Bert Karlsson, the boss of Mariann Records and a prominent figure in the Swedish Eurovision scene will be involved in a local version of Operacion Triunfo later this year. Eurovision website ESCOL reported that.
Operacion Triunfo was a concept created by the Spanish departement of Endemol television, which is a Dutch company. Endemol also created Big Brother and Popstars.
Bert Karlsson has been involved in the Swedish Melodifestival the past years with his record company, providing the backing for many songs which have reached the finals. Some people think that he intent on taking over the Swedish national selection with his brand of commercial easy-listening music, in Sweden known as dansband.
TV3, a Swedish cable channel, is said to broadcast the show. Karlsson has suggested the lead singer of recent Melodifestival contenders Barbados, Magnus Carlsson as host of the show.
The competitors taking part in the Swedish spin-off show, Drömfabriken, will live together in a specially built house in the town of Skara, the home of Karlsson his music and theme park empire. As in the Spanish original, the young performers between 16 and 25, will be prepared for stardom in front of cameras. Five shows will be broadcasted on TV3 each week and a jury will vote out one contestant each week.
Whilst Drömfabriken has not yet been confirmed to have a direct connection with the Swedish Eurovision selections, it is likely that Karlsson will draw heavily on the winning candidates to front songs submitted to the 2003 Melodifestival committee, which might end up in a unique 'cooperation' between public broadcaster SVT and commercial channel TV3.
Special thanks to ESCOL
