Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013


Sweden participated in and hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö after winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song Euphoria performed by Loreen. The Swedish entry was selected through Melodifestivalen 2013, a national final format that consisted of four semi-finals, a second chance round and a final, organised by Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television. Robin Stjernberg represented Sweden with the song "You", which scored 62 points in the grand final and finished in 14th place.

Before Eurovision

Melodifestivalen 2013

Melodifestivalen 2013 was the Swedish music competition that selected Sweden's 53rd entry to the Eurovision Song Contest, this time for the 2013 competition. Hosted by Gina Dirawi and Danny Saucedo, 32 songs competed in a six-week-long process that consisted of four semifinals on 2, 9, 16 and 23 February 2013, a second chance round on 2 March 2013, and a final on 9 March 2013. Eight songs competed in each semifinal - the top two qualified directly to the final, while the third and fourth placed songs qualified to the second chance round.
In the first semifinal held at the Telenor Arena in Karlskrona on 2 February, the songs "Skyline" performed by David Lindgren and "Heartbreak Hotel" performed by Yohio qualified to the final, while the songs "Burning Flags" performed by Cookies 'N' Beans and "Vi kommer aldrig att förlora" performed by Eric Gadd qualified to the second chance round.
In the second semifinal held at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg on 9 February, the songs "Copacabanana" performed by Sean Banan and "Only the Dead Fish Follow the Stream" performed by Louise Hoffsten qualified to the final, while the songs "Begging" performed by Anton Ewald and "Hello Goodbye" performed by Erik Segerstedt and Tone Damli qualified to the second chance round.
In the third semifinal held at the Skellefteå Kraft Arena in Skellefteå on 16 February, the songs "Falling" performed by State of Drama and "En riktig jävla schlager" performed by Ravaillacz qualified to the final, while the songs "In and Out of Love" performed by Martin Rolinski and "Hon har inte" performed by Caroline af Ugglas qualified to the second chance round.
In the fourth semifinal held at the Malmö Arena in Malmö on 23 February, the songs "Tell the World I'm Here" performed by Ulrik Munther and "Bed on Fire" performed by Ralf Gyllenhammar qualified to the final, while the songs "You" performed by Robin Stjernberg and "Jalla Dansa Sawa" performed by Behrang Miri qualified to the second chance round.
In the second chance round held at the Löfbergs Lila Arena in Karlstad on 2 March, the songs "Begging" performed by Anton Ewald and "You" performed by Robin Stjernberg qualified to the final.

Final

The final of Melodifestivalen 2013 was held on 9 March 2013 at the Friends Arena in Solna, Stockholm. The two winners from each of the four semi-finals and the two second chance winners qualified for the final, creating a 10-song lineup. A mix of televoting/SMS voting and international jury voting selected Robin Stjernberg as the winner with the song "You".
DrawArtistSongJuryTelevoteTotalPlace
1Ulrik Munther"Tell the World I'm Here"82441263
2David Lindgren"Skyline"5712698
3State of Drama"Falling"5018689
4Anton Ewald"Begging"49591084
5Louise Hoffsten"Only the Dead Fish Follow the Stream"3649855
6Ralf Gyllenhammar"Bed on Fire"3340737
7Ravaillacz"En riktig jävla schlager"8324010
8Sean Banan"Copacabanana"3741786
9Robin Stjernberg"You"91751661
10Yohio"Heartbreak Hotel"301031332

At Eurovision

As the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 and host of the 2013 Contest, Sweden automatically qualified for a place in the final, held on 18 May 2013. In addition to their participation in the final, Sweden was assigned to vote in the first semi-final on 14 May 2013.
As the host nation, Sweden's running order position in the final was determined by draw, rather than being assigned by the producers of the show. On 18 March 2013 during the heads of delegation meeting, Sweden was drawn to perform 16th in the final. In the final, Sweden performed following United Kingdom and preceding Hungary. Sweden placed 14th in the final, scoring 62 points.
In Sweden, both the semi-finals and the final were broadcast on SVT1, with commentary provided by Josefine Sundström. The competition was also broadcast via radio on Sveriges Radio P4 with commentary by Carolina Norén for all three shows, Ronnie Ritterland for the semi-finals and Björn Kjellman for the grand final.
The national jury that provided 50% of the Swedish vote in the first semi-final and the final consisted of: Ralf Gyllenhammar, Erik Rapp, Daniel Breitholtz, Karin Gunnarsson and Monika Starck. The Swedish spokesperson in the grand final was Yohio.

Points awarded to Sweden

Points awarded by Sweden

Semi-final 1

Points awarded in first semi-final:
12 points
10 points
8 points
7 points
6 points
5 points
4 points
3 points
2 points
1 point

Final

Points awarded in the final:
12 points
10 points
8 points
7 points
6 points
5 points
4 points
3 points
2 points
1 point

Marcel Bezençon Awards

The Swedish entry was awarded one of the three Marcel Bezençon Awards, which honour the best of the competing entries for the 2013 Contest in different areas of achievement. Sweden received the Composer Award, which was awarded to the best and most original composition as voted by the participating composers in the competition.