Sunday 8 July 2012

Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest - 1991


The Swedish final, Melodifestivalen 1991, was held on March 31st at the Stadsteatern in Malmö, hosted by Harald Treutiger. The 10 songs were reduced to 5 finalists before the winner was chosen by 11 regional juries.

Carola Häggkvist won the competition for a second time, having won in 1983. She sang the song Fångad av en stormvind which was written by Stefan Berg.

Results:

01. Fångad av en stormvind - Carola, 78 points
02. Ett liv med dej - Towe Jaarnek, 46 points
03. Kommer du ihåg mej - Jim Jidhed, 45 points
04. Annie - Laila Dahl, 33 points
05. Låt mej se ett under - Tove Naess, 29 points

Other participants:

Tvillingsjäl - Pernilla Whalgren
Kärlekens dans - Diana Nunez
Stanna du i dina drömma - John Ekedahl
Änglar - Jessica Wimert
Ge mig ett svar - Sharon Dyall

At the ESC in Rome Carola was one of the favourites to win. At the close of the voting, she had received 146 points, placing joint 1st place with France's Amina. After the four-way tie at the 1969 contest, a tie-break system had been implemented, where a count-back on the number of top points awarded was used. Since both countries received four 12-points, but Sweden gaining five 10-points over France's two, Sweden was declared the winner.

This was the first and, to date, only time the tie-breaker has been required, since it was introduced after the four-way tie in 1969.

In the singles charts, it peaked at #3 in Sweden and #6 in Norway. On 28 April 1991, the song reached first place in the Swedish hitlist Svensktoppen.

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Carola Maria Häggkvist (born 8 September 1966), better known as Carola, is a Swedish singer and occasional songwriter.

She has been among Sweden's most popular performers since the early 1980s, and has released albums ranging from pop and disco to hymns and folk music. Her debut album, Främling, sold around one million copies and remains the biggest-selling album in Swedish music history. She has also worked as a songwriter. During her 25-year long career, she has recorded many top-selling albums and singles and is referred to as Sweden's most prominent female singer. Some of her biggest hits include Främling from 1983, Tommy tycker om mig from 1984, Fångad av en stormvind from 1991, All the Reasons to Live from 1992, I Believe in Love from 2001, Genom allt  from 2005 and Evighet from 2006.

Carola Häggkvist has represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest on three occasions: in 1983 finishing 3rd, in 1991 winning the contest and in 2006 finishing 5th.

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