It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!

Melodifestivalen, Sweden's music selection process for Eurovision, starts in a few days. What this means for us is that some amazing songs and performances are headed our way.

Melodifestivalen (translation: "The Melody Festival") is an annual, televised music contest. It's sort of like a mini-Eurovision just for Sweden. Since 1958, it has been organized and broadcast by Sveriges Radio (SR) and Sveriges Television (SVT), and it decides who will represent Sweden at Eurovision. The winner is determined by a combination of call-in votes and the scrutiny from a panel of judges (whose critiques are not broadcast).

So why is Melodifestivalen so important? Most European countries have their own televised selection process, so what makes this one special? Simply put, Sweden is very good at making music. The production values of this festival are incredible. Every year, thousands of performers fight for a spot to compete at Melodifestivalen because it has proven to be the launching pad for young or undiscovered musicians. Most of the songs that debut at Melodifestivalen become a hit in Sweden, or somewhere else in the world. And more Swedes watch Melodifestivalen than Eurovision itself. Sweden has a population of just over 9 million people, and 4 million watched Melodifestivalen last year. That's almost half of the country. Since 2000, it has been the most-viewed program on Swedish television, and the audience grows larger and more international every year.

We Americans don't always realize it, but a Swedish influence can be found nearly everywhere in pop music today. Swedes are just very good at writing catchy, popular songs. There is a name for this style of music, "schlager," which is a German word for "hit." Generally, schlager has fluffy lyrics about love and is accompanied by either a slow orchestral ballad or a dance/disco beat. However, it has evolved over the years to encompass any style of music that is considered popular, including rap and rock. So for the next month, contestants at Melodifestivalen will be sending out some amazing schlager to the world. I cannot wait. I'll keep you updated on the best, and weirdest (because yes, there are definitely some weird ones), from Sweden.