Sweden

UEFA 2020: DAY 13

It’s gonna be the last day of the first round today. Four matches will be played again. We can put the first two countries, Poland and Sweden, in only one song. In 2018, Poland was represented by Polish DJ Gromee and Swedish singer Lukas Meijer. They sang “Light me up” in a Polish/Swedish co-production. The second match will be between Slovakia and Spain. For both countries, we chose a ballad, sung by a duo. For Slovakia we chose for the 2009 contestants Kamil Mikulčík and Nela Pocisková and their duet “Leť tmou”. The Spanish song is a love duet from 2018: Amaia and Alfred sang “Tu canción”. Portugal will meet France tonight. Both countries most often sing in their native languages. So we decided to pick the exceptions. In 2008, Sebastien Tellier sang “Divine”. Only a few lines were in French, the biggest part in English. This year, the Portuguese band The Black Mamba sang it’s song “Love is on my side” in English. And we have the match between Hungary and Germany today. The city of Munich is not allowed to make a statement and colour the stadium in rainbow colours. That’s what UEFA decided. However, we don’t need UEFA’s permission. So we add Kati Wolf’s “What about my dream”; the 2011 Hungarian entry. It was the fan favorite, and we all know that a big part of the Eurovision fan base is at least very gay friendly! Even more clear was the German singer Lou in 2003 in her song “Let’s get happy”. Why? Well, just listen!

A Month After Rotterdam

It’s been exactly one month after the Grand Final of The Eurovision Song Contest 2021! A lot of rumors, new information has been going around since then, but what are the 2021 artists doing? Måneskin The rock band from Italy, which won this years contest, are touring all over Europe at this moment! They have quite a few things on their schedule. Three days ago they were in Amsterdam, yesterday in Gothenburg and right now they are in Copenhagen! And this is only for interviews or to perform a few songs, not even for their music tour. Barbara Pravi Barbara is having a blast with her career right now! She’s slaying on Time Square, performing at Roland Garros and selling out her European tour. In two days she will release her new song “Le Jour Se Lève”. Gjon’s Tears The third placer Gjon is enjoying his success of Tout l’Univers. At the begin of June he performed his song on Albanian television. Besides this, he won the ESC Radio Awards 2021 for best male artist and best song yesterday! TIX While placing 18th at the song contest, TIX is doing well in Norway. Two weeks ago he performed at his first gig since covid and he is planning even more gigs now! Go_A Shum was everything they needed for their career to spark this bright! The Ukrainian song is still 4th in the USA Viral charts and they are having some gigs in Ukraine (of course). They have also announced that they will be playing in Amsterdam at Het Grote Songfestivalfeest in December. Tusse Since the Eurovision Song Contest Tusse from Sweden has been doing a lot of things. He had his 2021 prom party, he graduated from high school and he has also got his tonsils taken out. Right now he has to rest because of that, maybe reading this article will help him to get rid of his boredom. Daði Freyr He just missed out on top 3 but that’s not holding him back from releasing music! Daði has released his LP “Welcome” the night before the Grand Final but he is still profiting from it! He even made a music video for his new song “Somebody Else Now”. What have you been doing since The Eurovision Song Contest 2021? We have for sure been listening to the songs of the artists. photo credits: EBU

UEFA 2020: DAY 8

The European Soccer Championship has already reached it’s 8th day. Today, we will see three other matches. To start with Sweden-Slovakia. What we found was a couple of mystical songs. Sweden once sent the group One More Time to the contest with the song “Den vilda”. One of the members of One More Time was Peter Grönvall, the son of Abba’s Benny Andersson. Another one, his wife Nanne Grönvall, is still very famous in Sweden. For Slovakia we chose a song about the beautiful area of Horehronie in Slovakia. The song, which was also called “Horehronie”, was sung by Kristina and hit the number one spot in the Slovak charts. Croatia and Czech Republic will play against eachother. Girls in not too much clothes! That is what brings those two countries together. We thought about Albina, who represented Croatia this year. We also thought about Tereza Kerndlová, who sang “Have some fun” in 2008. And the last match for today is the one between England and Scotland. That made us bring up two ladies, who both earned the trophy for the United Kingdom. Who remembers Sandie Shaw, barefoot, back in 1967? And who remembers Lulu, with false eyelashes and dressed in pink, yelling “Olé!” at the end of the song? Sandie was English, Lulu was Scottish.

