Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest - 1990

The Swedish final, Melodifestivalen 1990, was held on March 9th at the Rondo in Gothenburg, hosted by Carin Hjulström. The winning song was chosen by the votes of 11 regional juries.

Edin-Ådahl won the contest, beating 1983 representative Carola Häggkvist to second place. Their song, written by Mikael Wendt, was Som en vind.

Results:

01. Som en vind - Edin-Ådahl, 99 points
02. Mitt i ett äventyr - Carola Häggkvist, 84 points
03. Varje natt - Lisbeth Jagedal, 76 points
04. Handen på hjärtat - Sofia Källgren, 75 points
05. Vi vill ha värme - N'Gang, 73 points
06. Sången över havet - Lizette Pålsson, 56 points
07. Jag ser en stjärna falla - Elisabeth Andreasson, 53 points
08. En gång till - Lotta Engberg, 49 points
09. En sensation - Peter Jöback, 43 points
10. Symfonin - Loa Falkman, 30 points

At the contest Sweden performed 18th. At the close of the voting they had received 24 points, being placed 16th of 22 countries competing.

***

Edin-Ådahl were a Swedish CCM (Contemporary Christian music) group from 1977 to 1994, composed of brothers Bertil & Lasse Edin and Simon & Frank Ådahl. The group are most well known for their 1990 hit Som en vind. It won the 1990 Melodifestivalen and went on to place 16 at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Simon Ådahl participated in 1995 together with Lasse Edin with the song Följ dina drömmar which came 5th. Another song, Revival, rose to No. 3 in Sweden's radio charts.

Their English albums had similar production quality when compared to secular albums, but suffered from poor distribution and "lousy lyrics".

Frank Ådahl was the voice of Simba in the Swedish version of the 1994 animated film The Lion King. Two of the brothers released solo albums on Refuge in 1985. Bertil Edin released Cross The Border, and Simon Ådahl I'm In Touch. Lasse Edin formed a band called The Outsiders in 1990.

Dead by April

Dead by April is a Swedish melodic metal band from Gothenburg, formed in February 2007. The band consists of Jimmie Strimell, Zandro Santiago, Marcus Wesslén, Alex Svenningsson and Pontus Hjelm. They released their self-titled debut album in May 2009. In 2010 the two guitarists, Pontus Hjelm and Johan Olsson, left the band. Pontus, remained a songwriter for the band, however rejoined as the session guitarist, then later as a permanent member.

The band was formed in early 2007, when Jimmie Strimell, the lead singer of Nightrage, decided to collaborate with songwriter and former Cipher System member Pontus Hjelm to form Dead by April. During the band's early days in 2007 and 2008, the band did not release any physical media, though most of the songs that they gave to friends were quickly leaked out to several peer-to-peer-sites, with the first songs being Lost and Stronger. During this time, they also played in local venues around Gothenburg.

On March 27, 2010, Dead by April headlined the Norwegian festival Rock mot Rus together with several Norwegian acts such as Turdus Musicus, Moddi, Cyaneed, Jodski, Purified in Blood etc. The band continued touring with Purified in Blood until early May.

On April 23, 2010, it was announced on the band's official MySpace page that Pontus Hjelm (guitarist, songwriter and singer) had officially left Dead by April. The reason for his departure was because he didn't want to continue as a band member, he wanted to focus on being a songwriter. Although Pontus would no longer be an official band member, he wanted to continue writing music for Dead by April, telling the fans that nothing is different in the songwriting department. The replacement for Pontus Hjelm became Zandro Santiago. Although Zandro only provides vocals, the band felt that it did not change much of the sound to continue with only one guitarist.

On May 17, the band released the fourth single of their debut album. Unlike any other Dead by April-single release, this single was a double A-Side entitled Love Like Blood/Promise Me. Besides that Love Like Blood is a Killing Joke cover, it marks the very first track recorded by Dead by April with their new singer, Zandro Santiago. Promise Me, however, already appeared on the album.

On October 22, 2010, it was announced that Johan would be leaving the band, citing personal issues, as well as focusing on his clothing range. The band searched for a new guitarist via FaceBook and YouTube. However, they later revealed on their Facebook page that Pontus would act as a session player on their upcoming album and whilst on tour.

