The Swedish winner Friends produced a song which is almost similar to the Belgian entry of 1996 (16th place) !!! The Swedish entry has got exactely the same chorus as “Liefde is een kaartspel” (Love is a cardgame) from Belgium, performed by Lisa del Bo.

The Belgian song ended up at the 16th place in the Eurovision Song Contest of 1996. “We won”t use a song which ended up on the 16th place”, one of the composers of “Lyssna till ditt hjärta” said. The Swedish entry for 2001 was chosen during the Melodifestival last Friday.

Per Bjurman, journalist for the Swedish Aftonbladet, wrote an article about the “stolen” song “Lyssna till ditt hjärta”. The ESC organisation at the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) and the Swedish broadcaster SVT are “shocked by this story” and started an investigation emediately.