Melodifestivalen facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Melodifestivalen
Logo since 2016
Genre	Song contest
Presented by	List of presenters
Country of origin	Sweden
Original language(s)	Swedish
No. of episodes	63
Production
Production location(s)	Multiple cities in Sweden
Running time	1 hour 30 minutes (heats and second chance round) 2 hours (final)
Production company(s)	Sveriges Television
Release
Original release	29 January 1959 (1959-01-29) – present
Chronology
Related shows	Lilla Melodifestivalen Eurovision Song Contest

Melodifestivalen (which means "the Melody Festival" in Swedish) is a super popular annual song contest in Sweden. It's organized by Swedish TV (SVT) and radio (SR). The main goal of Melodifestivalen is to pick the song and artist that will represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest. This exciting event has been happening almost every year since 1959!

In the early 2000s, Melodifestivalen was the most watched TV show in Sweden. Lots of people also listen on the radio or watch online. For example, in 2012, the early rounds had about 3.3 million viewers. The grand final was watched by over four million people in Sweden, which is almost half of the country's population!

Sweden has done really well in the Eurovision Song Contest thanks to Melodifestivalen. Seven times, a Melodifestivalen winner has gone on to win Eurovision! Also, 26 Swedish songs have finished in the top five at Eurovision. The winner of Melodifestivalen is chosen by a mix of expert judges and public votes. Since 1999, people at home can vote by phone, and their votes count just as much as the judges' scores. The songs from Melodifestivalen often become big hits on the music charts in Sweden.

Since 2002, the contest has grown a lot. Instead of just a few songs, now around 32 songs compete in different rounds. That same year, a version for kids called Lilla Melodifestivalen also started. For a long time, the contest was known for "schlager" music, which is a type of light, catchy pop song. But now, you can hear all kinds of music, like rap, reggae, and glam rock. The final show, held in Stockholm, also brings many tourists to the city.

How Melodifestivalen Started

The very first Eurovision Song Contest happened in Switzerland in 1956, with seven countries taking part. Sweden joined Eurovision for the third contest in 1958. Back then, Swedish Radio (SR) just picked an artist, Alice Babs, and a song, "Lilla stjärna" ("Little Star"), without a public competition. That song finished fourth at Eurovision.

The first ever Melodifestivalen was held on January 29, 1959, in Stockholm. It was part of a radio show called Säg det med musik. Eight songs competed. Four groups of "experts" from different cities in Sweden chose the winner. The song "Augustin" won, sung by Siw Malmkvist. But Swedish Radio decided that Brita Borg would sing the winning song at Eurovision, no matter who sang it at Melodifestivalen. This rule changed in 1961, so the winning artist at Melodifestivalen would also go to Eurovision.

In 1960, Melodifestivalen became its own TV show. It was called Eurovisionschlagern, svensk final at first. The contest got its current name, Melodifestivalen, in 1967.

Melodifestivalen has been cancelled three times. In 1964, artists went on strike, so Sweden didn't send a song to Eurovision. In 1970, Sweden didn't go to Eurovision because many Nordic countries were unhappy with the voting system. After Sweden hosted Eurovision in 1975, some groups protested against spending money on the contest. This led to big demonstrations, and Sweden decided not to send a song in 1976. But they returned in 1977.

Who Can Take Part

Smash Into Pieces performing at a heat of Melodifestivalen 2023.

Many hundreds of songs and performers have taken part in Melodifestivalen since it began. For a long time, only Swedish songwriters could enter. But since 2012, songwriters from other countries can also submit songs, as long as they work with a Swedish songwriter. To be able to compete, songwriters and performers must be at least 16 years old by the day of the first Eurovision semi-final.

Before 2002, the competition was usually just one night. The number of songs was small, from five to twelve. If a famous artist didn't make it to the final round, it was seen as a big failure. For example, when Elisabeth Andreassen didn't qualify in 1984, it almost ended her music career.

When weekly heats were introduced in 2002, the number of songs jumped to 32. At least ten of the songs must be sung in Swedish. Since 2001, a CD of all the songs from each year's contest has been released.

Melodifestivalen has helped many local artists become famous, like ABBA, Tommy Körberg, and Lisa Nilsson. Performers from outside Sweden have also appeared, including Baccara and Alannah Myles. While winning Melodifestivalen often leads to success in Sweden, most contestants don't become internationally famous. However, even if an artist doesn't win, their song can still sell a lot in Sweden. For example, the song "Symfonin" by Loa Falkman came in last in 1990 but still topped the Swedish singles chart! In 2008, songs from the festival made up the entire top fifteen on the Swedish charts the week after the final.

