1.
Friends Arena
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Friends Arena is a retractable roof multi-purpose stadium located next to the lake Råstasjön in Solna, just north of Stockholm City Centre. Since its opening it has served as Swedens national stadium for football, the main tenants of the stadium are Swedens national football team and Allsvenskan football club AIK, both relocated from their previous home at the Råsunda Stadium. The venue has a capacity of 65,000 at concerts and 50,000 seated at football matches. Friends Arena is the largest football stadium, and indoor venue and it was calculated to cost around 1.9 billion kronor to complete. The estimated cost before construction had begun was 2.3 billion kronor and it replaced Råsunda Stadium, Swedens former national arena for football. Råsunda will be torn down and will be the first stadium that hosted a FIFA World Cup in history to be removed, blocks of 700 flats and office buildings will be erected on the site. Swedbank acquired the rights to the new stadium in a 153 million kronor deal that will last until 2023. As such, the stadium was renamed Friends Arena, on 22 August 2012, Friends Arena unveiled the plans for the opening ceremony which took place on 27 October 2012. The theme for the show was Swedish Moments and it was directed by Colin Nutley, the stadium has a retractable roof, enabling events to take place during the winter season and to host indoor entertainment shows. The facade of the arena can be lit up in 17 million different color schemes, for example, the stadium is lit up in blue and yellow when Swedens national team is playing matches. Friends Arena is a UEFA Category 4 stadium, and the natural turf pitch measures 105 x 68 metres, in the middle of the stadium roof, a 240 square metres big media cube is placed where the attendance can follow what is happening. In addition,647 LED-screens are installed throughout the facility to enhance the guest experience, crown Princess Victoria of Sweden declared Friends Arena inaugurated at the opening ceremony which took place in the venue at 27 October 2012. The show, directed by famous Swedish director Colin Nutley, was entitled Svenska Ögonblick, artists like Agnes Carlsson, The Hives, Icona Pop, Loreen, First Aid Kit and Roxette performed in front of a crowd of 46,000 people. Furthermore,1,700,000 TV viewers watched the show live at SVT1. Swedish House Mafia made three acclaimed concerts during their One Last Tour in the arena, a total of approximately 115,000 people visited Friends Arena during the three sold-out concerts in November 2012. At 14 November 2012, the stadium hosted its first football game, zlatan Ibrahimović scored the first goal at Swedens new national stadium in the 4–2 victory against England. The game was seen by 49,967 people, which is the current attendance record for a sport event. A spectacular new record for Swedish bandy was set at the 2013 Swedish Bandy Championship Final, AIK played their first competitive football match at April 7,2013
2.
Solna Municipality
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Solna Municipality is a municipality in Stockholm County in south-east Sweden, located just north of the Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockholm urban area, the municipality is a part of Metropolitan Stockholm. None of the area is considered rural, which is unusual for Swedish municipalities, Solna is the third smallest municipality in Sweden in terms of area. There are two parishes in Solna Municipality, Råsunda and Solna, Solna is divided into eight traditional parts with no administrative functions, Bergshamra, Haga, Hagalund, Huvudsta, Järva, Råsunda, Skytteholm and Ulriksdal. The largest districts are Råsunda, Hagalund and Huvudsta, with the Solna Centrum in between them, the final matches of both the 1958 FIFA World Cup and the 1995 FIFA Womens World Cup were played at Råsunda Stadium, the national football stadium from 1937 to 2012. Solna has very low tax rates and has attracted a range of companies and authorities. Among the most important employers are the medical university Karolinska Institutet, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute are also located in Solna. As with all 290 municipalities of Sweden, Solna has a municipal assembly, an executive committee is appointed by its members. It was served by trams until 1959, trams returned after 54 years of absence when Tvärbanan was extended from Alvik to Solna centrum. A further extension will be opened in 2014, skanska has its head office in Solna. NextJet has its office in Solna. Mall of Scandinavia has opened in November 2015 and is located in Solna, the head office of Scandinavian Airlines and SAS Group is located in Solna. The airline head office was located on the property of Stockholm Arlanda Airport in Sigtuna Municipality. Haga Park, part of the Royal National City Park, was initiated by king Gustav III, the city features three of Swedens royal palaces. Friends Arena, the Swedish national arena of association football, the Solna Church was constructed in the 12th century. For defensive purposes, it was built as a round church, the following football clubs are located in Solna, AIK Blue Hill KF Råsunda IS Vasalunds IF Solna Gymnasium is the senior high school/sixth form college of Solna
3.
