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| Melodifestivalen | |
|---|---|
 Logo since 2016 | |
| Also known as |
|
| Genre | Song contest |
| Presented by | List of presenters |
| Country of origin | Sweden |
| Original language | Swedish |
| No. of episodes | 63 |
| Production | |
| Production location | Multiple cities in Sweden |
| Running time |
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| Production company | Sveriges Television |
| Original release | |
| Release | 29 January 1959 – present |
| Related | |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
Melodifestivalen (Swedish pronunciation: [mɛlʊˈdîːfɛstɪˌvɑːlɛn]; lit. 'the Melody Festival')[a] is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almost every year since 1959. In the early 2000s, the competition was the most popular television program in Sweden;[1] it is also broadcast on radio and the Internet. In 2012, the heats averaged 3.3 million viewers, and over an estimated four million people in Sweden watched the final, almost half of the Swedish population.[2][3]
The festival has produced seven Eurovision winners and 26 top-five placings for Sweden in the contest. The winner of Melodifestivalen has been chosen by panels of jurors since its inception. Since 1999, the juries have been joined by a public telephone vote which has an equal influence over the outcome. The competition makes a considerable impact on the music charts in Sweden.
The introduction of heats in 2002 raised the potential number of contestants from around twelve to thirty-two. A children's version of the competition, Lilla Melodifestivalen, also began that year. Light orchestrated pop songs, known locally as schlager music, used to be so prevalent that the festival was sometimes referred to as schlagerfestivalen ("the schlager festival") or schlager-sm ("schlager Swedish championship") by the Swedish media.[4][5] However, other styles of music, such as rap, reggae, and glam rock, have made an appearance since the event's expansion. The introduction of a final in Stockholm has attracted substantial tourism to the city.[6]
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- ^ Television in Sweden. Sweden.se (30 September 2005). Retrieved on 20 October 2006.
- ^ "Månadsrapport Februari 2012" (PDF). MMS – Mediamätning i Skandinavien. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
- ^ Lindström, Therese (12 March 2012). "Över fyra miljoner såg finalen". Aftonbladet. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
- ^ "Jag koncentrerar mig på schlagerfestivalen" Archived 17 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine (in Swedish) ["I am concentrating on schlagerfestivalen"]. Aftonbladet.se (27 February 2002). Retrieved on 20 October 2006.
- ^ Anders Foghagen (13 October 2006) Agnes diskad från Schlagerfestivalen Archived 26 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine (in Swedish) ["Agnes disqualified from schlagerfestivalen"]. TV4.se. Retrieved on 20 October 2006.
- ^ The Swedish Research Institute of Tourism (17–18 March 2006). Melodifestivalen 2006 Archived 29 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 23 January 2008.