Idol is a Swedish reality-competition talent show broadcast on TV4. It was first aired in August 2004, and became one of the most popular shows on Swedish television. Part of the Idols franchise, it originated from the reality program Pop Idol created by British entertainment executive Simon Fuller, which was first aired in 2001 in the United Kingdom.

The program seeks to discover the best singer in Sweden through a series of nationwide auditions. The outcomes of the later stages of the competition are determined by public phone voting. The format features three judges who give critiques of the contestants' performances. Since Idol started in 2004, the show has featured five different line-ups of judges, a total of nine different judges, as well as twelve different presenters (including sidekicks in 2011 and 2013). From 2004 to 2007, each season had two hosts who stayed for just one season. However, from 2008, each season only has one host. For the 2011 season, the eighth season of Idol, Pär Lernström was the host. For the 2013 season, Pär Lernström returned as host and Karin "Kakan" Hermansson as his sidekick.

The winners of the first nine series were Daniel Lindström, Agnes Carlsson, Markus Fagervall, Marie Picasso, Kevin Borg, Erik Grönwall, Jay Smith, Amanda Fondell, and Kevin Walker. Smith is the oldest winner at 29 whilst Fondell and Carlsson are the youngest at only 17. To date, Idol contestants have collectively sold over 1.1 million albums in Sweden alone.

Following the completion of its eighth season, Idol was put on indefinite hiatus alongside Talang and replaced in 2012 by two reality singing competitions: The Voice and X Factor, the latter of which also originated from the United Kingdom's version, created by music executive Simon Cowell. However, in January 2013, TV4 announced that Idol would return in 2013 and that neither The Voice nor X Factor would continue, due to low ratings for both shows.