Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1965


After a year of absence, Sweden competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 1965 with the opera singer Ingvar Wixell, and the song "Absent Friend" composed by Dag Wirén. For the first time, one singer sang all the songs in the national final, and Ingvar was also the first male singer to represent Sweden. It was the first ESC entry that was not performed in the country's native language; this led to the introduction of the language rule the following year.
The contest was held in Naples that year, and Sweden finished 10th out of 18.*

Melodifestivalen 1965

Melodifestivalen 1965 was the selection for the seventh song to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest. It was the sixth time that this system of picking a song had been used. Ingvar Wixell performed all of the songs. Eight songs were submitted to Sveriges Radio for the competition, of which two were turned down by Wixell. The final was broadcast on Sveriges Radio TV but was not broadcast on radio.


Running OrderArtistSongSongwritersPointsRanking
1Ingvar Wixell"Stilla och tyst"Owe Thörnqvist282nd
2Ingvar Wixell"Kommer vår"Bobbie Ericson, Bo Eneby54th
3Ingvar Wixell"Varm i dej"Bo Nilsson25th
4Ingvar Wixell"Förtrollad stad"Torbjörn Lundqvist, Bo Setterlind143rd
5Ingvar Wixell"Väldigt vacker"Georg Riedel, Berndt Rosengren16th
6Ingvar Wixell"Annorstädes vals"Dag Wirén, Alf Henrikson501st

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Wixell performed 10th in the running order, following Monaco and preceding France. Sweden gained 6 points and ranked 10th. The Swedish jury awarded its 5 points to Denmark, who had arguably the most old-fashioned song of the night.

Points awarded to Sweden

Points awarded by Sweden