Robin Paulsson
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Robin Paulsson is a Swedish stand-up comedian, screenwriter and television presenter. Paulsson made his debut as a comedian in 2001 and as a television presenter in 2006 with his own talk show Robins on Swedish television SVT. He became known for his imitations of footballer Zlatan Ibrahimović and he has also participated in Stockholm Live and in the radio shows Deluxe and Hej Domstol. In 2003 he received the award Roligast i Skåne (en, Funniest in Skåne (at Sveriges Radios P3 Humorfestival, Paulsson has written the script for the SVT comedy series Kvarteret Skatan and Extra allt. He has participated in TV4s comedy series Parlamentet, Paulsson has written for the comedy show Time Out on TV3 and participated in the show on one occasion. He has participated in the TV3 comedy show Extra Extra, which is hosted by Måns Möller, during 2007 he participated in the TV4 comedy show Tack gode gud. Paulsson presented the Svenska idrottsgalan 2011 on 17 January 2011, on 29 September 2014, Paulsson and Sanna Nielsen were announced as the hosts of Melodifestivalen 2015, the Swedish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 to be held in Austria. Robin Paulsson is married to Live Lausund from Norway and the couple is expecting their first child in late 2014, media related to Robin Paulsson at Wikimedia Commons Official website Robin Paulsson at the Internet Movie Database
4.
Sanna Nielsen
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Sanna Viktoria Nielsen is a Swedish singer and television presenter. After her seventh attempt, she won Melodifestivalen in 2014 with the song Undo and so represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark, sanna was one of the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 commentators for Sweden and hosted Melodifestivalen 2015 along with comedian Robin Paulsson. She was announced as the new presenter for the sing-along show Allsång på Skansen for the summer of 2016 and she will host Eurovision The Party at the Tele2 Arena for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. Nielsen was born and grew up in the town of Edenryd in Bromölla Municipality and her paternal grandfather was a Dane from Århus. Nielsens career started at several talent searches, the first being in 1992 in Olofström, in 1994 she participated in a talent search in Kallinge and won with the song Can You Feel the Love Tonight. Nielsen performed with the danceband Mats Elmes between 1995 and 1996 at the age of eleven, at the same time she reached the number one spot on the Svensktoppen chart with the song Till en fågel. Nielsen became the youngest person to reach number one at the chart, in September 1996 Nielsens debut album Silvertoner was released. A reviewer of the album for Göteborgs-Posten compared Nielsen to Carola Häggkvist, during the following years Nielsen released the album Min önskejul in 1997 and the single Time to Say Goodbye in 1999. During her high school years, she studied the Estetichal programme, in December 2001 Nielsen participated in a Christmas tour along with Christer Sjögren, Sten Nilsson and Charlotte Perrelli. In 2002 she toured with Roger Pontare and in December the same year she participated in a Christmas concert with Kalle Moraeus, in February 2006, her second solo music album Nära mej, nära dej was released with lyrics and music by Fredrik Kempe and Marcos Ubeda. In July–August 2007 she was on a new tour called Sommar, Sommar, Sommar along with Shirley Clamp. In April 2008 the album Stronger was released, an album completely in English language, the same year the album Our Christmas was released, containing Christmas songs along with Shirley Clamp and Sonja Aldén. In 2011, she released the album Im In Love, in December 2013 Nielsen released her seventh studio album called Min jul with Christmas songs. Nielsen has participated seven times in Melodifestivalen, Swedens annual music competition and she made her debut in 2001 performing I går, i dag, which finished third. She returned to the contest again in 2003 with Hela världen för mig finishing fifth, after a one-year break, Nielsen returned again in Melodifestivalen 2005 with Du och jag mot världen, this time as a duet with Fredrik Kempe, which finished eighth. On 3 March 2007, Nielsen participated in Melodifestivalen again with Vågar du, during the Second Chance round, the song qualified for the final at the Stockholm Globe Arena on 10 March 2007, where the song ended up in seventh place after the final of Melodifestivalen 2007. Nielsen participated in Melodifestivalen 2008, performing Empty Room, written and composed by Bobby Ljunggren and she reached the final from the Västerås semifinal on 16 February 2008. During 2008, Empty Room won the OGAE Second Chance Contest 2008 with a 91 points lead to runner-up Coral from Spain, Nielsen participated in the Melodifestivalen 2011, with the song Im in Love
5.
