Saturday, 30 June 2012

Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest - 1985


The Swedish Final was held on March 2nd at the SVT TV Studios in Malmö, hosted by Eva Andersson. The 10 songs were reduced to 5 finalists, after which the winner was chosen by the votes of 9 juries, with each jury being split according to the age of its members.

In order to save money for the staging of the Eurovision Song Contest itself, the competition to select Sweden's national entry, Melodifestivalen, was a low-budget version in 1985.

Bra vibrationer, sung by Kikki Danielsson,written by Ingela Forsman and composed by Lasse Holm, won.

Results:

01. Bra vibrationer - Kikki Danielsson, 56 points
02. Ta min hand - Dan Tilberg, 49 points
03. Eld och lågor - Göran Folkestad, 35 points
04. Piccadilly Circus - Pernilla Wahlgren, 29 points
05. Jag vet hur det känns - Li Berg, 20 points

other participants:

Vänner - Susanne Frölén
Nu har det hänt igen - Ritz
Morgonluft - Per-Erik Hallin
1 + 1 = 2 - Bel Air
Sjung din sång - Stefan Borsch

For the final, in which Sweden performed in 16th position, the song's title was translated into Good Vibrations. It did very well in the voting and came third with 103 points, 20 points behind the winner.

***

Ann-Kristin Kikki Danielsson (born May 10 1952 in Osby, Sweden) is a Swedish country, dansband and pop singer. Sometimes, she also plays the accordion and she has also written some lyrics. She is also famous for yodeling in some songs. Kikki Danielsson gained her largest popularity in the Nordic region from the late 1970s until the late 1990s. She also gained popularity at the US country stage during the 1980s. In 1986, she had the Kikki i Nashville TV show.

Totally, she has participated nine times at the Swedish Melodifestivalen and one time at the Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix. She has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twice, in 1982 (as a part of the Swedish pop and country group Chips with the song Dag efter dag, finishing 8th) and in the 1985  with the song Bra vibrationer, finishing 3rd.

Participations at Melodifestivalen:

1978:‎ Miss Decibel (with Lasse Holm & Wizex), 2nd
1980: Mycke' mycke' mer (as a member of Chips), 4th
1981: God Morgon (as a member of Sweets 'n' Chips), 2nd
1982: Dag efter dag (as a member of Chips), 1st
1983: Varför är kärleken röd, 2nd
1985: Bra vibrationer, 1st
1992: En enda gång, 4th
2002: Vem é dé du vill ha (with Elisabeth Andreasson & Lotta Engberg), 3rd
2006: Idag & imorgon, 10th

Participation at Norwegian national final:

2003: Din hånd i min hånd (with Elisabeth Andreasson & Lotta Engberg), 4th

Kikki Danielsson was born in Osby, but was adopted and lived on a farm in Älmhult, Småland from the age of five. There, she became the only child in the family while her younger sister was adopted to another place. As a five-year-old girl, Kikki Danielsson made her first singing performance, which occurred at the local Sunday school's Lucia party in her Småland home church, singing the Christmas song När Jesusbarnet låg en gång. As a child, she sang in the local church choir.

As a 17-year old girl, Kikki Danielsson begun as a singer in dansband Nickies and in 1973 she switched to another dansband, Wizex, with which she participated at the Swedish Melodifestivalen 1978. She left Wizex in 1982, but as a member of the pop and country group Chips, she participated at the Swedish Melodifestivalen 1980, 1981 and 1982. She has also been a popular Svensktoppen artist, with hits as the Melodifestivalen songs, but also other songs, like Papaya Coconut in 1987. She willingly sings country and has contributed in radio and TV shows in the U.S. in the 1980s.

During the second half of 1984, she married Swedish musician Kjell Roos, who led the dansband Roosarna, with which she sang between 1990 and 1999. In 1985 she gave birth to their first child. In late 1987 she released the Christmas album Min barndoms jular. Together with Roosarna, she had many Svensktoppen hits during the 1990s. In 1994, the dansband of the year prize at the Grammis was awarded to Kikki Danielsson & Roosarna. In 1999 she separated from Kjell Roos. However, the musical co-operation re-started in 2003.

