It’s finally time for Eurovision! Stockholm has been sparkling the whole week and visitors from all around the globe have come to enjoy the Eurovision. But how much do you know about this musical event? For instance, why are the Swedes so crazy about it? And why does the event cause such a debate? The Newbie Guide to Sweden briefs you on the most important matters concerning the Eurovision Song Contest!

1. Who’s hosting the Eurovision? The country who won the last Eurovision will host the next years event. For example, as Måns Zelmerlöf won the whole shebang with the song “Hero” in 2015 in Vienna, Sweden hosted the Eurovision contest in 2016. However, it has caused a whole lot of debate due the costs that come with hosting the event. The estimated cost for the taxpayers was 95 million SEK – quite a lot for a television program many claim.
2. Which countries are participating? Most participating countries come from Europe. However, the European Broadcasting Union, EBU has a quite generous definition of Europe, so many countries that wouldn’t necessarily count as Europe participate. Even Australia has made into the Eurovision!
3. How does the new voting system work? It is inspired by the Swedish voting system applied at Melodifestivalen and means that each country gets to award two sets of point: one from a professional jury and another from televoting.
4. Why do Swedes love Eurovision? Eurovision is big in Sweden and a lot of Swedes are crazy about it. Swedes start off with their Eurovision preparation in January-February. Melodifestivalen (the Swedish pre selection for Eurovision) is split in several semi-finals stretching over a period of weeks. So Swedes surely love their Melodifestival and Eurovision. But why? One reason could be that music is very big in Sweden in general. Many define themselves through music and many Swedish artists have launched successful international careers. Another reason could be that Swedes lack a festival that has the ability to unite the whole nation. Most countries celebrate their national day. However, Swedes are quite low profile about the 6 of June. Melodifestivalen and Eurovision however, have the ability to do exactly that – it unites the nation.

Psst! The Swedish television will broadcast the whole event and you can also watch interviews, documentaries about the preparations and much more on SVT PLAY.