History of Melodifestivalen facts for kids

Melodifestivalen is a super popular song competition in Sweden! It's organized every year by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). The winner gets to represent Sweden in the huge Eurovision Song Contest. This exciting event has been held almost every year since 1959.

Melodifestivalen: A Quick Look

How it All Began (1958–1969)

The very first Melodifestival happened on January 29, 1959, in Stockholm. Before this, Sweden's first Eurovision singer, Alice Babs, was chosen internally. In the first competition, "expert" judges picked the winner. Siw Malmkvist won with "Augustin." But the rules said Brita Borg would sing it at Eurovision.

In 1960, the show became a TV event called Eurovisionschlagern, svensk final. Songs were performed by two artists: one with a big orchestra and one with a smaller jazz band. This meant the 1960 winning song was sung by three different artists!

Sweden didn't join Eurovision in 1964 because of an artists' strike. So, no competition was held that year. In 1965, the focus shifted to songwriters. One singer, Ingvar Wixell, performed all six songs! He even sang the winning song in English at Eurovision, which was a first for Sweden. The competition got its current name, Melodifestivalen, in 1967.

ABBA and Big Changes (1970–1982)

Sweden missed Eurovision again in 1970 due to a protest about the voting system. In 1971, Melodifestivalen was part of a TV series. Family Four won twice in a row, in 1971 and 1972!

The 1974 winner was "Waterloo" by ABBA. This song is super famous and won Sweden its first Eurovision title! People even voted "Waterloo" the most popular Eurovision song ever in 2005. ABBA had been in the festival before, even as Agnetha, Anni-Frid, Björn & Benny in 1973 with "Ring Ring".

After Sweden hosted Eurovision in 1975, some groups felt it was too expensive to win again. This led to protests against commercial music. An "anti-commercial" festival called Alternativfestivalen was even organized. Because of this, Sweden didn't send a song to Eurovision in 1976. This was the last time Sweden chose not to participate.

Melodifestivalen returned in 1977. Sweden's results at Eurovision weren't as good after the boycott. But this time saw some exciting rivalries, like between Björn Skifs and the team of Lasse Holm and Kikki Danielsson.

New Rules, More Wins (1983–1991)

Sweden had a very successful time at Eurovision between 1983 and 1991. They finished in the top three four times, winning twice! A new voting system was introduced in 1982. Regional judges would pick five songs, which would then be performed again before the judges voted for a winner.

Carola Häggkvist became a huge star in 1983. At just 16, she won with "Främling" by getting top scores from all the judges! "Främling" finished third at Eurovision and sold a million copies.

Sweden won Eurovision for the second time in 1984 with Herreys singing "Diggi-loo diggi-ley". In 1990, Melodifestivalen had its highest number of viewers ever, over five million! Carola (now just Carola) won again in 1991 with "Fångad av en stormvind". She went on to win Eurovision that year, giving Sweden its third victory!

Carola Häggkvist won Melodifestivalen in 1983, 1991 and 2006. In 1991 she won the Eurovision Song Contest.

Less Popular, Then Back Again (1992–2001)

After Carola's win, Melodifestivalen's popularity went down. Christer Björkman won in 1992 but finished almost last at Eurovision.

Televoting (voting by phone) was tried in 1993 but didn't work well. The phone network crashed! Newspapers even claimed the real winner would have been different if only judges' votes counted. So, regional judges were brought back in 1994.

In 1999, televoting came back for good, but judges still had 50% of the vote. Charlotte Nilsson's "Tusen och en natt" won both the judges' and public's votes. She then won Eurovision 1999, which was Sweden's fourth win! This boosted Melodifestivalen's popularity again. The year 2000 was the last time a live orchestra performed. In 2001, Friends won, becoming the first reality TV music act to win.

From One Night to Many Weeks (2002–Present)

In 2002, Melodifestivalen got a big makeover! It changed from one night to five weeks, with several heats and a "Second Chance" round. This meant more songs (32!) could compete. Songs in languages other than Swedish were allowed for the first time.

The final show moved to the huge 16,000-seat Stockholm Globe Arena. The new format also allowed the competition to "tour" around Sweden, visiting different cities for the first time. This made it feel more like a "people's festival."

A children's competition, Lilla Melodifestivalen, started in 2002. It helps pick Sweden's entry for the Melodi Grand Prix Nordic.

In 2004, a "wildcard" system was added, letting SVT invite four artists to compete. Lena Philipsson, who had tried and lost three times before, was a wildcard and won in 2004! In 2005, ABBA's "Waterloo" was voted the most popular Melodifestivalen song ever.

Melodifestivalen 2007 winners The Ark performing "The Worrying Kind" at that year's Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki.

The voting system caused some debate in 2005 and 2006 when the public's favorite didn't always win. But in 2006, Carola won again, making it her third victory! The "Second Chance" round became a full TV show in 2007. Millions of votes are now cast in the final!

