Sweden has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 62 times since making its debut in 1958, missing only three contests since then (1964, 1970 and 1976). 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 (1975, 2000, 2016), three times in Malmö (1992, 2013, 2024) and once in Gothenburg (1985).
| Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest | |
|---|---|
| |
| Participating broadcaster | Sveriges Television (SVT; 1980–present)
Former members
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| Participation summary | |
| Appearances | 62 (61 finals) |
| First appearance | 1958 |
| Highest placement | 1st: 1974, 1984, 1991, 1999, 2012, 2015, 2023 |
| Host | 1975, 1985, 1992, 2000, 2013, 2016, 2024 |
Participation history | |
| Related articles | |
| Melodifestivalen | |
| External links | |
| SVT official homepage | |
Sweden's page at Eurovision.tv  | |
 For the most recent participation seeSweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 | |
Sweden, along with Ireland, is the most successful country in the Eurovision Song Contest, with a total of seven victories. Sweden also has the most top five results of the 21st century, with 13; in total, Sweden has achieved 26 top five results in the contest. After finishing second with Lill Lindfors and Svante Thuressonin1966, Sweden went on to achieve its seven victories with ABBA (1974), Herreys (1984), Carola (1991), Charlotte Nilsson (1999), Loreen (2012 and 2023) and Måns Zelmerlöw (2015).
Sweden's first entrant in the contest was Alice Babsin1958, who was placed fourth. This remained the country's best result until 1966, when Lill Lindfors and Svante Thuresson were second.[1]
Sweden's first Eurovision victory was in 1974 with the song "Waterloo", performed by ABBA. Thanks to their victory in Brighton, ABBA went on to gain worldwide success and become one of the best-selling pop groups of all time. In the 1980s, Sweden achieved three successive top three results. After Carola finished third in 1983, the Herreys gave Sweden its second victory in 1984 with "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley". Kikki Danielsson then finished third in 1985. Carola returned to the contest in 1991, eventually giving Sweden its third win with "Fångad av en stormvind", defeating France in a tie-break. Charlotte Nilsson gave the country a second win of the decade in 1999, with "Take Me to Your Heaven". The 1990s also saw two third-place results, for Jan Johansenin1995 and One More Timein1996. In the 2000s, the best Swedish result was fifth place, which it achieved four times, with Friendsin2001, Famein2003, Lena Philipssonin2004 and Carola, who in 2006, became the only Swedish performer to achieve three top five results. Together with Croatia and Malta, Sweden was one of only three countries to have never been relegated under the pre-2004 rules of the contest.
With the exception of 2006, Sweden endured a poor run of results between 2005 and 2009, placing no higher than 18th. The nadir came in 2010, when Anna Bergendahl became the first Swedish entrant to fail to qualify for the final, finishing 11th in the semi-final, only five points from qualification (in2008, Charlotte Perrelli finished 12th in the semi-final but qualified through the back-up jury selection). Since then, the country has been very successful, finishing in the top ten in all subsequent editions except two (14th place in 2013 and 2021). This includes a fifth victory courtesy of Loreen's "Euphoria" in 2012, a sixth victory courtesy of Måns Zelmerlöw's "Heroes" in 2015, and a seventh victory courtesy of Loreen's "Tattoo" in 2023. With her 2023 win, Loreen also became the second performer as well as the first female artist to win the contest more than once. Additional top-five placements during this period are third places in 2011 and 2014, a fourth place in 2022, and fifth places in 2016, 2017 and 2019.