Melodifestivalen
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Melodifestivalen is an annual music competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television and Sveriges Radio. It determines the countrys representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almost every year since 1959, since 2000, the competition has been the most popular television programme in Sweden, it is also broadcast on radio and the Internet. In 2012, the semifinals averaged 3.3 million viewers, the festival has produced six Eurovision winners and eighteen top-five placings for Sweden at the contest. The winner of the Melodifestival has been chosen by panels of jurors since its inception, since 1999, the juries have been joined by a public telephone vote which has an equal influence over the final outcome. The competition makes an impact on music charts in Sweden. The introduction of semifinals in 2002 raised the number of contestants from around twelve to thirty-two. A childrens version of the competition, Lilla Melodifestivalen, also began that year, light orchestrated pop songs, known locally as schlager music, are so prevalent that the festival is sometimes referred to as Schlagerfestivalen by the Swedish media. However, other styles of such as rap, reggae. The introduction of a final in Stockholm has attracted substantial tourism to the city. The most recent Melodifestivalen winner is Robin Bengtsson who won on 11 March 2017 with the song I Cant Go On and he is set to represent Sweden at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev, Ukraine. With seven nations competing, the first Eurovision Song Contest took place in Lugano, Swedens first contest was the third, in 1958. Without broadcasting a selection, Sveriges Radio chose to send Alice Babs to the contest in Hilversum, the song selected was Samma stjärna lyser för oss två, later renamed Lilla stjärna. It finished fourth at Eurovision on 12 March 1958, the first Melodifestival, incorporated into the Säg det med musik radio series, took place on 29 January 1959 at Cirkus in Stockholm, eight songs participated. Four expert juries in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, and Luleå decided the winner, the competition was won by Siw Malmkvist performing Augustin, but SR decided that the winning song—regardless of its original performer—would be performed by Brita Borg at Eurovision. This policy, of selecting the artist for Eurovision internally and having other artists perform potential Swedish entries at Melodifestivalen, was stopped in 1961, the competition became a stand-alone television programme in 1960, known as the Eurovisionschlagern, svensk final. In the events early years, it was broadcast to Norway, the competition adopted its current name, Melodifestivalen, in 1967. The Melodifestival has failed to be staged on three occasions, in 1964, the competition was cancelled due to an artists strike, Sweden did not send a song to Eurovision that year. Sweden was absent at Eurovision for a time in 1970 because of a Nordic boycott of the voting system
6.
Sweden
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Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. Approximately 85% of the lives in urban areas. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear, Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in very mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Today, Sweden is a monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is also the most populous city in the country, legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister, Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, the last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Swedens current borders, though Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and it is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod and this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige literally means Realm of the Swedes, excluding the Geats in Götaland, the etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning ones own, referring to ones own Germanic tribe
7.
Eurovision Song Contest 2015
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The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the 60th anniversary edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest musical event. The contest took place in Vienna, Austria, following Austrian Conchita Wursts victory in the 2014 and this was the second time that Austria hosted the contest, the 1967 being the first. The 2015 contest consisted of two semi-finals, which place on 19 and 21 May, and a final, held on 23 May 2015. The shows were presented by Mirjam Weichselbraun, Alice Tumler and Arabella Kiesbauer while Conchita Wurst was hosting the green room, forty countries participated in the contest, with Australia making a guest appearance, and Cyprus, the Czech Republic, and Serbia returning. Ukraine, however, announced their withdrawal due to financial and political reasons around the Ukrainian crisis, once all the votes had been announced, based on 50% jury and 50% televoting, Sweden won the contest for the sixth time, with Måns Zelmerlöws song Heroes. Sweden became the first country to win the contest twice in the current format, and this was the second win in four years. Italy won the voting with Russia in second place. Sweden won the voting, with Latvia in second place. This is the first time since the juries were reintroduced alongside the televoting in 2009 that the winner didnt place first in the televoting, for the first time, the top four of the contest all scored 200 points or better. Russias entry A Million Voices became the first non-winning Eurovision song to score over 300 points, Austria and Germany became the first countries 2003 to score no points in the final. Austria is also the first host country to score nul points, the 2015 contest also saw the best ever result for Montenegro since its independence, and the Czech Republic. Also the top two countries of this contest were the same as the top two countries in the 2012, being Sweden and Russia, over 197 million viewers worldwide watched the contest, beating the 2014 viewing figures by 2 million. The Wiener Stadthalle hosts the annual Erste Bank Open tennis tournament, after Austrias victory in the 2014 Contest, their delegation revealed the possibility of hosting the contest either in the capital city, Vienna, or in Salzburg. Vienna, considered the front-runner, had two venues in the phase, Wiener Stadthalle and the trade centre, Messe Wien. Also in the race were Stadthalle Graz and Schwarzl Freizeit Zentrum, with a maximum capacity of 30,000, the Wörthersee Stadium in Klagenfurt also joined the race, however, it would require the construction of a roof for the contest to be hosted there. Innsbruck also joined the race with Olympiahalle, which hosted ice hockey, a fifth city, Linz, joined the race with Brucknerhaus, although the venue is not big enough for the contest. Being geographically close to Linz, Wels showed desire to host the event as well, oberwart, with the Exhibition hall, and Vorarlberg, with the Vorarlberger Landestheater, were the latest cities to declare an interest. On 29 May 2014, Austrian host public broadcaster ORF and the EBU released some requirements, ORF requested interested parties to respond by 13 June 2014
8.
