Sweden was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1961 with the song "April, april", composed by Bobbie Ericsson, with lyrics by Bo Eneby, and performed by Lill-Babs. The Swedish participating broadcaster, Sveriges Radio (SR), selected its entry through a national final. The song was performed once by Siw Malmkvist, once by Gunnar Wiklund in the national final. However, none of them was considered acceptable for singing in Eurovision, so SR chose Lill-Babs as its representative instead. In the contest, once more held in Cannes, she finished in 14th place (out of 16).
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2018) |
| Eurovision Song Contest 1961 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participating broadcaster | Sveriges Radio (SR) | |||
| Country |  Sweden | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Song: National final Artist: Internal selection | |||
| Selection date(s) | 6 February 1961 | |||
| Selected artist(s) | Lill-Babs | |||
| Selected song | "April, april" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) |
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| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 14th, 2 points | |||
| Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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Before Eurovision
National final
The national final (retroactively often referred to as Melodifestivalen 1961) was the Swedish national final and it was the third time that Sveriges Radio (SR) used this system of picking a song. One singer performed the song with a large orchestra and one with a smaller orchestra. Approximately 550 songs were submitted to SR for the competition. The final was held in the Cirkus in Stockholm on 6 February 1961, broadcast on Sveriges Radio TV, but was not broadcast on radio. Siw Malmkvist won with "April, april" but Lill-Babs went to Eurovision.
| Place | Artist1 | Artist2 | Song | Songwriters | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Siw Malmkvist | Gunnar Wiklund | "April, april" | Bobbie Ericson, Bo Eneby | 78 |
| 2nd | Lill-Babs | Lars Lönndahl | "Vårvinter" | Bobbie Ericson | 71 |
| 2nd | Lars Lönndahl | Lily Berglund | "Spela på regnbågen" | Britt Lindeborg | 71 |
| 4th | Gunnar Wiklund | Siw Malmkvist | "Vår i hjärtat" | Lennart Gröhn | 58 |
| 5th | Lily Berglund | Lill-Babs | "Stockholm" | Bobbie Ericson, Eric Sandström | 57 |
At Eurovision
On the night of the final, Lill-Babs performed 7th in the running order, following the Netherlands and preceding Germany.
At the close of the voting "April, april" had received only 2 points (from France), placing Sweden 14th of the 16 competing entries.[1]
Voting
Every participating broadcaster assembled a jury panel of ten people. Every jury member could give one point to his or her favourite song.
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References
External links
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