'Please don't be angry with us, we just love Eurovision too much," went the chorus of the cabaret number Sweden's host Petra Mede performed at Thursday's semi-final with Schlager start Charlotte Perelli. But did they really explain Sweden's Eurovision obsession?
Norwegian twins Marcus and Martinus won an easy victory in the Melodifestivalen competition on Saturday night, and will represent Sweden at Eurovision 2024 in Malmö in May.
Back in 1988, a 20-year-old by the name of Celine Dion won the Eurovision Song Contest in Switzerland. Will Vancouver-born Laurell Barker this year be the second Canadian to win?
Maria Sur, 17, arrived in Sweden in March after a journey of hundreds of kilometres through Ukraine and Poland from Zaporizhzhia, her home town. She tells The Local's Yuliia Kyzyk of what she hopes to gain from taking part in the Melodifestivalen song contest.
After 4 heats and a semi-final, Sweden's 'Melodifestivalen' concludes on Saturday night and the Eurovision Song Contest will have its Swedish entry for Turin.
In the first heat of Melodifestivalen Brits in Sweden lost the British-Swedish singer Shirley Clamp from the competition. The second heat saw 21-year-old Samira Manners with her distinctive English twang eliminated. Now there’s only one person to save British hopes in Sweden’s biggest TV spectacular - Alexander Grove.
The second heat of Melodifestivalen, the Swedish TV marathon to select a singer to the Eurovision Song Contest, may be of extra interest to Brits in Sweden, given the distinctive English accent of one of the contestants.
Ben Robertson of ESC Insight shares his thoughts and predictions on the 12 remaining songs competing to represent Sweden at the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest.
The competition that selects Sweden's Eurovision Song Contest contender – Melodifestivalen – will get English commentary this year, to the expected excitement of non-Swedish speaking fans around the globe.
It's soon time again for the only Swedish TV event that can rival the Swedish love of Donald Duck at Christmas, welcome to another season of Melodifestivalen!
Ben Robertson has been following Melodifestivalen around Sweden for the past six weeks. Ahead of the final on Saturday, here are his thoughts and predictions on the 12 remaining songs competing to represent Sweden at Eurovision 2020.
One key difference from the Eurovision Song Contest to the Swedish try-outs is the amount of children present at each of the shows. But what is it that makes so many children love Melodifestivalen so much? ESC Insight's Ben Robertson investigates.
Ben Robertson travelled to the industrial town of Luleå to watch Melodifestivalen's third heat last week. But is it worth the while of small towns to host Sweden's hyped Eurovision Song Contest try-outs?
ESC Insight's Ben Robertson looks into why Sweden's second city is unlikely ever to host the Eurovision Song Contest, as part of his series covering Melodifestivalen.
Sweden's six-week tryouts for Eurovision have kicked off, and once again are dominating Swedish society. ESC Insight's Ben Robertson looks into how Melodifestivalen became such a large phenomenon in Sweden.
With Melodifestivalen's six-week parade around Sweden set to kick off, Ben Robertson looks at their biggest pre-show announcement for 2020. SVT will be starting the Melodifestivalen Hall of Fame, and Ben Robertson wonders how this works and who should be part of this list.
Sweden's six-week musical extravaganza begins on Saturday February 1st. Before you even think about printing scorecards, buying the snacks and donning the sequins here are some key facts about this year's show.
Sweden takes Eurovision seriously, and this year will be represented by singer-songwriter John Lundvik from Växjö. Here are five things you should know about the performer, including why Brits in Sweden have twice as much reason to support him.
Swedish singer Benjamin Ingrosso will represent Sweden at Eurovision 2018 after winning the Melodifestivalen finale. The Local was at the Friends Arena in Stockholm to live-blog the show.
Melodifestivalen is more than just the selection process for Sweden's Eurovision entry; it's as much a part of the national culture as Midsummer. But not only do a third of the country's entire population tune into the final each year, the contest has gained a huge following abroad.
Swedish pop star Måns Zelmerlöw has pledged to bring the UK its own version of Melodifestivalen, the cult-like contest Sweden uses to select its Eurovision entry. Can it possibly work?
