The Swedish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest was called Melodifestivalen 1974. It was, by far, won by the group

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group ...

, consisting of

Anni-Frid Lyngstad Princess Anni-Frid Synni Reuss, Countess of Plauen (born Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad on 15 November 1945), also known by her nickname "Frida", is a Norwegian-born Swedish singer, songwriter and environmentalist, who is best known as one of the foun ...

Agnetha Fältskog Agneta Åse Fältskog (born 5 April 1950), known as Agnetha Fältskog (), is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and musician. She first achieved success in Sweden with the release of her 1968 self-titled debut album. She later achieved internatio ...

Benny Andersson Göran Bror Benny Andersson (; born 16 December 1946) is a Swedish musician, singer, composer and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess'', ''Kristina från Duvemåla'', and '' Mamma M ...

and

Björn Ulvaeus Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (; born 25 April 1945) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, producer, a member of the musical group ABBA, and co-composer of the musicals '' Chess'', '' Kristina från Duvemåla'', and ''Mamma Mia!'' He co-produced the films ...

. Their song was called " Waterloo", which was written by Björn and Benny. It was originally written in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

, but for the ESC final, it was translated into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, which

the rules ''The Rules: Time-tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right'' is a self-help book by Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider, originally published in 1995. The book suggests rules that a woman should follow in order to attract and marry the ma ...

allowed the years 1973-1976. ABBA was one of the favorites to win ESC, held in Brighton,

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. They sang as #08. In the voting, they received high points from the first jury to vote (

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

), but it was a close race until the second last jury, Switzerland, which gave Sweden enough points to practically secure victory. Sweden got a total of 24 points, compared to runner-up

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

's 18. This was Sweden's first victory. In 2005, in the 50th anniversary show ''

Congratulations Congratulations may refer to: Film and television *'' Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest'', 2005 television programme to commemorate its fiftieth anniversary Music Albums * ''Congratulations'' (album), an album by ...

'', Waterloo was chosen the best Eurovision song ever.

Before Eurovision

Melodifestivalen 1974

Melodifestivalen 1974 (on-screen title Melodifestival 1974) was the selection for the 15th song to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest. It was the 14th time that this system of picking a song had been used. 10 songwriters were selected by SR for the competition. The final was held in the SVT Studios in Stockholm on 9 February 1974, presented by Johan Sandström and was broadcast on TV1 but was not broadcast on radio. ABBA went on to win that year's Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton, Sweden's first Eurovision win.

Voting

At Eurovision

Voting

Every country had a jury of ten people. Every jury member could give one point to his or her favourite song.

''Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest''

"Waterloo" was one of fourteen Eurovision songs chosen by fans to compete in the ''Congratulations'' 50th anniversary special in 2005. The contest was broadcast on SVT with commentary by Pekka Heino. It was the only Swedish entry featured in the show, although several Swedish entrants were featured (including Swedish winners

Carola Carola is a female given name, the Latinized form of the Germanic given names Caroline or Carol. People named Carola include: Acting * Carola Braunbock (1924–1978), Czech-born East German actress *Carola Höhn (1910–2005), German actres ...

and Richard Herrey of

Herreys Herreys (), sometimes Herrey's or Herrey, is a Swedish pop group, consisting of the three brothers Per Herrey (born 9 August 1958), Richard Herrey (born 19 August 1964), and Louis Herrey (born 3 November 1966). They won the Eurovision Song Con ...

). "Waterloo" appeared seventh in the running order, following " Nel blu dipinto di blu" by Domenico Modugno and preceding " Fly on the Wings of Love" by the

Olsen Brothers Olsen Brothers ( da, Brødrene Olsen) are a Danish rock/pop music duo, formed by brothers Jørgen (born 15 March 1950) and Niels "Noller" Olsen (born 13 April 1954), both from Odense, who won the Eurovision Song Contest 2000. They formed their f ...

. At the end of the first round, it was announced that "Waterloo" had advanced to the second round along with four other songs. It was later revealed that "Waterloo" won the first round with 331 points. This included 18 sets of the maximum twelve points, including from Sweden (who, unlike in usual contests, were allowed to vote for their own entry). Coincidentally, the first proper competing Eurovision song to receive a record 18 top marks was a Swedish entry: " Euphoria" by

Loreen Loreen may refer to: *Loreen (singer), Swedish singer *Loreen Rice Lucas (1914–2011), a Canadian author * "Loreen" (song), 1986 song by German singer Sandra See also *Loren (disambiguation) *Lorene Lorene is a given name. Notable people with the n ...

, the winning song of the 2012 contest. "Waterloo" went on to win the second round and the anniversary contest as a whole, scoring 329 points.

Voting

References

External links

TV broadcastings at SVT's open archive
{{ABBA 1974 Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 1974 Eurovision Eurovision