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Molly Dowrick

Eurovision 2023: Who is Loreen from Sweden and why can she compete when she's won before?

The Eurovision final is here and millions of us are transfixed to our TV screens as we watch the live broadcast of talented (and wild and whacky) singers and musicians from 26 countries perform on-stage at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool.

Representing the UK, up-and-coming British pop singer Mae Muller will perform I Wrote A Song whilst reigning champions Ukraine will be represented by Ukrainian electronic music duo Tvorchi with their track Heart of Steel.

And whilst we're unlikely to have previously come across many of the performers, there is one singer many Eurovision fans are sure to recognise: Sweden's Loreen.

Read more: Eurovision live updates as UK hosts grand final of the 2023 song contest

Lorine Zineb Nora Talhaoui, known professionally as Loreen, is this year's Swedish entry and will compete in the final after successfully qualifying in the first semi-final on Tuesday. But that wasn't her first time on the Eurovision stage as she actually competed back in 2012 - and won!

At the 2012 Eurovision final held in Baku, Azerbaijan, Loreen performed energetic pop song Euphoria, the third single from her debut album Heal. The song was written by Thomas G:son, Peter Boström and was produced by Boström and SeventyEight - and certainly took Eurovision by storm, scooping a total of 372 points, 113 points more than second place Russia, and at the time the second-highest point score in the Eurovision Song Contest's history.

Who is Loreen and when did she last perform on Eurovision?

Loreen qualified for the final after wowing the judges and viewers in the semi-final on Tuesday (Vesa Moilanen/REX/Shutterstock)

Loreen is the stage name of Swedish singer Lorine Zineb Nora Talhaoui. She is 39 years old and hails from the Swedish capital, Stockholm.

Ever since Loreen was young, she always wanted to be a musician and first rose to fame when she took part in Idol 2004, the Swedish version of Pop Idol, at the age of 20, finishing in fourth place.

The following year, she released her first single The Snake, with popular Swedish band Rob'n'Raz. She later became a television presenter on entertainment channel TV400 and then a producer for Swedish reality TV shows.

In 2011, she entered Melodifestivalen, an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR) whose winner gets the opportunity to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest.

For the competition, she performed her song My Heart is Refusing Me and got through to the programme's semi-final, but failed to qualify for the final after she lost a sing-off against fellow participant Sara Varga.

The following year, 2012, Loreen competed on Melodifestivalen again, this time with her song Euphoria. She passed the semi-final and qualified for the final - which she won on March 10, 2012.

After winning Melodifestivalen, Loreen took her song to Eurovision 2012 in Azerbaijan. There, she qualified in the semi-final and won the grand final with 372 points!

Euphoria became a hit across Europe and received acclaim from many music critics. Commercially, it debuted at number 12 in Sweden and soon reached number one, where it stayed for six weeks. Euphoria has been certified as a "10 times Platinum" song, having sold 400,000 copies.

Outside of Sweden, Euphoria reached number one in 16 countries across Europe, the most chart-topping positions of any Eurovision winner.

Why can Loreen perform when she's won before?

Swedish entrant Loreen during the dress rehearsal for the Eurovision Song Contest final 2023 (Aaron Chown/PA Wire)

Under the official rules for the Eurovision Song Contest, performers can compete in the programme more than once - even if they've won previously. However, the rules do stipulate that performers may not perform a song they've previously performed on Eurovision or a song that has been "made available to the public" or "publicly performed" before the official Eurovision song list release date.

The official rules say: "Each song which competes in the Eurovision Song Contest shall be selected through a national selection to be organised by each Participating Broadcaster. The national selection is organised under the sole responsibility of the Participating Broadcaster in question.

"The songs (lyrics and music compositions) submitted to represent the country of each Participating Broadcaster’s country in the ESC must be original and must not have been released and/or publicly performed in part or in-full before the Release Date.

"In case the song submitted has been made available to the public, for example, but not limited to, on online video platforms, social networks or (semi-) publicly accessible databanks and/or performed publicly, for example but not limited to during concerts, prior to the Release Date the Participating Broadcaster must inform the ESC Executive Supervisor, who shall have authority to evaluate whether the song remains eligible for participation in the Contest."

With this in mind, Loreen is permitted to perform at Eurovision again as she is performing a new song, Tattoo, that she has not previously performed at Eurovision or in concerts or public performances that breach the rules of the competition.

She has qualified for tonight's final after finishing in the top 10 entries in the first semi-final on Tuesday.

READ MORE

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