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.
Lars Nils "Lasse" Berghagen was a Swedish singer and songwriter. He represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 with the song "Jennie, Jennie". He was also known for presenting Allsång på Skansen on Swedish television from 1994 up until 2003.
Camilla Thulin is a Swedish fashion designer. She is particularly known for having designed all of Army of Lovers' outfits, and for having given Swedish politician Lars Leijonborg his new "man of the people" image in the lead-up to the 2002 Swedish elections. Thulin designed Malena Ernman's gown worn during her Eurovision Song Contest 2009 performance, reported to have cost 400,000 kronor (€37,471).
Anna Jenny Charlotte Perrelli, known simply until 2003 as Charlotte Nilsson and later as Charlotte Perrelli, 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 six times: three times in Stockholm, twice in Malmö and once in Gothenburg (1985); and is set to host for a seventh time in 2024 in Malmö.
Melodifestivalen 2006 was the selection for the 46th song to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest. It was the 45th time that this system of picking a song had been used. Five heats had taken place to select the ten songs for the final, in Leksand, Karlstad, Karlskrona, Gothenburg and a Second Chance round in Stockholm. The final was broadcast on SVT1 and Sveriges Radio's P4 network. Carola Häggkvist was the clear favourite to win the final, with bookmakers making her the favourite and an Aftonbladet web poll showing her to have a clear margin over the other participants. The rehearsals sold out for the fourth year running; however, Carola was unable to perform in the final rehearsal due to throat problems. This led to speculation that the final would be closer than expected. Aftonbladet claimed in April 2006 that the televote may have been tampered with, as various sources reported unexplained voting on their telephone bills. It is clear that this would not have affected the result. Various finalists and heatists entered the Swedish Hitlistan chart after the competition. The second placed song, "Temple of Love", finished fourth in the Eurovision Madrid National Finals Song Contest.
Sanna Viktoria Nielsen is a Swedish singer and television presenter. 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 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.
Sweden entered and won the Eurovision Song Contest 1991, held in Rome, Italy.
Louise "Loulou" Lamotte is a Swedish singer. Since 2019 she has been a member of the vocal group The Mamas.
Frans Jeppsson Wall, also known mononymously as Frans, is a Swedish singer-songwriter. He represented host nation Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in Stockholm with the song "If I Were Sorry", finishing in fifth place.
Melodifestivalen 2011 was a Swedish song contest held between February and March 2011. It selected Sweden's 51st song to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest, and was the 50th edition of Melodifestivalen. Eric Saade, with the song "Popular", won the contest and thus was selected to represent Sweden in the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest.
Linda Norrgård Pritchard is a Swedish artist, who has worked with Magnus Uggla and Ace of Base. As a student she attended the Adolf Fredrik's Music School in Stockholm. She participated in Idol 2008 where she got to the qualifying round but was then eliminated, although she was considered one of the favourites. During the summer of 2009, Pritchard participated in Allsång på Skansen as a dancer for Magnus Uggla and she also choreographed for Ace of Base. Pritchard also accompanied Ugglas on his revue tour. Pritchard's first single "Fast Car", originally recorded by Tracy Chapman, was included in the compilation album Absolute Music 61. She had previously sung backing vocals for Celine Dion and Britney Spears. In 2019, Pritchard appeared on stage at the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv, Israel as one of the backing singers for the United Kingdom entry performed by Michael Rice.
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 won in 2018 and represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, with the song "Dance You Off".
Carl Viktor Andersson Frisk is a Swedish fashion blogger and singer. Along with Samir Badran, he is part of the musical duo Samir & Viktor.
Lars Henrik Wikström is a Swedish songwriter and music producer. He has entered the Eurovision Song Contest as a composer for Sweden in 2006 with the song "Invincible". The song was performed by Carola Häggkvist and placed 5th in the final.
The following is a list of notable events and releases of the year 2016 in Swedish music.
John Lundvik 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 Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, and Daniel Westling in 2010.