Gothenburg
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Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, the city has a population of approximately 550,000 in the urban area, Gothenburg was founded as a heavily fortified, primarily Dutch, trading colony, by royal charter in 1621 by King Gustavus Adolphus. At a key location at the mouth of the Göta älv, where Scandinavias largest drainage basin enters the sea. Gothenburg is home to students, as the city includes the University of Gothenburg. Volvo was founded in Gothenburg in 1927, the original, parent Volvo Group and the now separate Volvo Car Corporation are still headquartered on the island of Hisingen in the city. Other key companies are SKF and Astra Zeneca, Gothenburg is served by Göteborg Landvetter Airport 30 km southeast of the city center. The smaller Göteborg City Airport,15 km from the city center, was closed to airline traffic in 2015. The city hosts some of the largest annual events in Scandinavia, the Gothenburg Film Festival, held in January since 1979, is the leading Scandinavian film festival with over 155,000 visitors each year. In summer, a variety of music festivals are held in the city, such as Way Out West. The city was named after the Geats, the inhabitants of Gothia, the river on which the city sits is the Göta älv or Gothia River. Göta borg Gothia Fortress is the fort on the Göta Älv, in Dutch, Scots, and English, all languages with a long history in this trade and maritime-oriented city, the name Gothenburg is used for the city. The French form of the city name is Gothembourg, but in French texts, Gothenburg can also be seen in some older English texts. In Spanish the city is called Gotemburgo and these traditional forms are sometimes replaced with the use of the Swedish Göteborg, for example by The Göteborg Opera and the Göteborg Ballet. However, Göteborgs universitet, previously designated as the Göteborg University in English, the Gothenburg municipality has also reverted to the use of the English name in international contexts. Other old variations in Swedish are Götheborgh, and the more common Götheborg, one English text, written in the late 15th century, states the name as Guthaeborg. In 2009, the city launched a new logotype for Gothenburg. Since the name Göteborg contains the Swedish letter ö the idea was to make the more international. As of 2015, the name is spelled Go, teborg on a number of signs in the city
9.
Helsingborg
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Helsingborg is a town and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania, Sweden. It had 132,989 inhabitants in 2013, Helsingborg is the centre of the northern part of western Scania. This makes Helsingborg the fourth largest population area in Sweden, the city is also Swedens closest point to Denmark, with the Danish city Helsingør clearly visible on the other side of the Øresund about 4 km to the west, closer than to the citys own remoter areas. If including all population around the part of Øresund, as a Helsingborg-Helsingør metropolitan area. The busy ferry route, known as the HH Ferry route has through history been operated by shipping lines. As of 2014 more than 70 car ferries departures from each harbour every day, following the Swedish orthography reform of 1906 many place names in Sweden got a modernized spelling. In 1912 it was decided to use the form Hälsingborg, in preparation for the local government reform 1971 the Hälsingborg city council proposed that the new, enlarged municipality should be spelled with an e. This was also the decision of the Government of Sweden, effective from 1 January 1971, historic Helsingborg, with its many old buildings, is a scenic coastal city. The buildings are a blend of old-style stone-built churches and a 600-year-old medieval fortress in the city centre, the streets vary from wide avenues to small alley-ways. Kullagatan, the pedestrian shopping street in the city, was the first pedestrian shopping street in Sweden. Helsingborg is one of the oldest cities of what is now Sweden and it has been the site of permanent settlement officially since 21 May 1085. Helsingborgs geographical position at the narrowest part of Øresund made it important for Denmark. From 1429 Eric of Pomerania introduced the Øresundstolden, a levy on all trading vessels passing through the sound between Elsinore and Helsingborg and this was one of the main incomes for the Danish Crown. Crossing traffic, like fishermen, was not subject to the tax, the Sound Dues primarily made Helsingør flourish, but quite a bit spilled over to Helsingborg. Evidence of this is William Shakespeares masterpiece Hamlet, which unfolda at Kronborg, and the Prince of Denmark may well have hidden himself from his evil uncle in Helsingborg. In any case, the Renaissance was a period for the Kingdom of Denmark. But towards the middle of the 17th Century, dark clouds appeared from the North, following the Dano-Swedish War and the Treaty of Roskilde Denmark had to give up all territory on the southern Scandinavian peninsula, and Helsingborg became submitted to new rulers. King Charles X Gustav of Sweden landed here on 5 March 1658 to take possession of the Scanian lands and was met by a delegation led by the bishop of the Diocese of Lund
10.
