Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998

Sweden was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 with the song "Kärleken är", composed by Håkan Almqvist and Bobby Ljunggren, with lyrics by Ingela "Pling" Forsman, and performed by Jill Johnson. The Swedish participating broadcaster, Sveriges Television (SVT), selected its entry through Melodifestivalen 1998.

Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998
Eurovision Song Contest 1998
Participating broadcaster	Sveriges Television (SVT)
Country	Sweden
Selection process	Melodifestivalen 1998
Selection date	14 March 1998
Competing entry
Song	"Kärleken är"
Artist	Jill Johnson
Songwriters	Håkan Almqvist Bobby Ljunggren Ingela "Pling" Forsman
Placement
Final result	10th, 53 points
Participation chronology
◄1997 • 1998 • 1999►

Before Eurovision

Melodifestivalen 1998

Melodifestivalen 1998 was the selection for the 38th song to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest. It was the 37th time that this system of picking a song had been used. 1,141 songs were submitted to Sveriges Television (SVT) for the competition, with ten songs selected to compete. Five of the songs were eliminated and the remaining five were voted on by 11 regional juries. The final was held in the Malmö Musikteater in Malmö on 14 March 1998, presented by Pernilla Månsson and Magnus Karlsson, and was broadcast on SVT2 and Sveriges Radio's P4 network. The show was watched by 2,881,000 people and the winner was "Kärleken är", sung by Jill Johnson and composed by Bobby Ljunggren, Håkan Almqvist and Ingela "Pling" Forsman.

First Round – 14 March 1998

Draw	Artist	Song	Songwriter(s)	Result
1	Annika Fehling	"När en stjärna faller"	Annika Fehling	Eliminated
2	B.I.G.	"Ingen annan väg"	Peo Thyrén, Richard Evenlind, Erika Evenlind, Stefan Almqvist	Advanced
3	Elisabeth Melander	"Ta dej tid"	Margareta Nilsson, Gertrud Hemmel	Eliminated
4	Nanne Grönvall	"Avundsjuk"	Peter Grönvall, Nanne Grönvall	Advanced
5	Linda Eriksson	"Bara månen får se"	Torgny Söderberg	Eliminated
6	Helena Eriksson	"Kärleken finns överallt"	Frank Ådahl	Eliminated
7	Fredrik Karlsson	"Långsamma timmar"	Fredrik Karlsson, Peter Svensson	Eliminated
8	Myrra Malmberg	"Julia"	Claes Andreasson, Torbjörn Wassenius	Advanced
9	Black Ingvars	"Cherie"	Stephan Berg	Advanced
10	Jill Johnson	"Kärleken är"	Bobby Ljunggren, Håkan Almqvist, Ingela "Pling" Forsman	Advanced

Second Round – 14 March 1998

Draw	Artist	Song	Points	Place
1	B.I.G.	"Ingen annan väg"	52	2
2	Nanne Grönvall	"Avundsjuk"	35	4
3	Myrra Malmberg	"Julia"	38	3
4	Black Ingvars	"Cherie"	34	5
5	Jill Johnson	"Kärleken är"	72	1

Detailed Regional Jury Voting

Song	Luleå	Örebro	Umeå	Norrköping	Falun	Karlstad	Sundsvall	Växjö	Stockholm	Gothenburg	Malmö	Total
"Ingen annan väg"	8	6	6	4	6	2	4	4	2	2	8	52
"Avundsjuk"	1	1	1	6	2	4	6	2	4	4	4	35
"Julia"	4	4	2	1	1	8	2	8	1	6	1	38
"Cherie"	2	2	8	2	4	1	1	1	6	1	6	34
"Kärleken är"	6	8	4	8	8	6	8	6	8	8	2	72

At Eurovision

Johnson sang in the 19th position on the night of the contest, and at the close of voting she finished 10th out of 25 countries, receiving 53 points.^[1] The Swedish televoting awarded its 12 points to Norway.^[2]

Voting

Points awarded to Sweden[2] Score Country 12 points  Estonia 10 points  Norway 8 points  Hungary 7 points 6 points  Finland 5 points  Netherlands 4 points  Malta 3 points  Poland 2 points  Ireland  Turkey 1 point  United Kingdom

Points awarded by Sweden[2] Score Country 12 points  Norway 10 points  Finland 8 points  Netherlands 7 points  United Kingdom 6 points  Malta 5 points  Israel 4 points  Estonia 3 points  Croatia 2 points  Belgium 1 point  Ireland