Following the completion of its eighth season, Idol was put on indefinite hiatus alongside Talang and replaced in 2012 by two reality singing competitions: The Voice and X Factor, the latter of which also originated from the United Kingdom's version, created by music executive Simon Cowell.

Immediately after the grand final, Lindström released the coronation song "Coming True" which debuted at number 1 on the Swedish singles chart, held the top spot for seven weeks and was certified double platinum.

Runner-up Darin Zanyar also signed a recording contract with Sony BMG and has gone on to enjoy huge success in Sweden, Finland and Germany.

His second, self-titled album Darin was released later the same year and surpassed the success of its predecessor, gaining platinum status with sales of almost 80,000 copies and producing Zanyar's second Swedish number 1 single.

Break the News was released in late 2006, became his third chart-topping album, was certified gold and gave Zanyar his third number 1 single with "Desire".

She won the national final on 10 March with a combined total of 268 points and represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 held in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Loreen received all 12 marks from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Slovakia, Spain and United Kingdom.

Winner Agnes Carlsson signed with Sony BMG and released her coronation song "Right Here, Right Now", which spent six weeks at number 1 and gained double platinum status.

It was certified platinum in its first week due to enormous sales and has to date sold over 90,000 copies, making it the highest-selling album by an Idol contestant.

In late 2007, she covered and released the song "All I Want For Christmas Is You" with fellow Idol contestant Måns Zelmerlöw, which peaked at number 3 on the singles chart.

It reached the top ten in seventeen countries, including the number 1 spot on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart and sold over 900,000 copies.

His self-titled debut album Sebastian was released in March 2006, hit number 1 and gained gold certification, selling over 30,000 copies.

Fifth place finisher Måns Zelmerlöw signed with Warner Bros. Records but didn't release his debut single "Cara Mia" until February 2007.

Eighth place finisher Ola Svensson signed a record contract with Universal and released his debut album Given To Fly in March 2006.

Semifinalist Jim Almgren Gândara became the guitarist of Swedish/American rock band Carolina Liar, signing a contract with Atlantic Records.

Tobbe Blom and Johan Wiman returned to host once again, but were joined by actress Sanna Bråding and actor Mogge Sseruwagi.

The first, "All for Love" held the number 1 spot for 6 weeks and was certified triple platinum, becoming the highest selling single in Sweden by an Idol contestant.

Sixth place finisher Danny Saucedo was signed to Sony BMG music, and his debut album Heart Beats was released in May 2007.

Season four of Idol launched on September 3, 2007, with a brand new hosting team made up of television personalities Peter Jihde, Carolina Gynning and Carina Berg.

The finale contestants' compilation album Det Bästa Från Idol 2007 was released at the end of November and was certified platinum after selling over 40,000 copies.

Runner-up Amanda Jenssen also signed a recording contract with Sony BMG and released her debut album Killing My Darlings in May 2008.

So far she has been more commercially successful than winner Picasso, with all four singles released from Killing My Darlings making it into the top fifteen, including a number 1 with "Do You Love Me?"

Fifth place finisher Mattias Andréasson joined with season three Idol contestants Erik Segerstedt and Danny Saucedo to form the boyband E.M.D in early 2008.

The season saw a dramatic line-up change on the juding panel, with all three judges, Daniel Breitholtz, Peter Swartling and Kishti Tomita departing from the show for various personal reasons.

Winner Kevin Borg was signed to Sony BMG, and his coronation song "With Every Bit of Me" was released immediately as his debut single.

It gained a gold certification for sales in excess of 35,000 copies, but is the only debut Idol winner album not to reach platinum status.

An Idol record of 11,000 people auditioned for the series, which included an 'audition tour' around Sweden by judge Anders Bagge in order to find talent outside the most densely populated areas.

The grand finale was once again held in Stockholm's Globen, with guest performers including season two winner Agnes Carlsson, who in 2009 had become the first Idol alumni to achieve worldwide success.

Winner Erik Grönwall signed with Sony BMG and released his coronation song ""Higher"", which spent five weeks at number one and was certified platinum.

New for this season was that four singers would coach the auditinees, those where Hanna Ferm, Chris Kläfford, Pa Modou Badjie and Maxida Märak.