Swedish singer Loreen will represent her country in the Eurovision Song Contest for the second time in the 2023 edition of the contest.
Loreen will perform the song ‘Tattoo’ in the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest, which will be held in England for the first time since 1998, with the city of Liverpool hosting this year.
She managed to qualify for the 2023 final, which will take place on Saturday, May 13, 2023, giving Sweden another chance to win the famous trophy.
So, who is Loreen anyway? Has Sweden won the Eurovision Song Contest before? Has the country ever failed to qualify for the final stage of the competition?
Here’s everything you need to know about Loreen and Swedish Eurovision history.
Loreen performs at the Preparty of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Madrid, Spain, in preparation for the contest
Loreen will represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest for the second time, having taken home the trophy at her previous performance in 2012. She is seen here at the 2012 contest in Baku after her win
She is seen here on the turquoise carpet outside St George’s Hall in Liverpool during the opening ceremony of the 2023 edition of Eurovision
Loreen is present at the Eurovision Preparty, which was held in Amsterdam in April 2023. A win for her and Sweden would put them level with the Republic of Ireland with seven Eurovision wins
Who is Loren?
Lorine Zineb Nora Talhaoui was born in the Swedish capital Stockholm, before moving to the city of Vasteras.
She wanted to be a musician and in 2004 appeared on the Swedish talent show Idol, under the name Loren Talhaoui. Despite initially being eliminated in the qualifying round, she received a wildcard from the show’s judges and would go on to finish fourth overall.
After presenting the Swedish TV show Lyssna, she took an extended hiatus and only returned to the public eye in 2011. She returned with an appearance at that year’s Melodifestivalen, finishing fourth in the competition’s second semi-final.
Loreen’s big break came in 2012 when, after winning the Melodifestivalen, she was chosen to represent Sweden at that year’s edition of Eurovision.
Her song ‘Euphoria’ would go on to win the competition for Sweden, with the song entering the UK Official Singles Chart at number three.
She then released her debut album ‘Heal’ which would go on to top the charts in Sweden and go platinum certified.
Outside of music, Loreen has also made a number of appearances on screen. In addition to roles on Swedish TV, she was part of the cast of the Swedish-language film ‘JJ+E’, which will air in 2021.
She has used her platform as a singer to engage extensively in political activism, most notably meeting Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai in 2014.
Loreen made her fourth appearance at the Melodifestivalen in February 2023, entering her song ‘Tattoo’, which would win the contest and allow her to take part in Eurovision for the second time.
Did Sweden win the Eurovision Song Contest?
Including Loreen’s win in 2012, Sweden has a proud history in the Eurovision Song Contest, winning the competition a total of six times since its inception in 1956.
ABBA was largely unknown outside Sweden before entering the Eurovision Song Contest, but would go on to achieve international acclaim. Pictured: Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad perform ‘Waterloo’ at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest
This puts them second behind the Republic of Ireland, who have seven, for the most wins in the Eurovision Song Contest.
In the 1974 contest, a group largely unknown to the public outside of Sweden by the name of ABBA entered ‘Waterloo’.
While many of the band had previously achieved success in various bands, Bjorn, Benny, Agnetha and Anni-Frid were catapulted to fame after winning the Eurovision Song Contest.
With more than 150 million records sold and writing hits like ‘Dancing Queen’, ‘Mamma Mia’ and ‘Fernando’, ABBA is undoubtedly the band that has achieved the most success after appearing in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Herrey’s performance of ‘Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley’ gave Sweden victory in 1984. The country’s other victories came in 1991, with Carola’s ‘Fangad Av En Stormvind’ 1999, courtesy of the song ‘Take Me To Your Heaven’ from Charlotte Nilsson.
Pictured: Loreen performing in the first semi-final of the 2023 contest, which she entered with her song ‘Tattoo’ after winning the Melodifestivalen
Has Sweden ever failed to qualify for the Eurovision Song Contest?
Sweden made its debut in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1958 and has missed just three games – in 1964, 1970 and 1976 – since its first appearance.
During the 1997 edition of the event, Sweden was one of the first countries to introduce a televoting system for viewers.
In 2010, Anna Bergendahl became the first Swedish representative not to qualify for the final.
Since the introduction of semifinals to the competition in 2004, Sweden has become, along with Ukraine, one of only two countries to have won the Eurovision Song Contest multiple times.