Kikki Danielsson has also sang at the 2001 Stockholm Pride. Together with Lotta Engberg and Elisabeth Andreasson she participated at the Swedish Melodifestivalen 2002, together they called themselves Kikki, Bergarn & Lotten, had an own dinner show during the second half of 2002 and participated at the Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix in 2003. They also started a successful collaboration with the Swedish brand "twilfit" designing stretchy yet fashionable t-shirts.

Kikki Danielsson participated at Melodifestivalen 2006 with the song I dag & i morgon, written by Thomas G:son and Calle Kindbom, which reached the final in the Stockholm Globe Arena, where it finished at the 10th and last place.

From November 28-December 17, 2006, she toured Sweden with a band on the Julstämning med Kikki Christmas concert tour.

Her periods of problems with alcohol have been a popular topic of the Scandinavian press, as has her weight problem. Because of her weight problem, she appeared in Du är vad du äter, the Swedish version of You are what you eat, in 2006 where she made great progress and lost several pounds.

In January 2010, it was announced that Kikki Danielsson together with Sören Sulo Karlsson and The Diamond Dogs would record the single Maybe I'll Do, and on July 13 2010 she appeared at Allsång på Skansen. On 13 April 2011 she released the album Första dagen på resten av mitt liv, where she worked together with Sören Sulo Karlsson.

In 2012 kikki Danielsson starred in the film Sean Banan inuti Seanafrika, the film was panned by critics.

Friday, 29 June 2012

Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest - 1984


The Swedish Final was held on February 25th at the Lisebergshallen in Gothenburg, hosted by Fredrik Belfrage. The 10 songs were reduced to 5 finalists, after which the winner was chosen by the votes of 9 juries, with each jury being split according to the age of its members.

The winner were the three brothers Herrey, consisting of Richard, Louis and Per. Their song was called Diggi-loo diggi-ley, and was written by Britt Lindeborg and Torgny Söderberg.

Results:

01. Diggi-loo diggi-ley - Herreys, 49 points
02. Sankta Cecilia - Göran Folkestad & Lotta Pedersen, 41 points
03. Rendez-vous - John Ballard 39 points
04. Kall som is - Karin and Anders Glenmark, 33 points
05. Livet är som ett träd - Vicki Benckert, 27 points

other participants:

Nu är jag tillbaks igen - Janne Önnerud
Schack och matt - Caron Tetsill
Labyrint - Per-Erik Hallin
Kärleksmagi - Elisabeth Andreasson
Tjuvarnas natt - Thomas Lewing

Sweden was the first country to perform at ESC in 1984. In the voting, they received not less than 5 "douze points" from the other 18 countries. Finally the brothers were victorious, with a total of 145 points-8 points ahead of Ireland. Sweden had won exactly 10 years earlier, then represented by ABBA.

Here you can find more information about the Herreys.


Thursday, 28 June 2012

Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest - 1983


The Swedish Final, Melodifestivalen 1983, was held on February 26th at the Palladium in Malmö, hosted by Bibi Johns. 
The 10 songs were reduced to 5 finalists, and the winner was chosen by the votes of 11 regional juries.

The Winner, being the first participant ever to get maximum points from all of the eleven juries, was the 17-year old and then unknown Carola Häggkvist,
who quickly went on to be one of Sweden's most popular singers. The song she competed with was called Främling.
It was written by Lasse Holm and Monica Forsberg, who had also written the previous winning song together.

Results:

01. Främling - Carola Häggkvist, 88 points
02. Varför är kärleken röd - Kikki Danielsson, 45 points
03. Se - Karin Glenmark, 37 points
04. Marionett - Ritz, 34 points
05. Bara en enda gång - Ann-Louise Hanson & John Ballard, 27 points

other participants:

Här är min sång till dig - Kerstin Dahlberg
Vill du ha mig efter gryningen - Peter Lundblad & Agneta Olsson
Nu börjar mitt liv - Karina Rydberg
Okej, jag ger mig - Maria Wickman
Värmen som du gav - Nils-Åke Runesson

At the ESC in Munich Sweden ended up with 126 points and a 3rd place. It was also Sweden's 3rd best placement so far.

***
 
Carola Maria Häggkvist (born 8 September 1966), better known as Carola, is a Swedish singer and occasional songwriter.

