After a year of absence, Sweden competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 1965 with the opera singer

Ingvar Wixell Karl Gustaf Ingvar Wixell (7 May 19318 October 2011) was a Swedish baritone who had an active international career in operas and concerts from 1955 to 2003. He mostly sang roles from the Italian repertory, and, according to ''The New York Times'' ...

, and the song "Absent Friend" (originally "Annorstädes vals") composed by

Dag Wirén Dag Ivar Wirén (15 October 1905 – 19 April 1986) was a Swedish composer. Life Wirén was born at Striberg near Nora. His father had a roller blind factory, and there were various musical activities in the family home; he took piano lessons ...

. For the first time, one singer sang all the songs in the national final, and Ingvar was also the first male singer to represent Sweden. It was the first ESC entry that was not performed in the country's native language; this led to the introduction of a language restriction the following year. The contest was held in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...

that year, and Sweden finished 10th out of 18.*

Before Eurovision

Melodifestivalen 1965

Melodifestivalen 1965 (known as the Svensk sångfinal) was the selection for the seventh song to represent

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

at the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

, held at the

Cirkus CirKus are a trip hop band formed by Burt Ford (Cameron McVey), Karmil (aka Matt Kent), Lolita Moon and Neneh Cherry. History DJ and producer Karmil was recruited by Burt Ford (Neneh's husband Cameron McVey) as an assistant recording engine ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

on 13 February 1965. It was the sixth time that this system of picking a song had been used. Ingvar Wixell performed all of the songs. Eight songs were submitted to

Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio AB (, "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a licensing fee, the level of which is d ...

for the competition, of which two were turned down by Wixell. Regional juries selected the winning song. The final was held in the

on 13 February 1965, hosted by Birgitta Sandstedt and was broadcast on Sveriges Radio TV but was not broadcast on radio.

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Wixell performed 10th in the running order, following

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

and preceding

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Sweden gained 6 points and ranked 10th. The Swedish jury awarded its 5 points to Denmark, who had arguably the most old-fashioned song of the night.

Voting

References

External links

ESCSweden.com
(in Swedish)
Information site about MelodifestivalenEurovision Song Contest National Finals
{{Melodifestivalen

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in for a full term ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1965

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pri ...