Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

**Sweden** participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) organises the national final Melodifestivalen 2020 in order to select the Swedish entry for the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

## Background

*Main article: Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest*Prior to the 2020 contest, Sweden had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-nine times since its first enry in 1958. Sweden had won the contest on six occasions: in 1974 with the song "Waterloo" performed by ABBA, in 1984 with the song "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" performed by Herreys, in 1991 with the song "Fångad av en stormvind" performed by Carola, in 1999 with the song "Take Me to Your Heaven" performed by Charlotte Nilsson, in 2012 with the song "Euphoria" performed by Loreen, and in 2015 with the song "Heroes" performed by Måns Zelmerlöw. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004, Sweden's entries, to this point, have featured in every final except for 2010 when the nation failed to qualify.

The Swedish national broadcaster, Sveriges Television (SVT), broadcasts the event within Sweden and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. Since 1959, SVT has organised the annual competition *Melodifestivalen* in order to select the Swedish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.

## Before Eurovision

### *Melodifestivalen 2020*

Four semifinals, one Second chance round and a final will be held. It will be held between 1 February and 7 March 2020.

#### Semi-finals and Second Chance round

* The first semi-final took place on 1 February 2020 at the Saab Arena in Linköping. "Move" performed by The Mamas and "Take a Chance" performed by Robin Bengtsson qualified directly to the final, while "Ballerina" performed by Malou Prytz and "Boys with Emotions" performed by Felix Sandman advanced to the Second Chance round. "Sluta aldrig gå" performed by Sonja Aldén, "Inga problem" performed by OVÖ and "Moves" performed by Suzi P were eliminated from the contest.
* The second semi-final took place on 9 February 2020 at the Scandinavium arena in Gothenburg. "Bulletproof" performed by Dotter and "Kingdom Come" performed by Anna Bergendahl qualified directly to the final, while "Vamos amigos" performed by Méndez feat. Alvaro Estrella and "Talking in My Sleep" performed by Paul Rey advanced to the Second Chance round. "Nobody" performed by Klara Hammarström, "Miraklernas tid" performed by Jan Johansen and "Alla mina sorger" performed by Linda Bengtzing were eliminated from the contest.
* The third semi-final took place on 15 February 2020 at the Coop Norrbotten Arena in Luleå. "Shout It Out" performed by Mariette and "Winners" performed by Mohombi qualified directly to the final, while "Piga och dräng" performed by Drängarna and "Vem är som oss" performed by Anis don Demina advanced to the Second Chance round. "Crying Rivers" performed by Faith Kakembo, "Late" performed by Amanda Aasa and "Livet börjar nu" performed by Albin Johnsén were eliminated from the contest.
* The fourth semi final took place on 22 February 2020 at the Malmö Arena in Malmö. "Troubled Waters" performed by Victor Crone and "Brave" performed by Hanna Ferm qualified directly to the final, while "We Are One" performed by Frida Öhrn and "Surface" performed by Ellen Benediktson & Simon Peyron advanced to the Second Chance round. "Molnljus" performed by William Stridh, "Om du tror att jag saknar dig" performed by Jakob Karlberg and "Carpool Karaoke" performed by Nanne Grönvall were eliminated from the contest.
* The Second Chance round (*Andra chansen*) will take place on 29 February 2020 at the Stiga Sports Arena in Eskilstuna. "Vem e som oss" performed by Anis don Demina, "Talking in My Sleep" performed by Paul Rey, "Boys with Emotions" performed by Felix Sandman and "Vamos amigos" performed by Méndez feat. Alvaro Estrella qualified to the final.

#### Final

The final will take place on 7 March 2020 at the Friends Arena in Stockholm.

## At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Sweden was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.

### **Split Voting Results**

The following five members comprised the Swedish jury:

* Juror 1: Soviet Elmo
* Juror 2: Kallekleberg
* Juror 3: Theodor Käll
* Juror 4: ESC 2020
* Juror 5: Olivia Bengtén Ejlestam