THIS YEAR'S ENTRY

 SELECTION
Swedish broadcaster SVT confirmed their participation in Oslo within hours of Norway's victory in Moscow. This year the Swedish Eurovision selection began with an online selection, which chose one of the thirty two songs that competed in four semi-finals, stagd in February. A further "second chance" semi-final staged in March chose meant that ten songs competed in the final of the Swedish Melodifestival which was held on March 13th at the Globe Theatre in Stockholm and hosted by Måns Zelmerlöw, Christine Meltzer-Lind & Dolph Lundgren. The winner was chosen by eleven juries (five regional juries and six international juries) who provided 50% of the votes and public televoting the other 50%. The winner was the bookmakers' favourite, the ballad "This Is My Life" sung by former "Idols" runner-up Anna Bergendahl.

 BIOGRAPHY
Anna Bergendahl, Sweden's new pop princess, was born and raised in Nyköping, a small town not far from Stockholm and will represent her native country in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest.

Her parents early recognized Anna’s love for music and bought her first guitar when she was only eight. She started to write her first songs at the age of ten. She was one of the competitors in the Swedish TV-show "Super Troupers" performing a very personal version of Wild Cherry’s classic hit "Play That Funky Music". In 2008 she auditioned for the Swedish "Idol" performing the Bonnie Raitt song "Have A Heart" and the jury instantly praised her and her vocal abilities. Later on, she became a huge hit in the Swedish download charts.

After "Idol" Anna was of course contacted by a number of record companies: everyone wanted to sign her! However it was the intimate and professional feeling Lionheart International gave her that made her make her decision to sign both a record, publishing and management deal with them.

On Saturday the 13th of March, in front of nearly four million viewers, the Swedish people voted Anna to be the one who should represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Oslo with a landslide victory with her song "This Is My Life". The song has since then reached No.1 in all Swedish charts.

Bobby Ljunggren, is the composer with most Eurovision experience in this year's contest. This is his sixth entry and his first, "Se På Mej", which came 3rd in 1995, remains his most successful.

 REACTION
This year, SVT made a very deliberate attempt to get away from the typical style of music that normally fills most of the slots in the Swedish Eurovision selection. The reaction by Eurovision fans was generally unenthusiastic, although the all important rating remained good and as always, the Swedish charts reflected the country's interest in the contest. "This Is My Life" was the hot favourite and despite little international promotion, Sweden is among the favourites in most online polls. The bookmakers are generally less enthusiastic, although Sweden is among the songs expected to qualify from the second semi-final, it is 40/1 to win the contest.

BROADCASTER

RATINGS