Alcazar is a Swedish nu-disco group. Alcazar is one of Sweden's most successful music groups both nationally and internationally with a string of hits since their debut single in 1999. Worldwide, Alcazar sold over 12 million records between 2001 and 2004. Alcazar also had success globally with their song "Crying at the Discoteque", having charted in USA, Brazil, Australia, Japan and most countries in Europe.
Later editions of Casino contain a cover of The Human League's hit "Don't You Want Me", which also served as the third single off the album. In the United States, Alcazar gained moderate success. "Crying at the Discoteque" peaked at No. 44 and "Don't You Want Me" peaked at No. 30 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play.[2]
In December 2002, Lundstedt's boyfriend at the time, Magnus Carlsson, joined the group. Their second album, Alcazarized, was released in Sweden in 2003 and became a big hit. It was released internationally in 2004 with new cover artwork and a slightly different track list. In September 2004, Alcazar released "This Is the World We Live In".[3] The song samples Diana Ross's 1980 hit single "Upside Down" and re-uses the lyrics and melody from Genesis' 1986 single "Land of Confusion".[3]
Their follow-up single, "Physical", also sampled an older hit: Londonbeat's "I've Been Thinking About You".[4] The singles were followed up by the album Dancefloor Deluxe, which was released in Sweden in August 2004. In the winter of 2004/2005 they released the Christmas single "Here I Am". Alcazar enjoyed considerable success in 2004 in their home country, Sweden.
2005 saw the release of the single "Start the Fire". During the making of its music video, Kjærgaard had an accident in which she broke her foot.[5]
In the autumn of 2005, the band decided to take a break. Lundstedt moved on to musicals and played the lead in Saturday Night Fever, while Tess became a professional poker player.[6]
In May 2007, the band did a one-off performance in London at the night club G-A-Y, together with Swedish colleagues BWO and Army of Lovers, and invited their friend Lina Hedlund to join them on stage. It all turned out to be a very successful combination and a few months later the "New Alcazar" was formed.[5]
In January 2008, their first and comeback single "We Keep on Rockin'", written and produced by Anders Hansson, was released. The single quickly turned into a hit and only a week after the release the single passed gold status in sales.[5] In March 2009, the new album Disco Defenders was released in Sweden. The album contains two discs. CD one: 12 brand new tracks including "We Keep on Rockin´", "Burning", "Harlem Nights", and "Stay the Night". CD two: 11 best of songs, among them "Crying at the Discoteque", "This Is the World We Live In" and "Don't You Want Me". Disco Defenders received great reviews from the Swedish critics.[5]
In 2010, Alcazar recorded a duet with British pop group Same Difference, the song was entitled "Karma Karma".[7] It was included on Same Difference's second album The Rest Is History. Although not officially released as a single, the song charted on Swedish iTunes thanks to Alcazar's popularity in their homeland.[7]
Alcazar is also working on a their fourth studio album. The follow-up to 2009's Disco Defenders will include songwriting by German newcomer Victor Finke.[8] The new single "Good Lovin" was released in August 2014.
Melodifestivalen
Alcazar have taken part in Melodifestivalen, the annual competition that selects Sweden's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest, on numerous occasions. In 2003, "Not a Sinner, Nor a Saint" initially failed to qualify for the final, but got a wildcard in the second chance round, finishing 3rd overall.[9] However, the song eventually became the biggest hit of all participating songs in Melodifestivalen 2003.[9] It was Alcazar's first number 1 single in Sweden and was certified Gold.[9]
During early 2005 Alcazar was offered a spot in the United Kingdom national selection for Eurovision Song Contest 2005 but refused the offer. Instead they tried their luck in Melodifestivalen 2005 with the disco tune "Alcastar". As in 2003, they originally failed to qualify for the final, but eventually made it through after the second chance semi-final.[10] Once again, the group again had to settle for the 3rd place in the final, which was won by Martin Stenmarck's song "Las Vegas".[11] Still, the song was a hit and became Alcazar's second number 1 single in Sweden.[12]
Alcazar in 2009
Alcazar participated in Melodifestivalen 2009, this time with the song "Stay the Night".[13] After performing the song during the first semifinal in Scandinavium, Gothenburg, they finished in the top 2 of a Melodifestivalen semifinal for the first time, thus qualifying directly for the final. In the final in Globen, having placed third with the regional juries and fourth in the televote, the song finished fifth overall. The song managed to peak at number 2 on Swedish Singles Charts giving Alcazar another Top 10 single in Sweden. Alcazar also participated in Melodifestivalen 2010 with the song "Headlines", written and produced by Tony Nilsson and Peter Boström, they made it to the second chance round but failed to reach the final.[13]
On 23 February 2013 they were reunited when they came out with a "best of hits" in the Melodifestivalen 2013 in Malmö, Swedish singer Danny Saucedo also joined the band.[14]
On 28 November 2013, it was announced that the band would compete for a fifth time in Melodifestivalen 2014 with the song "Blame It on the Disco". The band competed in the fourth semi-final and made it to the final in Friends Arena on 8 March.[15] They once again finished in 3rd place.
On 1 May it was revealed that Alcazar would be spokespersons, presenting the voting result for Sweden in the Eurovision 2014 final on 10 May.
