Fifty years ago, in 1957, Swedish Television, Swedish Radio (SR) back then, sent their first commentator, Nils Linnman, to cover the second ever Eurovision Song Contest in Frankfurt am Main. Sweden had chosen not to take part that year, but broadcasting the Grand Prix Eurovision, as it was known back then, was the first step of Sweden's long and glorious history in Eurovision.

Although SR was one of the founding members of EBU in 1950,for reasons unknown until today they decided not to enter the first two editions of the contest in Lugano and Frankfurt. It was the third edition, in 1958, that saw the first ever Swedish entry Lilla stjärna sung by Alice Babs which placed 4th with 10 points. Since then, Sweden has been a regular participant apart from 1964, 1970 and 1976 and they can boast four winners, amongst them Waterloo, the most popular winner ever as voted by the fans during the 50 years' Congratulations celebration .

Partner site escsweden.com kicks off the celebrations by publishing the first special in a series of many to follow this year and the next. You can read the special on Sweden's first steps in the Eurovision Song Contest here.