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Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022

Sweden participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with "Hold Me Closer" performed by Cornelia Jakobs. The Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) organised Melodifestivalen 2022 in order to select its entry for the contest.

Background

Prior to the 2022 contest, Sweden has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixty times since its first entry in 1958. Sweden had won the contest on six occasions: in 1974 with the song "Waterloo" performed by ABBA, in 1984 with the song "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" performed by Herreys, in 1991 with the song "Fångad av en stormvind" performed by Carola, in 1999 with the song "Take Me to Your Heaven" performed by Charlotte Nilsson, in 2012 with the song "Euphoria" performed by Loreen, and in 2015 with the song "Heroes" performed by Måns Zelmerlöw. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004 contest, Sweden's entries, to this point, have featured in every final, except for 2010. This includes its 2021 entry, "Voices", performed by Tusse, which ended 14th with 109 points in the final.

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.

Before Eurovision

Melodifestivalen 2022

The 2022 edition of Melodifestivalen featured four heats, a semi-finals show (replacing the previously-held Second Chance round) and a final, and saw 28 acts compete. It was held between 5 February and 12 March 2022 in Stockholm, with the first three heats held at the Avicii Arena, and the remaining heat, the semi-finals and the final at the Friends Arena.

Heats

The first heat took place on 5 February 2022. "Hold Me Closer" performed by Cornelia Jakobs and "Innocent Love" performed by Robin Bengtsson qualified directly to the final, while "Hallabaloo" performed by Danne Stråhed and "Som du vill" performed by Theoz advanced to the semi-final. "Moving Like That" performed by Omar Rudberg, "Let There Be Angels" performed by Shirley Clamp, and "Bananas" performed by Malou Prytz were eliminated from the contest.
The second heat took place on 12 February 2022. "Bluffin" performed by Liamoo and "Änglavakt" performed by John Lundvik qualified directly to the final, while "Suave" performed by Alvaro Estrella and "My Way" performed by Tone Sekelius advanced to the semi-final. "I Want to Be Loved" performed by Samira Manners, "Face in the Crowd" performed by Browsing Collection, and "Tror du att jag bryr mig" performed by Niello and Lisa Ajax were eliminated from the contest.
The third heat took place on 19 February 2022. "Bigger Than the Universe" performed by Anders Bagge and "Freedom" performed by Faith Kakembo qualified directly to the final, while "Best to Come" performed by Lisa Miskovsky and "I Can't Get Enough" performed by Cazzi Opeia advanced to the semi-final. "Fyrfaldigt hurra!" performed by Linda Bengtzing, "Lyckligt slut" performed by Lancelot, and "Shut Me Up" performed by Tribe Friday were eliminated from the contest.
The fourth heat took place on 26 February 2022. "Run to the Hills" performed by Klara Hammarström and "In i dimman" performed by Medina qualified directly to the final, while "Higher Power" performed by Anna Bergendahl and "Till Our Days Are Over" performed by Lillasyster advanced to the semi-final. "The End" performed by Angelino, "La stella" performed by Tenori, and "Synd om dig" performed by Malin Christin were eliminated from the contest.
The semi-finals took place as part of one show on 5 March 2022. From the first semi-final, "Higher Power" performed by Anna Bergendahl, and "My Way" performed by Tone Sekelius qualified to the final, while "Suave" performed by Alvaro Estrella, and "Hallabaloo" performed by Danne Stråhed were eliminated from the contest. From the second semi-final, "Som du vill" performed by Theoz, and "I Can't Get Enough" performed by Cazzi Opeia qualified to the final, while "Till Our Days Are Over" performed by Lillasyster, and "Best to Come" performed by Lisa Miskovsky were eliminated from the contest.

Final

The final took place on 12 March 2022.

At Eurovision

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 25 January 2022, an allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Sweden was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2022, and scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.

Once all the competing songs for the 2022 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 17, following the entry from Belgium and before the entry from the Czech Republic.