“It is not just the winners of Melodifestivalen that tell the show’s history,” says Melodifestivalen’s Senior Producer Christer Björkman, “There is so much more to honour.”
It is this realisation that the team behind this most behemothian TV spectacular that led to the creation of SVT Hall Of Fame. Melodifestivalen each year offers up so much more to the world of Swedish culture than just one song to compete against others each Eurovision Song Contest.
How The Hall Of Fame Will Work
At each of the four heats to Melodifestivalen 2020 will a presentation be held to showcase 12 moments that will be inducted into the first Melodifestivalen Hall of Fame. All those involved in those 32 inaugral submissions are invited to attend Andra Chansen, SVT’s show for a last chance to qualify for a Melodifestivalen final. That show this year will be lengthened by an extra 15 minutes to allow for a presentation gala to celebrate these 48 moments.
All Hall of Fame entrants need to have been from at least 10 years prior, so that enough time has passed to truly know if these moments are indeed strong in the memory. Also Eurovision winning songs will automatically be awarded a place (even ‘Euphoria‘ and ‘Heroes‘ despite their release after 2010).
The other special moments to kick start the Hall of Fame were selected by SVT’s Melodifestivalen leadership team; Christer Björkman, Karin Gunnarsson, Anette Helenius and Christel Tholse Willers. In the future however an SVT committee will only suggest names, and the people will have the final say. The current plan is that 18 moments will be suggested to the general public, who will then choose between them to select 6 new Hall of Fame moments each year via SVT’s Melodifestivalen app.
The leadership team for Melodifestivalen 2020 (Photo: Anders Strömquist, SVT)
The phrasing of the term ‘moments’ is important. These moments could be entire songs, or bits of cheoreography, lines of text or even moments such as interval act. The Hall of Fame prize will go to the person responsible for whatever has happened (in terms of songs, it will be the artist and composers receiving the nomination). The prize for such people will not just be a celebration gala at Andra Chansen, but a little golden memento, Guldstjärnan (The Gold Star).
Why Now Is The Correct Timing For A Hall Of Fame?
In different spheres Melodifestivalen has tried to establish ways of celebrating the many other stories that feature as a part of its spectacle. There has been Melodifestivalen’s own version of the Marcel Bezençon Awards, a spin-off of Christer Björkman’s flagship prize for the Eurovision Song Contest, but these stopped in 2015. SVT have also ran their own web voting on different awards after each competition from 2012 to 2018. The Hall of Fame is set up with such prestige and purpose it looks unlikely to be as short-lived as these previous iterations.
There’s numerous reasons I think this will be a much more successful format. Firstly, the move to making the Hall of Fame announcements be a part of the live broadcast will far increase the wonder and excitement. Furthermore the concept of making Andra Chansen the home of the Hall of Fame gala celebration gives a positive focus to that show that is not just about finding out which of the losers will end up with a lucky shot at the Melodifestivalen final.
In addition I believe this is brilliant from a public broadcasting perspective. Melodifestivalen’s reputation as being a successful playground for only young pop stars has partly damaged the brand’s aim to be a show for all Sweden. This ensures that there will be plenty of nostalgia in each edition of Melodifestivalen for the viewers, and also provides opportunities for families to share their memories across generations with their children.
So, Who Should Be On The Hall Of Fame?
I have asked some commentators on Eurovision and Melodifestivalen to give their comments as to what moments should be in Melodifestivalen’s Hall of Fame. Do you agree with our suggestions? Will SVT agree with our suggestions?
Ben Robertson, ESC Insight
‘Satellit‘ by Ted Gärdestad
(@bensvision on Twitter)
I moved to Sweden in 2011. Ted Gärdestad had already passed away many years before I arrived. He committed suicide at only the age of 41.
I’ve learnt over the years living here how beloved his songs are to the Swedish population. Throughout a sadly shortened career he’s written tons of hit songs. Enough that even a musical of his life was commissioned and Erik Linder, known to some of you from competing in Melodifestivalen 2011, spend two years touring Sweden covering his music.
Ted Gärdestad’s songs especially hit home during the summer ‘allsång’ season,with thousands of Swedes joining in sing-a-long sessions around the country. Of all of them I find ‘Satellit’ is always one of the most bouncy and fun tracks that is a cult classic – even now it reaches fans from 3 to 93 in a collective choir. Eurovision wasn’t its natural environment, and it’s hard to argue with the single digits it received on the 1979 scoreboard. However Hall of Fame entrants don’t need to be successful on the scoreboard, they need to resonate with the Swedish nation.
‘Satellit’ was the first song that came to mind.
Ken Olausson, Schlagerprofilerna
‘Främling‘ by Carola
(@schlagerprofilerna on Instagram)
I don’t know if the same person can get chosen twice, but even if it means that someone else needs to get the “blame” for the 1991 ESC-victory, Carola need to get a mention for her 1983 debut with ‘Främling‘.
That night, so much more than ABBA, single handedly changed Sweden’s relationship to Melodifestivalen and Eurovision. Something close to 5 million people saw this 16 year old girl get all the available 12p points (still an unbeaten record) and overnight become one of the country’s greatest superstars – and I think the possibility that something like this might happen again kept the Swedes in front of their TVs through several decades to come. The defining moment of Melodifestivalen – no doubt!
On a more modern note I also would love to nominate Fredrik Kempe for his outstanding efforts in the 2009 Melodifestivalen final. This year he won the public vote, the Swedish jury vote and the international jury vote – with three different songs! That is also a difficult record to break.
Monty Moncreiff, Second Cherry Podcast
‘Ska vi Plocka Körsbär i min Trädgård‘ by Ann-Christine Bärnsten
(@second_cherry on Instagram)
My nomination is ‘Ska vi Plocka Körsbär i min Trädgård‘, the fifth placed song in 1975’s Melodifestivalen by Ann-Christine Bärnsten. It’s a Swedish cult classic but one mostly overlooked by international fans. A little knowledge of Swedish helps you understand the song is laden with risqué sexual innuendo, with 17 year old Ann-Christine selected by composer Little Gerhard to innocently deliver the lines as naively as possible, a role she acquiesced with claiming, publicly at least, she hadn’t realised what the song was about.
Although it might well raise an eyebrow or two were it to compete in today’s Melfest, the song has an of-its-time charm, reminiscent of the bawdy humour of the British Carry On film series. I’ve learned over the years that trotting out a line or two of it to Swedes when they’re least expecting it makes for a great party piece and they’re astonished that I know it.
Trivia: There’s a brief glimpse of half of ABBA in the audience about halfway through the song.