To the surprise of…no one, Sweden confirmed their participation for next year’s contest. They join the likes of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Israel, Lithuania and San Marino in confirming their participation. Next year will also mark the 60th edition of Melodifestivalen!
Earlier this week, SVT, the Sweden broadcaster for Eurovision, confirmed their participation for 2020 to esctoday. Considering the Nordic country is one of the most successful participating countries, and hasn’t missed a contest since 1976, this comes as little surprise. Naturally, SVT also confirmed the return of their famed national selection, Melodifestivalen, which will be celebrating its 60th edition in 2020.
To mark the show’s Diamond anniversary, SVT is set to prepare ‘an exciting and extraordinary’ show. The broadcaster will be releasing more importation about the show in due course.
Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest
Sweden has participated in the contest 59 times since its debut in 1958. They have missed only three contests since their debut (1964, 1970 and 1976). Since 1959, the Swedish entry has been chosen through Melodifestivalen. In 1997, Sweden was one of the first five countries to adopt televoting, and have continued to innovate the technology behind the contest whenever they host.
Sweden is one of the most successful countries at contest, winning six contests so far. Notably, their wins span their participation history; their victories span five decades with ABBA (1974), Herreys (1984), Carola (1991), Charlotte Nilsson (1999), Loreen (2012) and Måns Zelmerlöw (2015). They currently have the the second-highest number of wins, behind Ireland’s seven.
In Tel Aviv, John Lundvik represented Sweden with his song “Too Late For Love” after winning this year’s Melodifestivalen. He won both the jury and public vote in the final. This includes receiving the maximum 12 points from all international juries that voted, something that had never been achieved before until now. Despite a similarly strong jury score at the Grand Final, the televote was once again not enough to secure Sweden its seventh win.
Are you happy to see Sweden return for 2020? Are you looking forward to Melodifestivalen 2020? Let us know! Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra on Instagram and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates!
