Sweden was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 9 May 2023. Performing during the show in position 11, "Tattoo" was announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 14 May. It was later revealed that Sweden placed second out of the 15 participating countries in the semi-final with 135 points. In the final, Sweden performed in position 9 and placed first out of the 26 participating countries, winning the contest with 583 points.[2]
This was Sweden's seventh win in the Eurovision Song Contest, having last won in 2015, therefore tying Ireland's record for the most victories in the contest. Loreen also became the second performer, after Ireland's Johnny Logan, and the first female artist to win the contest on more than one occasion.[3]
The Swedish national broadcaster, Sveriges Television (SVT), broadcasts the event within Sweden and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. Since 1959, SVT has organised the annual competition Melodifestivalen in order to select the Swedish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.
The 2023 edition of Melodifestivalen featured four heats, a semi-final (replacing the previously held Second Chance round) and a final, and saw 28 acts compete. It was held between 4 February and 11 March 2023, concluding with a final held at the Friends Arena in Stockholm.[5] After the cancellation of the traditional tour around six cities of the country (namely Malmö, Gothenburg, Linköping, Lidköping, Örnsköldsvik and Stockholm) for the previous edition due to the COVID-19 Omicron variant, SVT subsequently announced that the six cities would host the tour in 2023 instead, with new dates.[5]
The second heat took place on 11 February 2023 at the Saab Arena in Linköping. "Never Give Up" performed by Maria Sur and "On My Way" performed by Panetoz qualified directly to the final, while "Mer av dig" performed by Theoz and "Now I Know" performed by Tennessee Tears advanced to the semi-final. "All My Life (Where Have You Been)" performed by Wiktoria, "Grytan" performed by Uje Brandelius and "Comfortable" performed by Eden were eliminated from the contest.
The fourth heat took place on 25 February 2023 at the Malmö Arena in Malmö. "Tattoo" performed by Loreen and "Six Feet Under" performed by Smash Into Pieces qualified directly to the final, while "Where Did You Go" performed by Kiana and "One Day" performed by Mariette advanced to the semi-final. "Gorgeous" performed by Axel Schylström, "Edelweiss" performed by Signe & Hjördis and "Mera mera mera" performed by Emil Henrohn were eliminated from the contest.
The semi-final took place on 4 March 2023 at the Hägglunds Arena in Örnsköldsvik. All of the songs competed against each other in a single semi-final, with the top four songs advancing to the final, similar to the preceding heats. "Släpp alla sorger" performed by Nordman, "Mer av dig" performed by Theoz, "Where Did You Go" performed by Kiana and "One Day" performed by Mariette qualified to the final, while "Now I Know" performed by Tennessee Tears, "Diamonds" performed by Victor Crone, "For the Show" performed by Melanie Wehbe and "Raggen går" performed by Elov & Beny were eliminated from the contest.
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held, which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, and determined which half of the show they would perform in. Sweden has been placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 9 May 2023, and has been scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[6]
Once all the competing songs for the 2023 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Sweden was set to perform in position 11, following the entry from Moldova and before the entry from Azerbaijan.[7]
At the end of the show, Sweden was announced as a qualifier for the final.
Sweden