In 2012, Loreen's "Euphoria" won Melodifestivalen with a record number of public votes. Loreen then won Eurovision that year, giving Sweden its fifth victory! In 2015, Måns Zelmerlöw won Melodifestivalen and then Eurovision, Sweden's sixth win! Loreen won again in 2023 with "Tattoo", becoming the first female artist to win Eurovision twice, and Sweden's seventh Eurovision victory!

Melodifestivalen Winners Through the Years

Here are some highlights from Melodifestivalen's history:

1950s

• 1958: Sweden's first Eurovision entry, "Lilla stjärna" by Alice Babs, was chosen internally.
• 1959: The first Melodifestivalen was held. Siw Malmkvist won with "Augustin," but Brita Borg sang it at Eurovision.

1960s

• 1960: The show became a TV event. Songs had two performers. Siw Malmkvist sang the winning song "Alla andra får varann" at Eurovision.
• 1962: For the first time, the winning artist, Inger Berggren, also represented Sweden at Eurovision.
• 1963: Monica Zetterlund won with "En gång i Stockholm," which got Sweden's only "nul points" (zero points) at Eurovision.
• 1964: No competition due to an artists' strike.
• 1965: Ingvar Wixell performed all six songs.
• 1966: Lill Lindfors and Svante Thuresson won and finished second at Eurovision, Sweden's best result until 1974.
• 1967: The competition was officially named Melodifestivalen.
• 1969: A tie for first place! Tommy Körberg won after a tie-break.

1970s

• 1970: No competition due to a protest about the Eurovision voting system.
• 1971: Family Four won with "Vita vidder." They performed all five songs in the final!
• 1972: Family Four won again, becoming the first act to win two years in a row.
• 1974: ABBA won with "Waterloo" and went on to win Eurovision, Sweden's first victory!
• 1975: The event was held outside Stockholm for the first time, in Gothenburg.
• 1976: No competition due to protests about the cost of hosting Eurovision.
• 1978: Another tie! Björn Skifs won with "Det blir alltid värre framåt natten" after a tie-break.

1980s

• 1982: The "superfinal" was introduced, where the top five songs performed again. Chips won with "Dag efter dag."
• 1983: Carola won with "Främling," getting top scores from all judges.
• 1984: Herreys won with "Diggi-loo diggi-ley" and then won Eurovision!
• 1985: No orchestra was used for the first time; all songs used backing tracks.
• 1987: The orchestra returned. Lotta Engberg won with "Fyra bugg och en coca-cola."
• 1989: The competition was held at the Stockholm Globe Arena for the first time.

1990s

• 1990: This year had the most viewers in Melodifestivalen's history!
• 1991: Carola won again with "Fångad av en stormvind" and then won Eurovision, Sweden's third victory!
• 1993: Televoting was tried but caused problems with the phone network.
• 1994: The name Melodifestivalen (with an "en") became the official name.
• 1999: Televoting was brought back permanently, sharing votes with juries. Charlotte Nilsson won with "Tusen och en natt" and then won Eurovision, Sweden's fourth victory!

2000s

• 2000: The last year with a live orchestra.
• 2001: Friends won, the first reality TV act to do so.
• 2002: The new heat system was introduced, making the competition much longer. Songs in other languages were allowed.
• 2004: The wildcard system was introduced. Lena Philipsson won.
• 2006: Carola won for the third time!
• 2007: The "Second Chance" round became a full show.
• 2009: New rules included duels in heats and an international jury.

2010s

• 2010: A "web wildcard" was added for unsigned acts. Anna Bergendahl became the only Swedish entry not to qualify for the Eurovision final.
• 2011: Foreign songwriters were allowed if a Swedish writer was also involved. Eric Saade won.
• 2012: Loreen won with "Euphoria" and then won Eurovision, Sweden's fifth victory!
• 2013: Robin Stjernberg won, the first winner from the Second Chance round.
• 2015: Måns Zelmerlöw won with "Heroes" and then won Eurovision, Sweden's sixth victory!
• 2018: Benjamin Ingrosso won, the first Lilla Melodifestivalen winner to win the main competition.

2020s

• 2020: The Mamas won, but the Eurovision Song Contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• 2022: The Second Chance round was replaced by a semi-final.
• 2023: Loreen won with "Tattoo" and then won Eurovision again, becoming the first female artist to win Eurovision twice and giving Sweden its seventh victory!
• 2024: The number of competing entries increased to 30. Marcus & Martinus won.

Where the Shows Happen

Final Venues

Venues (since 2002)

H = Heat, SC = Second Chance, SF = Semi-final, F = Final, ALL = All shows

See also

• Melodifestivalen winners
• Voting at Melodifestivalen
• Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest
• Sveriges Television
• List of Melodifestivalen presenters