Sweden's Eurovision supremacy: hit factory or fan fatigue?

Sweden has turned Eurovision into a well-oiled hit machine. Some call it greatness, others call it Swedification.

With seven wins – and an eighth possibly on the way – and a song formula that rarely fails, fans are starting to wonder: Is it still magic, or just manufactured?

If there is one success story about Eurovision, it’s from Sweden. It has birthed the first-ever international superstars from this contest – ABBA. And my-my, does Sweden not plan to surrender!

Sweden, as well as Ireland, has won Eurovision seven times. Although the numbers on paper are even, unlike Ireland, Sweden has the most top-5 results of the 21st century - that’s 13. In total, Sweden has achieved 27 top-5 results in the contest.

However, this success does come with a price. Eurofans have some beef with the Eurovision song powerhouse as songs from the recent decade tend to sound factory-made: repetitive every year, with a similar or the same structure, screaming from afar - this is a Swedish song!

You know how you can summon an entire generation of Millennials just by playing the first note of My Chemical Romance’s Welcome to the Black Parade?

The same goes for how instantly recognizable a Swedish Eurovision song tends to be. Cybernews has spoken to Dean Vuletic, a historian and the author of the book Postwar Europe and the Eurovision Song Contest, and Tadas Paškevičius, the founder and host of the Eurovision vlog Dūzė Pua.

They explain the formula behind Sweden’s success and spill some tea on what the fans rage about.

What makes a song level-Sweden successful?

It’s not that big of a secret, as Swedes themselves have answered this question in 2017 in the now legendary Peace, Peace, Love, Love performance song. This year KAJ, the comedic band representing the country in Basel, asked the 2012 and 2023 Eurovision winner Loreen for tips on how to win. After all, who else to ask if not the queen of Eurovision?

“I think what they should have, going through this experience, is a 100 percent calmness and understanding that they are sending out some really good energy to people out there. Just stay in that energy, because everything that they’re feeling will be reflected outside. Their goal is to have fun and create this really fun, loving energy with people, they have to stay in that energy. Eurovision can be a stressful place, they have to keep calm and understand this is not the centre of the universe,” was Loreen’s reply to KAJ on Alan Max’s YouTube channel.

But what about the song, Loreen?

According to Paškevičius, there are some key components to Sweden’s success in Eurovision. One of them is a good relationship with the technical crew.

“The crew who does Melodifestivalen [the Swedish National selection - Cybernews], they also do Eurovision, and not just the Swedish performance, but all of them. You can’t say this about any other country. So this is, of course, an advantage for Sweden. Sweden is one of the countries that has set new rules.

For example, pre-recorded vocals are the thing that came from Melodifestivalen. But I see no conflict of interest here. An example of that is from 2023, when it was a huge debate whether Loreen would get to use her Panini press staging from Melodifestivalen. They ended up using the same LEDS but smaller. They scaled it down,” said Paškevičius.

Loreen was the artist who, during her first Eurovision appearance in 2021, sparked talk about using the Swedish crew to her advantage. In her performance of the hit song ‘Euphoria’, she included a few seconds of slow-motion jumping. It was suggested that – because she was Swedish – she may have had earlier agreements with the crew to include this effect. This led to some debate about whether contestants from different countries were treated equally.

Melodifestivalen

Another aspect is the high production value. Sweden, as the third biggest music exporter in the world, after the United States and the United Kingdom, has an industry-tested school of music producers. No need to talk about Max Martin here. And this team, of The Weekend’s ‘Blinding Lights’, Nicki Minaj’s ‘Starships’, and Lady Gaga’s ‘Alejandro’, are Eurovision-oriented.

“Sweden probably takes Eurovision much more seriously. You don’t see big Swedish stars going to Eurovision, like Zara Larsson. You'd rather see the same people competing in Melodifestivalen over and over, even Loreen,” Paškevičius said.

“Her biggest hits are Eurovision songs such as ‘My Heart Is Refusing Me’, also in Melodifestivalen. Sweden has a great production and performances, and their songs have a great songwriting school. They are not afraid to put those songs to Eurovision, in contrast to the UK, for example,” said Paškevičius.

“But this didn’t happen overnight. Sweden has been building its Eurovision machine for decades. Melodifestivalen has been running since 1959. The only older national selection in Europe is in Italy, the San Remo festival. That means generations of Swedish artists, songwriters, and producers have grown up within Erovision’s ecosystem. It’s not just a music show - it’s a training ground,” Paškevičius said.