Scandinavium
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Scandinavium is an indoor arena located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Construction on Scandinavium began in 1969 after decades of setbacks, and was inaugurated on 18 May 1971, Scandinavium is the home arena for Frölunda HC of Swedish Hockey League, and venue for the annual Göteborg Horse Show. Financing for the arena and other proposed facilities became a subject of public and political debate, in the 1962 election campaign the Swedish Social Democratic Party guaranteed that they would build the arena if they won the election. The Social Democrats won the election and a process was started but financing was still an issue. A company responsible for the construction was formed by the municipality and private investors, an estimated construction cost of twenty-three million SEK caused wild protests and intense debates but did not delay the progress. In May 1969 it was discovered there was no construction permit for the arena. When tartan tracks were installed near the end of construction, the concentration of gases in the building was so high that one spark could have potentially blown up the entire structure. When construction was completed in May 1971, Scandinavium stood as the largest covered arena in northern Europe with an capacity of 14,000 spectators. The construction cost totaled thirty-one million SEK, which resulted in an eight million SEK budget deficit, scandinaviums sweeping appearance comes from the hyperbolic paraboloid shaped saddle roof.5 meters ×1.2 meters. The hanging cables rise ten meters to the top from the saddle point, the building is 14 meters tall, from the event floor to the pinnacle of the roof. The ring beam is supported by forty circular columns and four stiff pylons, the pylons consist of radially oriented concrete walls, with a length of 3.5 meters, which stores ventilation equipment. The video board, lights, and sound system is suspended in a radially oriented cable system anchored in the four pylons and it was not consider stable enough for colour telecasting to attach these components directly to the roof. The cable system also serves as tension rods for the ring beam, the seating in Scandinavium is arranged in a one-level monolithic grandstand. The round design of the structure and the oval shape of the 4,100 m² arena floor results in more rows along the length of the floor. The first six rows are telescopic seating which can be electrically retracted, there are forty-four executive boxes in the arena, located between the two northern pylons. The ice hockey rink measures 61 meters ×30 meters which is standard international size, new double frame half boards were installed in 2001, designed to switch to NHL rink dimensions or to be easily removed when other events than ice hockey take place. For the 2011 Göteborg Horse Show a new surface was purchased for 2 million SEK. Scandinavium is located in central Gothenburg, in the Heden district of the borough Centrum, Scandinavium is one of the center pieces of the event district called Evenemangsstråket, with Ullevi Stadium, Liseberg, Universeum, the Museum of World Culture, and Bergakungen nearby
11.
Molly Pettersson Hammar
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In September 2011 Molly took part in the eighth season of Idol. In the Quarter-Finals she sang Alicia Keys A Womans Worth, she finished in the Top 12, in the Semi-Final she sang U2s Where the Streets Have No Name, she progressed to the Finals. In the Finals she made it through the final 4 before being eliminated, Hammar participated in Melodifestivalen 2015 with the song Ill Be Fine, finishing sixth in the semifinal and being eliminated. The song peaked at number 65 on the Swedish Singles Chart, however the song peaked at number 6 on Digilistan ahead of the songs that qualified for Andra Chansen. She competed in Melodifestivalen 2016 with the song Hunger, and qualified to andra chansen from the second semi-final before being eliminated and she co-wrote the Maltese song for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 Walk on Water performed by Ira Losco. She performed with Ira Losco as her backing vocalist at the Eurovision Song Contest, Molly Pettersson Hammar has been in a relationship with singer Robin Stjernberg whom she met during her time at Idol
12.
I'll Be Fine (Molly Pettersson Hammar song)
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Ill Be Fine is a song by the Swedish singer Molly Pettersson Hammar. It was released on 7 February 2015 as a download in Sweden. The song was written by Molly Pettersson Hammar, Lisa Desmond, Tim Larsson, Tobias Lundgren, the song took part in Melodifestivalen 2015, and was eliminated from the first semi-final on 7 February 2015, placing sixth. The song has peaked to number 65 on the Swedish Singles Chart, the song also reached number 1 on the Swedish iTunes chart, and peaked at number 6 on Digilistan
13.