Svante Thuresson passed away

The sad news came to us that Svante Thuresson passed away on May 10th. The news was announced yesterday. Thuresson, together with Lill Lindfors, represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest of 1966 with the song “Nygammal vals eller hip man svinaherde”. They achieved second place, until ABBA’s victory the best score for Sweden. Svante Thuresson started his career in the early 1960s in the group Gals & Pals. After the Eurovision Song Contest he started a solo career. He released no less than 22 albums, mainly with jazz repertoire. Twice later he took part in Melodifestivalen, the Swedish national final for the Eurovision song contest: in 1977 and in 2007. Thuresson died after a long illness at the age of 84. photo credtis: Frankie Fouganthin, Wikimedia Commons

Tusse

© EBU/Andres Putting About Quick Facts NameTousin Chiza Born01 january 2001 Nationality🇸🇪 Swedish National SelectionMelodifestivalen 2021 In EurovisionRotterdam 2021 SongVoices (2021) Biography Tusse is a Swedish/Congolese singer, born in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As a child, he fled to Sweden and applied for asylum there. Chiza participated in Talang 2018 where he reached one of the semifinals. The following year, he took part in Idol 2019. Tusse won the contest and released the song “Rain”. He thus became the youngest male participant, the first dark-skinned participant and the first participant born in the 2000s in Swedish Idol’s history to win the competition. In November 2019, Chiza’s version of Whitney Houston’s song “How Will I Know” was released. Tusse’s first single after Idol, “Innan du går”, which was also his first song in Swedish, was released. In 2021, Tusse participated in Melodifestivalen, the Swedish preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest. His song “Voices” was the clear favourite from day 1 and won. The logical next step was representing Sweden in the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam. In december 2021, Tusse presented his new single “Grow”. Entries Voices Country🇸🇪 Country Year2021 LanguageEnglish Lyrics & MusicJoy DebLinnea DebAnderz WrethovJimmy Thörnfeldt BackingsLars Säfsund DancersLamin HolménKeisha von ArnoldFatou BahTimothy Kakeeto Results Semi Points: 142Position: 7Running order: 4 Results Finals Points: 109Position: 14Running order: 25 https://youtu.be/NyJRyif6_kk

Melodifestivalen results are in

Melodifestivalen results are in! That does not mean that the Melodifestivalen line up is complete now, as there will be a second chance contest, but for tonight these are the results: Tess Merkel, “Good life” Lovad, “Allting är precis likadant” Efraim Leo, “Best of me” (andra chancen) The Mamas, “In the middle” (final) Sannex, “All inclusive” Clara Klingenström, “Behöver inte dig idag” (andra chancen) Eric Saade, “Every minute” (final)