How Songs and Artists Are Chosen

The process of picking the songs for Melodifestivalen is very long, taking over seven months! Swedish TV (SVT) chooses half of the songs from those sent in by the public. The other half are chosen by SVT inviting artists or picking other songs from the submissions. From 2012 to 2021, one song was chosen through a radio competition called P4 Nästa. At least 10% of the songs must be sung in Swedish. This whole process starts as early as May of the year before and finishes by January.

Songs

SVT starts looking for songs nine months before Melodifestivalen begins on TV. The deadline to send in songs is in September, and they can be in any language. Songs can be up to three minutes and twenty seconds long at first. But if they make it to the final 28, they must be shortened to three minutes.

A group of music experts helps to reduce the thousands of songs submitted each year (over 3,000 since 2002) down to about 1,200. The most songs ever submitted was 3,440 for Melodifestivalen 2009. Now, it's usually around 2,500 songs each year. These chosen songs then go to a 16-person jury made up of music professionals, SVT staff, and regular people of different ages. The songs that are chosen, along with their writers, are announced in late September. This often leads to lots of guesses about who will sing them!

Artists

SVT then chooses the artists to perform the songs. Sometimes, the artist who sang the demo version of a song will automatically enter the competition. They must perform their song if SVT can't find another suitable artist. If they refuse, their song might be disqualified. This happened to songs by Carola in 2003 and Stephen Simmonds in 2006. SVT can also give songs to other performers without asking the original demo artist.

A "wildcard" system was used from 2004 to 2012 to bring in more different types of music. Four artists were invited by SVT to enter a song of their choice. Three wildcard songs have won the competition in the past. This system was stopped in 2013.

Where Melodifestivalen Happens

Avicii Arena in Stockholm has hosted many Melodifestivalen finals since 1989.

The places where Melodifestivalen will be held each year are announced in September. The early rounds (heats) take place in different towns and cities across Sweden. The final show was held at the Globe Arena (now Avicii Arena) in Stockholm from 2002 to 2012. In 2013, the final moved to the newer Friends Arena in Solna, near Stockholm.

In its early years, the event was mostly held at Cirkus in Stockholm, which has hosted the final 17 times. The Avicii Arena has hosted seven finals, and SVT's studios in Stockholm have hosted five. The competition first left Stockholm in 1975. Overall, Stockholm has hosted 37 finals, Gothenburg eight, and Malmö seven. The final has never been held outside these three cities.

Before 2002, if Sweden won Eurovision, the city that hosted Melodifestivalen the year before would host Eurovision. This is why Eurovision 1985, 1992, and 2000 were held in Gothenburg, Malmö, and Stockholm.

In 2008, a special "Second Chance" round was held in Kiruna, a city north of the Arctic Circle! In 2021, all the shows were held in Stockholm without an audience because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic also affected the 2022 contest, with some shows held at the Avicii Arena and others at the Friends Arena.

The TV Shows

Melodifestivalen takes place over six Saturdays. It has six live shows: four heats (five starting in 2024), a "Second Chance" round (or semi-final), and a grand final. Ten songs make it to the final: two from each heat, and the two best from the Second Chance round. Since 2015, there are seven songs in each heat, and 12 songs in the final. Starting in 2024, there will be five heats with six songs each, and a special vote at the end of the fifth heat to pick two more songs for the final, making it a 12-song final.

Heats and Second Chance

Before 2002, Melodifestivalen was usually just one big show. Now, there are four (or five from 2024) heats broadcast live on Saturday nights, starting in early February. Seven songs (six from 2024) compete in each show.

In the heats, only public votes decide who goes through. There are no judges. People vote by phone. The two songs with the fewest votes are eliminated. The top five songs then compete again. The songs that come in first and second go straight to the final. The songs that come in third and fourth go to the "Second Chance" round. The two songs that make it to the final get to sing their songs again at the end of the show. This system of heats became very popular and was even adopted by the Eurovision Song Contest itself in 2004.

The "Second Chance" round (called Andra chansen) is like a fifth heat where the last few spots in the final are decided. The third and fourth-placed songs from each heat (eight songs in total) compete here. In 2002, a panel of past winners chose the two finalists. From 2003 to 2006, the heat performances were shown again, and voting narrowed it down to three or four songs, then two finalists.

