Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest - 1983

The Swedish Final, Melodifestivalen 1983, was held on February 26th at the Palladium in Malmö, hosted by Bibi Johns. 
The 10 songs were reduced to 5 finalists, and the winner was chosen by the votes of 11 regional juries.

The Winner, being the first participant ever to get maximum points from all of the eleven juries, was the 17-year old and then unknown Carola Häggkvist,
who quickly went on to be one of Sweden's most popular singers. The song she competed with was called Främling.
It was written by Lasse Holm and Monica Forsberg, who had also written the previous winning song together.

Results:

01. Främling - Carola Häggkvist, 88 points
02. Varför är kärleken röd - Kikki Danielsson, 45 points
03. Se - Karin Glenmark, 37 points
04. Marionett - Ritz, 34 points
05. Bara en enda gång - Ann-Louise Hanson & John Ballard, 27 points

other participants:

Här är min sång till dig - Kerstin Dahlberg
Vill du ha mig efter gryningen - Peter Lundblad & Agneta Olsson
Nu börjar mitt liv - Karina Rydberg
Okej, jag ger mig - Maria Wickman
Värmen som du gav - Nils-Åke Runesson

At the ESC in Munich Sweden ended up with 126 points and a 3rd place. It was also Sweden's 3rd best placement so far.

***

 
Carola Maria Häggkvist (born 8 September 1966), better known as Carola, is a Swedish singer and occasional songwriter.

She has been among Sweden's most popular performers since the early 1980s, and has released albums ranging from pop and disco to hymns and folk music. Her debut album, Främling, sold around one million copies and remains the biggest-selling album in Swedish music history. She has also worked as a songwriter. During her 25-year long career, she has recorded many top-selling albums and singles and is referred to as Sweden's most prominent female singer. Some of her biggest hits include Främling from 1983, Tommy tycker om mig from 1984, Fångad av en stormvind from 1991, All the Reasons to Live from 1992, I Believe in Love from 2001, Genom allt  from 2005 and Evighet from 2006.

Carola Häggkvist has represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest on three occasions: in 1983 finishing 3rd, in 1991 winning the contest and in 2006 finishing 5th.