She has been among Sweden's most popular performers since the early 1980s, and has released albums ranging from pop and disco to hymns and folk music. Her debut album, Främling, sold around one million copies and remains the biggest-selling album in Swedish music history. She has also worked as a songwriter. During her 25-year long career, she has recorded many top-selling albums and singles and is referred to as Sweden's most prominent female singer. Some of her biggest hits include Främling from 1983, Tommy tycker om mig from 1984, Fångad av en stormvind from 1991, All the Reasons to Live from 1992, I Believe in Love from 2001, Genom allt  from 2005 and Evighet from 2006.

Carola Häggkvist has represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest on three occasions: in 1983 finishing 3rd, in 1991 winning the contest and in 2006 finishing 5th.

Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest - 1982


The Swedish Final was held on February 27th at the Liseberghallen in Gothenburg, hosted by Fredrik Belfrage. The 10 songs were reduced to 5 finalists, which were then voted on by 9 juries that were formed according to the ages of its members.

The winning song, Dag Efter Dag, was written by by Lasse Holm and Monica Forsberg.

Results:

01. Dag Efter Dag - Chips, 64 points
02. Någonting har hänt - Lena Ericsson, 39 points
03. Hey-hi-ho - Liza Öhman, 33 points
04. Hallå hela pressen - Chattanooga, 28 points
05. Kärleken lever - Ann-Louise Hansson, 25 points

other participants:

Hand i hand med dig - Little Gerhard and Yvonne Olsson
Då kommer min ängel - Charlie Hilson
Här har du din morgondag - Annika Rydell and Lars Westman
Fender 62 - Shanes
Dags att börja om igen - Maria Wickman

At the ESC in Harrogate Sweden came 8th with 67 points.

***

Chips was a Swedish country and pop group, formed in 1979 by Kikki Danielsson and Lasse Holm, and split in 1983.

Chips finished 4th in the Swedish Melodifestivalen 1980 with the song Mycke' mycke' mer, with Lars Westman, Lisa Magnusson, Mats Rådberg and Monica Silverstrand as background singers. After Melodifestivalen 1980, Britta "Tanja" Johansson also became a member. In 1980, the album, Chips was released and short after this, Elisabeth Andreassen became a member. Just some weeks after this, they toured the former West Germany. In Düsseldorf the TV-show Show-Express became a great success for them.

Under the new name Sweets 'n Chips, which they used since a dansband also said they owned the right for the name Chips, the group competed at the Swedish Melodifestivalen 1981, and finished second with the song "God morgon". A little bit later the group was reduced to two members. Lasse Holm stayed as songwriter, but leftt all the singing for Elisabeth and Kikki.

With only Elisabeth and Kikki on stage, Chips won the Swedish Melodifestivalen 1982, with Elisabeth Andreassen and Kikki Danielsson singing the song Dag efter dag. They represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest 1982 in Harrogate in the United Kingdom, there they finished 8th.

After the 1982 Swedish Melodifestivalen success, the album Having a Party was released, and sold around 100 000 copies in Sweden. They toured the northern parts of Europe and had a successful 1982. However, the group was split in 1983. This because they didn't get more success outside Sweden and Norway, and also because both Elisabeth and Kikki had their solo careers.

Wednesday, 27 June 2012

Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest - 1981


The Swedish Final, Melodifestivalen 1981, was held on February 21 at the Cirkus in Stockholm, hosted by Janne Carlsson. The winning song was chosen by the votes of 11 regional juries.

After a tight race, the winner was a song called Fångad i en dröm, which was performed by Björn Skifs. Björn wrote the song together with Bengt Palmers.

5th, and last, came Kicki Moberg with the song Men natten är vår, written by Agnetha Fältskog and Ingela "Pling" Forsman.

Results:

01. Fångad i en dröm - Björn Skifs, 59 points
02. God morgon - Sweets 'n' Chips, 57 points
03. Rock 'n' Roll Mountain - Janne Lucas Persson, 50 points
04. Det är mitt liv - Anders glenmark, 41 points
05. Men natten är vår - Kicki Moberg, 28 points

At the ESC Sweden came 10th with 50 points.

***

Björn Nils Olof Skifs (born 20 April 1947 in Vansbro, Dalarna, Sweden) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, actor, and screenwriter.