During Dead by April's UK tour with My Passion, Johan was replaced by guitarist Joel Nilsson.

In August 2010, they released a teaser for a new song called Within My Heart, which was released, along with the new album, in early 2011. The album is heavier and more dynamic than their self-titled album. The song More Than Yesterday has been played live on tour in the UK and Sweden and will feature on the new album, as well as the compilation album, Stronger. Jimmie released a demo recording of it on his YouTube channel.

On December 7, it was announced that a new compilation album called Stronger would be released on January 25, 2011. It contains a demo version of More Than Yesterday, three heavier versions of their songs and some tracks that have already been released.

During shows in Russia, DeathDestruction drummer Jonas Ekdahl, was replacing Alexander while he is resting his ears. Jonas will remain as a session drummer for the coming 3 to 5 months.

On January 24, 2011, Dead by April released the compilation album Stronger. On April 19, 2011, Dead by April confirmed the mixing was complete for their newest album via their Facebook page. On May 2, 2011, Dead by April announced that their first single of their second album would be Within My Heart. This was released digitally on May 16, 2011 and included two more songs - a new song called Two Faced and a re-recorded version of Unhateable. Later it was confirmed that the band would perform at the Sonisphere Festival in Sweden on July 9.

Dead By April performed in Melodifestivalen in early 2012 and went into the finals. The band placed 7th, using the song Mystery. They have also announced that they are currently working on a new album, which includes former guitarist Pontus Hjelm. He is believed to be back in the band.

Updating old posts

I'm currently in the process of updating all my old posts, expanding them with extra information and facts. To date I've updated all posts from June 2010 until June 2012.

Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest - 1989

Sweden chose their song and singer for the Eurovision Song Contest 1989 in the national preselection Melodifestivalen 1989 which was held at the Globe Theatre in Stockholm on March 11th, hosted by Yvonne Ryding-Bergquist & John Crispinsson. The winning song was chosen by 11 regional juries.

With a small mariginal, the winner was Tommy Nilsson with the power ballad En dag, written by Tim Norell, Ola Håkansson and Alexander Bard.

Results:

01. En dag - Tommy Nilsson, 113 points
02. Upp över mina öron - Eriksson-Glenmark, 108 points
03. Mitt ibland änglar - Fingerprints, 80 points
04. Du (öppnar min värld) - Lisa Nilsson, 74 points
05. Okey okey - Lill & Sussie, 67 points
06. Nattens drottning - Haakon Pedersen & Elisabeth Berg, 67 points
07. Världen är vår - Visitors & Sofia Källgren, 50 points
08. Genom eld - Cajsa Bergström, 39 points
09. När stormen går - Catrin Olsson, 29 points
10. Jorden är din - True Blue, 19 points       

The song was drawn #10 at the contest in Lausanne, Switzerland. It scored very well, receiving a total of 110 points, making Sweden finish 4th, only 1 point behind their neighbour Denmark.

***

Erik Tommy Nilsson (March 11 1960, Köping) is a Swedish singer and composer. Swedish critics state that he has one of the best voices of Sweden.

In the late 70's, Tommy was the singer of Swedish heavy metal band Horizont. The group released two albums but a French producer, Yves Accary, contacted Nilsson and signed him to a French record company. The singer enjoyed his first big hit in France in 1981 with the song No Way No How. The single sold one million copies and the album 200 000 copies. No Way No How, his first album, included disco tracks and ballads. A follow up LP Tommy Nilsson was released in 1982 and this time the songs were composed by Tommy Nilsson and Alex R Contanstinos. This was a rock album, recorded in Stockholm and Los Angeles, but it did not sell very well and after two years of travelling between France and the United States, Nilsson decided to go back to Sweden.

He first joined another metal band, Easy Action, and they released two albums. The group eventually split up and Nilsson started a solo career. He represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1989 with the ballad En dag and placed 4th. He has also made several Swedish hits in Sweden; Allt som jag känner (a duet with Tone Norum) in 1987, Öppna din dörr in 1994, Dina färger var blå in 1996, and Amelia in 2005. In 1988, he was given an award for best Swedish male artist and in 1990 received a gold disc for his album Follow the Road.

