Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018

Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Country  Sweden
National selection
Selection process Melodifestivalen 2018
Selection date(s) Semi-finals:
3 February 2018
10 February 2018
17 February 2018
24 February 2018
Second Chance:
3 March 2018
Final:
10 March 2018
Selected entrant Benjamin Ingrosso
Selected song "Dance You Off"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result Qualified (2nd, 254 points)
Final result 7th, 274 points
Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2017 • 2018 • 2019►

Sweden participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) organised the national final Melodifestivalen 2018 in order to select the Swedish entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal. After a six-week-long competition consisting of four semi-finals, a Second Chance round and a final, "Dance You Off" performed by Benjamin Ingrosso emerged as the winner after achieving the highest score following the combination of votes from eleven international jury groups and a public vote.

Background

Prior to the 2018 contest, Sweden had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-seven times since its first entry in 1958.[1] 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 2018

Melodifestivalen 2018 is the Swedish music competition that would select Sweden's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018.[2] 28 songs will compete in a six-week-long process which will consist of four semi-finals on 3, 10, 17 and 24 February 2018, a second chance round on 3 March 2018, and a final on 10 March 2018. The six shows will be hosted by David Lindgren.[3] Seven songs will compete in each semi-final—the top two will qualify directly to the final, while the third and fourth placed songs will qualify to the second chance round. The bottom three songs in each semifinal will be eliminated from the competition.

Semi-finals and Second chance

Final

The final took place on 10 March 2018 at the Friends Arena in Solna. Twelve songs competed—two qualifiers from each of the four preceding semi-finals and four qualifiers from the Second Chance round. The combination of points from a viewer vote and eleven international jury groups determined the winner, Benjamin Ingrosso with the song Dance You Off.[4] The viewers and the juries each had a total of 638 points to award. The nations that comprised the international jury were Albania, Armenia, Australia, Cyprus, France, Georgia, Iceland, Italy, Poland, Portugal and the United Kingdom.[5]

Draw Artist Song Juries Televote Total Place
1 Méndez "Everyday" 2 62 64 12
2 Renaida "All the Feels" 30 51 81 9
3 Martin Almgren "A Bitter Lullaby" 43 41 84 8
4 John Lundvik "My Turn" 66 62 128 3
5 Jessica Andersson "Party Voice" 33 37 70 11
6 LIAMOO "Last Breath" 52 53 105 6
7 Samir & Viktor "Shuffla" 54 60 114 4
8 Mariette "For You" 64 49 113 5
9 Felix Sandman "Every Single Day" 94 64 158 2
10 Margaret "In My Cabana" 62 41 103 7
11 Benjamin Ingrosso "Dance You Off" 114 67 181 1
12 Rolandz "Fuldans" 24 51 75 10

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 did take place at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal, and consisted of two semi-finals on 8 and 10 May and the final on 12 May 2018. 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 song was announced to perform 15th, between Latvia, and Montenegro.

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.

Points awarded to Sweden

Points awarded to Sweden (Semi-final 2)
Televote
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Jury
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Points awarded to Sweden (Final)
Televote
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Jury
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by Sweden


Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Swedish jury: [6]

  • Robert Sehlberg – Chairperson – head of Music MTG Radio
  • Mariette – singer
  • Josefin Glenmark – singer, songwriter
  • Arantxa Álvarez – host, singer, radio DJ
  • Hamed Pirouzpanah (K-one) – composer, producer

References

  1. ↑ "Sweden Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "Här är artisterna i Melodifestivalen 2018". svt.se (in Swedish). Sveriges Television. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  3. ↑ Lindqvist, Anton (2 November 2017). "Sweden: David Lindgren to host Melodifestivalen 2018!". esctoday.com. Esctoday. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  4. ↑ Mercereau, Damien (12 March 2018). "Eurovision 2018 : Benjamin Ingrosso, redoutable candidat pour la Suède" (in French). Le Figaro. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  5. ↑ Waddell, Nathan (1 March 2018). "Melodifestivalen 2018 International Jury announced by SVT". escxtra.com. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  6. ↑ Groot, Evert (30 April 2018). "Exclusive: They are the expert jurors for Eurovision 2018". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
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