Björn Skifs formed his first musical group Slam Creepers’ in 1963. Slam Creepers’ split in 1969 and he went on to form a new band, Blåblus, in 1972. As Blue Swede, the band had a #1 hit on Billboard Hot 100 in 1974 with a cover of Hooked on a Feeling. Björn Skifs left the band in 1976 to pursue a solo career. He recorded the duet Med varann with Anni-Frid Lyngstad for his 1975 album Schiffz.

Björn  Skifs appeared as The Arbiter on the original studio album for Chess, released in 1984. A single and video, The Arbiter's Song was released in 1985. Skifs also recorded several demos for the album, including One Night in Bangkok, later performed by Murray Head. Skifs did not perform the role on stage; in the original London production the character was played by Tom Jobe.

Povel Ramel gave Björn  Skifs the Karamelodiktstipendiet in 1984.

Björn Skifs represented Sweden twice in the Eurovision Song Contest, both in the 1978 contest and in the 1981 contest. In 1978 he came 14th with the song Det blir alltid värre framåt natten and in 1981 he came 10th with Fångad i en dröm. In 2000 he hosted Melodifestivalen, the Swedish heat of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Björn Skifs participated 4 times at Melodifestivalen:

1972: Andra kan väl också se, 9th
1975: Michelangelo, 5th
1978: Det blir alltid värre framåt natten, 1st
1981: Fångad i en dröm, 1st

In 2002 he had a major hit with the song Håll Mitt Hjärta which is a Swedish version of André de Lang's song Same Ol' Story. It stayed on Svensktoppen between 27 April 2003 and 8 January 2006 for a total of 142 weeks.

Tuesday, 26 June 2012

Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest - 1980


For the 25th Eurovision Song Contest, the Swedish entry was chosen in the national selection Melodifestivalen 1980. The Swedish Final was held on March 8th at the SVT TV Studios in Stockholm, hosted by Bengt Bedrup. The winning song was chosen by the votes of 11 regional juries. Tomas Ledin won with the song Just nu!, which he had written himself.

Results:

01. Just nu - Tomas Ledin, 112 points
02. Växeln hallå - Janne Lucas Persson, 96 points
03. Hit men inte längre - Liza Öhman, 94 points
04. Mycke' mycke' mer - Chips, 75 points
05. Låt solen värma dig - Ted Gärdestad & Annica Boller, 57 points
06. Utan att fråga - Kenta, 56 points
07. Jag ger mig inte - Eva Dahlgren, 48 points
08. Å sjuttiotal - Tania, 41 points
09. Tusen sekunder - Paul Paljett, 32 pointa
10. För dina bruna ögons skull - Lasse Lindbom, 27 points

At the final in The Hague, he came 10th (out of 19) with 47 points.

***

Tomas Folke Jonas Ledin (born 25 February 1952, in Rätan, Sweden) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer. He grew up in the town of Sandviken.

Tomas Ledin started his career in 1972 when his first single, Då ska jag spela, was a big hit. Other successful songs followed: Blå, blå känslor (1973), Knivhuggarrock" (1975), Festen har börjat (1976), and I natt är jag din (1977). At the beginning of the 70s, Ledin was influenced by hippie fashion and demonstrated against the Vietnam war. He also took part in a Swedish stage production of the musical Gospell in 1975 and performed in 140 concerts in the Swedish folkparks in 1977.

In 1979, ABBA member Benny Andersson offered him a chance to record for the group's company Polar Music. The singer joined ABBA on their 1979-1980 tour as a backing vocalist, but also got the opportunity to sing his own composition Not Bad at All during the show. Tomas Ledin also appeared on the ABBA Live DVD and on the Super Trouper Video.

Tomas participated several times at Melodifestivalen:

1972: Då ska jag spela, 8th
1977: Minns du Hollywood, 5th
1978: Mademoiselle, 5th
1979: Det liger i luften, 2nd
1980: Just nu, 1st

He won the Swedish Melodifestivalen in 1980 and represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest that year with Just nu!. The song was a big hit in Scandinavia, but also in Greece and Portugal since Ledin recorded an English version, Right Now!.

