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Throwaback Thursday: An everlasting piece of art?

It’s Thursday, so that can only mean one thing: another Throwback Thursday. This week, we’re going to look at Sweden, the only country that has won twice this decade.

When Sweden suddenly became a powerhouse

It’s fair to say that Sweden has had mixed fortunes this century. In the beginning, they were able to stay mostly on the left-hand-side of the scoreboard. However, things started to go downhill in the mid 00’s, up to the point when Sweden had a DNQ on their record in 2010.
With Christer Björkman at the helm, Sweden has successfully turned their fortunes around quickly. They not only qualified the following year, in 2011, with “Popular” – it came third! – and the year after that, the nation sent Idol alumnus Loreen to Baku.

“We’re going up, up, up, up, u-up!”

Going back to 2012, I did not pay much attention to Eurovision until this point. I only watched the Grand Final. When I heard “Euphoria” on stage, I did not pay attention to it the slightest bit and thought it sounded like Madonna’s Frozen.
However, after Sweden and Loreen won, I wanted to know more, this is when I got sucked into the Eurovision fandom and how my Eurovision obsession started.
You have Loreen to thank for a few reasons. Firstly, I would not be here writing this article right now had I not heard “Euphoria” being performed at Eurovision. Second, I would not have met so many lovely people in this fandom.

“I WOULD NOT HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY!!!”

What the others had to say:

Hlynur

Where to start? With strong upbeat songs in the top two this year, I hoped “Euphoria” would get some rest. (That is, bring it on Toy and Fuego!) However, ironically, my hopes were shattered with this ThrowBack article! 😉 Don’t get me wrong, this is not a bad song and can be fun to dance to. But somehow it feels like after all this time I get to hear it almost every time I go out. It’s time to give it a break i feel. However my favourite in 2012 was Malta.  Although if I were to pick my favourite today from that year I would pick Hungary!

Katja

During the Melfest season that year, I was fully on the “Euphoria” bandwagon as Loreen’s performance blew me away in the first heat in Växjö. However, prior to the contest in Baku, there was a bit too much of it. The hype that “Euphoria” was getting almost made me have an aversion towards the song, instead of loving it even more. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good song and together with Loreen’s performance, it’s a groundbreaking package Eurovision-wise and its win was fully deserved, it’s just that it’s a bit too overhyped in the fandom nowadays. I would love to hear the demo version of it though, which is rumoured to be very schlager sounding.

Rodrigo

From the first performance in Melfest this was a Eurovision winner. No contest, no nothing*. There was not a single song that year that even came a close second to what this did for the Eurovision brand. Loreen single handedly made Eurovision cool again and got some sceptics curious. The song itself is (wait for it)… an everlasting piece of art. Anyone outside of the Eurovision bubble can at least hum it and I’ve danced to it in one too many non-European countries. Sweden must have done something right in 2012… yet again…
* The fact that Russia even came close in Baku remains an insult I have found hard to forgive… Europe, what were you thinking?!

Sara

Unlike most of the Eurovision fandom, I don’t find Euphoria to be that big of a “masterpiece”. Don’t get me wrong – it’s a very well made song that deserved the success it had (and as a Swede, I was thrilled to experience a victory after years of bad results), and Loreen’s performance managed to be intricate and elevate the song to another dimension, while also remaining fairly simple by Eurovision standards. That being said, it’s not one of my favorite Eurovision winners, nor is it even close to being in my own personal top 10 of 2012, but I can definitely understand why so many people love it.
What do you think of Sweden’s “Euphoria”? Do you think that Sweden will match Ireland’s record any time soon? Let us know your opinions and thoughts below or at social media @ESCXTRA

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