Sweden participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, held in Oslo, Norway, sending their 50th entry to the contest since their debut in 1958. In total 2,860 entries were submitted to compete in Melodifestivalen 2010 - a total of 246 were entered for the web wildcard; however, 181 progressed after eliminating those that did not fully comply with the rules. Alongside this 2614 songs were submitted for the main selection. On 14 October 2009Swedish televisionSVT released the names of the 27 qualifying songs, and their respective songwriters, to the public. That same day the broadcaster also released the full list of web wild-card competitors, which could be listened and voted on from the SVT website. Anna Bergendahl was the eventual winner and represented Sweden with her song "This Is My Life".
Before Eurovision
Melodifestivalen 2010
The 2010 edition of Melodifestivalen was held between February and March 2010. The four semi-finals were held in Örnsköldsvik, Sandviken, Gothenburg and Malmö. The second chance round was held in Örebro on 6 March and the final in Stockholm on 13 March. There were plans to hold the 2010 final in Gothenburg, however as hockey matches clashed with the date of the final it was necessary to hold the final in Stockholm for the ninth consecutive year. Major changes in the voting of the contest were implemented in 2010. In the semi-finals the song with the most votes progressed directly to the final, and did not participate in the second round of the semi-final, in which the remaining top four songs battled again for a place in the final and in the Andra Chansen round – the second-place song progressing to the final and the third- and fourth-place songs progressing to Andra Chansen. In the final, the original 11 regional juries of Sweden seen in past contests were abolished and replaced by 11 new juries – five from Sweden and six from other European nations. This year's contest was hosted by comedian Christine Meltzer, two-time Melodifestivalen participant Måns Zelmerlöw and actor Dolph Lundgren, who together presented each of the six shows.
Final
The final of Melodifestivalen 2010 was held on 13 March 2010 at the Globe Arena in Stockholm. Darin opened the final with his song "You're Out of My Life", and Eric Saade closed the performances with "Manboy". Before the start of rehearsals Anna Bergendahl became the favourite to win the final with her song "This Is My Life", leading with all Swedish bookmakers over Salem Al Fakir and Timoteij. However many international fans put Timoteij as their favourite to win the contest with "Kom". At the end of the voting Anna Bergendahl was declared the winner with 214 points.
At Eurovision
Sweden competed in the second semi-final of the contest on 27 May 2010, performing sixth on stage, following Switzerland's entry and preceding Azerbaijan's entry. Sweden failed to qualify for the final marking the first time being unsuccessful to pass the semi-final stage since they were introduced in 2004 and the first time since 1976 that they have missed the main show. SVT has announced that commentary for their broadcast of the two semi-finals, held on 25 and 27 May, and the final, held on 29 May, will be provided by Melodifestivalen host Christine Meltzer and screenwriter and director Edward af Sillén.
Split results
In the Semi-final 2 Sweden came 11th with 62 points: the public awarded Sweden 9th place with 64 points and the jury awarded 11th place with 76 points.