In 1997, Tommy co-starred with Mary Wilson of the Supremes in "SupremeSoul", the story of a black singer who arrives in Sweden to do a show with a white singer. The show consisted of music, as well as humorous moments that highlighted culture differences between Sweden and the United States of America.

In 2001, a compilation of his songs En samling 1981-2001, went platinum in Sweden. Nilsson has also collaborated with Swedish television, dubbed cartoons, and acted in several plays. In 2005, his album Tiden före nu reached # 2 on the Swedish sales chart just after its release.

Nilsson took part in Melodifestivalen again in 2007. He performed the power ballad Jag tror på människan in Melodifestivalen 2007's first semi final in Jönköping and qualified for the final round, along with Anna Book. The song placed tenth and last in the final after failing to receive any points from the judges or the televoting audience. Nevertheless Jag tror på människan reached #9 on the Svensktoppen.

The singer played the part of Captain von Trapp in the musical The Sound of Music that ran in Stockholm beginning 29 September 2007, ending with a tour and the last performance in Örebro in May 2008.

Nilsson has been married to the Swedish actress Malin Berghagen.

Nilsson is also known for his dubbing work for animated films and series, including Top Cat, Batman: The Animated Series, The Busy World of Richard Scarry, among others. He dubbed Mel Gibson's voice of John Smith in Pocahontas.

Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest - 1988

The Swedish final, Melodifestivalen 1988, was held on February 27th at the Malmö Stadsteater, hosted by Bengt Grafström. The 12 songs were reduced to 6 finalists before the winner was chosen by 11 regional juries. 

The runaway winner was the ballad Stad i ljus sung by Tommy Körberg, who also had represented Sweden at the 1969 contest. This time his song was written by Py Bäckman. It was the first time in the eighties that the Swedish entry was a ballad.

Results:

01. Stad i ljus - Tommy Körberg, 84 points
02. Om Igen - Lena Philipsson, 55 points
03. 100% - Lotta Engberg with Triple & Touch, 47 points
04. Bang, en explosion - Haakon Pedersen, 33 points
05. Dansa med vindarna - All Of A Sudden, 26 points
06. I en ding ding värld - Annica Burman, 19 points

other participants:

Säg är det sant? - Karin Ljung & Michael Nannini
Nästa weekend - Uffe Persson
Måndag i mitt liv - Billy Gezon
Kärlek är... - Sten Nilsson & Nilsonettes
Det är kärlek - Siw Malmkvist
Bara du och jag - Paul Rein

Sweden performed second at the contest and received a total of 52 points and finished 12th.

Here you can find more information about Tommy Körberg.

Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest - 1987

The Swedish Final was held on February 21st at Lisebergshallen in Gothenburg, hosted by Fredrik Belfrage. The 12 songs were reduced to 6 finalists and the winning song was then chosen by the votes of 9 juries containing members of the public which were split according to the ages of the jurors.

The winning song was Fyra Bugg och en Coca-Cola which was performed by Lotta Engberg, and written/composed by Christer Lundh and Mikael Wendt.

Results:

01. Fyra Bugg & en Coca Cola - Lotta Engberg, 59 points
02. Högt över havet - Arja Saijonmaa. 58 points
03. När morgonstjärnan brinner - Cyndee Peters, 46 points
04. Alexandra - Sound of Music, 44 points
05. Dansa i neon - Lena Philipsson, 43 points
06. Hand i hand - Style, 29 points

other participants:

Nya illusioner - Annica Johnsson
Ung och evig - Paul Sahlin & Anne Kihlström
Flyktingen - Jan-Eric Karlzon
Leva livet - Baden-Baden
Sommarnatt - Robert Wells
Det finns en morgondag - Anna Book

As the songs title contained the trademark names Coca-Cola and the Swedish chewing gum Bugg, the European Broadcasting Union demanded that the lyrics would be changed before the Brussels final, so the song was renamed Boogaloo. It was drawn to perform at start position 12. After the voting, Sweden had received 50 points, which led to a 12th place (out of 22). This was the worst placement for Sweden in eight years.

***

Anna Charlotte Lotta Engberg, is a Swedish dansband and pop singer, born 5 March 1963 in Överkalix, Norrbotten County and raised in Laxå, Örebro County. She now lives in Alingsås with her husband. She hosts the Swedish sing-along show Lotta på Liseberg.