Melodifestivalen is an annual music competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It has chosen the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest since 1959. It is one of Sweden's most popular television shows, and it has been estimated that more than four million Swedes watch the show annually. All of Sweden's entries for Eurovision have been selected through Melodifestivalen, with the exception of its first entry in 1958, which was internally selected by SR.[a]
| 1 | First place |
| 2 | Second place |
| 3 | Third place |
| ◁ | Last place |
| X | Entry selected but did not compete |
| † | Upcoming event |
| Artist | Song | Language | AtCongratulations | At Eurovision | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final | Points | Semi | Points | Year | Place | Points | |||
| ABBA | "Waterloo" | English | 1 | 329 | 1 | 331 | 1974 | 1 | 24 |
| Year | Location | Venue | Executive producer | Director | Musical director | Presenter(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Stockholm | Stockholmsmässan | Roland Eiworth [sv] | Bo Billtén [sv] | Mats Olsson | Karin Falck | [4] |
| 1985 | Gothenburg | Scandinavium | Steen Priwin [sv] | Curt-Eric Holmquist | Lill Lindfors | [5] | |
| 1992 | Malmö | Malmö Isstadion | Ingvar Ernblad [sv] | Kåge Gimtell [sv] | Anders Berglund | Lydia Capolicchio and Harald Treutiger | [6] |
| 2000 | Stockholm | Globe Arena | Svante Stockselius | Mattias Bratten | — | Kattis Ahlström and Anders Lundin | [7] |
| 2013 | Malmö | Malmö Arena | Martin Österdahl | Daniel Jelinek [sv], Robin Hofwander and Sven Stojanović | Petra Mede | [8] | |
| 2016 | Stockholm | Globe Arena | Johan Bernhagen and Martin Österdahl | Daniel Jelinek and Robin Hofwander | Petra Mede and Måns Zelmerlöw | [9] | |
| 2024 | Malmö | Malmö Arena | Ebba Adielsson and Christel Tholse Willers [sv] | Robin Hofwander, Daniel Jelinek and Fredrik Bäcklund | Petra Mede and Malin Åkerman | [10] | |
| Year | Category | Performer | Song | Composer(s) lyrics (l) / music (m) |
Final result |
Points | Host city | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Artistic Award[e] | Afro-dite | "Never Let It Go" | Marcos Ubeda | 8 | 72 |  Tallinn
|
|
| 2006 | Artistic Award[e] | Carola | "Invincible" | Thomas G:son, Bobby Ljunggren, Henrik Wikström, Carola | 5 | 170 |  Athens
|
|
| 2012 | Artistic Award[f] | Loreen | "Euphoria" | Thomas G:son, Peter Boström | 1 | 372 |  Baku
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|
| Composer Award | ||||||||
| 2013 | Composer Award | Robin Stjernberg | "You" | Robin Stjernberg, Linnea Deb, Joy Deb, Joakim Harestad Haukaas | 14 | 62 |  Malmö
|
|
| 2015 | Artistic Award[f] | Måns Zelmerlöw | "Heroes" | Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb | 1 | 365 |  Vienna
|
|
| 2022 | Composer Award | Cornelia Jakobs | "Hold Me Closer" | Cornelia Jakobsdotter, Isa Molin, David Zandén | 4 | 438 |  Turin
|
|
| 2023 | Artistic Award[f] | Loreen | "Tattoo" | Jimmy "Joker" Thörnfeldt, Jimmy Jansson, Lorine Talhaoui, Moa Carlebecker, Peter Boström, Thomas G:son | 1 | 583 |  Liverpool
|
|
| Press Award |
| Year | Song | Performer | Final result |
Points | Host city | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | "Hero" | Charlotte Perrelli | 18 | 47 |  Belgrade
|
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| 2012 | "Euphoria" | Loreen | 1 | 372 | Baku
|
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| 2014 | "Undo" | Sanna Nielsen | 3 | 218 |  Copenhagen
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| 2022 | "Hold Me Closer" | Cornelia Jakobs | 4 | 438 | Turin
|
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| 2023 | "Tattoo" | Loreen | 1 | 583 | Liverpool