The Mamas

© Arkland, Wikimedia Commons About Quick Facts MembersAshley HaynesLoulou LamotteDina Yonas Manna Founded2019 Nationality🇸🇪 Swedish🇺🇸 American National SelectionMelodifestivalen 2020Melodifestivalen 2021 In Eurovision2020 Rotterdam (cancelled) SongMove (2020, cancelled) Biography The Mamas are a Swedish-American music group with soul / gospel style. The Mamas were formed in 2019 by Paris Renita (choral singer originally from the US with Swedish career) as a quartet after John Lundvik asked her to find singers with good voices who could support him in his contributions. The other singers are Ash (Ashley) Haynes (born 19 January 1987 in Washington DC), Loulou Lamotte (born 16 April 1981 in Malmö) and Dinah Yonas Manna (born 5 September 1981 in Stockholm). Previously, Lamotte has performed in Melodifestivalen as a backing vocal for Behrang Miri 2013 and Yonas Manna backed Jonas Gardell in 2018. Loulou Lamotte competed in Idol 2008 and Paris in the Baltic Song Contest in 1995. The group supported John Lundvik in Melodifestivalen 2019 and the Eurovision Song Contest in the same year. After the Eurovision Song Contest, Paris left the group and they went on as a trio. They were chosen to represent Sweden in the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Move”, but due to the cancellation of the contest that didn’t happen. In september of the same year, their debut album “Tomorrow is waiting” was released. The Mamas released several singles and a christmas album. The latter contained even two hits: “A christmas night to remember” and “Shine a light”. SVT chose not to place The Mamas directly for the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest. Instead, they participated in Melodifestivalen again. This time, they reached a 4th place with the song “In the middle”. In november of the same year, The Mamas released a new album: “Won’t let the sun go down”. Entries Move Country🇸🇪 Sweden Year2020 LanguageEnglish LyricsHerman GardafveMelanie WehbePatrik Jean MusicHerman GardafveMelanie WehbePatrik Jean Backings– Results Semi Points: –Position: –Running order: – Results Finals Points: –Position: –Running order: – https://youtu.be/7EpSBDPlZn4

Anna Bergendahl

About Quick Facts NameAnna Henrietta Bergendahl Born11 December 1991 Nationality🇸🇪 Swedish National SelectionMelodifestivalen 2022Melodifestivalen 2020Melodifestivalen 2019Melodifestivalen 2010 In Eurovision2010 Oslo SongThis Is My Life (2010) Biography Anna Henrietta Bergendahl, born December 11, 1991, in Hägersten, Stockholm, is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and doctor. Bergendahl performed in public for the first time at the age of eight, singing Céline Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” in York Cathedral, UK. At age 12, she also appeared on the TV4 program Super Troupers with the song “Play That Funky Music” in 2004. Anna Bergendahl successfully auditioned for the fifth season of TV4’s talent series Idol 2008. She finished in fifth place in the competition. Anna participated in Melodifestivalen 2010, the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “This Is My Life”. The song won the final at Globen on March 13 with 214 points. Therefore, Bergendahl represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Oslo. “This Is My Life” was the first ballad to win the festival since “Kärleken är” in 1998. It was also Sweden’s 50th entry in the Eurovision Song Contest. The entry did not advance to the final after the second semifinal, finishing in eleventh place. It was the first and only time since the introduction of the qualifying rounds in 2004 that Sweden missed the Eurovision final. After Eurovision, Bergendahl toured Sweden and appeared on popular programs such as Allsång på Skansen, Sommarkrysset, and Lotta på Liseberg. On August 22, 2012, the single “Live And Let Go” was released. It was produced and recorded in Los Angeles and featured on Bergendahl’s second studio album, “Something To Believe In,” released on October 24, 2012. The album was also launched in January 2013 via Decca Records in the USA. The songs on the album were written and produced by Bergendahl herself, along with Larry Klein. In December 2013, SVT aired a documentary about Bergendahl’s life in the USA. In 2014, Bergendahl wrote music with producer and songwriter Tobias Fröberg. The collaboration resulted in two singles released in 2015, “Business” and “For You.” In October of the same year, an EP, “Live From Sandkvie Studio,” featuring acoustic covers of Bergendahl’s own songs, was released. In 2016, Bergendahl took a step back from music to focus on her medical studies at Örebro University and her work as a goodwill ambassador for the UN project Flicka. In 2016, Bergendahl began studying medicine, and in January 2023, she graduated as a doctor. In 2018, Bergendahl released several singles, the EP “We Were Never Meant to Be Heroes,” and the Christmas song “Just Another Christmas.” The following year, she competed in Melodifestivalen 2019 for the second time with the song “Ashes to Ashes,” reaching the final via Andra chansen and finishing in tenth place. “Ashes to Ashes” topped Swedish radio and went platinum. Bergendahl also participated in Melodifestivalen 2020 with the song “Kingdom Come,” finishing in third place. The song became the second most played on Swedish radio and also went platinum. Later that year, the single “Thelma and Louise” reached third place on the radio charts. The EP “Vera” was released in October 2020, containing five self-written songs by Bergendahl. At the end of the year, she released the Christmas single “It Never Snows In California.” In 2021, Bergendahl released the songs “Grain Of Trust” and “Bottom Of This Bottle,” the latter being a duet with Tyler Rich. Bergendahl competed in Melodifestivalen 2022 with the entry “Higher Power,” which qualified from the fourth heat to the semifinal (formerly known as Andra chansen) and advanced to the final. In July of the same year, she released a new song, “Demons and dreams”. On 18 November 2022, her Christmas EP “Merry Christmas everyone” came out. Anna’s new single “Dance with me” was released on 21 April 2023. A new video followed in October: “How Do You Know”. In April 2024 she performed at the Eurovision Preparties in Madrid and Amsterdam. Entries This Is My Life Country🇸🇪 Sweden Year2010 LanguageEnglish LyricsKristian Lagerström MusicBobby Ljunggren BackingsKristian TåjeAnna LundströmEmmalisa NorrhamnJessica MarbergerMartin Kagemark Results Semi Points: 62Position: 11Running order: 6 Results Finals Points: –Position: –Running order: – https://youtu.be/hNk6CZ77ags?si=7baCjVvu_UrjR_68

