Melody who?

Since we have introductions out of the way, it's time to introduce the big star of this blog! That Melody Festival thing I mentioned before. If you're a Swede, you know what Melodifestivalen is all about. You might love it, hate it, avoid it. You still know about it. The American and Swedish American audience might need more background.

Take a seat and I'll call roll. It's time for Mello 101.

First: It's a song contest, there's a jury, and the audience has a role in voting for the winner. Sound familiar? Don't be fooled: It's not American Idol. This song contest has been running strong since 1958.

You've heard this one before. Can you sing along?

ABBA in Melodifestivalen 1974

Second: The contest has changed formats, but the goal is always the same: Pick a song that will best represent Sweden in an international song competition called Eurovision. Countries all over the continent gather in May to see who has the best song. Eurovision started as a way to unite Europe during the post-war years. Melodifestivalen is sometimes called the Swedish Eurovision Contest in English. Swedish fans just call it Mello for short.

Loreen (and dancer Ausben Jordan from Texas) - Melodifestivalen winner in 2012...

and Eurovision winner in 2012. This means Sweden hosts Eurovision in May.

Third: The field starts with 32 songs and artists. The field is broken into four semifinals (eight artists assigned to each semifinal). The artists are a mix of household names and new faces who compete directly against each other. Singers can choose any language, but the song has to be 3 minutes or less.

The winning song in 2009 was in French and English:

It placed 21st of 25 in Eurovision. An uncharacteristically low placement for Sweden.

Fourth: The contest is like an Everlasting Gobstopper. It lasts a crazy long time. Six weeks in all. The first four weeks are semifinals. The fifth week is a second chance round. The sixth week is the final where the remaining eight artists compete for the chance to represent Sweden in May.

Fifth: It's huge in Sweden! I'm talking Super Bowl numbers. The audience is loyal throughout the six week tournament.There are only 9.5 million people in the whole country. Last week, 3.6 million of them sat down to watch part two of six - on a Saturday night!

That's the bare bones explanation of Sweden's biggest entertainment event of the year. Now that you're versed in the basics, you're ready to follow along as we visit Malmö for the fourth semifinal, Karlstad for the second chance round, and Stockholm to pick our 2013 winner.