In 2007, the Second Chance round became a full Saturday night show, just like the heats. The voting changed to a knockout system. The eight songs were paired up, then narrowed down to four, and then two. The two winners of these duels went to the final.

In 2015, the system changed again. The eight songs were divided into four duels, and the winner of each duel went to the final, making 12 finalists in total.

In 2022, the Second Chance round was renamed the semi-final (semifinal). The eight songs were put into two groups, with the top two from each group going to the final. In 2023, the semi-final changed again, with the top four of the eight songs all going to the final.

Starting in 2024, the semi-final show is gone. Instead, the third and fourth-placed songs from each heat will have a final vote at the end of the new fifth heat. The top two songs from this vote will go to the final.

The Grand Final

The final show happens on a Saturday in early or mid-March. Twelve songs compete (it was 11 in 2009, and 10 before 2015). These songs include two from each heat and four from the Second Chance round. The order in which the songs perform is decided the week before to make sure similar songs or artists aren't too close together. Dress rehearsals are held the day before, and tickets for these sell out almost as fast as for the final itself! The final brings many tourists to Stockholm. In 2006, a study showed that 54% of people watching the final had traveled from outside the city.

Just like at Eurovision, the final show starts and ends with the EBU logo and special music. Short video clips introduce each song. During the show, while the judges are making their decisions and before public voting closes, there are special performances. Past Melodifestivalen contestants have performed during these breaks.

The winner gets a special trophy called Den stora Sångfågeln ("The Great Songbird"). This trophy was first used in 2005. The winner gets to sing their song again at the end of the show.

How Voting Works

Ulf Elfving announcing the votes of the Stockholm jury at the 2005 final.

Before 1999, only groups of judges (from different regions or age groups) decided the winner of Melodifestivalen. In 1993, they tried using public phone voting, but it didn't work well. The phone network crashed because too many people called! Also, some newspapers claimed the public vote changed the results a lot compared to what the judges would have picked. SVT never confirmed if this was true.

SVT has eleven regional news districts, which have been represented by a jury in the final of Melodifestivalen in past editions.

The current voting system started in 1999 and is similar to how voting works at the Eurovision Song Contest. Voting has two parts: first, the judges announce their scores, and then the public voting results are revealed. Both the public votes and the judges' votes have an equal 50/50 say in the final result.

There are usually 11 groups of judges. These judges can represent different regions of Sweden or, since 2010, other countries that take part in Eurovision. Until 2017, each judge group gave points (1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12) to their top seven songs. Since 2018, they give points from 1 to 7, then 8, 10, and 12 points.

After the judges' votes are announced, the public voting results are revealed by the hosts, starting from the lowest score and going up. From 2011 to 2018, the public points were given based on the percentage of votes each song received. For example, if a song got 10% of the public votes, it would get 10% of the total public points. Since 2019, public votes are separated by age groups, and each age group gives points (1 to 7, 8, 10, and 12) to the songs. The song with the most points at the end wins!

Phone lines open right after the final's radio preview and stay open until the judges have voted. You can vote by calling two different numbers for each song, one where you donate money to a charity and one where you don't. You can also vote by text message. Only people living in Sweden can vote.

The judges' votes are announced by spokespeople who are not part of the judges. They read the points from lowest to highest. Since 2010, most spokespeople announce the points in English, and the hosts repeat them in Swedish. As the votes are announced, they are shown on a scoreboard.

Melodifestivalen finals have broken Nordic voting records many times. In 2007, over two million votes were cast for the first time. The Swedish media covers Melodifestivalen a lot.

If there's a tie for first place, the song that got more votes from the public wins. This has happened twice in the contest's history. In 1969, Tommy Körberg tied with Jan Malmsjö, and the judges then voted again to pick Tommy Körberg as the winner. In 1978, Björn Skifs tied with Lasse Holm and Wizex, and Skifs won after a similar tie-break.

Winners

Almost all of Sweden's representatives at Eurovision (61 out of 62) have been chosen through Melodifestivalen. The 2020 winner was supposed to go to Eurovision, but that contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sweden has won the Eurovision Song Contest seven times: in 1974, 1984, 1991, 1999, 2012, 2015, and 2023. As of 2023, Sweden is tied with Ireland for the most Eurovision wins ever!