Malena Ernman

About Quick Facts NameSara Magdalena Ernman Born04 November 1970 Nationality🇸🇪 Swedish National SelectionMelodifestivalen 2009 In Eurovision2009 Moscow SongLa Voix (2009) Biography Sara Magdalena Ernman, known as Malena Ernman, was born on November 4, 1970, in Uppsala, Sweden. She is a renowned Swedish opera singer with a mezzo-soprano voice but has a unique range that extends to a coloratura soprano’s high F. She grew up in Sandviken, the daughter of economist Lars Ernman and deacon Eva Ernman, née Arvidsson. Her maternal grandmother is actress Renée Björling. Malena Ernman began singing at the age of six in the choir Coromanterna in Sandviken. She continued her musical education in Stockholm, where she sang alto in the Radio Choir under the direction of Gustaf Sjökvist and Eric Ericson. Ernman studied at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, the music conservatory in Orléans, and the University College of Opera in Stockholm. Ernman’s breakthrough in opera came in 1998 when she performed the role of Kaja in Sven-David Sandström’s “Staden” alongside Loa Falkman. This success led to significant roles such as Cherubino in “Figaros bröllop” and Rosina in “Barberaren i Sevilla” at Staatsoper Berlin, both under Daniel Barenboim. She also performed the title roles in “Carmen” at the Royal Opera and Boesmans’ “Fröken Julie” in Brussels, Vienna, and Aix-en-Provence. Her international breakthrough was in 1999 with the role of Agrippina in performances in Brussels and Paris conducted by René Jacobs. She performed at the Glyndebourne Festival as Nancy in “Albert Herring” in 2002 and Orlovsky in “Läderlappen” in 2003. In 2006, she performed as Dido in “Dido och Aeneas” in Vienna and Annio in “La Clemenza di Tito” at the Salzburg Festspiele. In 2007, her roles included Sesto in “Julius Caesar” in Vienna, Cherubino in “Figaros bröllop” in Aix en Provence, and Nerone in “Poppeas kröning” in Amsterdam. In 2009, she was featured in “Askungen” at the Stockholm Opera and Frankfurt Opera and as Dido in “Dido och Aeneas” in Paris, Vienna, and Amsterdam. Ernman gained mainstream popularity by winning Melodifestivalen 2009 with the song “La Voix,” co-written with Fredrik Kempe. She represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow, finishing 21st in the final. In addition to her operatic roles, Ernman has performed in various concerts worldwide and appeared on Swedish Television. She released several albums, including “Naïve” (2000), “Cabaret Songs” (2001), “My Love” (2003), “La Voix du Nord” (2009), “Santa Lucia – En klassisk jul” (2010), and “Opera di Fiori” (2011). Malena Ernman also played roles in musicals. She was Sally Bowles in the musical “Cabaret”, Gabriella in “Så som i himmelen” and Edith Piaf in “Piaf”. Malena Ernman has received numerous awards and honors, such as the Operapriset by Tidskriften OPERA (1999/2000), membership in the Royal Swedish Academy of Music (2006), the title of Court Singer (2011), and the Litteris et Artibus medal (2011). She was also named an honorary citizen of Sandviken Municipality (2014) and received the Martin Luther King Award (2016) and the Environmental Hero of the Year award by WWF (2017). In 2018, Ernman and her husband Svante Thunberg published the book “Scener ur hjärtat,” an autobiography that includes their daughters as co-authors in later editions. Malena Ernman has been married to Svante Thunberg since 2004, and they have two daughters, Greta Thunberg and Beata Ernman. Entries La Voix Country🇸🇪 Sweden Year2009 LanguageEnglishFrench LyricsFredrik KempeMalena Ernman MusicFredrik Kempe BackingsAnna-Maria HallgarnDea NorbergJessica MarbergerMalin NilssonTine Matulessy Results Semi Points: 105Position: 4Running order: 5 Results Finals Points: 33Position: 21Running order: 4 https://youtu.be/xE9Pl3mqRbo?si=0R1R7BNZ_wpyLTfV

