The Swede Loreen is the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. We take a look at the life and career of the musician, who is not only well known to die-hard ESC fans.
With her song “Tattoo” the Swedish singer Loreen won the Eurovision Song Contest on May 13, 2023. The musician has thus secured a place in the ESC history books – she has won the competition for the second time. In 2012 she went home as the winner, back then with her song “Euphoria”. This makes her the second person in ESC history to do this: only Irish singer Johnny Logan had previously won the song contest twice (1980 and 1987).
Loreen, whose real name is Lorine Zineb Nora Talhaoui, was born on October 16, 1983 in Stockholm, Sweden, but grew up in Västerås (a city around 100 kilometers from Stockholm). Her parents are of Berber-Moroccan origin. She first drew attention to herself in 2004 as a participant in the Swedish talent show “Idol”, but ultimately only achieved fourth place. The following year, Rob ‘n’ Raz guest-singed on the band’s single “The Snake.” Around the same time, she began working as a TV presenter and as a producer on several reality shows.
She already aimed to take part in the song contest in 2011. At that time she took part in the Melodifestivalen — the Swedish preliminary round for the ESC. It didn’t work out the first time: Her song “My Heart Is Refusing Me” reached fourth place. Still, taking part brought her plenty of popularity in her home country — the single peaked at number 9 in the Swedish singles chart.
With “Euphoria” to the first ESC victory
The musician persevered — and competed again at the Melodifestivalen the following year. She had the piece “Euphoria” in her pocket, with which she was clearly voted number one by both the jury and the audience. Off we went to Baku, where the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was held. There she was able to clearly assert herself with a gap of 119 points to second-placed Russia. In the same year their debut album “Heal” was released, which reached the top of the charts in Sweden. The album was also a hit in other countries – it reached number 7 in Switzerland, number 16 in Germany, number 26 in Austria and number 71 in Great Britain.
In 2017, Loreen again took part in the Swedish preliminary round for the ESC, but had to admit defeat to singer Robin Bengtsson. In 2017 her second album “Ride” was released, which, however, only reached a place in the charts (31st place) in her home country. We know what happened next: in 2023 she competed again – and was sent to the ESC from her home country. Her single “Tattoo” reached the top of the single charts in Sweden before the ESC. Loreen entered the race as the favorite – and was able to convince both the jury and the audience. The fact that she went to the ESC again was a rather spontaneous decision, she explained to the German Press Agency. “To be honest, it wasn’t actually planned. But then there were kind of loud signs. I suddenly had this song. And he’s so beautiful. So much then happened around that the universe seemed to be directing me in that direction somehow.
From Bjork to Madonna
Loreen’s influences are diverse and go far beyond pop. So in the past she not only called Madonna and Whitney Houston, but also Björk and rappers like 2Pac and Kendrick Lamar, but also Enya as influences. She recently revealed to the “Standard” what her favorite winning songs in ESC history are: “Sometimes I need ‘Rise Like a Phoenix’ because I love the dramatic and cinematic so much. But sometimes I also need Abbas ‘Waterloo’”, says Loreen.