Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006

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Eurovision Song Contest 2006
CountryFlag of Sweden.svg  Sweden
National selection
Selection process Melodifestivalen 2006
Selection date(s)Heats
18 February 2006
25 February 2006
4 March 2006
11 March 2006
Second Chance
12 March 2006
Final
18 March 2006
Selected entrant Carola
Selected song"Invincible"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (4th, 214 points)
Final result5th, 170 points
Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2005 •2006• 2007►

Sweden's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was Carola with the song "Invincible".

Contents

Before Eurovision

Melodifestivalen 2006

Sweden's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was selected in Melodifestivalen 2006 , the Swedish national final. Before the final there were four heats and a second chance round, with all shows presented by Lena Philipsson, Melodifestivalen 2004 winner and Swedish representative at Eurovision 2004. The top two songs in each heat directly qualified for the final, while the 3rd and 4th placed songs went forward to the second-chance round. With the votes from the jury and televote, Carola was chosen to go to Athens for Sweden singing the song "Evighet" (Eternity). The song was written by Thomas G:son and Carola Häggkvist and composed by Thomas G:son, Bobby Ljunggren and Henrik Wikström.

Heats and Second Chance round

Final

The final was held at the Globe Arena in Stockholm on 18 March 2006.

DrawArtistSongJuryTelevoteTotalPlace
1 Andreas Johnson "Sing for Me"112882003
2 Björn Kjellman "Älskar du livet"6069
3 Linda Bengtzing "Jag ljuger så bra"3422567
4 The Poodles "Night of Passion"3266984
5 Magnus Carlsson "Lev livet!"190198
6 Rednex "Mama, Take Me Home"1744616
7 Carola "Evighet"1021322341
8 Magnus Bäcklund "The Name of Love"5711685
9 Kikki Danielsson "I dag och i morgon"20210
10 BWO "Temple of Love"921102022

Controversy

Her entry in the contest sparked controversy. From the moment she declared that she would be entering the 2006 contest, there were cries that she had just won the contest out of fear of her already established fanbase voting her to victory no matter what she sang. Carola was also criticized for her prior statements about homosexuality and for her use of "personal assistants" who largely controlled what she said and didn't say when she appeared in public.[ citation needed ]

The controversy of Carolagate was further inflamed by a series of mysterious events during the semi-final from which she qualified (Gothenburg) and during the final in Stockholm itself. Further, during the recap for the voting of the Gothenburg semi-final, the recap of Carola's performance ran for approximately 30 seconds instead of the traditional 10–12.

During the final, people had major problems televoting for several entrants, the brunt of which were revolved around two entrants: Andreas Johnson and BWO, the two entrants who placed 2nd and 3rd. While there were wide reports of people not being able to vote for these two entrants, nobody complained about complications when voting for Carola. Furthermore, during the recap during for voting, SVT used footage from the Gothenburg semi-final when showing Carola's entry, which wouldn't have been so suspicious and noticeable had Carola not had a throat infection which resulted in a less stellar performance than in Gothenburg.[ citation needed ]

Though not part of the controversy, the aforementioned throat infection persisted, which led to Carola being forced to alter (lower) her vocals for the last stanza (the one with the wailing, which wasn't wailing anymore) when performing "Invincible" in Athens.

At Eurovision

Because Sweden placed 19th at the 2005 contest, Carola was forced to compete in the Eurovision semi-final she performed 20th, following Portugal and preceding Estonia. Sweden finished in 4th place with 214 points, thus qualifying for the final. [1] At the final, Carola performed in 22nd spot and at the end of voting received 170 points and finished in 5th place. [2] It is notable that this is Carola's third top 5 finish in the Eurovision Song Contest (3rd in 1983, 1st in 1991 and 5th in 2006). Also, Carola achieved her 5th place without receiving any 12 points, unlike most other of the top 10 countries that year. Meaning that Sweden automatically qualified for the final in the 2007 contest.

Voting

Points awarded to Sweden

Points awarded by Sweden

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carola Häggkvist</span> Swedish singer

Carola Maria Häggkvist, commonly known simply as Carola, is a Swedish singer and songwriter. 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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Invincible (Carola Häggkvist song)</span>

"Invincible" is the name of the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest entry for Sweden, sung by Carola Häggkvist. Being one of the favourites to win, it ended up finishing 5th out of 24.

Melodifestivalen 2007 was the selection for the 47th song to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest. It was the 46th time that this system of picking a song has been used. Five heats took place to select the ten songs for the final, in Jönköping, Gothenburg, Örnsköldsvik, Gävle and a Second Chance round in Nyköping. The final was broadcast on SVT1, SVT Europa, YLE FST5 and Sveriges Radio's P4 network. The pre-contest favourites were The Ark, with The Worrying Kind and they won, scoring the highest marks with both juries and televoters. The Ark also received the highest number of televotes a song had ever achieved in Melodifestivalen at the time, beating Carola's record from Melodifestivalen 2006. The record was later broken by Loreen at Melodifestivalen 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melodifestivalen 2008</span> Swedish music competition

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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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melodifestivalen 2009</span> Swedish music competition

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Sweden entered the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with "La voix", performed by Malena Ernman. Ernman was the winner of the Swedish song contest Melodifestivalen, which serves as Sweden's selection process for Eurovision.