Break and line-up changes
Alcazar's most recent line-up performing in 2009
The band announced that they needed a break during March 2005.[16] Lundstedt stated that the band would be back in the summer of 2007.[17] In the meantime the male members launched solo careers. Lundstedt had appeared in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, as a member of six4one, a multinational band founded for the sole purpose of representing Switzerland at the contest, whilst Carlsson has twice taken part individually in the Swedish Melodifestivalen.[17]
Lina Hedlund was announced as the replacement for Annikafiore.[18] The band now includes Tess Merkel[19] and Hedlund as female vocalists, and Lundstedt as male vocalist.[20]
Performances
Alcazar reformed in July 2007 to perform at the London Astoria as part of a celebration of Swedish music masterminded by producer Alexander Bard of Army of Lovers fame. They performed at the G-A-Y event on 21 July 2007 alongside BWO and a reformed-for-the-occasion cult band Army of Lovers. They performed three songs, "This Is the World We Live In", "Start the Fire" and "Crying at the Discoteque".[21] However when pressed at the end of their set by club proprietor Jeremy Joseph on whether the band would reform, Andreas avoided offering a commitment other than that they would do future one-off appearances at G-A-Y.[17]
The band performed again on 5 July 2008, at G-A-Y Astoria for Pride London 2008. They sang "This Is the World We Live In", "Sexual Guarantee/Don't You Want Me" and "Crying at the Discoteque" after BWO, and ended with a cover version of the Lipps Inc. song "Funkytown" with BWO joining them on stage. They also performed on 28 June 2008 in Bologna for the Italian national Gay Pride parade. On 31 December 2008, Alcazar once again appeared at G-A-Y at its new location, Heaven.[17]
Anna Jenny Charlotte Perrelli is a Swedish singer and occasional television host. She was the winner of the 1999 Melodifestivalen and subsequently that year's Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Take Me to Your Heaven."
Andreas Lundstedt is a Swedish musician, best known as a member of the pop-dance group Alcazar.
BWO was a Swedish electropop group, formed in 2003. Prior to early 2006 they used the name Bodies Without Organs. In Sweden they have enjoyed considerable commercial success throughout their career, so far notching up 15 Top 40 singles, including a Number 1 with "Temple of Love", and five Top 10 albums including a Number 1 with Halcyon Days, and have won several major Swedish music awards.
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Daniel Gabriel Alessandro Saucedo Grzechowski, known professionally as Danny Saucedo or simply Danny, is a Swedish singer and songwriter. He rose to fame as one of the finalists in Idol 2006, the Swedish version of Idol, where he reached the top six.
Lars Magnus Carlsson is a Swedish singer and former member of the bands Alcazar and Barbados as well as a solo performer.
Måns Petter Albert Sahlén Zelmerlöw is a Swedish pop singer and television presenter. He took part in Idol 2005, eventually finishing fifth, won the first season of Let's Dance, and scored a hit with his 2007 song "Cara Mia", which was his entry in that year's Melodifestivalen. Zelmerlöw was the host of Allsång på Skansen from 2011 to 2013. He participated in Melodifestivalen in 2007, 2009 and won in 2015. Zelmerlöw represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Heroes", winning the contest with 365 points. Zelmerlöw and Petra Mede co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 held in Stockholm.
Erik Segerstedt is a Swedish singer.
Swedish popular music, also called Swedish pop music, or just Swedish pop, refers to music that has swept the Swedish mainstream at any given point in recent times. After World War II, Swedish pop music was heavily influenced by American jazz, and then by rock-and-roll from the U.S. and the U.K. in the 1950s and 60s, before developing into the dansband music. Since the 1970s, Swedish pop music has come to international prominence with bands singing in English, ranking high on the British, New Zealand, American, and Australian charts and making Sweden one of the world's top exporter of popular music by gross domestic product.
"Crying at the Discoteque" is a song performed by Swedish band Alcazar, from their debut studio album Casino (2000). It samples Sheila and B. Devotion's 1979 hit "Spacer". Alexander Bard produced this song and can be heard in the middle of this song. In 2001 the song became Alcazar's first international hit single, reaching the top 10 in Flemish Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Switzerland. By the end of 2002, "Crying at the Discoteque" sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide.
Lina Maria Hedlund is a Swedish singer and member of the pop group Alcazar. She also has a solo career.
Eva Therese Margaretha Merkel also known as "Tess Merkel" is a Swedish singer who is one of the original members of the pop group Alcazar.
Annika Eva Ingegerd Kjærgaard(originally Johansson) is a Swedish singer and former member of the Swedish pop group, Alcazar.
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Eric Gadd is a Swedish singer and songwriter. He has released thirteen music albums since his debut in 1987 and has also participated in Melodifestivalen.
"Blame It on the Disco" is a song by Swedish pop group Alcazar. The song was an entry in the Melodifestivalen 2014 for the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, where it reached the "Finals", placing 3rd. The single was success in Sweden, peaking at #10 on the Swedish singles chart, but failed to chart internationally, peaking only #94 in the Europe official Top-100.
Melodifestivalen 2020 will be the 60th edition of the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen. It will be held between 1 February and 7 March 2020. Presenters for the edition will be Lina Hedlund, David Sundin and Linnea Henriksson. The winner of the competition will represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam. The competition will be broadcast on SVT.
↑ Martinsson, Anders. "Alcazar återuppstår". Göteborgs-Posten (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 30 November 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
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