Eurovision Song Contest 1974
Country	Sweden
National selection
Selection process	Melodifestivalen 1974
Selection date(s)	9 February 1974
Selected entrant	ABBA
Selected song	"Waterloo"
Selected songwriter(s)	Benny Andersson Björn Ulvaeus Stig Anderson
Finals performance
Final result	1st, 24 points
Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1973 • 1974 • 1975►

The Swedish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest was Melodifestivalen 1974. It was, by a runaway score, won by the group ABBA, comprising Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Agnetha Fältskog, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. Their song, "Waterloo", was written by Björn and Benny with Stig Anderson. It was originally written in Swedish, but for the ESC final, it was translated into English, which the rules allowed between the years 1973 and 1976.

ABBA was one of the favourites to win the 1974 contest, held in Brighton, United Kingdom. They sang in slot No. 8. In the voting, they received high points from the first jury to vote (Finland), but it was a close race until the third last jury, Switzerland, gave Sweden enough points to secure victory. Sweden received a total of 24 points, compared to runner-up Italy's 18.^[1] This was Sweden's first victory. In 2005, in the 50th anniversary show Congratulations, Waterloo was chosen the best Eurovision song ever.

Before Eurovision

Melodifestivalen 1974

Melodifestivalen 1974 (on-screen title Melodifestival 1974) was the selection for the 15th song to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest. It was the 14th time that this system of picking a song had been used. Ten songwriters were selected by SR for the competition. The final was held in the SVT Studios in Stockholm on 9 February 1974, presented by Johan Sandström and was broadcast on TV1 but was not broadcast on radio. ABBA went on to win that year's Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton, Sweden's first Eurovision victory.

Voting

At Eurovision

Voting

Every country had a jury of ten people. Every jury member could give one point to his or her favourite song.

Points awarded to Sweden[2] Score Country 5 points  Finland   Switzerland 3 points  Netherlands 2 points  Germany  Israel  Norway 1 point  Ireland  Luxembourg  Portugal  Spain  Yugoslavia

Points awarded by Sweden[2] Score Country 3 points  Netherlands 2 points  Greece  Ireland 1 point  Israel  Monaco  Norway

Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest

"Waterloo" was one of fourteen Eurovision songs chosen by fans to compete in the Congratulations 50th anniversary special in 2005. The contest was broadcast on SVT with commentary by Pekka Heino. It was the only Swedish entry featured in the show, although several Swedish entrants were featured (including Swedish winners Carola and Richard Herrey of Herreys). "Waterloo" appeared seventh in the running order, following "Nel blu dipinto di blu" by Domenico Modugno and preceding "Fly on the Wings of Love" by the Olsen Brothers. At the end of the first round, it was announced that "Waterloo" had advanced to the second round along with four other songs. It was later revealed that "Waterloo" won the first round with 331 points. This included 18 sets of the maximum twelve points, including from Sweden (who, unlike in usual contests, were allowed to vote for their own entry). Coincidentally, the first proper competing Eurovision song to receive a record 18 top marks was a Swedish entry: "Euphoria" by Loreen, the winning song of the 2012 contest.

"Waterloo" went on to win the second round and the anniversary contest as a whole, scoring 329 points.

Voting

Points awarded to "Waterloo" (Round 1)[3] Score Country 12 points  Andorra  Austria  Belgium  Croatia  Denmark  Finland  Germany  Latvia  Lithuania  Monaco  Norway  Poland  Portugal  Russia  Serbia and Montenegro  Slovenia  Sweden  Ukraine 10 points  Cyprus  Iceland  Ireland  Netherlands  Spain   Switzerland 8 points  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Israel  Macedonia  Malta  Romania  Turkey 7 points  Greece 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 points

Points awarded to "Waterloo" (Round 2)[4] Score Country 12 points  Andorra  Austria  Belgium  Denmark  Finland  Iceland  Latvia  Monaco  Netherlands  Norway  Poland  Russia  Slovenia  Spain  Sweden   Switzerland  Ukraine 10 points  Croatia  Cyprus  Ireland  Israel  Lithuania  Macedonia  Malta  Serbia and Montenegro 8 points  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Romania  Turkey 7 points  Germany  Greece  Portugal 6 points