
Melodifestivalen 2000

Melodifestivalen 2000 was the selection for the 40th song to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest. It was the 39th time that this system of picking a song had been used; 1,394 songs were submitted to SVT for the competition. The final was broadcast on SVT2 and Sveriges Radio's P4 network. Roger Pontare (1994 winner with Marie Bergman) won the MF again with the rock-inspired ballad "När vindarna viskar mitt namn", donning a folk-inspired costume and featuring Sámi dancers during his performance. The winning song was performed later in English at the Eurovision Song Contest as "The Spirits Are Calling My Name", placing seventh among 24 entrants.
The 2000 Melodifestivalen was presented by no less than 10 past participants and winners, who performed a medley of selected Melodifestivalen entries from the past four decades as an interval act. Two of the presenters, Lena Philipsson and Carola Häggkvist, went on to win the Melodifestivalen in 2004 and 2006, respectively (Carola had also won in 1983 and 1991 before). The show was watched by 4,175,000 people, with a total of 525,567 votes cast.