Sweden: First 2½ finalists in Melodifestivalen

This years Melodifestivalen has begun!
The opening was a duet sung by the hosts: Sanna Nielsen (Sweden 2014) & Robin Paulsson, and quickly after the first contestant was on stage. The first heat (deltävling) had two winners directly qualified for the final: Eric Saade and Jessica Andersson, and two acts for the "second chance": Dolly Style and Behrang Miri.

Semi-final 1, Göteborg

• Eric Saade - "Sting" (Finalist)
• Jessica Andersson - "Can't Hurt Me Now" (Finalist)
• Dolly Style - "Hello Hi" (Second chance)
• Behrang Miri feat. Victor Crone - "Det rår vi inte för" (Second chance)
• Molly Pettersson Hammar - "I'll Be Fine"
• Daniel Gildenlöw - "Pappa"
• Rickard Söderberg & Elize Ryd - "One By One"

Melodifestivalen 2015

The format for this years Melodifestivalen is almost the same as previous years:
Each of the 4 heats qualifies 2 songs directly to the final
Each of the 4 heats qualifies 2 songs to the "second chance"-show
In the "second chance" 4 songs will be selected for the final

• 7 February: Melodifestivalen deltävling 1, Göteborg
• 14 February: Melodifestivalen deltävling 2, Malmö
• 21 February: Melodifestivalen deltävling 3, Östersund
• 28 February: Melodifestivalen deltävling 4, Örebro
• 7 March: Melodifestivalen andra chansen, Helsingborg
• 14 March: Melodifestivalen Final, Stockholm

Sweden in Eurovision Song Contest

Since 1958 Sweden has participated 54 times in Eurovision Song Contest with great succes. They have won the contest 5 times:
• 1974: Abba - "Waterloo"
• 1984: Herreys - "Diggi-loo Diggy-ley"
• 1991: Carola - "Fångad Av En Stormvind"
• 1999: Charlotte Nilsson - "Take Me To Your Heaven"
• 2012: Loreen - "Euphoria"

They came last two times ( 1963 and 1977), and since the introduction of the Semi-finals in 2004 Sweden managed to qualify for the Grand Final 10 out of 11 times! (only skipped the qualification in 2010)