It used to be that there was no "real" Christmas in Sweden, unless Arne Weise was the TV host on Christmas Eve. Well, Weise broke this 30-year tradition in 2002, when he left his job. Ever since, there's been a slew of Christmas TV hosts, and SVT (Swedish Television) has created a bit of excitement by choosing a new host every year. And this year it will be Sarah Dawn Finer, the Swedish-American singer Nordstjernan met a few years back ("A Finer Dawn").

Finer was asked when she was in London en route from Singapore to Sweden.

"It felt almost surreal. I got scared, a bit shocked, and enormously honored," she said. Her ambition, she explains, is to make everyone welcome even those who have nobody to celebrate Christmas with. She also promises to sing. Ever since Weise left, there have been voices calling for a female Christmas host, and this year many speculated it might be TV-personality Ebba von Sydow. But it was Finer who snatched the job. Photo: Carl-Johan Söder/SVT

Earlier Christmas hosts on Swedish TV:
1959-1971 Bengt Feldreich
1972-2002 Arne Weise
2003 Lotta Bromé
2004 Ernst Kirchsteiger
2005 Blossom Tainton
2006 Ingvar Oldsberg
2007 Anne Lundberg
2008 Lasse Kronér
2009 Lisbeth Åkerman
2010 André Pops
2011 Kalle Moraeus

These days, you can watch the programs all over the world, through SVT World