Our Scandinavian hosts have won the contest five times (though their 1991 win was actually a tie with France and the outcry and controversy following the win being awarded to Sweden resulted in detailed reforms by the European Broadcasting Union), including their first win in 1974 by Abba's Waterloo. That song eventually led to Abba's global success and Sweden has almost always been a favorite at the ESC ever since. The Swedes have one of the most elaborate and celebrated national selection processes the contest has ever seen, consisting of weeks-long Melodifestivalen match-ups between the national semifinalists. The winner is then picked by a combination points from the tele-voting and SMS-voting by the viewers, the Swedish national jury and qualified international fan clubs from all over Europe. It was through this process that Loreen's Euphoria was picked to represent the country last year, eventually winning the Contest with a sweeping victory and bringing the trophy home in Baku, Azerbaijan:
Loreen's popularity (and record sales) skyrocketed after her win and she is expected to put on quite the show at this year's Final in Malmo. There are murmurings that she will be launching her new single during the festivities in May (she has already performed new songs, along with different versions of Euphoria at Melodifestivalen and other national selection and preliminary shows throughout the year). This year Sweden is hoping to bring home a win on home turf (this has only happened twice in the Contest's entire history- by Israel and Ireland) and have chosen Robin Stjernberg to accomplish the feat through its Melodifestivalen 2013 with You:
Robin will be facing stiff competition for the coveted Douze Points (the top score of 12 points) against the 38 other entries from each of the countries that have opted to participate in Malmo this year. Notable absences/withdrawals include Portugal, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Slovakia and Turkey, along with the long-absent past winners Monaco, and Luxembourg. Most of the absences are due to financial difficulties of the countries' public broadcasting systems, which must carry the economic burden of ESC participation, i.e. paying for the singer(s) promotional tours through Europe before the contest and all costs for the national representative & national support staff's stays in Malmo during the week of the Contest.
This year's host city was selected by Sveriges Television (SVT) in late 2012. Malmo was considered a surprise pick, after much speculation that the contest would be held in the Stockholm, with its larger arenas, larger hotel accommodations, etc. Unfortunately for the Swedish capital, the two arenas there were mired with logistical problems, and that led SVT to hold the Contest in Malmo, in a much smaller arena than what has become the standard over the last few years.
The Contest's format is in line with the standards established through EBU's reforms in the 1990s and early 2000s, following the significant rise in the number of participating countries. Two Semi-Finals will be held (the first on May 14, the second on May 16) to narrow the pack to twenty contestants, who will be funneled into the grand Final on May 18th, where they will be joined by the entries of the Big Five (Spain, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom), along with Robin Stjernberg representing the host country.
Though this is a song contest, the voting, where each participating country (even those eliminated in the Semi Finals) will deliver their 1-8, followed by 10 points for second place and the 12 points (the Douze Points) for the favorite, will be the event to watch. Will the well established neighborly voting patterns dominate and wreak havoc on the outcome of the contest (Balkan countries, former Soviet republics and the Scandinavian alliance generally have a tendency to bestow top marks on each other)? Last year Loreen's performance quieted some of these concerns when she received a total of 372 points (the 2nd placing Russian entry received 259), including eighteen Douze Points, five 10 points and three 8 points. Her win was the first in decades to receive points from every participating country (the lowest was 3 points from Portugal).
Starting tomorrow, I will begin posting the remaining entires in order of the draw, starting with the participants of First Semi Final, followed by those in the Second Semi Final, and rounding out the list with the entries of the Big Five, who are already in the Final (along with Sweden).
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