Melodifestivalen is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almost every year since 1959. In the early 2000s, the competition was the most popular television program in Sweden; 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.
Carola Maria Häggkvist, commonly known simply as Carola, is a Swedish pop singer. She has been among Sweden's most popular performers since the early 1980s and has released albums ranging from pop and disco to hymns and folk music. Her debut album, Främling (1983), sold around one million copies and remains the biggest-selling album in Swedish music history. She has also worked as a songwriter. During her career, she has recorded many top-selling albums and singles and is referred to as Sweden's most prominent female singer. Some of her biggest hits are "Främling", "Tommy tycker om mig", "Fångad av en stormvind", "All the Reasons to Live", "I Believe in Love", "Genom allt", and "Evighet". She has released records in various languages: Swedish, Dutch, German, English, Norwegian and Japanese.
Alcazar is a Swedish nu-disco group established in Stockholm. It is one of Sweden's most successful music groups both nationally and internationally with a string of hits since their debut single in 1999. Worldwide, Alcazar sold over 12 million records between 2001 and 2004. Alcazar also had success globally in 2000 with their song "Crying at the Discoteque", having charted in USA, Brazil, Australia, Japan and most countries in Europe.
Anna Jenny Charlotte Perrelli, known until 2003 by her maiden name, is a Swedish singer and television host. Under her maiden name, she won the 1999 Melodifestivalen and subsequently that year's Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Take Me to Your Heaven".
Sweden has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 62 times since making its debut in 1958, missing only three contests since then. Since 1959, the Swedish entry has been chosen through an annual televised competition, known since 1967 as Melodifestivalen. At the 1997 contest, Sweden was one of the first five countries to adopt televoting. Sweden has hosted the contest seven times: three times in Stockholm, three times in Malmö and once in Gothenburg (1985).
BWO was a Swedish electropop group, formed in 2003. Prior to early 2006 they used the name Bodies Without Organs. In Sweden they have enjoyed considerable commercial success throughout their career, so far notching up 15 Top 40 singles, including a Number 1 with "Temple of Love", and five Top 10 albums including a Number 1 with Halcyon Days, and have won several major Swedish music awards. The group scored major successes in countries like Russia.
Sanna Viktoria Nielsen is a Swedish singer, television presenter and musical theatre performer. On her seventh attempt, she won Melodifestivalen in 2014 with the song "Undo" and so represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark, finishing in 3rd place overall. Sanna was one of the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 commentators for Sweden and hosted Melodifestivalen 2015 along with comedian Robin Paulsson. She was announced as the new presenter for the sing-along show Allsång på Skansen for the summer of 2016. She hosted Eurovision The Party at the Tele2 Arena for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.
Måns Petter Albert Sahlén Zelmerlöw is a Swedish pop singer and television presenter. He took part in Idol 2005, eventually finishing fifth, won the first season of Let's Dance, and scored a hit with his 2007 song "Cara Mia", which was his entry in that year's Melodifestivalen. Zelmerlöw was the host of Allsång på Skansen from 2011 to 2013. He participated in Melodifestivalen in 2007, 2009 and won in 2015. Zelmerlöw represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Heroes", winning the contest with 365 points. Zelmerlöw and Petra Mede co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 held in Stockholm.
Melodifestivalen 2008 was the 48th edition of the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen, which was organised by Sveriges Television (SVT) and took place over a six-week period between 9 February and 15 March 2008. The winner of the competition was Charlotte Perrelli with the song "Hero", who represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, where she came eighteenth with 47 points.
Sweden selected its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 by holding an extending national selection, namely Melodifestivalen 2008. A record of 3,489 entries were submitted to the broadcaster SVT, and 28 were chosen to compete. They were completed with 4 wildcards in the end of December. Melodifestivalen was also this year held on Saturdays, starting with the first of the four heats on 9 February and ending with a final on 15 March. It was the last of the year's national selections, as the official ESC draw was held on 17 March. Four songs progressed from each heat, two to the final and two to the second chance round, where the songs were competing in a knock-out round to gain the last two places in the final.
"Love Love Love" is a song by Swedish singer Agnes and was her entrant in Sweden's Eurovision Song Contest selection process Melodifestivalen. After proceeding to the final from the fourth semi-final, the song placed eighth out of the eleven entries. "Love Love Love" is written by Anders Hansson and was released as a one track CD single by Roxy Recordings, in addition to being included on the "Love Love Love Edition" of Agnes' 2008 album Dance Love Pop and serving as the album's third single.
Sofia Rebecca Hildegard Berntson, known professionally as Sofia is a Swedish singer who often sings in Greek. She has released three CD singles since 2007 and has taken part in the Swedish song selection process for the Eurovision Song Contest, Melodifestivalen, twice, in 2007 and more recently in 2009.
"Alla" is a song by Swedish singer Sofia and was her entrant in Sweden's Eurovision Song Contest selection process Melodifestivalen. The song is sung entirely in Greek and won the international jury vote at the contest, gaining it a spot in the final, where it ended up placing tenth of eleven. The song was released in Sweden and will also be released in Greece, with the possibility of both English and Swedish versions being produced.
Melodifestivalen 2010 was a Swedish song contest held between February and March 2010. It was the selection for the 50th song to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest, and was the 49th edition of Melodifestivalen. Five heats were held in the Swedish cities of Örnsköldsvik, Sandviken, Gothenburg and Malmö, with Örebro hosting the final Andra Chansen round.
"You're Out of My Life" is a song recorded by Swedish singer Darin and was Darin's entry in Melodifestivalen 2010. The song was first performed in Deltävling 3 of Melodifestivalen in Göteborg on 20 February 2010 where Darin reached second place and progressed to the final on March 13 in Stockholm. The single was released on 28 February 2010. This is Darin's first physical single release since his departure from Sony Music.
Lorine Zeineb Nora Talhaoui, known professionally as Loreen, is a Swedish singer and songwriter. Representing Sweden, she won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012 and 2023 with the songs "Euphoria" and "Tattoo" respectively. She is the second performer, after Johnny Logan, to have won the contest twice, and the first woman to do so.
Edward af Sillén is a Swedish screenwriter and director for stage, film and TV. He has translated and directed numerous successful theatre shows including Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, The Drowsy Chaperone, Bull and Cock by Mike Bartlett, Torch Song Trilogy by Harvey Fierstein, Shirley Valentine by Willy Russell, and Art by Yasmina Reza.
Benjamin Daniele Wahlgren Ingrosso is a Swedish singer, songwriter and record producer. As a child, he appeared in the leading role in several musicals, and in 2006 he won Lilla Melodifestivalen with the song "Hej Sofia". He won the celebrity dancing TV show Let's Dance 2014, and has competed twice in Melodifestivalen in 2017 and 2018 respectively. He participated in 2018 and represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, with the song "Dance You Off".
Melodifestivalen 2016 was the 56th edition of the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen, which selected Sweden's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. The competition was organised by Sveriges Television (SVT) and took place over the six-week period between 6 February and 12 March 2016.
The following events in Swedish music occurred in the year 2017.
