Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest - 2005

The Swedish Final was held on March 12th at the Globe Theatre in Stockholm, hosted by Jill Johnson who represented Sweden in ESC 1998 & Mark Levengood. The winner was chosen by televoting (50%) and regional juries (50%). Nanne Grönvall won the televote and Martin Stenmarck the regional juries vote.

Before the final there were 5 semi-finals. In the first 4 semi-finals the voting was in two rounds - for the first two semi-finals, in the first round the top 3 songs chosen by televoting and 2 songs chosen by an "expert" jury went forward to the second round, where televoting decided the top 2 songs to qualify directly for the final and the 3rd and 4th placed songs that went forward to the 5th semi-final. However, as the "expert" jury agreed with the televoters in the first two semi-finals, they were not used in the subsequent semi-finals. In the 5th semi-final the televoting was in two rounds - the first to select the top 4 and the second to select the two qualifiers for the final.

The final was won by Martin Stenmarck with his song Las Vegas, which was written and composed by Niklas Edberger, Johan Fransson, Tim Larsson and Tobias Lundgren. Nanne, who was the favourite of televoters, came second, as she did not receive enough points from the 11 juries. This caused much controversy in Sweden.

Results:

Semi-Final 1 - February 12th - Scandinavium, Gothenburg - Hosts: Alexandra Pascalidou & Shan Atci

1. Att älska dig - Shirley Clamp
2. Ödet var min väg - Nordman
3. Alla flickor - Linda Bengtzing
4. Alcastar - Alcazar
5. Invisible people - The Wallstones
6. My no.1 - Papa Dee
7. Refrain refrain - Pay TV
8. Var mig nära - Cecilia Vennersten

Semi-Final 2 - February 19th - Cloetta Center, Linköping - Hosts: Erik Haag & Henrik Schyffert

1. Du och jag mot världen - Fredrik Kempe & Sanna Nielsen
2. Higher ground  - Sanne Salomonsen
3. Med hjärtats egna ord - Josefin Nilsson
4. Roma - Cameron Cartio
5. Gone - Bodies Without Organs
6. Big up - Group Avalon
7. Jenny - Camilla Brinck
8. Vad du än trodde så trodde du fel - Arja Sajonmaa

Semi-Final 3 - February 26th - Isstadion, Skellefteå - Hosts: Johanna Westman & Marko Lehtosalo

1. Las Vegas - Martin Stenmarck
2. Vi kan gunga - Jimmy Jansson
3. Wherever you go - NaNa
4. Nothing at all - LaGaylia
5. Rain - Josef
6. Om natten - Jessica Folcker
7. We got it all - K2 feat. Alannah Myles
8. Lovin' your feen - Kwanzaa

Semi-Final 4 - March 5th - Tipshallen, Växjö - Hosts: Kayo & Micke Leijnegard

1. Håll om mig  - Nanne Grönvall
2. A different kind of love - Caroline Wennergren
3. As if tomorrow will never come - Katrina & The Nameless
4. Långt bortom tid och rum - Mathias Holmgren
5. Så närä - Anne-Lie Rydé
6. One step closer  - B-Boys International feat. Paul M
7. Hörde änglarna viska ditt namn - Date
8. Ready for me - Rickard Engfors & Katarina Fallholm

Semi-Final 5 - March 6th - Berns Restaurant, Stockholm - Host: Annika Jankell

1. Alcastar - Alcazar
2. Alla flickor - Linda Bengtzing
3. Nothing at all - LaGaylia
4. Wherever you go - NaNa
5. Långt bortom tid och rum - Mathis Holmgren
6. As if tomorrow will never come - Katrina & The Nameless
7. Med hjärtats egna ord - Josefin Nilsson
8. Roma - Cameron Cartio

The final - March 12th - Globen, Stockholm - Hosts: Jill Johnson & Mark Levengood

01. Las Vegas - Martin Stenmarck, 212 points
02. Håll om mig - Nanne Grönvall, 209 points
03. Alcastar - Alcazar, 135 points
04. Att älska dig - Shirley Clamp, 130 points
05. A different kind of love - Caroline Wennergren, 116 points
06. Vi kan gunga - Jimmy Jansson, 49 points
07. Higher ground - Sanne Salomonsen, 35 points
08. Du och jag mot världen - Fredrik Kempe & Sanna Nielsen, 30 points
09. Ödet var min väg - Nordman, 15 points
10. Alla flickor - Linda Bengtzing, 15 points

Martin was automatically qualified for the Kiev final (thanks to Lena Philipssons 5th place in 2004), where he performed 14th. But the result was disastrous: a joint 18 place (out of 24) with only 30 points; this was the worst placement for Sweden in 13 years.

***

Martin Olof Jon Stenmarck (born October 3, 1972 in Täby Municipality, Stockholm County) is a Swedish singer and voice actor. He represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with Las Vegas, finishing 19th with 30 points.

In 2006, he released his first single in Swedish, 7milakliv, which became one of the year's biggest hits in Sweden. The single was certified Platinum and spent 10 weeks at #1 on the official Swedish singles chart.

The album Nio sanningar och en lögn (Nine truths and one lie) topped the Swedish albums chart and achieved Gold status in the first of its three weeks at #1.

He has also embarked on a voice acting career, dubbing animated films. He provided the Swedish voice for Lightning McQueen in the Disney movie Cars. Since 2011 he is also the host of the TV show Kvällen är din.