Mans Zelmerlow on why Sweden is so good at Eurovision

Eurovision champion Mans Zelmerlow says Sweden's success at the contest is down to how it chooses its entry.

It holds a huge X Factor-style TV show called Melodifestivalen with 28 entries, four semi-finals and a final.

Mans tells Newsbeat: "You have to go through a big competition, you have to stand out, you have to have something that catches people's attention.

"I think that if the UK were to do the same thing you'd probably be as good or even better."

This is what happened when we asked Mans to rate British things, Eurovision style.

He adds: "Almost half the population is watching with about four million votes in each show. Most of the songs there become huge hits and make the charts.

"It has a huge impact on the Swedish music year."

The 29-year-old says it's also down to Sweden having a lot of "really good" music schools and academies.

"Most of the Swedish kids start learning an instrument really early [and] because we have so much darkness in our country, for six months we just want to sit inside with a glass of wine writing good music!"

Then there's Sweden's musical heritage: "Starting with Abba, Denniz Pop, Max Martin now... We're really proud of our music, we feel that we have a sense of melody that's quite rare in the world, I think."

The BBC has brought back a public vote on the UK Eurovision entry for the first time since 2010. The winner is being chosen on Friday evening from six songs.

"I spoke to some British guys and they said this is probably the best year in a very long time, these six songs," Mans says.

BBC Eurovision boss Guy Freeman told Newsbeat last month it was time to take the contest seriously.

The UK's Electro Velvet finished 24th last year

Sweden has finished in the top three in four out of the past five years. The last time the UK had a top three finish was in 2002.

"Being in Eurovision was like being in an Olympic final," Mans recalls. "For me it was huge since I've always wanted to become an athlete and represent my country."

His advice for the British entry is: "Just enjoy that moment, enjoy representing the UK and have fun.

"Try to stand out, try to have something in your performance that actually catches people's attention."

Watch Mans perform his winning song Heroes at Eurovision 2015.

Eurovision bosses have introduced changes to how the scoring is done - based, funnily enough, on how Sweden's Melodifestivalen does it.

The scoring will be split, with each country's jury scores announced first and then scores based on viewer votes in all countries combined and announced at the end.

This video explains how the new voting works.

Mans says he thinks the new system is "great" before joking: "I can't say anything else since I'm the host!"

He explains: "It's great because it keeps the tension for a lot longer. [It] means that you won't have a winner until the very last second of the show which is good.

"I think there were at least 10 countries left when I realised I had won Eurovision."

Mans is Sweden's sixth Eurovision winner

This year he is co-presenting the contest with comedian Petra Mede - she was a hit with fans when she hosted in 2013.

"I feel really safe with Petra being there. She's a good friend of mine. She's a genius on stage. I feel like I can rely on her and hopefully she can rely on me. We have so much fun together.

"Usually Eurovision hosts don't really get a connection, they don't get to know their audience that much because they're just making sure the show goes forward.

"But I think that me and Petra can do something else, can have a universal humour hopefully and just show people that we're having fun."

Mans' winning performance featured an animated friend

Mans adds that his animated friend from his performance of Heroes is set to make a return.

"He's been on vacation now for a year but he's probably coming back... I'll talk to him."

While we're on comebacks, the singer says he wouldn't rule out entering Eurovision again.

"I mean Johnny Logan's won it twice so I wouldn't say never."

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