18-year-old Bergendahl won a close and open contest with her stirring ballad. Runner up was the quirky Salem Al Fakir with Keep on Walking and in third the hotly tipped Erik Saade with Manboy.
New this year was a voting set up which collated the international jury and Swedish regional jury votes first. After this round of voting Salem Al Fakir held a narrow lead over the chasing pack.
The Swedish people had the last word however and placed their faith in Anna Bergendahl to claim Eurovision glory for Sweden in the Norwegian capital.
If the votes were awarded to the act that wanted it the most, then Anna Bergendahl’s victory is a just one. The young singer made little attempt to hold her feelings in check as she sang her victory ballad to the rowdy Globe arena audience.
This year’s festival signified a generation shift with the two established Melodifestivalen artists that made the final – Pernilla Wahlgren and Andreas Johnson – coming far down the field.
The Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Oslo on May 29th.
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