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Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011

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Eurovision Song Contest 2011
Country Sweden
National selection
Selection processMelodifestivalen 2011
Selection date(s)Heats:
5 February 2011
12 February 2011
19 February 2011
26 February 2011
Second Chance:
5 March 2011
Final:
12 March 2011
Selected artist(s)Eric Saade
Selected song"Popular"
Selected songwriter(s)Fredrik Kempe
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (1st, 155 points)
Final result3rd, 185 points
Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2010 2011 2012►

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.

Background

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Prior to the 2011 contest, Sweden had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty times since its first entry in 1958.[1] Sweden had won the contest on four 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, and in 1999 with the song "Take Me to Your Heaven" performed by Charlotte Nilsson. 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 with the song "This Is My Life" performed by Anna Bergendahl.

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

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Melodifestivalen 2011

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Melodifestivalen 2011 was the Swedish music competition that selected Sweden's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. 32 songs competed in a six-week-long process which consisted of four heats on 5, 12, 19 and 26 February 2011, a Second Chance round on 5 March 2011, and a final on 12 March 2011. The six shows were hosted by Marie Serneholt and Rickard Olsson. 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 Elisabeth Andreassen who represented Sweden in 1982 as part of the group Chips as well as Norway in 1985 which she won as part of the duo Bobbysocks!, 1994 performing in a duet with Jan Werner Danielsen and 1996.[2]

Heats and Second Chance round

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Final

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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.

Draw Artist Song Juries Televote Total Place
1 Danny Saucedo "In the Club" 79 70 149 2
2 Sara Varga "Spring för livet" 23 27 50 9
3 The Moniker "Oh My God!" 55 69 124 3
4 Brolle "7 Days and 7 Nights" 8 21 29 10
5 Linda Bengtzing "E de fel på mig?" 42 16 58 7
6 Nicke Borg "Leaving Home" 20 37 57 8
7 Swingfly "Me and My Drum" 44 49 93 5
8 Sanna Nielsen "I'm in Love" 75 39 114 4
9 The Playtones "The King" 46 33 79 6
10 Eric Saade "Popular" 81 112 193 1

At Eurovision

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Eric Saade performing at the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2011.

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.[3] 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.[4] This was the best result for Sweden since 1999, when Charlotte Nilsson won the contest.

Voting

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Points awarded to Sweden

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Points awarded by Sweden

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References

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  1. ^ "Sweden Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  2. ^ Brännström, Linus (7 November 2010). "Elisabeth Andreassen klar för Melodifestivalen". Expressen (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 10 November 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  3. ^ "Second Semi-final of Düsseldorf 2011". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  4. ^ "Grand Final of Düsseldorf 2011". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Results of the Second Semi-final of Düsseldorf 2011". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Results of the Grand Final of Düsseldorf 2011". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
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