Sweden’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was Carola with the song "Invincible". Carola started her career in 1977 after winning a talent show. She went on to participate in Melodifestivalenfor the first time in 1983 with the song "Främling", which reached third place at the Eurovision Song Contest in Munich. She released many albums, had a number of hits, and collaborated with the Bee Gees. In 1990 she was the runner-up in Melodifestivalen, but in 1991 she won both the Melodifestivalen and the Eurovision Song Contest in Rome with the song "Fångad av en stormvind". Carola is praised in Sweden and has become a huge celebrity.
Before Eurovision
Melodifestivalen 2006
Sweden’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was selected in Melodifestivalen 2006, the Swedish final. It was held at the Globe Arena in Stockholm on 18 March, hosted by Lena Philipsson who represented Sweden in ESC 2004. Before the final there were four semi-finals and a second-chance round. The top two songs in each semi-final qualified for the final, while the 3rd and 4th placed songs went forward to the second-chance round. With the votes from the jury and televote, Carola was chosen to go to Athens for Sweden singing the song "Evighet". The song was written by and Carola Häggkvist and composed by Thomas G:son, Bobby Ljunggren and Henrik Wikström. She sang "Evighet" in English in Athens, under the name "Invincible", and came fifth in the final, after coming fourth in the semi-final.
Controversy
Her entry in the contest sparked controversy. From the moment she declared that she would be entering the 2006 contest, there were cries that she had just won the contest out of fear of her already established fanbase voting her to victory no matter what she sang. Carola was also criticized for her prior statements about homosexuality and for her use of "personal assistants" who largely controlled what she said and didn't say when she appeared in public. The controversy of Carolagate was further inflamed by a series of mysterious events during the semi final from which she qualified and during the final in Stockholm itself. Further, during the recap for the voting of the Gothenburg Semi Final, the recap of Carola's performance ran for approximately 30 seconds instead of the traditional 10–12. During the final, people had major problems televoting for several entrants, the brunt of which were revolved around two entrants: Andreas Johnson and BWO, the two entrants who placed 2nd and 3rd. While there were wide reports of people not being able to vote for these two entrants, nobody complained about complications when voting for Carola. Furthermore, during the recap during for voting, SVT used footage from the Gothenburg Semi Final when showing Carola's entry, which wouldn't have been so suspicious and noticeable had Carola not had a throat infection which resulted in a less stellar performance than in Gothenburg. Though not part of the controversy, the aforementioned throat infection persisted, which led to Carola being forced to alter her vocals for the last stanza when performing "Invincible" in Athens.
At Eurovision
Because Sweden placed 19th at the 2005 contest, Carola was forced to compete in the Eurovision semi-final she performed 20th, following Portugal and preceding the Estonia she finished in 4th place with 214 points, this qualifying for the Final. At the final, Carola performed in 22nd spot and at the end of voting received 170 points and finished in 5th place. It is notable that this is Carola's third top 5 finish in the Eurovision Song Contest. Also, Carola achieved her 5th place without receiving any 12 points, unlike most other of the top 10 countries that year. Meaning that Sweden automatically qualified for the final in the 2007 contest.