Elize Ryd
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Elize Ryd is a Swedish singer-songwriter, dancer, composer and show artist, best known as one of the three vocalists in the melodic metalcore/power metal band Amaranthe. She also gained some popularity prior to the bands inception by performing guest vocals for the power metal band Kamelot. She sings in the soprano range, Elize started out her singing career, after graduating from a 3-year education at Performing Arts School, as a cabaret performer at the Cabaret Lorensberg in Gothenburg. She also did some chorus for different local bands such as Falconer, when she met Jake E in a club in Gothenburg, who requested she record vocals for a song with his band Dreamland titled Fade Away. Jake E later introduced her to Olof Morck, who proposed a collaboration with his band Dragonland to which she agreed. It was around this time that metal band Nightwish took interest in Elize as a replacement for their previous singer Tarja Turunen. She has stated in an interview that this was because she was a little too young, had a lack of experience and was unfamiliar with the industry. At the same time she, Olof and Jake talked about starting their own band with her as a singer and composer. The band was named Avalanche which was renamed to Amaranthe for legal reasons. In early 2009, Amaranthe released their debut EP, Leave Everything Behind, in early 2011 they released their first two singles, Hunger and Rain before releasing their debut album Amaranthe, which reached a peak position of 35th on Swedish charts and 16th on Finnish Charts. With this album the band released two videos, one for the aforementioned song Hunger and another for the song Amaranthine. Both were directed by Patric Ullaeus for Revolver Films, there was also a video shot for 1.000.000 Lightyears, the fourth single from their debut album. On 25 January 2013, Amaranthe released a new single titled The Nexus, Amaranthes second album, The Nexus, was released in March 2013. Later in 2013, Amaranthe released two videos for their singles Burn With Me and Invincible, Amaranthe released a new single and video for Drop Dead Cynical in September 2014. Their third album, Massive Addictive, was released on 21 October 2014 as well as two videos for Digital World and True and a lyric video for Trinity. A special compilation Breaking Point - B-sides 2011-2015 was released on 30 October 2015 and it consists of the best B-sides and bonus tracks in Amaranthes career. Amaranthe released their fourth album Maximalism in October 2016, with That Song as the lead single, since Amaranthes explosion in popularity, Elize has featured on songs by several different artists she had not previously collaborated with. In 2011 she had three notable collaborations that were all released commercially and these consisted of guest vocals for Swedish rock band Takidas fourth album The Burning Heart and Renegade Fives September 2011 EP Life Is Already Fading
14.
Jimmy Jansson
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Erik Robert Jimmy Jansson is a Swedish singer and songwriter. Janssons music career began when he formed a band, The Poets. That same year, they were chosen to compete in Melodifestivalen with the song What Difference Does It Make, in 2003 Jansson was a contestant in the reality show Fame Factory on TV3 in Sweden. Though he did not win, his first single, Godmorgon världen, released in 2004 and his follow-up single Som sommaren peaked at #4, but Janssons third single, Flickan från det blå, both from his debut album Flickan från det blå, only reached #40. In 2005, he competed in Melodifestivalen again, this time as a solo artist and he reached the finals with the song Vi kan gunga, ultimately placing sixth. When the song was released as a single that same year, in the wake of the singles success, Jansson released his second album, Som en blixt, and, several months later, a second single from the album, En underbar refräng. On February 10,2007 Jansson competed in Melodifestivalen for the time, singing the song Amanda He placed on a shared 3d place in the semifinal. On March 3,2007 Jansson lost the first voting against Sanna Nielsen in the Second chance round of eliminations, when Amanda was released as a single, it peaked at #2. The album that followed it, Sån e jag, reached #9 on the charts and its single, Överallt, peaked at #2 as well. Jansson was engaged with Sandra Dahlberg, who was also a contestant in Fame Factory 2002 and has competed in Melodifestivalen. Dahlberg gave birth to their child, a boy named Vilmer, Jansson and Dahlberg separated in 2010
15.
Behrang Miri
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Seyed Behrang Miri is a Swedish rapper, songwriter and actor of Iranian origin. He moved to Sweden with his parents in 1987 when he was just three, in 2008, he took part in theater production Zlatans leende in Malmö City Theatre. The same year, he was picked as the face for MKB, Räddningstjänsten featured in City Malmö newspaper, in 2011 he won the Nationalencyklopedins annual Kunskapspriset alongside Emerich Roth. He has been involved in a number of projects, in Skåne. In 2011, he became a director of cultural activities for children for Kåldolmens Day events in Stockholm working with various cultural groups. He has also worked with Swedish Kurdish stand-up comedian Özz Nûjen, on 23 February 2013, Miri competed as an artist in Melodifestivalen 2013 in a bid to represent Sweden in Eurovision Song Contest 2013 to be held in Stockholm. His song was Jalla Dansa Sawa with Loulou Lamotte and Oscar Zia as backing vocal artists and it was co-written by Behrang Miri, Anderz Wrethov, Firas Razak Tuma and Tacfarinas Yamoun. The song came 3rd/4th in the semi-final, he moved to Second Chance round where on 3 March 2013, he faced Anton Ewald, eventually it climbed up to number 4 in the chart. In 2015, he took again in Melodifestivalen 2015 and qualified to Andra Chansen round through the first semi-final on 7 February 2015
16.
