the Swedish press and among Melodifestivalen fans, a lot of attention is paid to whether a winner can combine both votes. The jury is not without controversy and has repeatedly caused discussions in the popular press . Especially when the discrepancy between audience and jury voting came into play. So it happened that despite a second place in the audience voting, interpreters still won the preliminary decision because they took first place in the jury voting.

successes

The programs broadcast simultaneously on Swedish television and radio have not only been a success in terms of ratings since the introduction of the preliminary rounds. The DVD with all the final rounds and many extras as well as the CD for the broadcast enjoy great popularity every year, as do the phonograms by various participating artists and collections with favorites and / or winners from previous years, which are often published promptly. The event helped many participants to achieve a breakthrough, such as Carola Häggkvist . ABBA , who won the 1974 competition with Waterloo and later also the Eurovision Song Contest, then started a world career. In recent times it has also helped some artists such as Måns Zelmerlöw , Agnes Carlsson or Eric Saade .

Successful participation in the Eurovision Song Contest

Performers who achieved at least fifth place in the Eurovision Song Contest after taking part in the Melodifestivalen:

year	Interpreter	Song Music (M) and Text (T)	space
1958	Alice Babs	Lilla stjärna M / T: Åke Gerhard	4th
1966	Lill Lindfors & Svante Thuresson	Nygammal vals M: Bengt Arne Wallin; T: Björn Lindroth	2.
1968	Claes-Göran Hederström	Det börjar verka kärlek, ban mig M / T: Peter Himmelstrand	5.
1973	Malta	Sommaren som aldrig säger nej Participation as You're Summer M: Monica Dominique, Carl-Axel Dominique; T: Lars Forssell	5.
1974	ABBA	Waterloo M: Benny Andersson , Björn Ulvaeus ; T: Stikkan Anderson	1.
1983	Carola Häggkvist	Främling M: Lasse Holm; T: Monica Forsberg </ small	3.
1984	Herreys	Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley M: Torgny Söderberg; T: Britt Lindeborg	1.
1985	Kikki Danielsson	Bra vibrationer M: Lasse Holm; T: Ingela Forsman	3.
1986	Lasse Holm & Monica Törnell	E 'de' det här you kallar kärlek? M / T: Lasse Holm	5.
1989	Tommy Nilsson	En dag M / T: Tim Norell, Ola Håkansson , Alexander Bard	4th
1991	Carola Häggkvist	Fångad av en stormvind M / T: Stephan Berg	1.
1995	Jan Johansen	Se på mig M: Håkan Almqvist, Bobby Ljunggren; T: Ingela 'Pling' Forsman	3.
1996	One more time	Den vilda M: Peter Grönvall; T: Nanne Grönvall	3.
1999	Charlotte Nilsson	Tusen och en natt Participation as Take Me to Your Heaven M: Lars 'Dille' Diedricson; T: Marcos Ubeda	1.
2001	Friends	Lyssna till ditt hjärta Participation as Listen To Your Heartbeat M / T: Thomas G: son , Henrik Sethsson	5.
2003	Fame	Give Me Your Love M / T: Carl Lösnitz, Calle Kindbom	5.
2004	Lena Philipsson	Det gör ont participation as It hurts M / T: Thomas "Orup" Eriksson	5.
2006	Carola Häggkvist	Evighet Participation as Invincible M: Bobby Ljunggren, Thomas G: son , Henrik Wikström; T: Thomas G: son , Carola Häggkvist	5.
2011	Eric Saade	Popular M / T: Fredrik Kempe	3.
2012	Loreen	Euphoria M / T: Thomas G: son , Peter Boström	1.
2014	Sanna Nielsen	Undo M / T: Fredrik Kempe, David Kreuger, Hamed "K-One" Pirouzpanah	3.
2015	Måns Zelmerlöw	Heroes M / T: Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb	1.
2016	Frans	If I Were Sorry M / T: Oscar Fogelström, Michael Saxell, Fredrik Andersson, Frans Jeppsson-Wall	5.
2017	Robin Bengtsson	I Can't Go On M / T: David Kreuger, Hamed "K-One" Pirouzpanah, Robin Stjernberg	5.
2019	John Lundvik	Too Late for Love M / T: John Lundvik , Anderz Wrethov, Andreas "Stone" Johansson	5.