Sweden participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "This Is My Life" written by Bobby Ljunggren and Kristian Lagerström. The song was performed by Anna Bergendahl. The Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) organised the national final Melodifestivalen 2010 in order to select the Swedish entry for the 2010 contest in Oslo, Norway. After a six-week-long competition consisting of four heats, a Second Chance round and a final, "This Is My Life" performed by Anna Bergendahl emerged as the winner after achieving the highest score following the combination of votes from six international jury groups, five regional jury groups and a public vote.

Sweden participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song "Popular" written by Fredrik Kempe. The song was performed by Eric Saade. The Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) organised the national final Melodifestivalen 2011 in order to select the Swedish entry for the 2011 contest in Düsseldorf, Germany. After a six-week-long competition consisting of four heats, a Second Chance round and a final, "Popular" performed by Eric Saade emerged as the winner after achieving the highest score following the combination of votes from eleven international jury groups and a public vote.

Sweden participated in and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Euphoria" written by Thomas G:son and Peter Boström. The song was performed by Loreen. The Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) organised the national final Melodifestivalen 2012 in order to select the Swedish entry for the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. After a six-week-long competition consisting of four heats, a Second Chance round and a final, "Euphoria" performed by Loreen emerged as the winner after achieving the highest score following the combination of votes from eleven international jury groups and a public vote.

Sweden participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "You" written by Robin Stjernberg, Linnea Deb, Joy Deb and Joakim Harestad Haukaas. The song was performed by Robin Stjernberg. In addition to participating in the contest, the Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) also hosted the Eurovision Song Contest after winning the competition in 2012 with the song "Euphoria" performed by Loreen. SVT organised the national final Melodifestivalen 2013 in order to select the Swedish entry for the 2013 contest in Malmö. After a six-week-long competition consisting of four heats, a Second Chance round and a final, "You" performed by Robin Stjernberg emerged as the winner after achieving the highest score following the combination of votes from eleven international jury groups and a public vote.

Sweden participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 with the song "Undo" written by Fredrik Kempe, David Kreuger and Hamed "K-One" Pirouzpanah. The song was performed by Sanna Nielsen. The Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) organised the national final Melodifestivalen 2014 in order to select the Swedish entry for the 2014 contest in Copenhagen, Denmark. After a six-week-long competition consisting of four heats, a Second Chance round and a final, "Undo" performed by Sanna Nielsen emerged as the winner after achieving the highest score following the combination of votes from eleven international jury groups and a public vote.

Sweden participated in and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Heroes" written by Linnea Deb, Joy Deb and Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad. The song was performed by Måns Zelmerlöw. The Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) organised the national final Melodifestivalen 2015 in order to select the Swedish entry for the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. After a six-week-long competition consisting of four heats, a Second Chance round and a final, "Heroes" performed by Måns Zelmerlöw emerged as the winner after achieving the highest score following the combination of votes from eleven international jury groups and a public vote.

Sweden participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "If I Were Sorry" written by Oscar Fogelström, Michael Saxell, Fredrik Andersson and Frans Jeppsson Wall. The song was performed by Frans. In addition to participating in the contest, the Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) also hosted the Eurovision Song Contest after winning the competition in 2015 with the song "Heroes" performed by Måns Zelmerlöw. SVT organised the national final Melodifestivalen 2016 in order to select the Swedish entry for the 2016 contest in Stockholm. After a six-week-long competition consisting of four heats, a Second Chance round and a final, "If I Were Sorry" performed by Frans emerged as the winner after achieving the highest score following the combination of votes from eleven international jury groups and a public vote.

Sweden participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "I Can't Go On" written by David Kreuger, Hamed "K-One" Pirouzpanah and Robin Stjernberg. The song was performed by Robin Bengtsson. The Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) organised the national final Melodifestivalen 2017 in order to select the Swedish entry for the 2017 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. After a six-week-long competition consisting of four heats, a Second Chance round and a final, "I Can't Go On" performed by Robin Bengtsson emerged as the winner after achieving the highest score following the combination of votes from eleven international jury groups and a public vote.

Sweden participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) organised the national final Melodifestivalen 2018 in order to select the Swedish entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal. After a six-week-long competition consisting of four heats, a Second Chance round and a final, "Dance You Off" performed by Benjamin Ingrosso emerged as the winner after achieving the highest score following the combination of votes from eleven international jury groups and a public vote.

Sweden participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) organised the national final Melodifestivalen 2019 in order to select the Swedish entry for the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel. After a six-week-long competition consisting of four heats, a Second Chance round and a final, "Too Late for Love" performed by John Lundvik emerged as the winner after achieving the highest score following the combination of votes from eight international juries and a public vote.

Sweden originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) organises the national final Melodifestivalen 2020 in order to select the Swedish entry for the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. However, the contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

  1. ↑ "Semi-final of Athens 2006". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  2. ↑ "Grand Final of Athens 2006". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Results of the semi-final of Athens 2006". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Results of the Grand Final of Athens 2006". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
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