Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 participant of Eurovision Song Contest 2011
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 was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 12 May 2011. Performing during the show in position 8, "Popular" was announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 14 May. It was later revealed that Sweden placed first out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 155 points. In the final, Sweden performed in position 7 and placed third out of the 25 participating countries with 185 points.Final
The final was held on 12 March 2011 at the Globe Arena in Stockholm. Ten songs competed—two qualifiers from each of the four preceding heats and two qualifiers from the Second Chance round. The combination of points from a viewer vote and eleven international jury groups determined the winner. The viewers and the juries each had a total of 473 points to award. The nations that comprised the international jury were Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Malta, Norway, Russia, San Marino, the United Kingdom and Ukraine. "Popular" performed by Eric Saade was selected as the winner with 193 points.At Eurovision
Sweden started at position 8, the first half of the second semi-final of the contest on 12 May 2011. As the songs were called, Sweden was the last one to qualify to the final on 14 May 2011, where it managed 155 points and ended in 1st place for the semi-final. Shortly after the second semi final, Sweden drew position 7 for the grand final on 14 May 2011. Sweden achieved a respectable 3rd place in the grand final, with 185 points, beaten only by Italy with 189 and Azerbaijan with 221 points. This was the best result for Sweden since 1999, when Charlotte Nilsson won the contest.