Under her maiden name, Pedersen, she made her debut in the Sveriges Television program Nygammalt in 1980 when she was 17. She was also a member of the Trioala, an a cappella choir. Later, she received a permanent place in the TV program's choir.

Lotta Engberg won Melodifestivalen 1987 with Fyra bugg & en Coca Cola and represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1987. She has before and since then performed in Melodifestivalen several times:

1984: Sankta Cecilia (together with Göran Folkestad), 2nd
1985: En helt ny dag, not selected
1987: Fyra Bugg & en Coca Cola, 1st
1988: 100% (together with Triple & Touch), 3rd
1990: En gång till, 8th
1996: Juliette & Jonathan, 3rd
2002: Vem é dé du vill ha (with Kikki Danielsson and Elisabeth Andreasson), 3rd
2012: Don't let me down (with Christer Sjögren), 3rd in the fourth semi-final

In 2003 Lotta participated at the Norwegian nation final for the ESC. Together with Kikki Danielsson and Elisabeth Andreasson she sang the song Din hånd i min hånd and came 4th.

On October 2, 1999 Sweden issued a postage stamp with her portrait.

She is also a successful TV host. Since August 2008, she has hosted the Swedish game show Bingolotto, which she will leave in the summer of 2011.

Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest - 1986

The Swedish Final was held on March 22nd at the Cirkus in Stockholm, hosted by Lennart Swahn & Tommy Engstrand. The 10 songs were presented as videoclips, and after 5 finalists were chosen, these songs were performed live . The winning song was chosen by 9 groups of people, the groups being split according to the age of its members.

At Melodifestivalen 1986, no orchestra was used, and instead the ten songs were broadcast as music videos. The five songs that qualified for the second round were performed live with a backing track.

The winners were Lasse Holm and Monica Törnell with their song E' de' det här du kallar kärlek? which was written by Lasse Holm.

Results:

01. E' de' det här du kallar kärlek? - Lasse Holm & Monica Törnell, 64 points
02. Kärleken är evig - Lena Philipsson, 42 points
03. Dover-Calais - Style, 33 points
04. Eldorado - Sound of Music, 26 points
05. ABC - Anna Book, 24 points

other participants:

ABCD - Dan Tillberg
Du förför mig - Git Persson
Jag har en dröm - Baden-Baden
Fem i tolv - Fredrik Willstrand
Stopp, stopp, stanna - Karin Risberg

At the ESC in Bergen, Sweden came 5th.

Lars-Eric Gustav, Lasse, Holm, born December 9 1943 in Stockholm, Sweden, is known as a composer, lyricist and singer.

Since childhood, he was interested in music and was a member of a lot of pop music and rock music groups in the 1960s: Doug and the Millsmen, The Spacemen and The Moonlighters. During the 1980s, he was a songwriter for Chips and country band Mats Rådberg & Rankarna.

***

Lasse Holm is mostly known as a schlager composer and he has, by himself or in collaboration with others, written five winning songs in the Swedish Melodifestivalen: Dag efter dag (Chips, 1982), Främling (Carola Häggkvist, 1983), Bra vibrationer (Kikki Danielsson, 1985), E' de' det här du kallar kärlek (a duet by Holm and Monica Törnell, 1986) and Eloise (Arvingarna, 1993). Other hits written by Lasse Holm include Canneloni Macaroni, Växeln hallå (recorded by Janne Lucas Persson), Högt över havet, (recorded by Arja Saijonmaa), Då lyser en sol (recorded by Elisabeth Andreassen), and Papaya Coconut(recorded by Kikki Danielsson).

Holm has hosted a number of Swedish TV shows such as Sikta mot stjärnorna, Pictionary and Diggiloo.

***

Monica Kristina Ingeborg Törnell, (born June 3, 1954 in Trönö, Hälsingland, Gävleborg County, Sweden) is a Swedish singer and songwriter. After being discovered by Cornelis Vreeswijk 1971, she was a prominent singer in several genres, mainly folk and rock music, for over two decades. Together with Lasse Holm, she represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1986 in Bergen, Norway.