Sanna Nielsen

© Pelle T. Nilsson/All Over Press About Quick Facts NameSanna Nielsen Born27 November 1984 Nationality🇸🇪 Swedish National SelectionMelodifestivalen 2014Melodifestivalen 2011Melodifestivalen 2008Melodifestivalen 2007Melodifestivalen 2005Melodifestivalen 2003Melodifestivalen 2001 In Eurovision2014 Copenhagen SongUndo (2014) Biography Sanna Nielsen is a well-known Swedish pop singer and television presenter. Born on November 27, 1984, in the town of Edenryd, Sweden, she has been an active figure in the entertainment industry for more than two decades. Nielsen’s career started early, with her first album, “Silvertoner,” being released when she was just 11 years old in 1996. The album was well received and set the foundation for a successful career in music. Nielsen’s popularity in Sweden grew steadily, and she became a familiar face in the annual Melodifestivalen, the national final for the Eurovision Song Contest. She competed in Melodifestivalen seven times between 2001 and 2014. Despite coming close several times, it wasn’t until 2014 that she finally won the competition with the ballad “Undo,” earning her the chance to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest. Her performance at Eurovision 2014 in Copenhagen was one of the highlights of her career. Nielsen’s powerful delivery of “Undo” captivated the audience and judges alike, and she finished in third place overall, further solidifying her place in the music industry. Besides her successful music career, Nielsen has also made a name for herself as a television presenter. In 2015, she co-hosted the Swedish national selection for Eurovision, Melodifestivalen. From 2016, Sanna Nielsen was the host for ‘Allsång på Skansen’. On June 20, 2022, she announced that 2022 will be her last season as the host of ‘Allsång på Skansen’. On December 24, 2016, Sanna Nielsen was the Christmas host on SVT December 24, 2016. On Christmas Eve 2021, she held a one-hour-long Christmas concert on SVT named Min Sanna jul. Entries Undo Country🇸🇪 Swedish Year2014 LanguageEnglish LyricsFredrik KempeDavid KreugerHamed ‘K-One’ Pirouzpanah MusicFredrik KempeDavid KreugerHamed ‘K-One’ Pirouzpanah BackingsBritta BergströmThérèse Löf AmbergJessica MarbergerAndrea NorbergJeanette Olsson Results Semi Points: 131Position: 2Running order: 4 Results Finals Points: 218Position: 3Running order: 13 https://youtu.be/5PQJI-3LW-8