|
| Year | Eurovision conductor[g] | Melodifestivalen conductor | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 |  Dolf van der Linden
|
No national final held | Host conductor | [19] |
| 1959 |  Franck Pourcel
|
Thore Ehrling | Host conductor | |
| 1960 | Thore Ehrling | |||
| 1961 | William Lind [sv] | |||
| 1962 | Egon Kjerrman | |||
| 1963 | William Lind | |||
| 1965 | ||||
| 1966 | Gert-Ove Andersson | |||
| 1967 | Mats Olsson | |||
| 1968 | ||||
| 1969 | Lars Samuelson | |||
| 1971 | Claes Rosendahl | [20] | ||
| 1972 | Mats Olsson | |||
| 1973 | Monica Dominique | |||
| 1974 | Sven-Olof Walldoff | |||
| 1975 | Lars Samuelson | |||
| 1977 | Anders Berglund | |||
| 1978 | Bengt Palmers | |||
| 1979 | Lars Samuelson | |||
| 1980 | Anders Berglund | [21] | ||
| 1981 | ||||
| 1982 | ||||
| 1983 | Anders Ekdahl | |||
| 1984 | Curt-Eric Holmquist | |||
| 1985 | Curt-Eric Holmquist | —[h] | [i] | |
| 1986 | Anders Berglund | N/A[j] | ||
| 1987 | Curt-Eric Holmquist | |||
| 1988 | Anders Berglund | |||
| 1989 | ||||
| 1990 | Curt-Eric Holmquist | |||
| 1991 | Anders Berglund | |||
| 1992 | Anders Berglund | [k] | ||
| 1993 | Curt-Eric Holmquist | |||
| 1994 | Anders Berglund | |||
| 1995 | ||||
| 1996 | ||||
| 1997 | Curt-Eric Holmquist | |||
| 1998 | Anders Berglund | |||
| 1999 | No orchestra | Anders Berglund | ||
| 2000 | Curt-Eric Holmquist | |||
| Year | Head of delegation | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Rennie Mirro | |
| 2015 | Christer Björkman | |
| 2016 | Mari Ryberger | |
| 2018 | Christer Björkman | |
| 2021 | Lotta Furebäck |
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Over the years SVT commentary has been provided by several experienced radio and television presenters, including Jacob Dahlin, Ulf Elfving, Harald Treutiger, Pekka Heino, Kristian Luuk and Fredrik Belfrage. Since 2009 (with the exceptions of 2013 and 2016), Edward af Sillén provided the SVT commentary alongside various dual commentators.
| Year | Television commentator | Radio commentator | Spokesperson | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Nils Linnman | No radio broadcast | Did not participate | |
| 1958 | Jan Gabrielsson | Same as television broadcast | Tage Danielsson | |
| 1959 | Roland Eiworth | |||
| 1960 | Tage Danielsson | |||
| 1961 | Roland Eiworth | |||
| 1962 | Tage Danielsson | |||
| 1963 | Jörgen Cederberg | Edvard Matz | ||
| 1964 | Sven Lindahl | Did not participate | ||
| 1965 | Berndt Friberg | Edvard Matz | ||
| 1966 | Sven Lindahl | |||
| 1967 | Christina Hansegård | |||
| 1968 | ||||
| 1969 | ||||
| 1970 | No television broadcast | No radio broadcast | Did not participate | |
| 1971 | Åke Strömmer | Ursula Richter | No spokesperson | |
| 1972 | Bo Billtén | Björn Bjelfvenstam | ||
| 1973 | Alicia Lundberg | Ursula Richter | ||
| 1974 | Johan Sandström | Sven Lindahl | ||
| 1975 | Åke Strömmer | |||
| 1976 | No television broadcast | Did not participate | ||
| 1977 | Ulf Elfving | Åke Strömmer, Ursula Richter | Sven Lindahl | |
| 1978 | Kent Finell | |||
| 1979 | ||||
| 1980 | Arne Weise | |||
| 1981 | No radio broadcast | Bengteric Nordell | ||
| 1982 | Kent Finell | Arne Weise | ||
| 1983 | Agneta Bolme-Börjefors | |||
| 1984 | Fredrik Belfrage | No radio broadcast | ||
| 1985 | Jan Ellerås, Rune Hallberg | |||
| 1986 | Ulf Elfving | Jacob Dahlin | ||
| 1987 | Fredrik Belfrage | Jan Ellerås | ||
| 1988 | Bengt Grafström | Kalle Oldby | Maud Uppling | |
| 1989 | Jacob Dahlin | Kent Finell, Janeric Sundquist | Agneta Bolme-Börjefors | |
| 1990 | Jan Jingryd | Kersti Adams-Ray | Jan Ellerås | |