In 1982, he released the duet Never Again with Agnetha Fältskog of ABBA. The song reached number one in Chile (in its Spanish version Ya nunca más) and was popular across Europe. Ledin also composed Take Good Care of Your Children, which Agnetha Fältskog released in 1983 on her album Wrap Your Arms Around Me. Another composition by the singer, I Got Something, was released by Anni-Frid Lyngstad of ABBA on her album Something's Going On.

In the 80s, Ledin was very successful in Scandinavia but his career abroad failed to reach the same level. He nevertheless toured Germany and the Netherlands on a small scale in 1982, and the following year, he played in front of 60,000 people at the Olympic stadium in Berlin, in a show with other international acts.

He decided to put an end to his career in 1984 and started to act as a producer for Record Station, his wife's record company. He discovered other singers and successfully produced artists such as Pugh Rogefeldt and Magnus Uggla. In 1985, he organized a concert for ANC featuring several Swedish artists.

Three years later, Tomas Ledin started to compose again and wrote songs in English. The album Down on the Pleasure Avenue was released but was not successful. Ledin was very disappointed but started to compose again, in Swedish this time. He started to enjoy success again in 1990 when he released a compilation and a new album, Tillfälligheternas spel, and has been one of the best selling artists in Sweden since then.

In 2000, 260,000 copies of his compilation album Festen har börjat were sold in Sweden, which meant he was awarded three platinum records there. The same year he was also awarded a gold record in Finland for the first time. In 2002, he went on the biggest tour ever planned in Scandinavia and performed in 27 shows in Sweden and 8 shows in the rest of Scandinavia. More than 250,000 people saw this show in Northern Europe.

He has been married since 1983 to record company president Marie Ledin, daughter of Stig Anderson.

Monday, 25 June 2012

Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest - 1979


The Swedish Final, Melodifestivalen 1979, was held on February 17th at the Cirkus in Stockholm, hosted by Ulf Elfving. The winner was chosen by the votes of 11 regional juries. The popular pop singer Ted Gärdestad won with the song Satellit, which was composed by himself, while the lyrics were made by his brother, Kenneth Gärdestad.

01. Satellit - Ted Gärdestad, 105 points
02. Det ligger i luften - Tomas Ledin, 96 points
03. Om jag skriver en sång - Eva Dahlgren, 85 points
04. Det känns som jag vandrar fram - Ola+3, 85 points
05. Mer än bara över natten - Kjell Hansson
06. Tillsammans - Tomas Adolphson & Anders Falk, 58 points
07. Var det här bara början - Py Bäckman & Py Gang, 45 points
08. Nattens sång - Pontus Platin, 44 points
09. En egen fela - Timjan, 39 points
10. Johnny the Rocker - Magnus Uggla, 22 points

The contest was held in Jerusalem, and Sweden performed 15th. Ted finished only 17th out of 19, with 8 points.

***

Ted Gärdestad (born Ted Arnbjörn Gärdestad, 18 February 1956 – 22 June 1997 in Sollentuna, Sweden), was a Swedish singer, songwriter and musician.

At he age of fifteen Ted contacted Stig Anderson, who recognized Ted's talent and offered him a contract and introduced him to Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. In fact, all four members of ABBA worked with Ted in different capacities throughout the 1970s. After Ted released a couple of very successful singles he became very popular in Sweden.

Ted participated several times at Melodifestivalen:

1973: Oh, vilken härlig dag, 4th
1975: Rockin' and reelin', 7th
1977: Det bästa som finns (sung by Lena Andersson), 8th
1979: Satellit, 1st
1980: Låt solen värma dig (a duet with Annica Boller), 5th

After an unsuccessful return to Melodifestivalen in 1980 and disappointing sales of his albums Ted dropped out of the music scene at the age of 25. Having left the music business Ted had a brief and unsuccessful stint at acting and shortly thereafter began exploring meditation and Eastern religions. In 1983 he became a Bhagwan disciple and changed called himself Swami Sangit Upasani.

In 1986 Olof Palme, the Swedish Prime Minister, was murdered. Ted was wrongly mentioned in the Swedish media as the 33-year-old, a suspect in the investigation of the assassination, an accusation that naturally hit him hard.

On June 23 1997 it was announced that Ted at the age of 41 suddenly had decided to end his life by jumping in front of a train. This came as a shock to the entire nation.