The 1974 Eurovision winner, ABBA's "Waterloo", was voted the most popular Melodifestivalen song of all time in 2005. Later that year, it was also voted the most popular Eurovision song of the contest's first fifty years!

Here are the Swedish entries that finished fifth or higher at Eurovision:

Rules of the Contest

Most of Melodifestivalen's rules are based on the rules of the Eurovision Song Contest. However, the Swedish TV (SVT) and radio (SR) also have their own rules. The official rules are released by SVT each year so that songwriters and performers know about any changes.

In the past, only six people were allowed on stage for each performance. This included the "house choir" (huskören), which was a group of five backup singers used by most artists. Artists could use some or all of these singers, or bring their own. All singing had to be live; no human voices were allowed on backing tracks. However, since 2009, eight performers are allowed on stage, and voices can be on backing tracks. A live orchestra was used every year until 2000, except for 1985 and 1986. Since 2001, performers use backing tracks instead of a live orchestra.

Songs cannot be played publicly until the heats are previewed on the radio. Songs that are eliminated in the heats can be broadcast as soon as the heat is over. Songs that qualify for later rounds cannot be broadcast until the previews for the Second Chance round are shown. After that, there are no more rules about playing the songs.

Sometimes, the TV channels make big changes to winning songs before they go to Eurovision. For example, in 1961, Siw Malmkvist won with "April, April". But she made a mistake and laughed during her performance after winning. The media criticized this, so Swedish Radio replaced her with Lill-Babs for Eurovision. Another example is the 1987 winner, "Fyra bugg och en Coca Cola". Its title was changed to "Boogaloo" for Eurovision because using a brand name (Coca Cola) was against Eurovision rules.

Until 1999, songs had to be in Swedish, except for a few years (1965, 1973, 1974, 1975). But even then, most winning songs would record English versions. Since Eurovision stopped having language rules in 1999, every Swedish entry has been in English, no matter what language they sang in Melodifestivalen. Other languages like Spanish, French, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Bosnian, and Persian have also been heard. In 2005, Cameron Cartio even sang a song in a made-up language!

Media Coverage

Melodifestivalen is shown on TV, heard on the radio, and streamed online. It's broadcast on SVT1 in Sweden and on SVT World (and later SVT Play) for international viewers. Swedish Radio also broadcasts the event on its different channels, currently on P4.

The final is usually on a Saturday, but in 1990, it was on a Friday, and in 1991, it was on Easter Sunday, to try and get more viewers. The 2002 final was delayed by a week because of the 2002 Winter Olympics.

The competition has had an official website since 1999. You can watch it online since 2005. From February until the Eurovision final in May, Swedish Radio has a special online radio station just for the contest called P4 Melodifest. On Fridays, the public can listen to previews of the songs in the upcoming heats. The night after the final, there's a TV show called dagen efter ("the day after") that shows how the finalists reacted after the competition. There is no commentary during the TV broadcast of the event.

The number of people watching Melodifestivalen has been growing since 2002. In 2007, about 4.1 million Swedes (almost 44% of the country) watched the final. Between 2.9 million and 3.2 million people watched each of the heats. Melodifestivalen gets a lot of attention in Swedish newspapers and magazines. A study found that news coverage might have even affected the results of the 2007 festival.

Music Styles and Show

Melodifestivalen's style has changed over the years, but one word often describes its music: schlager. In Sweden, "schlager" means any song connected to the contest, from the jazz music of the 1960s to modern pop. One writer described Swedish schlager as "typically characterized by an annoyingly repetitive melody and trivial lyrics of little or no meaning."

In the 1960s, jazz artists like Monica Zetterlund won the event. ABBA, who won Eurovision in 1974, became Sweden's most famous music export. They influenced not only Melodifestivalen but also the whole Swedish music scene. In the 1980s, record labels focused on "easy, memorable tunes." The early 2000s brought more variety, like Afro-dite's disco winner in 2002 and The Ark's "retro glam rock" song in 2007.

Special effects and fun tricks have always been a part of the performances. For example, Lena Philipsson famously used a microphone stand in her performance of "Det gör ont" in 2004. When she hosted Melodifestivalen in 2006, short films were shown that joked about what happened to that microphone stand. Pyrotechnics (fireworks and sparks) are also very common in Melodifestivalen performances.

See also

• Lilla Melodifestivalen