Jessica Andersson
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Jessica Elisabeth Andersson is a Swedish singer. She was part of the Swedish duo Fame with Magnus Bäcklund between 2002 and 2006 after they met at the reality television show Fame Factory. After the breakup of the band, she developed a singing career. She also appeared six times in Melodifestivalen competitions, twice as part of Fame duo in 2003 and 2004 and four times as solo in 2006,2007,2010, and 2015. As Fame, she went on to represent Sweden in Eurovision Song Contest 2003 held in Riga, before becoming a TV celebrity, she worked amongst others as a singer in the floor show Svensk Schlager in Trollhättan where she resided. She also worked as a model, including appearing in the magazine Café. She gained fame after taking part in the 2002 series of the television show Fame Factory where she was pregnant through a relation with musician Jonas Erixon, the Swedish record manager Bert Karlsson proposed to put her in a duo with another Fame participant Magnus Bäcklund. She was voted Swedens sexiest woman in 2003 and they went on to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest, eventually garnering 107 points, which put them in fifth place. With Eurovision success, Fame put up a studio album also titled Give Me Your Love. It included fourteen tracks, eleven in English and three in Swedish, Fame folded in 2006, with both continuing with solo careers. Jessica Andersson took part in Melodifestivalen 2007 with the song Kom earning a place in the Andra Chansen on 10 February 2007. On 3 March 2007, in eliminations, she won the first round over Elin Lanto but lost the second against Sanna Nielsen and she has regularly taken part in summer Diggiloo tour across Sweden several times. In 2007 and 2008, she played the lead in the musical Little Shop of Horrors. She eventually won the Guldmasken award, equivalent to the American Tony Awards and she was picked for Trollhättans Park of Fame. In 2011, she took part in Lets Dance 2011 the popular series sixth season in Sweden on the TV4 channel and she partnered with Kristjan Lootus winning the title on the finale broadcast on March 25,2011. Andersson participated in Melodifestivalen 2015, and made it to the final in Friends Arena, Andersson lived in Spånga, Hagfors, Lidköping and Skövde, and since 1997 has been residing in Trollhättan. She married singer Rickard Andersson from 1994 to 1996 and has kept her husbands family name even after separation and she has one son, Liam, from a relation with musician Jonas Erixon. 2007-2008, Little Shop of Horrors – lead role
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Eric Saade
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Eric Saade is a Swedish pop singer. He spent two years with the boy band Whats Up, leaving the band in February 2009 to pursue a solo career. After winning the Swedish Melodifestivalen 2011 with Popular Saade represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Germany, Saade was born in Kattarp, Sweden to Walid Saade, a Palestinian, and Marlene Jacobsson, a Swede. After his parents divorced when he was four, he lived with his mother, Saade is the second of eight siblings and half-siblings. Saade began singing after seeing Michael Jackson on TV, and his musical influences are Robbie Williams, Bryan Adams. He first sang on stage at his mothers wedding when he was six, Saade began writing songs at 13, winning the Swedish music contest Joker and signing a record deal at 15. In 2007, Saade was a member of Whats Up. A Swedish boy band which included Robin Stjernberg, Luwdig Ludde Keijser and its members were picked from a competition attracting hundreds of applicants. Fifteen finalists competed at the Ericsson Globe, and the four became the bands founding members. Whats Up. began touring Sweden in the spring of 2008 and released an album, In Pose, the album spawned two singles, Go Girl. Released in May 2007, peaked at #5 on the Swedish Singles Chart and If I Told You Once, released in March 2008, the band recorded the Swedish version of the theme for Disneys Camp Rock and dubbed the characters voices, appearing in the Disney Channels Swedish trailer. When Saade left the band to pursue a career, he was replaced by Johannes Magnusson. Saades involvement in Camp Rock led to his hosting a show inspired by the movie, he hosted the nationwide contest. In August 2009, Saade signed with the Swedish record label Roxy Recordings, in December he released his first solo single, Sleepless, written by Fredrik Kempe, distributed on iTunes, the song peaked at #44 in Sweden. Anders Rune directed its video, which premiered in January 2010. In February 2010 Saade sang Manboy, written by Fredrik Kempe and Peter Boström and he won the semifinal, finishing third overall. Manboy was released in March 2010 in Sweden, reaching #1 on the domestic-single, the songs acoustic version was released in Sweden in May, and in June the single went platinum in that country. In January 2010, Saade won a Scandipop Award as the Brightest New Hope for 2010, in March he was nominated for a Marcel Bezençon Press Award for Manboy, and won an Artistic Award
18.
