Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012

Background

Main article: Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2012 contest, Sveriges Radio (SR) until 1979, and Sveriges Television (SVT) since 1980, had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Sweden fifty-one times since SR's first entry . They had won the contest on four occasions: in with the song "Waterloo" performed by ABBA, in with the song "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" performed by Herreys, in with the song "Fångad av en stormvind" performed by Carola, and in with the song "Take Me to Your Heaven" performed by Charlotte Nilsson. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the , Swedish entries, to this point, have featured in every final except for when it failed to qualify. In , "Popular" performed by Eric Saade placed third.

As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, SVT organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. Since 1959, SR first and SVT later have organised the annual competition Melodifestivalen in order to select their entries for the contest.

Before Eurovision

Melodifestivalen 2012

Main article: Melodifestivalen 2012

Melodifestivalen 2012 was the Swedish music competition organised by SVT to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. 32 songs competed in a six-week-long process which consisted of four heats on 4, 11, 18 and 25 February 2012, a second chance round on 3 March 2012, and a final on 10 March 2012. The six shows were hosted by Sarah Dawn Finer, Gina Dirawi, and Helena Bergström. Eight songs competed in each heat—the top two qualified directly to the final, while the third and fourth placed songs qualified to the second chance round. The bottom four songs in each heat were eliminated from the competition. An additional two songs qualified to the final from the second chance round. The results in the heats and second chance round were determined exclusively by public televoting, while the overall winner of the competition was selected in the final through the combination of a public vote and the votes from eleven international jury groups. Among the competing artists were former Eurovision Song Contest contestants Lotta Engberg (participating as a duet with Christer Sjögren) who represented , Charlotte Perrelli who represented (which she won) and , Afro-Dite who represented , and Andreas Lundstedt who represented . Molly Sandén represented .

Heats and Second Chance round

• The first heat took place on 4 February 2012 at the Vida Arena in Växjö. "Euphoria" performed by Loreen and "Mystery" performed by Dead by April qualified directly to the final, while "Sean den förste Banan" performed by Sean Banan and "Jag reser mig igen" performed by Thorsten Flinck and Revolutionsorkestern qualified to the Second Chance round. "På väg" performed by Abalone Dots, "I Want to Be Chris Isaak (This Is Just the Beginning)" performed by The Moniker, "The Boy Can Dance" performed by Afro-dite, and "Salt and Pepper" performed by Marie Serneholt were eliminated.
• The second heat took place on 11 February 2012 at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg. "Shout It Out" performed by David Lindgren and "Soldiers" performed by Ulrik Munther qualified directly to the final, while "Baby Doll" performed by Top Cats and "Stormande hav" performed by Timoteij qualified to the Second Chance round. "I din himmel" performed by Sonja Aldén, "Aldrig aldrig" performed by Andreas Lundstedt, "Det går för långsamt" performed by Mimi Oh, and "Ge aldrig upp" performed by Thomas Di Leva were eliminated.
• The third heat took place on 18 February 2012 at the Tegera Arena in Leksand. "Why Am I Crying" performed by Molly Sandén and "Mirakel" performed by Björn Ranelid feat. Sara Li qualified directly to the final, while "Youngblood" performed by Youngblood and "Lovelight" performed by Andreas Johnson qualified to the Second Chance round. "I mina drömmar" performed by Maria BenHajji, "Förlåt mig" performed by Mattias Andréasson, "Just a Little Bit" performed by Love Generation and "Sanningen" performed by Carolina Wallin Pérez were eliminated.
• The fourth heat took place on 25 February 2012 at the Malmö Arena in Malmö. "Amazing" performed by Danny Saucedo and "Why Start a Fire" performed by Lisa Miskovsky qualified directly to the final, while "Land of Broken Dreams" performed by Dynazty and "Don't Let Me Down" performed by Lotta Engberg and Christer Sjögren qualified to the Second Chance round. "The Girl" performed by Charlotte Perrelli, "Allting blir bra igen" performed by OPA!, "Goosebumps" performed by Hanna Lindblad, and "Kyss mig" performed by Axel Algmark were eliminated.
• The Second Chance round (Andra chansen) took place on 3 March 2012 at the Rosvalla Nyköping Eventcenter in Nyköping. "Baby Doll" performed by Top Cats and "Jag reser mig igen" performed by Thorsten Flinck and Revolutionsorkestern qualified to the final.

Final

The final was held on 10 March 2012 at the Globe Arena in Stockholm.

At Eurovision

Sweden competed in the second half of the second semi-final in Baku on 24 May 2012, following and preceding . Loreen received 181 points and placed 1st, thus qualifying for the final on 26 May. The public awarded Sweden 1st place with 180 points and the jury awarded 1st place with 148 points.

In the final, Sweden was drawn to have performed 17th, after and preceding . The Swedish entry received votes from 40 countries and won the contest, with only failing to award them any points. Loreen scored a total of 372 points, the second-highest winning score in the contest's history after 's 387 point win in . Sweden received a record set of 12 points from 18 countries. The public awarded Sweden 1st place with 343 points and the jury awarded 1st place with 296 points. This was the fifth win for Sweden at the Contest.

The Swedish entry was awarded two of the three Marcel Bezençon Awards, which honour the best of the competing entries for the 2012 contest in different areas of achievement. The Artistic Award was presented to the best artist as voted by the commentators and the Composer Award was the best and most original composition as voted on by the participating composers. Loreen's performance in the contest was directed by Swedish choreographer Ambra Succi.

Voting

Points awarded to Sweden

Points awarded by Sweden

References

References

1. "Sweden Country Profile". [[European Broadcasting Union.
2. Escuerdo, Victor M.. (9 November 2011). "These are the entries of Melodifestivalen 2012". Eurovision.tv.
3. Escuerdo, Victor M.. (9 January 2012). "Danny closes the Swedish parade of 2012". Eurovision.tv.
4. Escuerdo, Victor M.. (4 February 2012). "Sweden: Loreen and Dead by April win in Växjö".
5. Escuerdo, Victor M.. (11 February 2012). "Sweden: Ulrik Munther and David Lindgren win in Gothenburg". Eurovision.tv.
6. Escuerdo, Victor M.. (18 February 2012). "Sweden: Molly Sandén and Björn Ranelid feat. Sara Li to the Final". Eurovision.tv.
7. Escuerdo, Victor M.. (25 February 2012). "Sweden: Lisa Miskovsky and Danny win in Malmö". Eurovision.tv.
8. Escuerdo, Victor M.. (3 March 2012). "Sweden: Melodifestivalen Final draw". Eurovision.tv.
9. Escuerdo, Victor M.. (10 March 2012). "Sweden: Loreen winner of Melodifestivalen!". Eurovision.tv.
10. "Second Semi-Final of Baku 2012". European Broadcasting Union.
11. Siim, Jarmo. (18 June 2012). "Eurovision 2012 split jury-televote results revealed". European Broadcasting Union.
12. Storvik-Green, Simon. (27 May 2012). "SWEDEN WINS 2012 EUROVISION SONG CONTEST".
13. "Grand Final of Baku 2012". European Broadcasting Union.
14. Roxburgh, Gordon. (27 May 2012). "Winners of the Marcel Bezençon Awards 2012". Eurovision.tv.
15. (2012-05-27). "SWEDEN WINS 2012 EUROVISION SONG CONTEST".
16. "Results of the Second Semi-Final of Baku 2012". European Broadcasting Union.
17. "Results of the Grand Final of Baku 2012". European Broadcasting Union.