| 1991 | Harald Treutiger | Kalle Oldby, Runne Hallberg | Bo Hagström | |
| 1992 | Björn Kjellman, Jesper Aspegren | Kalle Oldby, Lotta Engberg | Jan Jingryd | |
| 1993 | Jan Jingryd, Kåge Gimtell | Susan Seidemar, Claes-Johan Larsson | Gösta Hanson | |
| 1994 | Pekka Heino | Claes-Johan Larsson, Lisa Syrén | Marianne Anderberg | |
| 1995 | Pernilla Månsson, Kåge Gimtell | Björn Hedman | ||
| 1996 | Björn Kjellman | Ulla Rundqvist | ||
| 1997 | Jan Jingryd | Gösta Hanson | ||
| 1998 | Pernilla Månsson, Christer Björkman | Claes-Johan Larsson, Anna Hötzel | Björn Hedman | |
| 1999 | Pekka Heino, Anders Berglund | Carolina Norén | Pontus Gårdinger | |
| 2000 | Pernilla Månsson, Christer Lundh | Carolina Norén, Björn Kjellman | Malin Ekander | |
| 2001 | Henrik Olsson | Josefine Sundström | ||
| 2002 | Claes Åkesson, Christer Björkman | Kristin Kaspersen | ||
| 2003 | Pekka Heino | Kattis Ahlström | ||
| 2004 | Jovan Radomir | |||
| 2005 | Annika Jankell | |||
| 2006 | Jovan Radomir | |||
| 2007 | Kristian Luuk, Josef Sterzenbach | André Pops | ||
| 2008 | Björn Gustafsson | |||
| 2009 | Edward af Sillén, Shirley Clamp | Sarah Dawn Finer | ||
| 2010 | Edward af Sillén, Christine Meltzer | Eric Saade | ||
| 2011 | Edward af Sillén, Hélène Benno | Danny Saucedo | ||
| 2012 | Edward af Sillén, Gina Dirawi | Sarah Dawn Finer (as Lynda Woodruff) | ||
| 2013 | Josefine Sundström | Carolina Norén (all shows), Ronnie Ritterland (semifinals), Björn Kjellman (final) | Yohio | |
| 2014 | Edward af Sillén, Malin Olsson | Carolina Norén, Ronnie Ritterland | Alcazar | |
| 2015 | Edward af Sillén, Sanna Nielsen | Mariette Hansson | ||
| 2016 | Lotta Bromé | Carolina Norén, Björn Kjellman | Gina Dirawi | |
| 2017 | Edward af Sillén, Måns Zelmerlöw | Carolina Norén, Björn Kjellman, Ola Gäverth | Wiktoria | |
| 2018 | Edward af Sillén, Sanna Nielsen | Carolina Norén, Björn Kjellman | Felix Sandman | |
| 2019 | Edward af Sillén, Charlotte Perrelli | Eric Saade | ||
| 2021 | Edward af Sillén, Christer Björkman | Carolina Norén | Carola | |
| 2022 | Edward af Sillén (all shows), Linnea Henriksson (final) | Dotter | ||
| 2023 | Edward af Sillén (all shows), Måns Zelmerlöw (final) | Farah Abadi | ||
| 2024 | Edward af Sillén, Tina Mehrafzoon | Frans Jeppsson Wall |
| Show | Commentator | Channel | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Songs of Europe | Arne Weise | TV2 | |
| Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest | Pekka Heino | SVT1 | |
| Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits | Sarah Dawn Finer, Christer Björkman | SVT1, SVT World | |
| Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light | No commentator | SVT1 |
| Year | Stage director | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Fredrik "Benke" Rydman | |
| 2012 | Ambra Succi | |
| 2013 | ||
| 2014 | Lotta Furebäck and Mari Ryberger | |
| 2015 | Fredrik "Benke" Rydman | |
| 2016 | Lotta Furebäck and Mari Ryberger | |
| 2017 | Zain Odelstål, Lotta Furebäck and Mari Ryberger | |
| 2018 | Dennis Brøchner and Zain Odelstål | |
| 2019 | Dennis Brøchner, Zain Odelstål, Lotta Furebäck and Sacha Jean-Baptiste | |
| 2020 | Zain Odelstål, Dennis Brøchner, Sacha Jean-Baptiste and Lotta Furebäck | |
| 2021 | Lotta Furebäck, Sacha Jean-Baptiste and Jennie Widegren | |
| 2022 | Sacha Jean-Baptiste, Lotta Furebäck, Jennie Widegren and Keisha von Arnold | |
| 2023 | Keisha von Arnold, Lotta Furebäck, Sacha Jean-Baptiste and Jennie Widegren |
| Year | Costume designers | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Lars Wallin | |
| 2009 | Camilla Thulin | |
| 2023 | Fadi El Khoury |
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