Without broadcasting a public selection, Sveriges Radio (SR)[b] chose to send Alice Babs to the contest in Hilversum, Netherlands.

The first Melodifestivalen, incorporated into the Säg det med musik radio series, took place on 29 January 1959 at Cirkus in Stockholm; eight songs participated.

[10] Sweden was absent at Eurovision for a second time in 1970 because of a Nordic boycott of the voting system, which had led to a four-way tie for first place at the 1969 contest.

[11] After SR staged the 1975 contest in Stockholm, left-wing groups argued that Sweden should not spend money to win and host Eurovision again.

Melodifestivalen has been the launch-pad for the success of popular local acts, such as ABBA, Tommy Körberg, and Lisa Nilsson.

The competition has played host to performers from outside Sweden, including Baccara, Alannah Myles, Katrina Leskanich, Cornelis Vreeswijk, and Margaret.

For example, the song which finished last at Melodifestivalen 1990, "Symfonin" by Loa Falkman, topped Sverigetopplistan, the Swedish singles chart.

[17] The week after the 2008 final, songs from the festival made up the entire top fifteen on the domestic singles chart.

SVT begins looking for songs nine months before the start of the televised Melodifestivalen (within days of the previous year's Eurovision final).

Songwriters that qualify must provide interviews to SVT, attend a press conference before the competition, and remain open to promotional appearances if their song reaches the final.

[13] In the past, this rule led to the disqualification of, among others, Carola's "När löven faller" in 2003 and Stephen Simmonds' "So Good" in 2006.

[30] Four artists, one in each heat, were invited by SVT to enter a song of their choice into the competition, provided it does not breach the rules.

[32] The Scandinavium in Gothenburg was offered to host the 2005 final, but ultimately declined due to a scheduling conflict with a Frölunda HC ice hockey match.

[38] A similar system was adopted by the Eurovision Song Contest itself in 2004, which features a semi-final (later expanded to two in 2008) and a final, and remains in place to the present day.

The expanded Second Chance takes place on a Saturday night, adding an extra week to the event's timetable.

A running order is decided by the competition's supervisors the week before to ensure that similar songs and artists are kept apart in the final.

Former Melodifestivalen contestants have performed as interval acts in the past, including Lena Philipsson in 2005 and the multi-artist medley of former entries in 2000.

The trophy, designed by Ernst Billgren, was unveiled in 2005 and awarded to all previous Melodifestivalen winners at the Alla tiders Melodifestival gala in March of that year.

[50] Two telephone numbers are used for each song, giving voters the option of whether to donate money to SVT's Radiohjälpen charity appeal or not as they vote.

For example, the finalists of Expedition: Robinson acted as spokespeople in 2004, and in 2006 Fredrik Lindström announced jury tallies using the dialects of each region.

The 1974 Eurovision winner, ABBA's "Waterloo", was voted the most popular Melodifestivalen song of all time at the Alla tiders Melodifestival gala in March 2005.

The competition's official rules are released by SVT early in preparation for each year's Melodifestivalen to ensure any changes are noted by songwriters and performers.

[61] The 1987 winner "Fyra bugg och en Coca Cola", performed by Lotta Engberg, is another example; the song's title was changed to "Boogaloo" for Eurovision, as use of a brand name was against the Contest's rules.

[60] Broadcast the night after the final, a dagen efter ("the day after") television programme acts as an epilogue to the event.

A study by the Economic Science and Communication Department at Karlstad University concluded that coverage from the press may have influenced the results of the 2007 festival.

In Sweden, schlager (a German word literally meaning a "hit") represents any song associated with the competition, from the jazz music featured heavily in the 1960s to entries such as Linda Bengtzing's in 2006.

[71] Christine Demsteader of The Local described Swedish schlager as "typically characterized by an annoyingly repetitive melody and trivial lyrics of little or no meaning".

[75] In the 1980s, Bert Karlsson's Mariann Grammofon record label was responsible for the prevalence of "easy, memorable tunes".

[76] The early twenty-first century has seen more variety in the competition, such as Afro-dite's 2002 disco winner[77] and The Ark's 2007 "retro glam rock" effort.

When Philipsson hosted Melodifestivalen in 2006, four tongue-in-cheek short films were broadcast during the heats to show what had happened to the microphone stand in the years since her win.