Fredrik Kempe
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Fredrik Kempe, born in Vårgårda on April 29,1972, is a Swedish songwriter and opera and pop singer. He has participated in Swedish versions of the musicals Les Misérables, in 2002, Kempe had a hit with Vincerò, where he mixed opera and disco. He is a member of Idol 2016 which is broadcast on TV4. Kempe has participated in Melodifestivalen twice as a performer and he entered Melodifestivalen 2004 with the song Finally, a tribute to his favourite composer Benny Andersson and in 2005 together with Sanna Nielsen singing Du och jag mot världen. In Melodifestivalen 2007, he co-wrote three songs, one was Cara Mia, performed by Måns Zelmerlöw and another was Vågar du, vågar jag, performed by Sanna Nielsen. In Melodifestivalen 2008 he co-wrote the music and wrote the lyrics to the entry, Hero. Once again in 2009, he wrote the music and lyrics for the winning song La voix performed by Malena Ernman, in 2011 he won Melodifestivalen for the third time, writing the Eric Saade entry Popular. In 2014 he won Melodifestivalen for a time, writing Sanna Nielsens entry Undo. In 2010 he composed and co-wrote the Norwegian entry, My Heart Is Yours, for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, bohème Songs For Your Broken Heart Fredrik Kempe at the Internet Movie Database
19.
Samir & Viktor
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Samir & Viktor or Samir och Viktor was a Swedish music duo that consists of Paradise Hotel contestant Samir Badran and fashion blogger Viktor Frisk. Samir & Viktor participated in Melodifestivalen 2015 with the song Groupie, which finished eighth in the final, in May 2014 the duo released their first music single called Success. The song peaked at one in its first week on the Swedish iTunes chart. And reached number three on Sverigetopplistan, the official Swedish Singles Chart, Samir & Viktor participated in Melodifestivalen 2015 with the song Groupie in a bid to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Vienna, Austria. They performed on 14 February 2015 in the second round finishing 3rd moving to the Second Chance round on 7 March 2015 where they confronted Behrang Miri feat. Victor Crone in Det rår vi inte för, winning the round with a big margin, they qualified to the finals in Stockholm held on 14 March finishing eighth overall. Groupie proved very successful reaching number three on Sverigetopplistan, the official Swedish Singles Chart. The duos follow-up single was Saxofuckingfon, the peaked at number two on the Swedish Singles Chart. They took part in Melodifestivalen 2016 with the song Bada nakna and they qualified to andra chansen through the first semi-final on 6 February 2016. They qualified to the final through andra chasen, but they ended up placing last and their follow-up single Fick Feeling was digitally released on 25 May 2016. After that, the announced its split
20.
Neverstore
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Neverstore is a Swedish punk rock band. The band was formed in 2000 in Skövde, Neverstore released their first album, Sevenhundred Sundays January 24,2007. The songs So Much of Not Enough and L. Y. D. were included on the album, shortly after they released a new single, Stay Forever. Neverstore have several times opened up for Backyard Babies and in May,2007 they opened up for Good Charlotte while on tour in Sweden, during 2008 Neverstore were on tour in Japan with the Canadian rock band Sum 41. This tour gave Neverstore a large audience in Japan, neverstores second studio album was released on February 27,2008. This album is called Heroes Wanted, the band has recently been in Los Angeles, for recording of the new single Summer which is produced by Deryck Whibley from Sum 41. In the end of January 2010 the third album, Age of Hysteria was released and it contains the singles Summer and Shallow Beautiful People. Neverstore is now busy making new songs for their new album and they expect it to be finished after summer holidays
21.
Marie Bergman
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Marie Bergman,1950 in Stockholm) is a Swedish singer. Between 1969 and 1972, she was a member in the pop group Family Four and she started her solo career in 1974. She has during the years released 13 own-written records and 2 jazz albums and has received numerous awards, in 1994 she again represented Sweden at the Eurovision, this time with Roger Pontare, setting a record as the singer who has represented Sweden at the ESC the most times. This was equalled by Carola Häggkvist in 2006, marie has performed at the Roskilde Festival four times. Marie Bergman discography, forum, and marketplace at Discogs
22.
Magnus Carlsson
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Lars Magnus Carlsson is a Swedish singer and former member of the bands Alcazar and Barbados. Magnus Carlsson was born in Borås and grew up in Fristad, Carlsson was first a singer in the Swedish dansband Barbados. Though near the end of 2002, he left Barbados and joined the pop-dance group Alcazar, Carlsson participated in Melodifestivalen every year between 2000 and 2007 inclusive, except for 2004, either with Barbados, Alcazar or as a solo act. At the end of 2002, Carlsson decided to leave Barbados, on 24 January 2003 he performed his last concert with Barbados. In February 2006, he was a contestant in Melodifestivalens semi-final in Karlstad with Lev Livet, composed by Anders Glenmark and Niklas Strömstedt, and qualified for the final in Globen. In 2007 Magnus performed in the heat of Melodifestivalen 2007 in Örnsköldsvik with Live Forever. The entry came in 5th place and was knocked out of the contest, the song was released as a single on 5 March 2007, and reached the status of gold certificate. Carlsson participated in Melodifestivalen 2015 with Möt mig i Gamla stan and made it to the final in Friends Arena and he has been married to Mats Carlsson since 29 January 2006