“You don’t win Melodifestivalen on your first try, even ABBA didn’t,” he added.

The Swedish brand

Paškevičius also emphasized that throughout the years, Sweden has managed to create its own Eurovision song brand.

“Just before the Swedish song is up, every single viewer is probably expecting something good because it's Sweden, in contrast to the UK. When that song comes up, you’re most probably expecting something terrible,” Paškevičius said.

Over the past 10 years, the UK has finished in the bottom five six times – except for Sam Ryder’s breakout success in 2022, when he placed second with “Spaceman”.

In comparison, every year when bookies predict who will win Eurovision, Sweden has a safe spot in the top-5, almost regardless of the song.

Just like this year, the bookies predicted Mans Zelmerlow as the winner with the factory-made song “Revolution”. The minute he lost to KAJ, “Bara bada bastu” was placed second for no longer than half a day, and then came back to the cozy first place where, according to the bookies, it will remain.

Considering Sweden’s Eurovision formula, is KAJ’s comedic entry – which some say undermines the brand – really going to deliver the country its eighth victory?

Will it? + The fan beef

So here’s the twist: Sweden’s been getting dragged for years for sending factory-made songs to Eurovision, and now, they’ve used that exact criticism to turn the tables.

We’re talking about a country that basically invented the Eurovision formula: tight pop structure, electronic beats, a dramatic start, maybe some strings, a killer key change, and a bridge that even Taylor Swift’d wish she had written.

Dean Vuletic, Eurovision historian and author of “Postwar Europe and the Eurovision Song Contest” backs this up. Speaking to Cybernews from Basel, where he’s watching it all unfold in real time, he said he could hear a Swedish song from afar.

“There is definitely a Swedish sound. Even if the songwriter isn’t Swedish, the influence of Sweden’s songwriting school is everywhere. Just listen to the Danish song this year – it sounds Swedish. That’s the kind of dominance we’re talking about.”

We checked, the Danish song has seven authors, two of whom are Swedish and the rest are Danish.

But here’s where things get interesting. Sweden didn’t just change their song – they blew up the entire brand. Instead of sending another emotional ballad or a bop, they sent KAJ. A comedic act singing about saunas. Even Zelmerlow himself said he couldn’t compete against a comedic song. And it might just be Sweden’s smartest move in years.

Firstly, this is the first time since 1998 that Sweden has sent a song in their native language. This year was also the last one when all competing songs had to be performed in the country's native language. This just goes to show how determined the Swedes were to bring Eurovision home.

As Vuletic puts it, in chasing perfection, Sweden might’ve lost something real along the way, and Eurofans have noticed.

“What Europe maybe misses is not another high-production pop song from Sweden, it’s the real Sweden. The one that has a sense of humor, a bit of folk soul, something that feels human. For so long, Sweden became synonymous with slick, synthetic entries. But this year? They’ve tapped into something more honest. And that’s powerful,” Paškevičius said.

So ironically, by dropping the gloss and going full sauna-core, Sweden may have finally reminded Europe what made it fall in love with them in the first place.

“People expect something polished from Sweden. So when you give them something completely different, it lands twice as hard. This year, Sweden has taken the hate, the pressure, the expectations and spun them into something that’s completely new for them. It’s clever,” Vuletic said.

So, is this the end of the Swedish song factory era?

Probably not. From 2016 to 2021, 40 songs representing 21 countries had a Swedish songwriter on their credits. This year is no different.

For example, Ireland’s song "Laika Party" by Norwegian singer Emmy was co-written by Swedish producer Henrik Østlund. Spain’s “Esa Diva”, performed by Melody, has listed Peter Boström as a contributor. He also co-wrote Loreen’s "Euphoria" in 2012.

Eurovision tends to repeat itself. After Chanel’s entry from Spain with a dance break went viral, we saw countries like Armenia, Israel, and others come back next year with their own dance break moments. This year, it’s not jaw-dropping to see an entry from Austria, which is an electro-pop-opera bop that slightly mimics Nemo, who brought Eurovision back to Switzerland.

Will Sweden’s entry this year restart the folk trend in Eurovision? Probably not. KAJ’s song feels more like a one-off, surprising standout that might win thanks to its unexpected style and song topic – saunas.

Let’s be honest, the Swedish pop-hit machine isn’t broken. So why fix it?