SVT, the Swedish national broadcaster has announced that Måns Zelmerlöw will have five backing singers when he competes at the Eurovision Song Contest this coming May, two more than in Melodifestivalen.
While the five singers will not be seen by the television audience, they will be a vital part of Måns’s performance. Sweden’s Deputy Head of Delegation, Mari Forsman Ryberger, explained:
We must have more singers because we can’t use a pre-recorded backing-track at Eurovision.
Sweden’s five backing vocalists are:
Britta Bergström
Britta has sung backing vocalists for Carola, Robyn and Jennifer Brown. She’s provided backing vocals at Melodifestivalen on many occasions, including 1996, 2003, 2004, 2005 and most recently, in 2013 with the band, Army of Lovers and 2015 with Molly Pettersson Hammar.
Michael Blomqvist
Freelance musician Michael has performed in tours, on the television and at gala concerts with artists like Sheeba, Carola, Tomas Ledin, Paul Young, Charlotte Nilsson. He was part of the original line-up of three that supported Måns at Melodifestivalen earlier this year.
Linnea Deb
Linnea, who co-wrote Måns’s song Heroes with her husband, Joy, has sung backing vocals with Ace of Base and Metallica. She also sang on Måns’ two albums Cara mia and Hope & glory, as well as Carola’s Från nu till evighet.
Alexander Holmgren
Alexander finished sixth in Sweden’s X Factor in 2012 and has since toured with Måns and worked with many other songwriters.
Jeanette Olsson
Jeanette provided backing vocals at Melodifestivalen for Fredrik Kempe in 2004 and Linda Bengtzing in 2008. Prior to that, she was backing vocalist for Antique, who finished in third place at the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 for Greece. She has recorded with Britney Spears and Kate Ryan.
Mans Zelmerlow will represent Sweden at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest with his entry Heroes.
