Competition and Swedish Culture

During the CouchSurfing meeting in Karlstad, I had the chance to chat with several locals about many different topics. Our meeting began at a local restaurant called Tempel. When we walked in,  the waitress invited us to take part in a Melodifestival contest. Each team was given a piece of paper with a crossword puzzle on it. The restaurant played different songs and provided clues to each answer. Our job was to fill in the puzzle and try to win.

There were about six teams in the entire restaurant. Our big group made up half of the teams on its own. Emma named our team, "Houston, We Have A Problem" because we were clueless when it came to the first three clues. We ended up in the middle of the pack by the end, which isn't bad considering our terrible start.

After the competition, I had the chance to ask several of the local CS hosts,"Why is Melodifestivalen so popular?" The most popular answer centered around competition. Swedes love to compete and they love to watch competitions, too. I could see this. We just finished a competition against other teams in the restaurant, after all.

How important is competition to Swedish life and culture? It's not exactly encouraged in all places. School and work is all about teamwork, thus competition can be frowned upon in these places. But, when it comes to sports and music and similar pursuits that pit one person against the other on a fair playing level, Swedes hold nothing back.

Sweden excels in many international contests. The NHL is full of Swedish-born players. The national soccer teams do their best to qualify for the World Cup. And Swedish Olympians are always highly celebrated, especially when they return with a medal. The country even holds a national award banquet for sports competitors similar to the Oscars, Grammys, or Golden Globe ceremonies in the United States. Competition is a big part of the culture and encouraged -  in the right forum.

 Rodrigo Rivas Ruiz/imagebank.sweden.se

Swedes also compete in digital gaming and graphics. DreamHack is the world's largest computer festival, with a quarter million in prize money up for grabs. Parts of the competition are shown on Swedish TV.

It's the fair type of competition Swedes enjoy watching. They are not fans of cutthroat competition, but fair and level contests are popular. Is the competition factor the main reason the song contest is so popular? No, it's not the whole story. The idea of competition does, however, go a long way in explaining why many Swedes who don't care for the music watch anyway. They're drawn in by the competition and the fight and the crowning of a big winner.