Venues

Previous venues of the Melodifestival

The Melodifestivalen is one of the few preliminary decisions where the individual broadcasts take place in different locations in the country.

So far, 27 different cities have hosted at least one Melodifestivalen program.

Semifinals

Regular semi-final venue since 2002: Scandinavium

Regular semifinal venue since 2009: Malmö Arena

Since the introduction of the semifinals in 2002, the semifinals have taken place in 25 different locations in 21 different cities.

number	city	venue	year
18th	Gothenburg	Scandinavium	2003–
13	Malmo	Malmömässan Malmö Arena	2004 2009–
05	Linkoping	Saab Arena	2005, 2008, 2011, 2014 , 2020
04th	Leksand	Tegera Arena	2006, 2009, 2012 , 2019
	Skellefteå	Skellefteå Kraft Arena	2005, 2009, 2013 , 2017
	Vaxjo	Växjö Tipshall Vida Arena	2002, 2005 2012 , 2017
	Örnsköldsvik	Fjallraven Center	2007, 2010, 2014, 2018
03	Karlskrona	Telenor Arena Karlskrona	2006, 2008, 2013
	Karlstad	Löfbergs Arena	2004, 2006, 2018
	Luleå	Arcushallen Coop Norrbotten Arena	2003 2011, 2020
02	Gävle	Gavlerinken Arena	2007, 2016
	Jonkoping	Elmiahallen Kinnarps Arena	2003 2007
	Norrkoping	Himmelstalundshallen	2002, 2016
	Sundsvall	Nordichallen	2002, 2003
01	Falun	Lugnet	2002
	Lidköping	Sparbanken Lidköping Arena	2019
	Sandviken	Göransson Arena	2010
	Umeå	Umeå Arena	2004
	Västerås	ABB Arena	2008
	Örebro	Conventum Arena	2015
	Ostersund	Ostersund Arena	2015

(As of February 22, 2020)

Andra Chansen

Since the introduction of the Andra Chansen round in 2002, the corresponding broadcasts have taken place in 15 different locations in 13 different cities.

number	city	venue	year
5	Stockholm	TV-huset Hotel Rival Berns	2002, 2003, 2006 2004 2005
3	Nykoping	Nyköpings Arenor Rosvalla	2007, 2012 , 2019
1	Eskilstuna	STIGA Sports Arena	2020
	Halmstad	Halmstad Arena	2016
	Helsingborg	Helsingborg Arena	2015
	Karlstad	Löfbergs Arena	2013
	Kiruna	Arena Arctica	2008
	Kristianstad	Kristianstad Arena	2018
	Lidköping	Sparbanken Lidköping Arena	2014
	Linkoping	Saab Arena	2017
	Norrkoping	Himmelstalundshallen	2009
	Sundsvall	Nordichallen	2011
	Örebro	Conventum Arena	2010

(As of February 29, 2020)

final

Between 2002 and 2012, the finale of the Melodifestival took place here: Ericsson Globe

The Friends Arena in Stockholm , where the final has been held every year since 2013.

The final, which has been taking place regularly since 1958, has so far taken place in 13 different locations in three different cities.

number	city	venue	year
44	Stockholm	Circus	1959–1963, 1965–1969, 1972, 1977–1979, 1981, 1986, 1992
		Stockholmsmässan	1996, 1999
		TV huset	1971, 1973–1974, 1980, 1994
		Globes	1989, 2002- 2012
		Friends Arena ( Solna )	2013 -
08th	Gothenburg	Lisebergshallen	1982, 1984, 1987, 1993
		TV huset	1975
		rondo	1990
		Eriksbergshallen	1997
		Gothenburgsoperan	2000
07th	Malmo	Malmö Music Theater	1988, 1991, 1995, 1998, 2001
		palladium	1983
		TV huset	1985

(As of March 7, 2020)

Web links

Commons : Melodifestivalen - collection of images, videos and audio files

SVT's website on Melodifestivalen (Swedish, English)